Kira Shell

Italian dark romance TikTok star Kira Shell made her public debut at the Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino in 2023. As well as her signature style in this genre – more introspective and rich in psychological nuances than the American model – we now know the 30-year-old’s real name (Valeria), her Apulian origins, her excellent university results and her ambition to enter the judiciary. The numbers speak for themselves: the two sagas Kiss Me Like You Love Me (released on Wattpad in 2017 and launched in bookstores two years later by Sperling & Kupfer) and Meet Efrem Krugher (Sperling & Kupfer, 2021) have sold over 600,000 copies, capturing readers, rankings and social media (on TikTok the hashtag #kissmelikeyouloveme has over 190 million views).