When in Rome has everything you could want in a small town romance. Sarah Adams is the master of the opposite attract, grumpy/sunshine and ordinary/pop star romance tropes and readers will fall in love with Rome, Kentucky and the people there.

When pop star, Rae Rose, feels burned out and in need of a break, she decides to go to Rome; however, Rome, Italy is too far away so she heads to Rome, Kentucky. When her car breaks down in his front yard, Noah Walker, invites her to stay in his guest room, but makes it clear he isn't interested in any type of relationship. Rae Rose, whose real name is Amelia, ends up staying longer than anticipated and starts to fall in love with the small town and the people there. Despite Noah's resistance to relationships, he can't help but get closer to Amelia as he learns more about her, but are their lives too different for anything to last when it comes time for her to leave?

When in Rome is a funny and cozy romance that will make readers laugh, swoon and crave pie and pancakes! Thank you NetGalley and Random House Books for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I love Sarah Adams and was extremely excited to get this as an ARC! If you're looking for a lighthearted romcom read then definitely pick this book up! Loved the chemistry between Noah and Amelia was perfectly written. Would absolutely recommend this book!

🥧 Review - ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🥧

📖 When in Rome by Sarah Adams
🗓 Pub Date: September 20, 2022 (out now!)

Amelia Rose, better known as Rae Rose, is a famous singer with an extremely successful career. On the outside, it would appear that she has anything and everything she could ask for. On the inside, Amelia has never felt so alone, is exhausted, and just needs a break from her famous life.

Amelia decides to get away to Rome, Kentucky where she ends up in Noah Walker’s front yard after her car breaks down. Noah, the grumpy local pie shop owner, doesn’t seem to care about Amelia’s celebrity status and just wants her car out of his yard. He offers to let her stay in his guest room until her car is fixed since it won’t take long, or at least that’s what he thinks.

Over the course of Amelia’s stay, Noah gets to know a completely different side of her that no one else gets to see. Amelia also gets to see the softer, less grumpy side of Noah…and she likes what she sees.

After being burned by his past relationship, Noah has made it abundantly clear he isn’t looking for a relationship and Amelia obviously doesn’t have time for one. But their chemistry and feelings for each other are undeniable. Will Amelia go on tour leaving Noah and his sweet small town behind? And will Noah relent and finally allow himself to have a relationship with someone again?

I LOVED this book. This is the first book I’ve read by Sarah Adams and it will not be my last. I immediately fell in love with Noah (hello new book boyfriend) and I found Amelia’s character to be really sweet and quirky. I really enjoyed that this was a Dual POV so we got to see both Noah and Amelia’s side.

I found myself smiling and laughing throughout this story. The banter between all of the characters was funny and sarcastic. I thought the relationship between Noah and his sisters was so perfect and hilarious. The small town of Rome, Kentucky absolutely gave off all of the Stars Hollows vibes, which made me love it even more.

I would give this all the stars if I could. This is definitely my favorite romcom for the year, so far. Noah is absolute perfection and who wouldn’t love a man who can bake/cook?

🥧 Tropes: grumpy/sunshine, small town romance, forced proximity

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Read or Listen if you Like:
🧈 Small Town Romances
🧈 Grumpy/Sunshine Trope
🧈 Opposites Attract
🧈 Forced Proximity/ Roommates
🧈 Slow Burn Romances
🧈Clean Romances

Sarah Adams is the queen of wholesome clean romances and I am totally here for it! Do I like steam in books, yes! Does she give those feelings? Absolutely, but they are clean and so well done that honestly her scenes often are more steamy than some outright steamy scenes in other books.

I love how this one built the slow burn and kept you pining and building that relationship between the characters!

Please check this and her others out if you haven’t yet as it was so well done as were her others I’ve read so far!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Sarah Adams for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Small town, grumpy/sunshine? YES PLEASE! Prior to her 9-month tour, she needs a break and a lot of rest. So when her car breaks down and she meets Noah, you know this is going to be a good one! The small-town aspect felt relatable in certain ways. I really liked Amelia Rose aka Rae Rose (can I just say how much I love that name!). The grumpiness from Noah was on point and made me laugh. The chemistry between the two of them is amazing. I want more. Can we please have more? Pretty please?

A book that showed me light when I was stressed out at my maximum, a book that made me smile and laugh for quirky little characteristics we all carry with us but don’t like to share, a book that truly just makes your heart settle back smoothly, when in Rome was love at first sight.
Thank you netgalley and penguin random house for this ARC!
The cute cover tells half the story in itself. Noah lives in Rome, wait a minute not in Rome, Italy but in Rome, Kentucky and is a happy baker loving his technology free life. Haven’t we all wanted to get a technology detox but it’s never possible in this day and age right? But seeing Noah live this comfortable life made me want to do the same just for a while as well. In enter Amelia Rose, she’s a famous singer and with the showbiz her every movement is monitored closely. Wanting to take a break before her big international tour, she decided to come to Rome, Kentucky (I know you guessed it now!) and wink wink, meets Noah. Their relationship is from strangers to lovers trope and it beautifully illustrates the downside of long distance relationship. After having your heart almost trampled by previous experiences, at one point in life, long distance is the most feared word and most of the people give up by just hearing it. The way we see the characters growing themselves to this word because when it’s meant to be, it is, is absolutely ravishing!
A wondrous, wondrous tale, when in Rome stole my heart!

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. (But if I could give it 10, I would)! When I say “I love this book” that is an understatement! This may now be my favorite romance (romcom) to date! I don’t even know where to start because I just loved EVERY SINGLE THING about this book!

Characters: Well first off, I want Noah Walker to be my “book boyfriend”. His character with Amelia (aka Rae Rose) were so adorably cute together. His grumpy, “I won’t get close to anyone” attitude mixed with her sweetness were just the perfect blend! I loved Mabel (Noah’s grandma’s best friend), James (Noah’s best friend) and all three of Noah’s sisters (Emily, Madison and Annie)….I literally enjoyed each of these characters!

The storyline was totally “Hallmark-like” with a touch of sexual tension. This book was not Christmassy but has definitely put me in the mood for “Hallmark Christmas movie” time. Change the time of this book to winter, throw in some Christmas trees, Christmas carols and a tree lighting and this would be the PERFECT Hallmark Christmas movie!

I honestly can say I had a smile on my face from beginning to end with this one! I was sad when the bottom corner of my kindle said “book complete”.

If you are in the mood for a feel good book, with characters you will adore, then I highly recommend picking up a copy. It was just released on September 20th! This was my first book by Sarah Adam’s but I will absolutely be reading more!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see other reviews I’ve left, check out my Instagram and Goodreads accounts:
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808
*Goodreads - Cherihy808

Has life ever gotten to be too much? Have people pushed and prodded you into what they think your life should be? That is what happen to Amelia, Rae Rose as her fans call her. Amelia is exhausted with her upcoming tour schedule and is tired of everyone telling her what to do and making it seem like her idea. So she watches a favorite Audrey Hepburn movie, When in Rome, and decides to up and leave her life in Nashville for a get away to Rome, Kentucky.

Noah wants nothing to do with the beautiful stranger whose car broke down in his front yard, in the middle of the night. Almost instantly he knows who it is and wants to make sure her staying at his place until her car is fixed will be strictly platonic. But is that ever what happens in a romance book?

This book was so fun, the spice was minimal, the banter was excellent, and Noah’s sisters were so much fun. This book was a great read. I listened along with the #gifted audiobook thanks to @prhaudio . The dual narration between Karissa Vacker and Andrew Eiden was so good and the story was truly brought to life.

If you are looking for a light read with some amazing characters and small town charm I would highly recommend this book to you. This is one I am highly considering purchasing.

I read this back in June and of course I have reader’s brain (if that’s not a thing, it is now) and can’t remember much about the book…but maybe that tells you all you need to know. I remember thinking the story was cute enough but I also remember thinking it was a little too cheesy and innocent and that I didn’t love the writing.

I’m beginning to think that cutesy romances are not my thing. I saw another reviewer describe this book as light and fluffy and I completely agree. Which also makes me think about how it was kind of weird that there was simultaneously a lot of swearing and “oh my gosh” moments that felt contradictory.

I love a good grumpy/sunshine romance and liked this enough to finish the story but I definitely also felt like I just wanted to read it to finish it so I can’t give it more than 3 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

*Update*

This book was not for me, personally. I think there were some aspects that could have taken center stage more or been more fleshed out (Noah’s relationship w/his gramma and Amelia’s relationship w/her mom). I think what was tough for me it was SUCH A SLOW SLOW SLOW BURN and i wasnt feeling this chemistry that made me really want to keep reading. However, I did keep reading and the parts where the characters give in are SO. SATISFYING so it makes me wish the slow burn wasnt SO slow.

Adam’s has charming characters and settings. I didn’t relare to Amelia all that much, but still enjoyed her story!

Adam’s also has quite the following so I know my opinion is in the minority. I may try another one of her books to give it another chance!

**original review below**

Thank you, Net Galley for the arc! I really wanted to love this book, but it was not for me. A very cute concept, but I could not finish it because I felt the pacing was too quick, the chemistry for the leads felt forced and I personally am not the biggest fan the of grumpy-sunshine trope.

However, I am sure many will love this story.

First book of Sarah Adams
Would love to recommend her to everyone I know love romance books.
When in Rome is a small town romance with sunshine and grumpy leads.

The feels in reading the book makes me giddy.

I really wanted to love this one because I loved the Cheat Sheet by the same author, but this one was just a dud. I was pretty bored the whole time. The premise was cute but the external conflict was rushed and unbelievable.

Aww. This put a huge smile on my face. It was my first book from Sarah Adams and I will be checking out other ones in the future. Sometimes, the character dynamics stalled a bit for me, but overall I really enjoyed it. A breezy read.

I loved the characters and plot. The romance was engaging and the details were believable and rich. I will definitely be rereading!

I feel like this is a good start to my autumn reads. It’s a nice heart warming novel that really helped my days of sadness. It is set in a nice small town. This has banter. The writing allows us to feel all the emotions that the characters feel and that is a bonus point in my book. Everything is a good thing in this novel, the characters as well as the supporting ones are something that leaves you wanting more. The one thing I loved was how the description of the town is on par with how a real life small town will feel and be and honestly it cannot get any better then that if you ask me. I think y that you should no matter what check out this book.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This book was just ADORABLE. It felt like a less cheesy Hallmark movie. Like being wrapped in a warm, cozy blanket on a fall day. I never wanted this book to end.

Noah is the ultimate cinnamon role grump. I am so glad Sarah did dual POV for this book so we got more insight on Noah’s thoughts and motives. I loved his town, family and friends.

Amelia was like a baby antelope that I just wanted to hug and tell her everything was going to be okay. She was such a likable character and I was rooting for her the whole time. Not only her relationship with Noah, but also her relationship with her mom and with her career.

This book is definitely worth the read and will keep you laughing, smiling, and wanting to pack up and move to Rome, Kentucky.

I decided to read this book because it sounded great. I will admit that I did have a couple reservations though because I'm not a huge social media fan and I worried that might be an issue. I'm thrilled to say that it wasn't. I thought that this was really a delightful read. Characters that are likable, easy to relate to, feel for and fall in love with are paired with a clever, cute and wickedly fun storyline that will put a smile on your face, lighten your heart and have you feeling swoony!

Cute, fluffy, feel-good rom com book. It's exactly what you'd expect, and if you pick this book up, you're probably into that.

So sad to say that this one was a little bit of a miss for me. I really enjoyed the premise and the characters but I could not jive with the writing. Everything felt a little too over explained to me. How each character was feeling, the constant over analyzing of absolutely every feeling. I think I wanted more show and a little less tell. I have heard great things about this author and will definitely pick up more from her. The storyline itself was super cute and I was rooting for these two.

What a fun book! It has a lot of depth, with a good play on forced proximity. The timeline of the novel did feel a bit compressed, which is something that bothers me personally. A couple of the subplots, especially around Rae, felt a bit rushed. They could have gotten more space in the book to create a more natural flow. However, I loved the small town setting and the cast of characters Adam’s created.