Sarah Adam’s “When in Rome” will capture not only your heart, but have you booking a cross-country trip. Adams’ story is a unique blend of many well-loved tropes: enemies to friends to lovers; small town romance; forced proximity and so many more! When Amelia decides she needs an escape, she books it to Rome…in Kentucky. But when her car breaks down outside Noah’s house, she’s not convinced that he isn’t out to kill her and he’s not totally sold that it wasn’t planned by the town conspiring against him. The two start of rocky, with Amelia getting the hang of life out of the spotlight and Noah well, getting used to having someone so close. But, after a series of events pushes them closer and closer, there is no doubt that the tension has no choice but to spill over. This is the perfect summer read! Thank you NetGalley for the early preview and be sure to pick up When in Rome when it releases!

"When In Rome is a swoonworthy, slow burn romance that pays homage to Audrey Hepburn’s “Roman Holiday.” Amelia and Noah are as sweet as apple pie together, and individually they are both well-rounded, relatable characters with many layers to them. Amelia is bubbly and polite on the outside, but burnt out, lonely, and struggling to find balance and boundaries in her life on the inside. Noah is a surly, traditional family man with a tender, wounded heart underneath all that grumpiness. The supporting characters are all precious and purposeful, help move the plot forward, and add lovely Southern charm to the story.

I have never read anything by Sarah Adams before, but I loved this book so much that she is officially an auto-buy author for me (which says A LOT after just one book). I laughed, I cried, and I wanted to give my Kindle a gigantic hug and kiss after that perfect ending (and honestly pretty perfect plot). I was truly hooked from start to finish and couldn’t recommend this book more highly! My only complaint is wanting more Amelia and Noah because I’m obsessed with them now.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for graciously giving me an eArc in exchange for my honest review."

I will be posting this review on Goodreads later today and on my Instagram blog @bookedwithkay this upcoming Sunday or Monday.

I LOVE a grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract trope! When In Rome is the perfect summer read! Tbh I was expecting a steamy romance while in Rome, Italy. I was shocked to find it was located in Rome, Kentucky. Throughout the whole book I was gushing over Amelia (a burntout popstar) & Noah (small town pie shop owner). This is the kind of book that will have you grinning from ear to ear and feeling butterflies. So many of the supporting characters are lovable and I love the tight knit community of Rome, Kentucky.

While I can’t say this book was exceptionally original, it was the cute, lighthearted read that I needed to check out a bit from life chaos. Rae ( Amelia) and Noah are completely adorable even if the characters aren’t the most fleshed out. There were some fun supporting characters and I loved the nods to Gregory Peck and THE Audrey Hepburn. I think if we could have gotten a smidge more of Amelia’s story before she ended up in Rome Kentucky that could have added to the overall story and helped the reader become a bit more invested in her character growth as a whole.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

It took me about 30% of the book to fully get into it and love the characters. I wasn't convinced at first if I would love Amelia, and I just found the front lawn/close proximity too cheesy. Once I hit about 30% into the book, I was fully devoted. I loved both Noah and Amelia and I loved the chemistry between them.

I do recommend this book. You'll love this if you enjoy:
- Celebrity falls in love with non-famous person
- Small town romance
- Romcom
- Closed door romance
- Grumpy Sunshine
- Forced Proximity
- Forbidden Love (kind of)

Sarah Adams has done it again! Every time I read one of her books, I'm convinced it's the best one yet, until I read the next one! Sarah does an amazing job of creating chemistry and tension between characters without it being explicit. Noah is such a lovable grump and Amelia is the perfect sunshine to balance him out. They're an amazing pair. I loved this story and will continue to buy and read anything Sarah Adams writes.


There is some cursing, innuendo and implied intimacy but nothing graphic.

I absolutely adore all of Sarah Adams’ books, but When in Rome takes the cake for my favorite. She is so good at writing sweet and genuine romances with the individual personalities as the focus. I loved watching Noah and Amelia break down their walls and begin to trust each other more as they spent more time together. It attests to the idea that you’ll know when it’s the right person and things will just flow so easily with them. While the romance was so sweet and I adore them as a couple and watching them fall in love, my favorite part was how they each grew as individuals. They both became so much more confident in themselves and were willing to fight for what they wanted. They didn’t let anyone’s opinions stand in their way and went after their true dreams, and not what they thought they wanted. Noah and Amelia are my new favorite book couple and I am so excited to see more of them in another book down the road. Read this for teasing humor, awkward flirting, learning how to grow your self-confidence, and a genuine story of falling in love with someone for who they are and all of their quirks.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC! I’ve been a fan of Sarah Adams and definitely wanted to read this one! It was hands down my absolute favorite of hers! And I loved Cheat Sheet! Using the small town and sunshine/grump tropes that I absolutely LOVE, mixed with her usual wittiness and relatable characters, Adams has created such wonderful story! Noah and Amelia are simply adorable and all the side characters are just as special! This is a closed door rom/com but of all the ones I’ve read of hers, I find this one to be the steamiest without the actual spice. I was here for it, as it was done so so well! Add this to your list, you won’t regret it!

Thank you to Dell Books for the eARC through NetGalley! I thought this was a really sweet romance with good emotional depth. I often mention emotional depth in my romance reviews, because for me, that’s what makes me like a romance. I have to really feel for the characters and their situations, and this definitely made me do that.

In the story, we’re first introduced to Amelia (known as Rae Rose to her fans). She is a pop star who feels she has lost the boundaries between her famous persona and who she really is. She decides to get away from everything with inspiration from Audrey Hepburn’s Roman Holiday. She finds the closest Rome that she can, which is a small-town in Kentucky. She runs into some car trouble and ends up in the front yard of a handsome stranger and the story continues from there. Amelia’s emotional journey was one of the most compelling parts of the story. It showed her journey of realizing that her fame made her feel more isolated despite many people feeling like they knew her.

Noah is the man in whose yard Amelia ends up in her broken-down car. He is grumpy, but super sweet behind that. He gives me similar vibes to Luke from the Gilmore Girls. I loved his emotional journey too, as he was afraid of getting hurt again by someone in a relationship due to past experience. While he didn’t always want to open up, I loved that he was a sweet and caring brother and grandson. He was also a baker for his job, which was fun to read too.

I loved the side characters and the small town. It is the kind of town where everyone knows everyone’s business but they also really cared about each other which also reminded me of Gilmore Girls and Stars Hollow. I loved Noah’s three younger sisters and how they were opening and welcome and treated Amelia like a regular person that they could be friends with, which is exactly what she needed.

I enjoyed this romance story! Both characters had defined emotional arcs and the romance itself was sweet and slow-burn. I definitely recommend this! It releases on September 20th.

one of the best books i’ve read by this author! the characters are equally intriguing and the plot captured my attention easily.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 (Rounded to 5⭐️ On GR)

Thoughts: First I want to say I went into this book completely blind and did not read the synopsis. The only thing I knew about this book was how freaking adorable the cover was, and that Sarah Adams wrote it! What more do I need to know?

… But, safe to say I loved it! When in Rome had some rather large shoes to fill after Cheat Sheet. I have such a soft spot for grumpy, outdoorsy type male MCs 🥹 Noah might just make it on the book boyfriend list right there with Nathan.

𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝒹…

🥧 Dual POV
🥧 Gumpy / Sunshine Trope
🥧 Forced Proximity
🥧 Small Town Romance
🥧 Pop Star Female MC
🥧 Literal LOL Moments
🥧 Urge to eat pancakes… 🤪

I literally cannot wait to own this one in paperback!

Thank you Sarah Adams, NetGalley, and Random House for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. Make sure to add this one to your preorder list! Publication date is September 20th, 2022.

3.5 stars. Amelia Rose, or pop princess sensation Rae Rose, is in dire need of a break and leans on inspiration from Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday. So she travels to Rome, Kentucky since Rome, Italy is not feasible on short notice in her old and beat up Toyota Corolla. As her car breaks down in Noah Walker’s front yard, she has no choice but to stay put until her car is fixed. This is a “celebrity retreats to a small town” type of story where she becomes immersed in the simplicities of small town life and its welcoming community.

I liked both Amelia and Noah. Amelia was completely hooked on Noah because he seemed so unimpressed nor did he coddle to her due to her fame. It felt so normal and refreshing to her to be seen as an everyday person and not placed on a pedestal based on her public image. She is used to being gracious, polite and adored. Noah doesn’t waste words nor does he offer false platitudes. He doesn’t want to be attracted to Amelia because any possibility of a relationship is doomed. He’s never leaving Rome, Kentucky and her life is so different from his.

It’s a cute story with a definite sweet, rom com vibe, but sometimes it was too cutesy for me. The angst was mild and the conflict structured around them tiptoeing past their attraction because like in Roman Holiday, Amelia would have to leave once the vacation was over. For all that avoiding for a good chunk of the book minus a few slip ups, once they succumbed to their chemistry, it didn’t seem all that complicated anymore to make compromises where they could share a future after all despite her fame status. I liked this overall, but it wasn’t unique from others with similar themes and tropes.

This was an adorable and entertaining romcom! As a huge Hepburn fan I absolutely adored the modern take on Roman Holiday. Both Amelia/Rae and Noah are written so beautifully I instantly fell in love with them both. Amelia is so down to Earth and relatable and Noah is the best grump!

This was my first Sarah Adams but it definitely won’t be my last! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

An adorable, entertaining romance with many popular tropes including stuck with you, grumpy/sunshine, and celebrity girl meets ordinary boy with references to “Roman Holiday” and Audrey Hepburn! The small town vibes and the found family dynamic are incorporated perfectly into the story! Sarah Adams created such a cozy, light read that is perfect for romance lovers!

Brief Synopsis: Amelia, known to her fans as Rae Rose, is exhausted from her life as a pop star. After watching Audrey Hepburn’s classic Roman Holiday, she decides to get some much needed R&R in Rome. Only the one in Italy is too far so she settles for the closest one…which happens to be in Kentucky. When Amelia’s car breaks down in Noah Walker’s front yard he is less than thrilled. He doesn’t have time to deal with a spoiled pop star whose only passing through, no matter how pretty she is. But when there’s no room in the B&B in town, Amelia takes up residence in Noah’s guest bedroom. And both of them find there’s more to each other than a spoiled pop star and a grumpy pie shop owner.

I finally read The Cheat Sheet this summer and adored it and was so thrilled when I got approved to read an ARC of this (thank you NetGalley, Sarah Adams, and the publisher for the ARC). And I absolutely adored this book. When I finished it, I’m not too proud to admit that I had happy tears brimming in my eyes. It was such a sweet feel good wonderful book.

The characters in this are phenomenal. I felt like Adams did a great job of showing just how down to earth Amelia was even though she was a world famous pop star. I mean, the girl couldn’t make pancakes, but she was so relatable, genuine and down to earth. I was immediately drawn to her and I loved her story arc. Seeing her realize the hold other people had on her life and take control of it herself was such a wonderful thing. And I love a good grump, and Noah was perfect. But the residents of Rome, Kentucky or absolute gems! Like idk if Sarah is planning some spin off novels but I really need stories on all three of Noah’s sisters and his BFF James. And give me a story about Mabel too. I think one of the strongest parts of this book was the characters…they were all so well written and as a reader I couldn’t help but be drawn to all of them.

This is only my second book to read by Adams, but if all the rest are as good as this one (and The Cheat Sheet), then I am already hooked. I loved this book so much that I will be buying a physical copy. And also buying every other book Adams has written. If you want a romance that makes you feel good, definitely pick this one up.

This book is a closed door romance, but the chemistry is off the charts!

This book was the cutest romcom ever. I felt like it was the perfect length and pace. Definitely a light hearted read when you need one! Would definitely recommend!

•• Noah and Amelia ••

☆☆☆☆

When In Rome by Sarah Adams

This book was a really cute read! When In Rome is my first read by Sarah Adams - next up The Cheat Sheet for book club! I really enjoyed it!

I’ve always loved the hallmark movie feel good type books and this definitely hits the nail on the head! This book rates low on the spice scale (fade to black) but it makes up for that with the cute banter, the awesome side characters and Noah (enough said 😂).

If you’re looking for a quick and fun read - this is it !

Amelia Rae (or Rose Rae, her stage name) is tired of her celebrity and hectic life. She feels that she has lost control. Her favorite actress is Audrey Hepburn and she turns to Audrey's move for solice. Taking a cue from Audrey and the movie Roman Holiday, Amelia deides to take off for Rome. Kentucky that is. He car breaks down on the lawn of handsome Noah Walker's house. He runs the local e shop that he inherited from his aunt. Rome, KY is a small town where everyone knows everyone's business. You can guess that romance that evolove between the two. A charming fast read with a predictable and happy ending for all.

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this novel by Sarah Adams. It was light and took the reality of working life away temporarily.
I liked the banter between Amelia and Noah, and how he managed to keep his personality during conversations and not become dramatic. He kept things fun and happy.
I was relieved that the mother/daughter dynamic was reinstated. Poor Amelia.
I can imagine this being a fun audiobook to listen to!

I'm a fan of all Sarah Adams' other books and was so excited to get this one! It's a cute, fluffy read that's perfect for a trip to the beach. It's very predictable, but I didn't mind and still had fun reading. It's very reminiscent of a Hallmark movie and I loved that about it.