This book was super cute and I had a fun time. There were a few weird lines in the beginning that probably should be edited more but besides that I liked it. I do wish we would of gotten more of them after she goes on tour but it's fine.

I received an arc through netgalley.

When I first read the title of this book, I was prepared for it to have all of the Italian vacation vibes. However, the small town vibes that it had instead were even better. This story has a dual POV that follows Amelia who is a singer pop star and Noah who is a pie shop owner in a small town. Amelia becomes overwhelmed with the demands of her life and decides that she needs to go somewhere. Inspired by her favorite Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday, she decides that she needs to a getaway to Rome. Unfortunately she doesn’t have enough time to actually leave the country to go to Rome, Italy so she ventures to Rome, Kentucky instead. Upon arriving there, her car breaks down in Noah’s front yard which then leads to him being the designated host and tour guide. Amelia then gets the explore the small town, make new friends, experience new things, and temporarily escape the life of a celebrity. This story was such a fun romcom. I loved to see how Amelia and Noah grew as individuals and as a couple. I also enjoyed how Amelia became close with a lot of people in the town and in the end they all wanted to help her out and motivate Noah to be with her despite the distance. There was also a small plot twist at the end that was also fun to read. I most definitely would recommend this book to others and will be reading it again once it is released. This one was my first ARC from Netgalley which also makes me extremely happy!

The best slow burn rom-com to date! I’ve been a fan of Sarah Adams for some time, and knew this one was going to be a winner.

Noah, a grumpy pie shop owning southern boy, and Amelia aka ‘Rae Rose’ a world famous pop singer/songwriter together in the sweetest little setting called Rome, Kentucky has the makings of an interesting storyline. After Amelia decides to take a break from her crazy life, she chooses to mimic Aubrey Hepburn in ‘Roman Holiday.’ Her car brakes down in front of Noah’s house, and the two are forced into co-existing while her car is being worked on…all at the hands of the town’s people. They knew the two belonged together before the two of them did.

I absolutely adored the character development of the whole town to the point where it actually makes me want to visit. There truly is a character for everyone to relate to which I believe makes a great book!

A little sizzle (closed door), a lot of quips and funny moments, and a whole lot of enjoyment. I would highly recommend any book written by Sarah Adams, and this fast paced rom-com is a must read!

Sarah Adams is a queen of clean romances!

I think this book is my favorite way of introducing a couple together. No one is going to show up at your house out of nowhere, oh wait....! Love it, absolutely love it.

Noah is the best grumpy teddy bear. I love his gruff exterior that hides a heart of gold. He's been hurt in the past so he has closed himself off to the possibility of love. All you want to do is just hold him and show him that love can still happen.
And Amelia, she is an inspiration to so many. Follow your dreams but learn to rely on yourself. Be careful who you trust as it is so easy to trust the wrong person. I love that she learned to trust her instincts and to forge her own path.

This book is very well written and is easy to follow along. Perfect for an afternoon laying by the pool or on the beach!

After years of not reading anymore (I blame university), I randomly found the Off-Limits Rule and became a reader again. I devoured every one Sarah Adams’ books (except her historical romances) in the course of a week and wound up re-reading several of them. I’ve recommended them to many friends who also fell in loveeee with her writing. Nothing better than being able to discuss book boyfriends and specific scenes that make you cry with friends who Get It 🤠

All of that being said… when Sarah began posting about When we in Rome on her Instagram, I knew I needed to read it. I also knew I wouldn’t be able to wait until September and when it became available on NetGalley, I jumped on the opportunity to read the eARC.

🧡 sweet closed-door, dual pov romcom
🧡 grumpy Noah and sunshine Amelia (think Luke and Lorelai from Gilmore Girls)
🧡 Roman Holiday parallels throughout the story
🧡 Southern small-town charm
🧡 two words: Noah’s sisters
🧡 he owns a pie shop, enough said
🧡 she’s an international pop star
🧡 quality banter between Noah and Amelia and Noah and Amelia and all the nosy neighbors of Rome, Kentucky

In short, Amelia is feeling the burnout of her career as a pop star and runs away to Rome, Kentucky because Rome, Italy is too far of a drive. Her car breaks down in Noah’s front yard and he’s grumpy about it. Right off the bat, Noah proves himself to be safe and trustworthy, but Amelia doesn’t trust that he won’t murder her. So what does Noah do? He takes out his landline and calls his grandmother’s best friend, Mabel, to vouch for his character. 🥹 She ends up in his guest bedroom and the story goes on from there. No matter what Noah tries to tell himself, it’s almost instant attraction on both sides.

I would reread this a hundred times and cannot wait for the release date so everyone else can enjoy it as well! It was perfect in every way. My favorite read of 2022.

As always Sarah Adams has written another perfect romantic comedy. I absolutely love her work. I really liked the characters in this story. And the similarities to one of my favorite movies "Roman Holiday" was what made this book so enjoyable.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

Synopsis: Burnt out popstar, Rae Rose (real name Amelia Rose), runs away three weeks before a world tour when she's inspired by the movie, Roman Holiday. She flees to the closest Rome she can find. That lands her in Rome, Kentucky and the front yard of Noah Walker. He's a small town baker not looking for complications or commitments. But after offering her his spare room, these two unintentionally embark on their own spin on the classic Aubrey Hepburn movie.

When in Rome is from Sarah Adams, author of The Cheat Sheet. Published through Random House. Releases September 20

Tropes:
✨ Opposites attract
✨Strangers to friends to lovers
✨Small Town baker and out of towner
✨Quirky side characters
✨Slow burn
✨ Forced proximity
✨Grumpy/sunshine

What makes this book special:
✨I loved that Noah was a surly, small town baker
✨The banter and chemistry between Noah and Amelia was unmatched. Their friendship and how their relationship developed was so satisfying. THE NICKNAMES, the JOKES
✨The respect the main characters have for each other was so beautiful
✨A twist at the end was so satisfying for me with the HEA and how so many of the characters are reunited was 🥹🥹
✨Themes of trust, trauma, and family

Honestly, I hope this becomes a series where other characters get their chance at a HEA. I was not ready to leave Rome and I hope we can revisit it. I think second book the second book is confirmed and I really really hope I'm right 🤞

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 Overall
🌶️🌶️/5 Spice

I intend to post this review on my bookstagram upon the books release unless given permission by the publisher to post sooner.
Instagram.com/through.the.bookstagram

This is a really sweet, light, fluffy read. Sarah Adams is a comfort read. This book is the manifestation of butterflies in your stomach.

Noah is the classic grump and Amelia is your bubbly FMC. They are sweet and adorable, and Sarah Adams does SUCH a fantastic job with their chemistry. Their banter is perfect.

I am a glutton for grumpy/sunshine and forced proximity. This scratched my itch! Highly recommend!

Friendly reminder: this is a closed door romance!

My First Sarah Adams book and wow it was a winner!!! LOVED this one. It has such a familiar feel to a chick-lit that we know and love, but I really loved the characters and how she writes. The dialogue felt realistic and was full of personality. Loved the characters and especially the people from the town of Rome. It reminded me of Gilmore Girls in the best way. The tension between the main characters was great and I LOVED the ending.

If you are looking for a grumpy/sunshine rom-com, add "When in Rome" to your list. It's got a great story and the spice is "Fade-to-Black"!

Thank you to Net Galley and Ballentine for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Sarah Adams is one of my favorite authors, so I had high expectations for this book. I am happy to say that it did not disappoint!

I read this book in one day because I just couldn’t put it down.

Amelia & Noah were so cute! They had great banter, and I loved the tension between them as roommates.

I loved the small town of Rome, Kentucky and how quickly Amelia felt at home.

Noah’s sisters were a lot of fun, and I hope that book 2 is about one of them.

You’ll enjoy this book if you like:

- grumpy + sunshine
- Forced proximity
- Audrey Hepburn
- Witty banter

First off, I had low expectations for this one in the beginning because I find the celebrity-falls-in-love-with-a-country-bumpkin trope trite and overdone. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was a real gem!

The writing is very sweet, but also progresses well; the story doesn't get stuck or become stagnant at any point. I thoroughly enjoyed the day-to-day life that Noah and Amelia shared, and how those small-town, slower-living activities (i.e., fishing; sitting on the porch, reading; playing Scrabble) brought them closer together. Those moments reminded me a lot of the progression between Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in "Runaway Bride" (a personal favorite of mine!).

The supporting characters were also a really nice addition- they didn't take away from the story, and they weren't too over the top. It was really hard not to fall in love with Rome, Kentucky and all of its residents.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Aside from a few proofing errors that I found a bit distracting, the story was a hit, imo!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THIS BOOK AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE IS GOOD. I didn't think I'd ever say this but I liked this book more than The Cheat Sheet. Noah > Nathan. There. I said it. This book is a must read. It has all of the Sarah Adams charm and feels that we love. This book needs to be on everyone's tbr.

Going into this book I didn’t realize it was a celebrity romance or I honestly probably wouldn’t have picked it up. That being said, I am so glad I DID pick this book up. I’m usually not a fan of the celebrity tropes, but everything else about this book made it well worth it for me.
The small town atmosphere was everything. This was actually one of the best small town settings I have ever read about. Oh and not to mention the entire cast of characters in this book had my whole heart. I was obsessed with the sibling dynamics between Noah and his sisters. (Unrelated, but I don’t think over everything read about a character names Noah without loving them.)
I did really enjoy the relationship between Amelia and Noah and the banters they had along the way. They had a chemistry that you could feel leap off of the pages.
The only thing that made this a four stars and not a five was the fact that I found the plot very predictable, but that’s not a deal breaker for me when it comes to romance.
I’m glad I was given the opportunity to read and E-ARC of this book.

Review ing:
This book was just perfect😭, I have already read other books by Sarah Adams and I have loved them a lot, I love the way she writes, and this book was no exception, I loved it a lot, it is a very light read, very entertaining and very cute, Noah and Amelia are simply beautiful, I love them🥹, I also loved Noah's sisters, I NEED a book for all of them😩, (another book for this series is already confirmed, only I still don't know about who, AND I ALREADY NEED IT AAHHH).
Well if you want a nice, fun, quick read, without unnecessary drama, with a grumpy and a sunshine, you definitely have to read it 😭💕

Thank you netgalley and randomhouse for this ARC✨

An adorable read, perfect for summer! This is a sweet, believable romance with just the right amount of spice - nothing overly explicit. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Beautiful and funny grumpy/sunshine story. Amelia ends up in his town after running from her life. He’s the grumpiest guy ever, so closed up it’s hard to read him and his feelings. But of course there’s a reason why she’s running and he’s grumpy. It was a fun read to discover what makes them who they are and how good they are together. They had to work to get their HEA until the very end but it was really worth it.

This was a nice little rom-com beach read. The tropes here are all very familiar and predictable. I found myself skimming sections of the main character’s exposition and growing tired of the time spent on the “will they/won’t they, I want to/but I can’t.” That said, I did enjoy the cast of characters and thought they had depth and interest. I would have liked them in a more active storyline.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Sarah Adams for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
In my opinion I am more of a fan of a slow burn vs insta love (its just more realistic???)
BUT I did not let this sway my opinion on the book. I enjoyed the spicy scenes being steamy but not being so steamy that I was embarrassed to read this on my lunch break at work lol. This was a very cute and light feel good book, with a last-minute twist ending.
I did fall in love with Amelia and related to her search for truly finding herself as a late 20’s something myself I truly deeply felt that. Noah was a sweetheart and an easy character to fall in love with. I love love love love the grumpy sunshine trope so much!!And lately my favorite summer reads have been small town romance.
Overall, I think this is a great summer romance read and it earned 4 stars in my book!

A cute grumpy/sunshine, small town romance!

I enjoyed the characters; I think Amelia (an international pop star) could have been someone who might be annoying if done incorrectly, but she didn't come off that way at all. I also appreciated that Noah (our MMC) wasn't mean to Amelia. I'm all for a morally grey character, but in a rom-com I hate when dudes are just too mean. Noah, as it turns out, is incredibly sweet with so many hidden layers.

The story gravitates more toward an insta-love plot while still being slow burn? If that makes any sense. There's some very, very light enemies to lovers dashed in there, but I would consider it more opposites attract than E2L for sure. Right off the bat I feel like the characters shared their attraction to one another in inner dialogue. We also have a caretaking scene which was super cute and well done.

I enjoyed the small town vibes with meddling townsfolk. I loved Noah's relationship with his sisters and the kindness he exudes to those around him.

This was definitely her most steamy book to date...but it's still closed door. As someone who LOVES steam, I don't think the lack of of on page spice deterred me at all. What WAS included was still really good and you could feel the tension building between the two characters the whole book.

There's a slight plot twist about 95% of the way through. I liked the epilogue.

It's a cute, light, feel good story (with some deeper topics intertwined as well!). I like Sarah Adams' writing; it's personable, relatable and funny. It's like reading something a friend wrote. Overall, if you like romcoms, small towns, grumpy/sunshine and pop culture, this will be a great book for you. I'm so curious to see what book comes next in the series!

Thank you for the ARC!

This book was everything to me! From the cover, to the title, to the plot, I was hooked. Sarah Adams wrote a beautiful love story based in Rome, Kentucky. A city where no one would think a rockstar would ever visit. Amelia follows her heart to find herself again, and following her heart brought her to this small town. I loved how the town was so rural that the phone service was limited so Amelia could fully unplug from the life she wasn’t in love with anymore. I feel like a lot of people are like Amelia in many ways, just searching for pieces of ourselves that we lost touch with long ago. Noah was an absolute sweetheart to read. Noah being a small town pie shop owner who believed in love but had his heartbroken, yet was brave enough to love Amelia and risk heartbreak again made my heart swoon. I found myself crying tears of happiness many times through the novel. Just soft happy tears when Amelia had small victories. When she felt like she had friends with Noah’s sister, when the townspeople protected her from paparazzi, when she was able to stand up to Susan and become closer with her mom. This book has all the small victories you would want for your beloved main character, as well as all the large victories as well; getting the man of her dreams! This was such a sweet, quick read. I already want to read it again as so much happens from the time Amelia nicknames Noah a hill billy murderer to Mr. Romance. This book exceeded my expectations completely!