This was such a warm, tender, and big-hearted book...and a fun and modern take on the Audrey Hepburn classic, Roman Holiday! All the tropes I love are present here --slowburn, enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine and forced proximity - and I can't help swooning over it. The development of the romance, the small town setting of Rome, Kentucky, the individual characters' growth, everything...it was all top notch.

This story, these characters, their romance…the perfection of it all snuck up on me. The writing was so playful, so enjoyable to read. Both these characters were ridiculously relatable: Noah with his grumpiness, and his reluctance to people-ing. And Amelia with her unfiltered rambling had me choking on my laughter. The humour in this book straddled the line of ridiculously funny and downright relatable. The author really aced the sunshine/grump trope in When In Rome. I loved Amelia’s constant positivity in stark contrast with Noah’s grumpy demeanor. Together, as these lovable characters got to know each other, supported each other, and broke down defences, they just made me swoon, gave me butterflies, and made me grin like a maniac. I loved how understanding and empathetic they both were. I rooted so hard for them individually, and as a couple because this was also about Amelia and Noah finding themselves, being brave and taking risks despite their fears. I absolutely adored this as a romantic piece. The slow-burn was subtle but the payoff was so deliciously romantic.

This was a beautiful and feel-good story. Although, I found the ending too abrupt for my personal tastes and I was desperate for an epilogue, there’s no denying that this book was lots of fun and the touching moments throughout this book kicked off the trifecta of snicker, smile, and swoon. A total joy to read.

This was my first Sarah Adam's novel and it did not disappoint! I felt like I was reading a Hallmark movie- it was such a cute romcom type book.

Amelia, aka pop star Rae Rose, is burnt out and needs a break from her daily grind. She is a huge Audrey Hepburn fan and decides to follow in her footsteps...except she decides to find the closest Rome to her--- Rome Kentucky! Everyone knows everyone in this small town, which she will quickly learn. She goes off the grid from her manager and team...until her car breaks down in front of Noah's house. Noah is a good looking, single guy (with 3 amazing sisters) who owns a local Pie Shop. I won't go into anymore details-- but it was really sweet. Of course, a little predictable but I still highly recommend.

3.5 ⭐ Hear me out. If you like vanilla romance books, have a teen in high school that likes romance, or just need something to read at the beach or pool, this is your book. The characters are flirty and fun and they are constantly being cutesy together. If you like Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, anything with a Virgin River vibe, or light and cheesy romance, you will love it.
If you like steamy romance with a lot of depth, this might not be for you. Know your preferences going in. 😉
I felt like Amelia was younger and more of a teen character than an adult. I would even go as far as to say this could be considered YA. A lot of the dialogue is very immature (not in a bad way, it's just not very mature writing) and the way the characters interact is more teen/young adult.
Amelia is "Rae Rose", a chart topping pop star that is beyond famous. She is burnt out on life and needs a serious break. Her manager is a nightmare and pushes her without caring that she needs a break or that she just wants some downtime and fun to feel like herself again. She is also a huge Audrey Hepburn fan and when she plays eenie-meenie-minee-mo with her collection of Hepburn movies, she lands on Roman Holiday. She finds the closest ROME on the map, gets in her pre fame rickety car, and drives there.
One problem, her old car is OLD, and it breaks down in a stranger's lawn. With no cell service and nowhere to go, the stranger invites her inside for the night.
That stranger is Noah. Extremely hot, small town, local pie baker. He comes from a tight knit family with 3 sisters and was raised by his grandmother after losing his parents at a young age. Did I mention he is hot? And grumpy. Those are his defining characteristics throughout the book. 😉
Noah and Amelia have instant attraction, and for different reasons, they both fight it. They can only resist for so long though and they both start to feel their reasons for staying away slipping.
There is a lot of chemistry between them and Noah is jealous of everyone else that gets to spend time with her that isn't him. Even if he told her he isn't interested and is still getting over a brutal breakup.
The tension builds throughout the story and Amelia and Noah develop a friendship together. What will happen when they both decide to do what they really want?

This was an extremely cute read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I liked how Amelia set out to discover herself again and was an extremely cautious person. She’s relatable, quirky, and overall, very well written. I felt like Noah didn’t fit a certain mold or was described like most other love interests are and I found it refreshing. They are the sunshine to my grumpy trope but I loved it.

I enjoyed the setting and the nosy people- I think Mabel had to be my favorite character out of the entire book. I loved the humor between everyone and the heartfelt moments between not only Amelia and Noah, but the others too.

I received an eARC through NetGalley For an honest review.

After years of doing what she's told, pop star Amelia Rose has fled her current situation. Her destination? Rome ...Kentucky. Not exactly like the Audrey Hepburn movie, but it will do in a pinch. At least until her car dies, and she finds herself stranded on the lawn of a grumpy albeit hot man. What happens next reads like all the best classic movies with a cast of charming characters, a villain in disguise, and a fabulous leading man. When in Rome by Sarah Adams does not disappoint and leaves this reader excited about future books from this author.

Sarah Adams is a must read author for me! I was so excited to receive an ARC from NetGalley. I could not put this book down and took every little moment I could to read a page here and there. I devoured this book.Lost sleep to read this book and it was worth every minute lost. I was hooked from the very beginning and knew a few pages in I would give this book a 5 star review. This book was pretty much everything I love.

Main Points(queu me typing all the things I love in a book):
Cute story
Musician superstar/Small town pie shop owner country boy
Great characters individually
Great supporting characters
Closed door romance
Rom Com
Dual POV

Amelia is trying to escape her rockstar reality when she stumbles upon Noah, a grumpy, not-looking-for-love small town business owner. A broke down car and no room in the inn causes Noah to reach down deep to find his gentleman side and well there enters the forced proximity as Noah tells Amelia she can stay with him. She enjoys the pace of the town and sees her true self coming back and finding her love for music again while taking a much needed break before her next tour. The “opposites attract” is written so well as is the natural progression of the relationship and the problems they have to overcome to make this relationship work. I loved the communication between the two.

I loved this book so much. I loved Noah and Amelia as a couple and individually. The character development was fantastic! The writing was lyrical and really wrapped you into the story. Literally the rom-com of my dreams and cannot wait to recommend it to everyone!!!

I just love Sarah Adams. If you haven’t read anything by her, start at the beginning and keep going. Her books are all so heartwarming and just makes me so happy. If you like small town romances, you’ll love this one. Thanks netgalley for my advances reader copy of When In Rome.

First and foremost, I want to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

This review will be published on Goodreads and my Instagram account @disfordoom as a post.

Without further ado, 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5 for “When in Rome”. I love a good ole romance and this one was fun to read. I flew through the pages with much happiness and excitement. It was a fun contemporary read.

Why I took 1/2 star out of the 5? Because the romance part felt a bit abrupt, like too much too soon and didn’t make much sense. Maybe I’m too jaded to believe in it.

Would I recommend it? Yes, if you like romances, hallmark movies, happy endings for the protagonists, fun reads, just grab yourself a copy.

Rae Rose is a Grammy award winning soulful pop artist and has been in the spotlight since she was a teenager. Now in her late 20’s Rae hasn’t had a single moment to herself. A sudden urge to flee inspired by her favorite actress Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, Rae takes off in her old car and heads for the nearest town called Rome. Which happens to be Rome, Kentucky. Except, her last minute plan quickly turns into a stressful situation when her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere with no cell service.

Enter Noah Walker. A small town classic man with a heart of gold buried deep under his grumpy exterior. Rae has broken down in front of his house and being the southern gentleman he was raised to be by his grandmother and her best friend, Mabel, must help. Recognizing Rae almost instantly, Noah is less than thrilled another city girl has come into his life. What unfolds is an inconvenient chemistry packed relationship which only leaves them questioning…what will happen when she has to leave?

I kid you not, I couldn’t put this down. I binge read this the other night. This story was so cute and a pretty quick read. This would be a great beach read, or vacation read since this is set to release in September. This book is also a great palette cleanser. Normally, I’m not a fan of a famous person in books, but Amelia (Rae is her stage name) is so lovable and I think many can relate to the wanting to run away from responsibilities. Noah…(hot face) oh my goodness, where can I get one of these guys please? He’s classic, through and through. He’s emotionally intelligent, strong and masculine in a way that is downright swoon worthy and loyal.

The only thing I wish was that the spice scenes were not “fade to black” but that’s a selfish want, this book is not marketed to be spicy. Just a cute, light, Rom-Com read which it 100% delivered. Definitely recommend you pre-order.

This book delivers on: Grumpy sunshine, slow burn, rom-com, dual POV, forced proximity, opposites attract

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Instagram review (@BookishBehavior_) post scheduled for May 25-31 and September 22nd

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed reading this story. Anelia isn't stuck up like I thought she might be and she learns a lot with Noah. It was a funny book and I liked the easy flow of it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of When in Rome to read and review.

Amelia, known as pop star Rae Rose, feels burned out so she decides to randomly pick an Audrey Hepburn movie and follow its path. The movie is When in Rome so she picks the nearest city called Rome to visit. Her car ends up breaking down in front of Noah’s house. I definitely had a few laugh out loud moments when they first met! Noah wants to try and help while Amelia is naturally skeptical since she ditched her security team and left without notifying anyone.

The rest of the book follows Amelia and Noah while Amelia is on her vacation. I enjoyed the dynamic between Amelia and Noah. While this is a quick read the pacing is nice and makes this an easy read to dive into and enjoy. Definitely worth the read if you want something quick, cute and has good humor!

I can't even count the number of times I was laughing out loud while reading this book. It was just that funny!

This is my third book by Sarah Adams that I have read, and I am so excited to read all the rest of her books. She is an amazing writer and knows how to tell a wonderful story.

Amelia Rose is a famous singer that is tired of her life, so in the spur of the moment, she drives off to the small town of Rome, Kentucky (it was closer than Italy), where she finds herself on Noah Walker's front lawn.

This book was like Taylor Swift goes to Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls. There were definitely a couple of Gilmore Girl references in here, so if you are a fan, you will love this book. I have no idea why Amelia reminded me so much of Taylor Swift, but for whatever reason, she did.

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)

Alright. Call me cynical & picky, but I thought this was just okay. I walked into this with high hopes that this would be a big win for me—but instead it was just a small “thanks for participating” feeling I got. It was cute! Don’t get me wrong! But nothing entirely noteworthy to me.

Amelia “Rae” Rose is famous pop star with, of course, a classic niche-cute-girl obsession with Audrey Hepburn. One night after too much stardom burnout, our hero decides to relive the Roman Holiday & take a drive to the nearest Rome to her: Rome, Kentucky. BUT WHAT’S THIS, DEAR READER? HER CAR CRASHES? IN THE LAWN OF A SEXY, GRUMPY, PIE SHOP OWNER NAMED NOAH WHO LETS HER STAY THE WHOLE WHILE WHILE HER CAR IS WORKED ON? WHO HAS BEEN SCORNED BY A PAST LOVE WHO WAS ALSO A BIG SHOT OF SORTS? Color me SHOCKED. & it’s all downhill from their, folks.

The story was FINE. It was cute & nice & cheesy & all that good stuff, but it just lacked for me. It also moved like quicker than I normally like?? Even though our main couple was so VEHEMENTLY trying not to do anything, annoyingly enough. It was very gaslight-y to me of both of them—ESPECIALLY NOAH. HE JUST KEPT DOING THE “I CAN’T…BUT I MUST” internal monologue (& even dialogue). I felt BAD for Amelia!! Like this man cannot make up his mind!! I did like that Amelia found her freedom & restored her relationship with her mom, & overall the romance was sweet, but meh. Also, I was shocked that this was a closed door romance!! I wasn’t expecting it!! & there’s nothing wrong with it, but I actually felt like for all their combined sexual frustration it felt a little unfulfilled without ANY spice, y’know?

It’s 2.5 ⭐️ for me! I rounded up cause I thought this might just all be me & my preferences talking! Thanks so much to NetGalley & Random House publishing for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts! 💛

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I don’t read a lot of books that are so close to my home- as I live an hour from both Nashville and Rome, KY. Now that I see the author is born and raised in Nashville, I completely understand how she portrayed a small Kentucky town so well. She too remembers not so long ago when everywhere around here was a quaint little town.

I’ve never seen Roman Holiday, but I enjoy that this was a noted take on the movie. Maybe I need some more Audrey in my life. I definitely need more Sarah Adams. I love that this feels like a stand alone, but I wouldn’t hate to find out what happens to the other Walker sisters in the future.

This clean and wholesome romance novel was the perfect palate cleanser.

"Too many sensations mingle in that small touch, and when he doesn't immediately remove his finger from mine after they're finally resting on the counter, my heart gives out. I flatline. Someone get the stretcher."

Meet Amelia, a Taylor Swift caliber singer, who has become lost inside her celebrity identity, Rae Rose. She escapes her overbearing manager and mooching mom in Nashville to have her very own Roman Holiday... in Rome, Kentucky, that is. Her car breaks down en route, and she finds herself in the hands of Noah, the local pie shop owner who interestingly doesn't even like pie. This cellphone-less, WiFi-less man makes one thing clear: romance is off the table. But, I think we all know where this is going...

"I like controlling the part of me that Amelia gets to know, and if she came in here, it would be a slippery slope to telling her everything."

But it's not just Noah she finds in Rome. She also grows close with the tight-knit community that gives the story its charm.

By chapter 6, I was in love with Amelia and Noah. This book, which is filled with pop culture references for any Millennial/Gen X reader: Oscar the Grouch, Risky Business, Signs, floor is lava, Jason Bourne, and Backstreet Boys, to name just a few. Also, is it just me, or does Rome, Kentucky, remind anyone else of Stars Hollow?

I finished this in a day because it was an easy read and I had to know if Noah would meet the same fate as Roman Holiday's Gregory Peck.

Read this if you're in the mood for:
-Hallmark romance (fade to black)
-dual POV
-celebrity romance
-escape from reality
-grumpy-sunshine
-small-town romance

Note to the author: If you write novels for each of the Walker sisters, count me in.

Note to publisher: I found a typo, location 571: "It's clear that James is not going to stop pushing if I don't give him what WE wants."

If you’re av fan of sunshine city girl goes to small town and meets a grumpy guy, you’re gonna LOVE this.

This story follows our main character Amelia, who’s a city girl and pop star. She ends up in Rome, Kentucky where her car brakes down. But luckily for her, it brakes down right in-front of Noah’s house.

This book had me GIGGLING at 3am. If I were to describe it in one word it would have to be “Butterflies” 🦋
It was also SO funny, I was LIVING for the banter. I was laughing out loud on multiple occasions.

Something I really liked about this book was the communication the characters had with each other. If there was something wrong, they spoke about it, and that was really refreshing to see.
I also loved the family aspect of it. You get to see from both the characters Pov what their family relationships are like (and please can they adopt me? AHHH)

Would I recommend it? YES
This was my first Sarah Adams book, but it definitely won’t be my last!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

All the sweetness and charm that you expect when you dive into a Sarah Adams book. With a nod to Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, and their timeless classic, Roman Holiday. Sarah gave us a gift of a small-town romance filled with lots of heart.

Amelia and Noah are polar opposites and they work so well together, a grumpy/sunshine pairing that made me smile every time they shared the page. Noah’s sisters are great supporting characters, Mrs. Mabel is a gem, and the rest of the town rounded out so nicely in the background.

Amelia’s search for identity and purpose outside of her fame and what she can provide for people was poignant and emotional. As she and Noah open up to each other and share their hearts, they grow together and learn to love.

My favorite thing about a Sarah Adams romance is that I don’t have to worry about a third-act breakup; the conflict exists outside of the relationship, these characters that have become so beloved have to work together to overcome it, growing in the process. I’ll be honest, I knew it was a nod to Roman Holiday going into it, and that made me nervous because of how RH ends…but Sarah delivered on the ending.

When in Rome is a small-town romance where the two main characters have opposite lifestyles but instantly fall attracted to one another. Amelia and Noah have great banter and chemistry. It doesn't get too steamy, but you'll definitely feel butterflies and catch the feels for these two. It's told in dual pov so you get to learn about what the two characters are thinking and feeling about the same situation which is satisfying as a reader. Additionally, there are fun side characters from Noah's sisters to the townspeople in Rome. Overall I enjoyed this easy read and would recommend for anyone looking for a sweet getaway :)

As far as story-line and plot....this is a solid 5 star book. It was a bit steamy for me, while there was nothing explicit, it was more than I normally read as far as romance and language. I like stories with no pre-marital intimacy. That being said, I realize those are personal preferences.
Aside from those things the story was great. The main characters, their interactions with each other and the rest of the town, their personal struggles and trying to find a way together when it seemed so impossible were all well written and completely relateable.
I can say as far as the story line goes, there isn't anything I would change about it.
I'm not sure if this is intended to be a stand alone novel, but Noah's sisters seem like the perfect characters for some more stories based out of Rome!