One word: Noah.

Ok, maybe I do have more than one word. The setup to this lovely book is pulled from the movie Roman Holiday but with a twist. Pop star Rae Rose needs a well deserved mental health break and decides to go to Rome- Rome, Kentucky that is. Convenitently, our MC ends up on the lawn of non other than the small-town, gorgeous yet grumpy, pie baker Noah Walker. Rae, whose real name is Amelia, has an instant connection with the quiet and incredibley kind Noah, and so our journey begins.

The small-town of Rome, Kentucky lent itself to an amazing setting full of eccentric side characters who really brought this place to life. Through a dual POV, we are gifted with reading the story through the eyes of both Amelia and Noah. Their tension is palpable from both sides and sizzles just enough, even behind closed doors.

Amelia's character growth was also an important part of the book. She finds herself adrift, unsure of what she is doing and wants out of life. She has become so used to hiding behind a mask that she is not sure who exactly she is anymore. Her time away from her manager and the industry allows her the room to grow, as does Noah and his baking lessons. Both Rome and Noah bring out the best in her and ultimately help her grow into herself.

Overall, this book was like one big, warm hug. The small-town romance meets pop star added something different to the usual trope and the characters were the icing on the cake...or maybe in this case, the syrup on the pancakes.

When in Rome do as Audrey would do

When in Rome is a delightful rom-com that will leave you laughing and in love by the end. Amelia or Rae Rose as she is known by her fans has lost the passion she held in her music career that she had burning before she became famous. Looking back at her love of Audrey Hepburn and the freedom Princess Anne had in "Roman Holiday", Amelia takes a detour before her big nine-month tour to Rome…Rome, Kentucky that is. There she not only finds her spark but love in a grumpy pie maker named Noah, *swoon*. I well and truly loved everything about this, plus we had dual pop’s done flawlessly!! This was my second Sarah Adams book after the Off Limits Rule and I would without a doubt read more by her.

I have been a huge fan of old movies since I was a kid Audrey Hepburn especially, I had a huge selection of her films on DVD that I love to break out when I need a little pick me up or just to relish in the time and the beauty of Audrey herself and the cast of characters she portrays.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Penguin for an eArc in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
Spice: high on the tension, fade to black 🌶
Troupe: Celebrity (FMC), Grumpy Sunshine

When in Rome- book review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“𝗧𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗮. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗻. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂”

I read this book so fast, started at 5pm and finished at midnight. Amelia Rose, a famous pop star, is burnt out from years of portraying the perfect pop image. She is inspired by her favorite movie Roman Holdiay, so she gets in her car and drive through the night to Rome….or the closest she can get which is Rome,Kentucky.

Noah Walker finds Amelia in his front heard with a broken down car, and no where to go. He has no intentions or time for a relationship running his grandmothers pie shop. Despite all this, he lets her stay in his guest house while her car is getting fixed.

Noah starts to realize he missed judge Amelia, and sees a different side of her. This goofy, fun loving girl who has been lonely for years. He can’t help but feel a pull towards her, but after his last relationship Noah has taken himself off the market.

Amelia helps open up Noah’s broke heart, while he helps heal this loneliness inside her, but just like the movie eventually Audrey had to leave Rome….

This book is the perfect combination of grumpy-sunshine, forced proximity, small town romance. It checked all the boxes for me!

This book is set to release September 2022, and I highly recommend this to all rom com lovers!

Thank you NetGallery and Random House Publishing for this sweet as powder sugar arc in exchange for a honest review.

So so cute!!! Amelia, a pop star, breaks down in the front yard of Rome, Kentucky native, Noah Walker. Amelia, or Rae Rose, is trying to be off the grid and take a break before her 9 month tour starts up. Noah Walker has no time for distractions with taking car of his sisters, checking in on his grandma, and running the pie shop that she left him. He lets Amelia stay in his guest room thinking it will be one night and her car can be fixed the next day, but it turns out to be two weeks. Noah and Amelia start to form a friendship, and they can't help but develop feelings for each other, but Amelia will have to leave soon and Noah can't handle someone else not staying in Rome. I loved this and seeing how they formed a friendship first. His sisters were so cute getting attached to Amelia, but Adams showed character growth through them trying to let someone else in and how they all did that in different ways.

My review will be live on instagram @annas.book.reviews the week of May 15th and I will review on amazon on publication day.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting this new book by Sarah Adams (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors) it did not disappoint! I loved the premise of the story I couldn’t help but picture a brunette Taylor Swift taking a break from her chaotic life to find love in a small town in the middle of no where. Such a great idea and Sarah is a master of creating chemistry with her characters! With so many laugh out loud moments and so much whitty banter, I loved this book so so much!

Wow. This book just became my favorite book by Sarah Adams! I loved the sarcastic remarks between Noah and Amelia, the bantering between the elderly women in the book, and the relationship between Noah's sisters. I found myself either laughing out loud or smiling to myself while reading this book. I felt that even though Amelia is a pop star, she was very relatable. I easily fell in love with Noah by then end of the first chapter with his hard exterior but soft and kind personality. I definitely recommend this book and give it five out of five stars!

4.5 stars for this one…this is everything you expect from Sarah Adams, a sweet hug of a love story! This one throws in celebrity with average joe, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine and a lovely nosy little small town! The flirting between the two MCs was so sweet and pure it had me cheesing in the best possible way!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this ARC!

I had trouble getting through this book, it was almost a DNF for me. I found the premise to be cheesy and not very believable, and unfortunately the writing and the character development didn’t do much to redeem it.

Who drives into a strange man’s front yard and then spends the night alone in his house?! The romance with Noah felt very rushed and insta-lovey. Usually when I read a book there are some quotes or lines that stand out to me. This didn’t have any. The writing was overly descriptive and juvenile.

Overall a light, fluffy read I just didn’t find engaging.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this early. All opinions are my own.

I LOVED this book. Amelia, was relatable/funny/thoughtful and Noah was grumpy but so charming. I loved Noah's sisters and i liked the relationship he had with them. I also loved the small town they were in. I devoured this book in one day and would definitely recommend to others.

Wow. This book was so perfect! First of all, the cover is beautiful, and I was shocked to see that the book is in fact, not set in Italy, but In Kentucky!! It is one of my favorite tropes; grumpy/sunshine. The main character grew so much, as did the other characters. This book felt like a big hug. I recommend to everyone!!

This book was the perfect distraction at the airport and on my flight to Aruba!! Sarah Adams just has the best way to make my heart swell with her adorable plots and swoon-worthy book boyfriends.

A family-loving, pie-baking, hero-in-disguise.. Noah just made my heart happy. How he always goes the extra steps to make sure that Amelia feels safe and protected. He’s literally perfection.

Although it may be a little cliche, celebrity escaping to a small town when the pressure builds up, I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Adams has perfected the fade to black scenes which also were a highlight for me. Add this one to your list!

In this grumpy/sunshine story, Amelia, better known as Rae Rose, the "princess of pop," and her complete opposite, Noah Walker, find themselves spending time together. After Amelia takes off on her own twist of Audrey Hepburn's film, Roman Holiday, she winds up in Noah's tiny hometown of Rome, Kentucky. Her car literally broke down in his front yard.

With his battered heart and quiet lifestyle, Noah struggles with his feelings toward the goofy and endearing, not at all a diva, Amelia. Amelia is falling for Noah, but she knows how the movie ends. She will have to return to her pop star life and head out on a 9-month international tour once her quick getaway ends.

This book was a delightful and quick weekend read. I enjoyed the main characters and absolutely fell in love with all the citizens of the small town of Rome, Kentucky. The entire cast was endearing, and the town perfectly captured the epitome of small-town life. Amelia's character tugged at the heartstrings. She was famous yet still humble. She was searching to find her way back from "Rae Rose" to Amelia, the girl she used to be. She wanted to rediscover herself and begin to love music again. I loved how her character finds her voice and changes throughout the story. I enjoyed watching Amelia and Noah's romance develop. With his broken heart and family loyalty, grumpy Noah also showed significant character growth throughout the story. This slow-burn, opposites-attract love story was fun to read. The story flowed well from start to finish, and the ending was perfect. This is an excellent choice if you love a feel-good, down-to-earth romance!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell, and the author for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

I only recently started to read Sarah Adam's novels and let me tell you, I quickly read many of her books in a row. When I found out that NetGalley gave me a copy of this new novel I dropped everything on my TBR and picked up this book straight away. I always love a cute rom-com and this book fits in that genre perfectly. I have been obsessed with small town trope books lately and this one showed small town life perfectly. I couldn't have imagined a better read for this weekend. I will definitely pick up this book again!

Such a cute, sweet, and easy read! I’ve enjoyed other books from Sarah Adams and the cover was so fun, I knew it would be a winner. Very easy to read and the characters are all very fun and likable. However I felt like there was too much extraneous information and parts of the book that could have been left out. It dragged on a little in the beginning and I wanted it to speed up a little. I loved the bantering between the two main characters and laughed out loud a couple of times. I recommend this if you are looking for a feel-good, closes door romance based in a small town with a hallmark feel!

Spice 🌶/5 not very spicy, more of a sweet romance!
Language 🤐/5 I don’t remember reading any foul language outside of words like d*mn

This is one of my favorite authors, and this book was so nice to read. Small Town, grumpy man and sunshine girl, and witty banter. The book had so many layers, and emotionally, you start to feel for each character. I want books for each of the sisters, and I want to know all about the side characters in the small town! Sweet story, closed door romance with lots of sizzle :)

Ahhh! I was super excited going into this one because I absolutely adored The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams. And let me say, this one did not disappoint!
This one is about Amelia, who is an international pop star who needs a break from her busy life. She ends up in Rome, Kentucky and to her surprise meets Noah, a very attractive pie shop owner. But not only does she fall for Noah, she also falls for the small town of Rome.
I loved Noah, he was the perfect grumpy hero with a heart of gold. I also loved his sisters and their family dynamic.
Was this the most original rom com I've read? No. Did I love it anyways? Yes I most certainly did. The best way I am able to describe this book, is a warm hug. I felt so cozy and happy reading this one.

- Acquaintances to lovers
- Small town setting
- Grumpy & sunshine

This book was exactly what I hoped it would be! Amelia and Noah are both adorable characters. Who can resist the adorable meet and the slow burn of the growing romance? Cute plot and witty banter made the story fun. The small town friends and neighbors help create the perfect setting. Heavy emphasis on Audrey Hepburn and "Roman Holiday" but I am not complaining.
Pretty tame on the spice factor (2/5).

Definitely interested in reading more from Sarah Adams!

When is Rome is a wonderful contemporary romance, with great characters and such a fun premise. Rae Rose, real name Amelia, is a pop star who needs a break. She "runs away" to the small town of Rome, KY only to end up stuck there with car trouble, reliant on local pie shop owner Noah Walker. Noah is bruised and hurt from a past relationship gone wrong, so swears he will not fall for Amelia, but the connection between the two of them is instant and undeniable.

I loved the sunshine / grumpy trope playing out between Amelia and Noah. The book is dual POV, so the reader gets to see inside both character's heads, which is always fun because it feels like you are in on a secret that the main characters don't know yet.

The slow-building romance is tension filled in the best way possible. The steam is closed-door and non-graphic, yet it satisfies. Sarah Adams' writing of how the characters fall for one another and why they're attracted to each other is delicious.

Noah's family (sisters, and feisty grandmother Mabel) add a lot to the book and help round out both characters. I loved the way the sisters banter with Noah, and quickly accept Amelia into their orbit.

Without any spoilers, I can say there is a happily ever after, but it takes some twists and turns to get there. When in Rome is the first book I've read by this author, and now I'm frantically added all of her previous works to my TBR! Do not miss this one when it releases this fall!

This is such a beautiful romcom by an incredible author!! LOL worthy and relatable characters in a vivid setting. Full review linked.

Sarah Adams, you’ve done it again. I absolutely loved this book. I caught myself smiling at my kindle on more than one occasion. This book gave me everything I love, romance, comedy, and a small-town. I really enjoyed the dual POV of Noah and Amelia. Although, I do wish there was an epilogue.. I found myself left with unanswered questions and hopeful for a sequel? 😉