This is one of the Rome, Kentucky books and I absolutely adored it! The characters are very personal and loveable and I loved the setting of the story. Can't wait to read the rest in the series. Highly recommend!

Amelia Rose needed a break. She had been promoting her latest album and getting ready for her upcoming tour until she couldn’t think any more. She was burned out and shut down and she needed to get away. So with a little help from her favorite actor, Audrey Hepburn, she pointed her car to the nearest Rome to get a holiday. But she didn’t get far before her car broke down. Sitting in the front yard of a stranger, with no cell phone reception, she’s not sure what to do.

Noah Walker looks out at the woman sitting in the car in his front yard, and he’s not sure what to do. She won’t get out of the car. He’s tried talking to her, and she’ll respond, so she’s okay. But she won’t let him help her. He decides to call Mabel to act as a character witness, so maybe he can get this woman out of her car. He hands his phone over to the woman and lets Mabel do her magic. Amelia agrees to get out of the car, and that’s when he realizes who she is. The woman whose car broke down in his front yard is pop star Rae Rose.

They can’t do anything about her car until the next morning, so he invites her to stay the night in his guest room. But Noah calls the local auto shop to get her car towed in and fixed. He makes her pancakes for breakfast, and her use his landline, so she can call her manager and let her know what happened. But Amelia refuses to go back to Nashville, needing some time to clear her head. Her manager isn’t happy with her, but there are still a couple of weeks before Amelia needs to pack up for the tour. She agrees to let Amelia have her time there, but she is clearly not happy about it.

Noah tries to find another place for Amelia to stay, but there is nothing available, so he agrees to let Amelia stay in his guest room. And as the weeks go by, and Amelia meets more of the residents of Rome, Kentucky, she falls in love with the small town. Noah has three sisters who take her out, and she has a great time, until she falls asleep on them. She tries to make Noah’s pancakes and nearly burns down his house. And when they start flirting with each other, the sparks fly fast and hot.

But Amelia is leaving soon, and Noah is still recovering from the last big city woman who broke his heart, so neither are looking for a relationship. But will they be able to convince their hearts of that, or will their feelings override their best intentions at protecting their hearts?

When in Rome is a sweet rom com about finding the ones who really care about you in a world filled with selfish people. It celebrates the simple, small town life and the love of family while letting these characters be true to who they are.

I listened to When in Rome on audio, and narrators Karissa Vacker and Andrew Eiden brought the heat and the snark to their character’s voices. I thought Vacker did a particularly good job making Amelia strong yet vulnerable, and Eiden got Noah’s protective vibe just right.

I loved the sweetness of When in Rome, and while there were moments verging on too much, I thought it was well balanced and so much fun. I did have some skepticism about Amelia’s tour and how it all fell into place with her being out of town, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief because I liked this story so, so much.

Egalleys for When in Rome were provided by Dell through NetGalley, with many thanks, but I bought the audio myself through Chirp Books.

Read if you love
- small town romance
- grumpy x sunshine
- celebrity romance
- closed door romance
- kicking your feet giggling 🤭

I loved this book! The story was, as always with a Sarah Adams novel, just perfect. A great balance to keep me reading and interested the entire time!

I love Sarah Adams and this book further confirmed it. So cute and swoony. The small town setting was delightful. I loved meeting all of the characters in the town and I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

It was mildly humourous throughout. But the male MC felt too "perfect" most of the time and made it hard to imagine.

Sarah Adams always writes the sweetest romances, and When in Rome was no exception! Amelia was such a relatable heroine. Despite her fame, she was just a woman feeling tired and alone, and looking for her Audrey Hepburn movie-worthy Roman Holiday. Noah grew on my with his heart of gold hidden under the gruff exterior, and the whole town was so charming!

I did feel like the middle dragged on too long, and I just felt like the whole plotline of Amelia and Noah's relationship being impossibe because of their differences of circumstances and goals felt overdone. But the ending was sweet.

I absolutely fell in love with these characters and their world. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

I voluntarily reviewed this book.

I really loved the cheat sheet so I was really excited for this one and while I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it either. It was just a very average romcom that was readable but not super memorable.

Cute and entertaining romance that kept me entertained enough to finish but not adore enough to re-read. The first half was great, the pacing, the banter but towards the end it started to drag. It had the makings of all of fav romances. Grumpy/Sunshine, Small town romance, Celeb romance! I think part of the issue was it was too insta-love for me which that and the pregnancy trope are always my two dealbreakers. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and while I didn’t love it, I will definitely be checking out more books by Sarah Adams.

Absolutely loved this book! I started and finished it within 24 hours. I couldn’t put it down. I’ve been a long time fan of Sarah adams and she out do’s herself with every new release!!!!

This was so good! I read the second one in the series first (Practices Makes Perfect) earlier this year and while I have to say I loved that one even more, it was so nice to get to have an introduction to the sweet little town of Rome, Kentucky. Amelia and Noah are such great characters and everything about this book is so fun.

This was such a fun romance! I loved the relationship between the 2 M.C.'s and how down to earth they both were. Will definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you @netgalley for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very very short review, but it's because I LOVED absolutely everything about this book! I loved that it has the grumpy/sunshine trope, small town charm, the bickering between Mr. Grumpy and his sisters, Amelia+Noah forever, and did I mention pancakes & pie?!? Everything about this book is worth reading. I loved it so much and if you haven't read this already, then what are you doing?

Amelia's a pop star who feels more like a singing mannequin posed to suit everyone else's needs than a real person. She escapes the suffocating enclosure her life has become to catch a breath before her grueling concert schedule takes over next month. Small town Rome, Kentucky welcomes her just like a more famous Rome once welcomed Amelia's idol Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.

Noah, pie maker and curmudgeon, first hosts Amelia because her car breaks down right outside his house. It transpires that there's no room in the inn (Bed and Breakfast)... or so the proprietress says. But she's also essentially Noah's godmother, and the stench of meddling is strong. Noah's been refusing to date the last few years since a colossal, fiery trash heap of a breakup. The whole town of Rome can't seem to help giving advice or seeking gossip about his nonexistent love life.

The story follows a grumpy/sunshine formula with a side helping of forced proximity. At first, Noah's determination to not get involved with someone again, ESPECIALLY an out-of-towner who will just leave anyway, is the main barrier to romance. Next, the reality of a pop star potentially dating a man without a cell phone, wifi, or a desire to leave home creates a compelling reason for our two leads to deny or at least lock down their feelings. Be aware that it's a slow burn leading to a closed door, which I find a very annoying combination. The characters' Scrabble games and pancake cooking won me over, and I was relieved not to do battle with an annoying final act breakup. Instead, the author opts for a more consistent level of tension throughout, not waiting to dump a maelstrom of emotions in the final hour.

Beyond the fact that steam was reduced to one character literally using the phrase "nudge nudge wink wink" as a summary, I was indifferent to the romance in comparison to my investment in Amelia's journey. There's a fascinating plot about who has control of her life and what that means for her mental health. It's always a red flag for me in a romance if I find myself less invested in the love story than I am in some other element (equal adoration for all parts is preferred). The other problem I had wasn't about the romance. The small-town vibes were a little too idyllic for me as if nothing nasty or underhanded could happen there. Naturally, it's paired with a complete lack of queer people and only a token Black lady to round out an otherwise white cast. While there's nothing explicitly harmful in the book, the lack of diversity is stark when paired with the approach to the setting.

When in Rome will delight small-town romance fans and those who love a largely squeaky-clean romance (see: closed door and a tally system to curtail cussing). It has a thoughtful side plot about fame and control as well as a nice, homey vibe. Thanks to Random House for my copy to read and review!

I really enjoyed the small-town vibe of this story, where everyone knows everything about everyone else and can be a hard meddler but they will watch each other's back if an outsider comes and tries to disrupt the lives of one of their own. Meeting the side characters of the town, from other shop owners to Noah's sisters felt fun.

I found Noah and Amelia's story to be rather cute - I'm a big fan of grumpy and sunshine, so reading their banter back and forth as their relationship developed was a cozy read for me. I did feel like the pacing of their relationship was a bit odd however - most of the book takes place over the course of a weekend and they went from attempting to hold back and instating rules that they couldn't touch each other for fear of their attraction taking over to admitting that they loved each other.

My main critique of this book is that there are sections where the quality of the descriptions seems variable, to the point where the characters seem much younger than they actually were. Some of the phrases used made me think that they might have been teenagers had it not been already established how old the characters were. I did feel like I had to power through those sections, and had they continued on, I might not have completed the book.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell, and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a cute, enjoyable rom-com even though it doesn’t stray far from the predictable. I liked the small town setting and the celebrity girl/regular guy trope. Amelia and Noah's banter was really fun. I found it refreshing that the population of Rome, KY didn't treat the celebrity in their midst any differently than they would anyone else and LOL'd at their efforts to protect her from the paparazzi - so great! Overall, the whole thing really worked well for me.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This was cute and, at times, sickly sweet. I liked it more at the beginning than the middle/end. The main character, Rae/Amelia, is a famous singer obsessed with Audrey Hepburn so there are many references and quotes from her movies; I did not enjoy this aspect, as it was a bit overkill and very repetitive. Rae/Amelia gets herself stranded in Rome, KY and meets Noah, a grumpy pie shop owner whose heart is as soft and sweet as his baked goods, even though he plays incredibly hard to get. Rae/Amelia is a pretty annoying flirt in my opinion, and I got tired of her banter with Noah. It just started to feel like a broken record and an unbelievable circumstance that the town protected her privacy and no one from Nashville located her sooner. I liked the juicy twist at the end, so at least it ended on a somewhat strong note. Overall, it was a fun read, but I'm left feeling exhausted by the characters constant back and forth.

I have had Sarah Adams' books ony TBR for awhile now, and I finally started reading them. I wish I had picked them up earlier because this was such a fun, sweet story.

Amelia is a world famous pop star, but deep down she is lonely and lost. She just needs a break from her life and winds up in the small town of Rome, Kentucky. The very first person she meets is Noah and I loved the two of them together! Their banter, nicknames, and the chemistry they shared were all amazing. They each had their reservations as to why a relationship wouldn't work and I loved the pacing of their relationship development. She wasn't in town for a very long time, but nothing felt insta-love or rushed. Instead it really felt like they formed a real, deep connection.

Sarah also did a fantastic job creating a town full of entertaining and interesting secondary characters. I can't wait to read more in this series!

"When in Rome" by Sarah Adams is a charming and heartwarming novel that immerses readers in a journey of self-discovery, romance, and the beauty of new beginnings. Adams' storytelling prowess shines as she crafts a tale of adventure, love, and the exploration of different paths in life. The book's relatable characters and engaging plot create an immersive reading experience that resonates with fans of romance and women's fiction. Adams skillfully weaves together themes of personal growth, friendship, and the magic of unexpected connections, adding depth to the narrative. "When in Rome" is a delightful reminder that life's twists and turns often lead to the most meaningful experiences, leaving readers with a warm and contented feeling as they accompany the characters on their journey of discovery, love, and embracing the unknown.