I love Sarah Adams' books. I have read every single one. The Match still remains my favorite but this one is like a warm hug. I love the small town setting and enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes.. I don't know how she does it, but all of her books are so happy and amazing. I need more!

When In Rome - Releasing September 20, 2022

Easily my favorite Sarah Adams book. When In Rome is a grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity book that had me hooked from the first few pages. Amelia Rose is a pop star (known to the world as Rae Rose) who is about to go on tour and feels like she’s drowning under the pressure and isolation of being famous. After taking a page out of her idol Audrey Hepburn’s book, Amelia packs her car and takes off for the closest Rome she can find - Rome, Kentucky. She’s just minutes from her destination when her car breaks down. Right in the front yard of Rome, Kentucky’s resident grump, Noah Walker.

Noah is back living in his hometown of Rome after having his heart broken. He is determined to stay away from women and love in general, but when Amelia’s car breaks down in his front yard, his southern hospitality takes over, and he lets Amelia stay in his guest room. While both of them are determined to ignore the attraction to each other, knowing that Amelia will need to leave as soon as her car is ready, they can’t seem to stay away from each other.

I know a lot of people aren’t big fans of fade to black romance, but Sarah Adams is 100% a must read author for me. Sarah brings the chemistry to life in her books, and I’m so invested in her characters and plot that I don’t even miss the steamy scenes. I’ve read a few of Sarah’s books but When In Rome is easily my favorite. An absolute 5 ⭐️ read for me!

Fun and fast read. A popular singer (Rae aka Amelia) decides to escape her busy celebrity lifestyle and drive herself to a small town for a few days away out of the spotlight and away from her overbearing music manager. Of course she happens to have a road trip mishap while on her Audrey Hepburn inspired “Roman Holiday” and ends up stranded in her broken down car, conveniently on the edge of Rome (the small town — in Kentucky). The local dude Noah… kind-yet-grumpy, burned-by-his-ex, loved-his-grandma, owns-his-grandma’s-Pie-Store… comes to help this lovely lady stranded on the road in front of his house and convinces her he is a stand-up guy who will not harm her. (Oh and of course, he is attractive.) She ends up staying the night at his house. Witty banter ensues and Amelia enjoys small town protection from paparazzi media while wondering if maybe she deserves love from this unlikely man in this unlikely place. If you’re looking for a fun, fast read, put this book on your list when it’s published in September 2022. Thanks to Netgalley for the eARC opportunity.

A very light, sweet romance with some classic tropes: grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, in love with a celeb. I could easily see this being made into a Hallmark/Lifetime movie.

I absolutely loved this book! I appreciated that it genuinely made me laugh. I loved the nicknames Amelia had for Noah. Definitely recommend this book!

This is a contemporary take on Audrey Hepburn's Roman Holiday set in Rome, Kentucky with amazing side characters.

Amelia Rae Rose is a pop star named Rae Rose who is obsessed with Audrey Hepburn.
Parallel to Roman Holiday, she ran away from her life as a pop star to a small town called Rome, Kentucky.

Did she have to take her old ass car? No, but she did because she needed to meet Mr. Grumpy, Noah.
I love the people of this town especially Mrs. Mabel. This meddling old lady stole a piece of my heart.
"I changed your diapers!" You tell him Mrs. Mabel!

Amelia started with a dual personality. Rae the pop star and Amelia the lonely girl. As she found herself, she became more confident and I love her growth.

I love that instead of a 3rd act conflict between the 2 leads, we get a twist. I actually really look for this in my romance novels. Yes, Noah had to be confronted by his sister about their trauma, it was hardly a conflict.

The way Noah mentally prepares himself when he walks to his Pie Shop because of all the meddling town folks just cracks me up.
This book is the perfect wholesome summer read.
I say wholesome because if you're looking for spicy read, this is not your book. Look elsewhere.

4/5 stars overall
1/5 stars for spice

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

This is the second book I have read from Sarah Adams and it was wholesome and sweet. I felt like she did a great job of building the tension between our main characters but the payoff wasn't as great as I'd hope it would be. Not all in all a bad book, great setting and loved all the lively characters.

ACTUALLY OBSESSED

I loved this book so much. It was cute, fun, and paced perfectly. There was never a dull moment. I finished this book in less than a day, and I will be bullying people into reading this. Here are some tropes in this book: forced proximity, sunshine x grumpy, celeb x non-celeb, and reluctant love. SHOW-STOPPING.

Between Noah's tight-knit family and close community, this book had great supporting characters. They kept the plot moving. SHOUTOUT TO MY MA'AM MABEL. I love her.

There was even a PLOT TWIST in this book?! Love that for us. It made sense and brought the story together. And, drumroll please, NO UNNECESSARY 3RD ACT CONFLICT!! That's a win for anyone reading romance if I do say so myself.

Everyone in this book was just so loveable that I was rolling on the floor and low-key appreciating my own small town (even though we are not that small, at all). I loved Noah and Amelia so much. They were just the cutest. Noah in his small-town baker glory and Amelia in her pure-heart famous person looking for what she's missing ARE PERFECT.

THANKS, NETGALLEY AND ST. MARTINS FOR THE ARC, I LOVE YOU

When In Rome is a cute, modern take on Roman Holiday. From the beginning, I was getting a grown up version of the Hannah Montana movie which I love. Amelia is a pop star who desperately needs a break from her starlet lifestyle and ends up in Rome, Kentucky. There she meets Noah, a slightly grumpy owner of a pie store and several classic small town characters.

While I enjoyed this book, I wouldn’t describe it as a “must-read” to a friend. The couple had some chemistry, but there was something lacking for me in their “insta-love.” I enjoyed the support of the other characters in the small town, but felt that the events were very predictable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity yo read this eARC.

sarah adams always delivers a butterflies inducing, smile to yourself romance book and when in rome exceeds all expectations. the banter between noah and amelia was everything and i loved the slow burn build up to them!!

Who doesn’t love a Hallmark worthy rom-com about a burnt out pop star who takes an impromptu vacation to a small town, her car breaks down in a hot man’s yard, and then she’s in close proximity to said man while her car gets fixed? I’m in love. Oh, did I mention he is very grumpy, beloved by the whole town, and owns his family’s pie shop? This book made me laugh out loud (ponds, pancakes, playful banter — IYKYK) and made my heart swell with joy. The writing style was more informal and internal dialogue than I typically notice in similar books, but I dig it! It made the story more fun to read and had me wheeze laughing regularly throughout the book. This story was light, quippy, fun, and had dual POVs. The book had a lot of tension, but was not explicitly spicy; it was a sweet, slow burn that makes this book a perfect summer read.

If you've seen Roman Holiday and you think this sounds familiar? It's because it's Roman Holiday. And in case you missed it, they tell you it's like Roman Holiday. If any of that sounds like a bad thing, please stop reading now....


NOW for the rest of you. This was adorable and the interactions were great. If you enjoy stories from both character perspectives with some cute small town interactions? This is a wonderful escape and an absolute treat.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

What happens when one of your all time favorite movies and favorite authors collide? A grumpy gummy bear combo of a love story that you smile the whole way through!
I absolutely loved Noah and Amelia…loved his surly pose and her complete inability to make pancakes…and every moment between. Their story full of laughter, chemistry, adorableness, love and heart…with a cute as a button setting that makes me want to pack my bags and visit and the most fun side characters who made me wish I could join in on their games of Hearts! (I personally really hope there will be stories for his sisters and James…preferably a story about James AND one of his sisters 😆❤️)

Adams doesn’t know how to write a bad romcom and this one was another great addition to her collection. ❤️

Sarah Adams cannot write a bad book, I'm absolutely convinced.

When in Rome was a cute and quick romance read, the perfect cure for any book slump or when you need that perfect cute, small-town romance. I know others have mentioned it but this little town, where everyone knows your business is giving Starshollow vibes.

Let's talk about the basics, overworked pop star decides to take her life into her own hands and get a break from it all, her love for Audrey Hepburn leads her to Rome, Kentucky. Her car breaks down in the middle of the night in front of the grumpy/closed-off small-town guy. With a broken-down car that won't be fixed for two weeks and the local B&B now suddenly full Noah begrudgingly lets Amelia stay in his guest room.

I without hesitation recommend this book and any other book from Sarah.

rating: 4.5 STARS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
genre: romance, women's fiction
steam: PG-13 (fade to black)
pub date: 9/20/22

I just finished this book moments ago & here are the things I know:
• I need a piece of pie STAT.
• Senior citizens in romance novels are one of my favorite things.
• I should not have judged all of Sarah Adams based on my dislike of friends-to-lovers in The Cheat Sheet.

This book felt like a warm hug - a delicious & comfortable easy read that will make you want to run away to a small-town in the South and make best friends with everyone on Main Street. I absolutely could not get enough of Noah's sisters & their immediate adopting of Amelia (who, now that I think about it, was probably one of the only other people in town their age - everyone else seemed to be well into their senior years).

Other things I liked:
✨ Found family trope! If you follow my reviews, you know that I love a good found family. And you could tell from the early pages that Amelia was on the verge of finding hers in this book! Finally people who liked HER and not just Rae.
✨ I never thought I'd say this, but I really enjoyed the fade-to-black romance scenes. They gave you just enough to feel the heat before moving along in the story.
✨ Adams did an AMAZING job of describing Noah's little ticks so that you could tell exactly what he was feeling before he (or anyone else) said it. The little creases in his forehead, the crinkles by his eye - by the end of the book, I felt like even I could read this guy!

Things I Didn't Love:
✨ The ending felt like it wrapped up too easily. I wish there had been just a litttttttle more struggle. And possibly more of Emily.
✨ Where was the pie?! I wanted more pie descriptions. Lolz.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND. You can't go wrong.

This book is the perfect summer read! I was pulled in to the small town of Rome, Kentucky immediately, and into the relationship between Amelia and Noah. I did not want this book to end! It was the perfect escape.

This is the first book I have read by Sarah Adams, but it definitely will not be my last. I loved the way she described the characters from the perspective of the other characters. The characters were very easy to love and root for. Their problems and actions were tied to real life trauma and made them very relatable and easy to empathize with.

received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. And honestly… this is one of the best books I’ve read all year! This book had a little bit of everything I love in a book. It gave me such awesome vibes, like a little bit of Sweet Home Alabama meets The Notebook (in regards to the setting and the main characters interactions). I live in the south, so I’m always a sucker for a good novel set in the southern states that I feel accurately depicts southern living. I loved that in this book, the spoiled pop princess bit was all an act and that Amelia felt like a real person from the get go. She has her own traumas to work through but she’s not a caricature that learns to have feelings along the way. I loved all the towns people in this book, they all had their unique personalities and they were all so invested in the relationship! Speaking of, I absolutely adored Noah’s sisters and their interactions with him and Amelia. I’m usually not a huge fan of the recent trend where the next book in a series is based on a supporting character from the first book, but I would love to see and spend some more time with Noah’s sisters. They all would have compelling stories, and I would love to come back to this world Sarah Adams has created! 6 out of 5 stars! Will definitely be picking up a physical copy when it releases!

Sarah Adams has done it again!! This is only my second novel of hers that I’ve read (“The Cheat Sheet” was my first) but it’s safe to say that the small town of Rome, Kentucky will forever be living rent-free inside my head and I’m NOT mad about it!!!!

The small-town, comfy/cozy vibes of Rome paired with the hilariously outrageous townspeople had me shamelessly grinning from ear to ear throughout the whole book. This book definitely had the look and feel of Gilmore Girls.

Noah, what can I say? You were everything I could want in a book boyfriend AND MORE!! Noah was a classy man—he loves Frank Sinatra, has no cellphone nor internet, wears a matching set of plaid flannel pajamas to bed, has a book collection that rivals the Library of Congress, and makes a simple living running the town’s pie shop (which also means he has developed some particularly fabulous *muscles* haha!!).

Jokes aside, Noah’s care and protection over Amelia gave me all the heart eyes I could possibly handle. Seeing him fight against his feelings for Amelia that he so desperately wanted to avoid for fear of heartbreak was both heart-wrenching yet beautiful. I love it when a couple is so obviously right for each other!!!

Romance aside, the personal growth Amelia experienced throughout the novel was beautiful and empowering. Amelia (Rae) learned to think for herself and not be a slave to people-pleasing. That final scene when she finally gave Susan a piece of her mind was *chef’s kiss*

Lastly, the sibling dynamic between Noah and his sisters was as hilarious as it was heart-warming. I adored each and every one of their unique personalities and I loved how unconditionally they accepted Amelia into their tribe <3

My one quibble with the novel was the frequent use of minor language throughout. I feel like it was used a bit more than it had been in “The Cheat Sheet,” but I appreciated that Sarah Adams avoided using the Lord’s name in vain. As a Christian, this meant a lot to me.

5/5 stars

Sarah Adams never fails to deliver a charming, feel-good, sexy read! She's a master at writing descriptive chemistry. Amelia and Noah are such a fun couple! Noah's grumpiness and Amelia's sweetness were such a great combo. But I also liked that Amelia wasn't afraid to express her feelings and lay claim to Noah! Some great kisses!

Sarah Adams writes the cutest more wholesome romance novels and this book was no exception. I LOVE and grump man and a grumpy pie maker is my dream. This book has forced proximity and I love that trope. This book was so cute.