This was super heartwarming, and I especially loved the way that the children of our main characters played their own roles throughout the book. There's a lot of growth and examination of what we care about and how we prioritize our own happiness and that of those we love, and the fantastical music elements are very fun!

I have to say that the cover doesn't do this book justice. I honestly wasn't quite sure what to think or expect from the book based on the cover. I know, I know...never judge a book by its cover! Luckily for me, the book far exceeded my expectations! However, I will say that it is aptly titled as the book is a delight and utterly charming even if the intent was to name it for the record store in the book.

“Charm City Rocks” was a cute story about a former female rockstar’s romance with a normal, single father. However, I found there to be a lot of ancillary plots that didn’t necessarily add much for me and had the book dragging a bit toward the end for me. It’s a bit of a feminist twist in my eyes as most of these romances include a celebrity male trying to find love with a normal woman. I liked this fine, but I didn’t find myself continuously drawn to this story like I did with Norman’s earlier novel, “All Together Now.” 3 stars ⭐️. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this book for review.

This was super cute! It gave me Empire Records vibes and Daisy Jones feelings. I wish the romance hadn't been closed door though! I wanted to know the details haha.

I loved Charm City Rocks. A perfect blend of love, with family commitment, second chances, forgiveness, and new beginnings, it was hard to put this one down!
Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

This was so much fun. I love anything related to pianos, love stories, and where the underdog wins in the end. Billy has never gotten over his teenage crush on rock star Margot Hammer. When his son impersonates a young girl drummer in hopes of getting Margot to meet up at the music store under his dad's apartment, all sorts of chaos ensues. This fun look at long-term crushes, celebrities, and how life can go on after divorce and devastation. This was a fun story that I enjoyed every bit of. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC. 4 stars.

Sometimes the books I love the most are the hardest to review - not sure why! Charm City Rocks is just a delightful story, a second-chance/later-in-life love story to be sure, but also a love letter to the power of music and to the city of Baltimore.

We have a single dad, Billy, a piano teacher whose teenage son Caleb sets in motion a meetup with a rock star who Billy had a crush on years ago. (Billy is around 40 now.) It’s not exactly a “meet cute”! It’s more of a meet-disaster when Margot shows up at the titular record store, cameraman and record company agent in tow, for what she thinks is a meeting with a young girl, a drummer who idolizes her and her former band.

It was very refreshing to read a story featuring positive co-parenting. I loved Caleb - he was such a cute, dorky teen. It was also nice to read about “ordinary” people interacting with famous people and finding out that they are just regular people under the glamor.

I loved the other book by Matthew Norman that I’ve read (All Together Now) and this book has solidified him as one of my favorite authors.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam Dell for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book, although I was rather late to it. I bounced between the ARC and the published audiobook, courtesy of my public library. The narrator, Kristen DiMercurio, did an excellent job with the various voices and accents.

Good book but felt like it got a bit repetitive towards the middle of the book. Think some things were elongated more than necessary, but it has a good story line.

Billy is a single dad who’s pretty content with his life. His son manages to finagle a meeting with his childhood celebrity crush and… hi-jinx ensue.

I’m not one for rom-coms and wouldn’t even classify this as one, except… it’s totally a rom com complete with a cute meet (meet cute? I don’t really know the lingo 😂) and an extremely lovable cast of characters.

So… maybe Charm City Rocks is an exceptionally great Rom Com? Or maybe I like them after all? Either way, I devoured this one and you should definitely read it!

I had a lot of fun reading this book. I think that books that combine romance and music are always my favorite so I am a little biased, but I think the story was really charming and sweet and I really loved the two main characters and the romance that they found. I didn't totally relate to the characters because they were much older than I am, and I also found the writing style to be a little blunt. I really like a very romantic writing style with lots of description sometimes, and at times this book felt like I was reading nonfiction, which was not my favorite. Overall though, I would recommend this book and I would be interested in reading more from this author.

Later in life romance and surprising amounts of romanticizing Baltimore. There was limited spice (if you like that) and there was a lot of plot around the main love story. Overall, enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This novel lived up to its title and was completely and utterly charming! I enjoyed the musical aspect as well as the grown up take on the complicated and also dead simple aspects of romance.

A reverse rock star fantasy where a middle-aged dad meets the rockstar he's had a crush on since forever and the inevitable sparks fly. It's a sweeter story than I was expecting and I loved how every character that deserves it gets a chance to prove that they're actually good people and a happy ending.
Billy is a super positive guy, enjoying everything in life just as it is. His teenage son thinks he can be even happier and manages to get his dad's favorite musician to visit them. That musician is Margot Hammer, formerly of Burnt Flowers and now moving through life full of sadness. Their meeting isn't the best, but a second chance to be together shows them that things could always be a lot better.
The relationships and view of life that Billy has are straight-up life goals, and the changes in Margot's life after she opens herself up to the possibility of happiness make for a very inspiring story. I also really liked how even the side characters get their own chance at exploring how they'll be happy. The way it shows that there are many paths to happiness and that you can change your mind about things was my favorite part of this book.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Dell for the rocking read!

3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 for this review) for this funny and charming romantic comedy! True rom-coms - books and movies - are hard to find these days (is it just me?) and I really enjoyed this one. Billy Perkins is music teacher and a single dad who winds up meeting the former female rock star crush of his youth, Margot Hammer, thanks to an crazy scam orchestrated by his teenage son. Billy and Margot (surprise!) fall for each other and find new meaning in their lives via their relationship.

Fresh off a Daisy Jones binge on Amazon Prime, I got major long-haired Sam Claflin vibes from the Charm City version of this Billy. Loved the musical twist to this sweet love story, call-outs to famous songs and musicians, and the interwoven subplots that gave this book a lot of heart.

Thank you to Random House for a gifted kindle version of this fun read!

I love a romance that features older protagonists and blended families! This was not my favorite though-- the characters felt one-dimensional for me, which made it hard to connect. That said, it was a lovely and cheerful story and I'm happy to have been able to review this.

This was such a good book! I love stories about rock stars but this wasn't exactly what I expected. But I ended up loving it even more. It is sweet and sentimental but it made me smile!

In Charm City Rocks we find Billy, the likeable music teacher who lives above a record shop. Margot Hammer is a former drummer of Burnt Flowers, a very popular all female rock and roll band in the 90s. Billy has always had a crush on Margot, so when he finds out that his son Caleb has somehow tricked her into coming to Baltimore and they meet, it's fate that they hit is off. Of course, some chaos does ensue, with Margot's ex-husband coming back into the mix and Billy being somewhat forced to live in the garage at his ex-girlfriends house. Can Billy and Margot keep the beat together?

Charm City Rocks is many things. It is about later in life love, which was a fun new take on romance that I haven't had much experience with. It is also truly a love story about Baltimore. It is obvious that the author has a love affair with the city, and it is very much a character in its own right. I found the book to be fun and, for lack of a better term, charming. That being said, I don't think there is anything ground breaking here. I did enjoy the famous person/regular person troupe and enjoyed how it was done. I do feel like the third person narrator hindered the book into going more into the emotions of the characters. It also lacked some purpose at points. It was cute, but nothing stunning.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

It's hard to put my feelings about this book into words, but it made me really happy. Piano teacher Billy lives above a record store in Baltimore, and he is happy. But his teenage son wants more for him, and, in a hilarious turn of events, he basically catfishes Billy's long-time crush, Margot, a legitimate rock star who, after public embarrassment, became a bit of a recluse. The story is charming and laugh-out-loud funny. I loved Billy's heartfelt relationship with his son, and the ode to Baltimore.

I'm probably just being petty, but I just don't really vibe with straight romances written by men. There's just something about them that feels off to me, and this one was no different.

Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for this advance copy!

I love a good Baltimore book and Charm City Rocks is a delightful romance that focuses on some of my favorite things: music, romance, and Baltimore. I consumed this story of a music teacher father who meets his rock and roll crush, falls in love, and manages to still think Baltimore is one of the best cities ever (it is). And maybe some of this is my own personal nostalgia for my time in Charm City, but I really loved the non-traditional family at the core of this book and how Billy and Margot didn't spend a lot of time analyzing themselves, they just knew they were happy and went with it. The second act goes a bit off the rails, and there were a few times where I rolled my eyes because OF COURSE that happened (no spoilers), but I appreciated how the author brought the story back together and kept it tight until the end.

I can't wait to read more from Matthew Norman, this love letter to Baltimore and women who rock is just fantastic.