This wasn't quite the travel romcom the blurb (and cover) suggest, but it was a really moving love story.

this book was okay. It was pretty much a standard romance with all the normal repeating cliches and cheesy lines. It was not unique from other romances unfortunately, and it was not that interesting, to me it was a little hard to get through.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

While I understand some advance readers feel differently, I really enjoyed ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME. This is not your typical syrupy sweet romance or rom com. The description and cover might be slightly misleading in that respect. This story is not afraid to tackle tough issues such as teen pregnancy, grief, and death. However, it does not end up being a heavy book. The author incorporates Stevie's heartbreak into a story about healing and moving towards the future. Things are not wrapped up completely with a nice bow (for example I wished for a little more resolution with respect to how Stevie's family treats her) but I appreciate and admire how the story tries to stay true to life in that respect. I will look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

I think the description of this book did not match the book I read, or maybe that’s just me. I was hoping to get a fun lighthearted travel romance and that was not the case at all. Of course, the heartbreak Stevie faces is mentioned at the beginning of the description, I think this does a huge disservice to the book and really turned me off from the whole thing. As a warning, this book deals with the concepts of grief, teenage pregnancy, and death very heavily. We spend a lot of time with Stevie going through these and I think there should have been some sort of content warning in the description or the book itself. Also, for this book to be about her relationship with herself as well as Cristian, i don’t think we got much of her dealing with herself and learning to love herself. I also hated the way her mom’s new husband talked to her and how that was never resolved. I wanted some resolution with mom and step dad and for Stevie to advocate for herself. Honestly, I don’t think this book should be marketed as a romance book because that is such a small part of this story. Overall, this book just missed the mark with me and fell short of what I was expecting.

Do you need to be reminded to have faith in what the future brings? Pick up All Roads Lead to Rome by Yamile Saied Mendez. It’s just what you’re looking for.

Shoutout netgalley for this arc!

I genuinely loved reading this book - the travel, the food, the silly commitment. The only reason i dinged a star was because the ending - i wish there was more!!! Justice!!!!

I had a hard time with this book. From the description of “heartwarming romcom,” I expected a Katherine Center-type story, or even Sarah Adams—with sparkle and sweetness and witty banter. Instead, the main characters were snarky, devil-may-care, and even a bit vulgar. Plenty of audience for this story, but the description may be attracting the wrong readers.

While the premise is sweet, the characters are not.

Gahhh love this book!! The first chapter was so hard to get through and I almost regretted wanting to read this book. But oh my, am I glad that I continued. This book had me feeling all the feels, it was superb!

Without giving spoilers, I like how there’s a backstory of the character that you get a glimpse of in the first chapter but you don’t wait long until you get the whole story. Most books take their time and reveals bits at a time but not this book. You get the majority of the back story of one situation almost instantly. Absolutely recommend this book!

Thank you to Kensington Publishing | Kensington, Yamile Saied Méndez, and NetGalley for the ARC!

3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

One of my favorite things about this book is the very natural minority representation. Mentions of of the FMC's ethnicity wasn't forced or specially called like it was something exotic. It was a romcom that dealt with introspective topics with equal parts plot and character development. I feel like the only thing hindering this book was the narrative style. It was a bit more tell rather than show and a bit dry, almost like journalistic style. I didn't feel drawn or immersed in the world. But it was a great story about personal growth!