What a perfect start to the new year! When in Rome by Sarah Adams is the first book in the When in Rome series. Amelia is a famous singer and flees to Rome, Kentucky, to escape the busy life of being famous. There she strands in Noah Walker's front lawn and he lets her stay at his house. But their attraction to each other makes it difficult to live together without crossing their boundaries.
 
I first read Practice Makes Perfect, the second book in this series, and absolutely loved it. And this book did not disappoint either. It was really funny to read about Annie from a different point of view after knowing her from her own book. But I loved Amelia as much as Annie. She and also Noah are quite funny and have perfect chemistry. There was no real spice in this book, but the tension was there! They made me feel giddy. Noah is quite a good communicator. He seems rough, but in the end, he knows how to articulate his feelings. He also has sisters who call him out.
 
Sarah Adams is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. So far, I really enjoy her books and can't wait to read her others as well. I love her writing style. It is fresh and fast.
 
This book was the perfect first book to finish in the new year. The perfect start to a new reading year! I loved this book as much as the first one. I can't wait to read more books by Sarah Adams and I am eagerly waiting for the third book in this series to be released soon! 

Title: When in Rome
Author: Sarah Adams
Series: When in Rome #1
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: September 20, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Wholesome • Fuzzy • Pleasant

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Amelia Rose, known as Rae Rose to her adoring fans, is burned-out from years of maintaining her “princess of pop” image. Inspired by her favorite Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday, she drives off in the middle of the night for a break in Rome . . . Rome, Kentucky, that is.

When Noah Walker finds Amelia on his front lawn in her broken-down car, he makes it clear he doesn’t have the time or patience for celebrity problems. He’s too busy running the pie shop his grandmother left him and reminding his nosy but lovable neighbors to mind their own damn business. Despite his better judgment, he lets her stay in his guest room—but only until her car is fixed—then she’s on her own.

Then Noah starts to see a different side of Rae Rose—she’s Amelia: kindhearted and goofy, yet lonely from years in the public eye. He can’t help but get close to her. Soon she’ll have to return to her glamorous life on tour, but until then, Noah will show Amelia all the charming small-town experiences she’s been missing, and she’ll help him open his heart to more.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I have definitely seen all of the love for Sarah Adams on Bookstagram over the past couple of years, so when I was choosing 12 authors for my 2024 'Author Taste Test' project, she was an easy choice. I decided to start with When in Rome simply because of the cover and the small town vibes, and went in without knowing much more beyond that.

Take me to the pie shop! The small town setting of Rome, Kentucky was everything I needed and wanted it to be in this opposites attract, grumpy/sunshine romance. The dialogue is filled with quick witted banter that had me chuckling. The developing romance between Amelia and Noah felt wholly organic and I appreciated how their chemistry leapt off the page without it being overly steamy.
I absolutely adored Noah - he is the ideal MMC.

When in Rome definitely has those Hallmark movie vibes, yet without all of the cliché eye-rolling. It was a simple and joyful read with strong character development and just what I was looking for to kickstart summer reading season. Sarah Adams is definitely an author I look forward to reading more from, as I imagine I'll continue with Practice Makes Perfect next because if memory serves me correctly it involves a floral shop!

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• small town romance
• male bakers
• Audrey Hepburn

⚠️ CW: toxic friendship, toxic relationship, gaslighting, emotional abuse, abandonment, alcohol, death, death of parent, grief, dementia, sexual content, cursing, infidelity, stalking, body shaming, car accident

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Care is reckless because it doesn’t come with the seat belt that selfishness offers. Care has so much to lose, and almost always ends in heartbreak." 

I LOVED THIS BOOK!! i was smiling all the time, they are just so cute. noah is such a cutie potato and i loved the side characters, especially mabel.

It’s adorable. It’s the classic romance, not totally realistic but satisfying. A famous singer falling for a small town boy. Not enough smut for me but there were some ups and downs that were so fantastic. 

this was so cozy. i loved the small town guy/city gal but make her a famous singer aspect. noah was kinda a d!ck in the first 20ish% but he came around (thankfully). i still loved his grumpy-surliness even while he was being a douche-canoe. this was just all around a fun little read. it also is closed door/fade-to-black if you don’t like spice or just want the cozy romance w/ no sex-on-page kinda read!! it read like a really good hallmark movie, so if this ever does get adapted, i would 100% watch it :)

⚠️tw/cw: alcohol, emotional abuse, death of parent, toxic relationship, dementia, infidelity, death

This book was so freaking cute!! It felt as a warm hug on a rainy day! It made me laugh out loud several times and It’s cute and it’s funny, what more could you want from a cute book with small town trope? 
I love that it feels a bit spicy even tho it’s closed door romance! 

<spoiler/>
I loved the parts were Noah was with his sisters and everyone from Rome! 

I absolutely loved when Noah came into Amelia’s room and asked if he could sleep in her room with her because he was afraid of storms🥰🥹

I loved when I understood that the sticker I got with the book was his tattoo! And I loved when Noah said to Amelia that she was “as sweet as powded sugar” since Sarah have signed my book with that sentence!!
<spoiler/>

At first, I didn’t like Amelia that much but my feelings for her grew and now I love her!

The only ”negative” thing I can find is that I would have wanted more grumpyness from Noah!

I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rae Rose is a pop sensation, but she starts to realize she feels numb. A few weeks before her upcoming tour, Rae Rose (Amelia) takes inspiration from Audrey Hepburn and flees to Rome in the middle of the night. That is— Rome, Kentucky. It starts to feel like a bad idea though when her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. As luck would have it— she’s actually in Noah Walker’s front yard. After confirming he’s not an axe murderer, Amelia spends the night in his guest room. When Amelia finds out her car is going to take two weeks to fix, and that her reservation is mysteriously gone, Noah offers up his spare room.

Noah is grumpy and standoffish at first. He has had his heart stomped on in the past by an out of towner and is not about to let it happen again. He’s perfectly content watching over his grandma’s pie shop and keeping all women at arm’s length. Unfortunately (or fortunately) life has other plans for him.

The two quickly learn the deeper aspects of the other.  Noah learns Amelia is more than her pop-star persona and Amelia learns there’s more to Noah under his grumpy demeanor. When Amelia learns someone she trusted has broke her trust, she wants nothing more than to have Noah by her side. But with Noah’s life in Rome, and Amelia’s on the road, can the two make it work?

I loved reading Sarah Adams Cheat Sheet, so when I saw this one I just HAD to read it. Amelia and Noah’s tension was immaculate!!! They both tried so hard not to fall in love because they knew Amelia was leaving and it would never work out. Noah spent all his time trying to keep her away so he wouldn’t end up hurt again, while Amelia tried to not show her hurt from his rejection.

Semi-Spoiler??

I wish there would have been a scene where they fought with flour or something. I know that’s incredibly cliche but come on it was right there!



Read if you like:
• grumpy/sunshine
• celebrity & “normal person” romance
• baker men
• small towns
• Audrey Hepburn / Roman Holiday
• slow burn romance 
• closed door romance
• dual pov romance