When in Rome by Sarah Adams | Book Review and Blog Blast
Review:
Warning - potential spoilers!
I had heard of Adams' previous work, The Cheat Sheet, because of its popularity on the Booktok side of TikTok, so I was excited to read her newest work! What I didn't realise was that Adams seems like a veteran in the romance novel game, and considering how much I enjoyed When in Rome I definitely want to give her other works a go.
The concept of this book sounded right up my street - I haven't seen Roman Holiday so I didn't feel precious towards this retelling of the story, but I am a fan of Hepburn's films and thought it sounded like a sweet and charming tale. The cheeky play on Rome as a location was great, I thought, especially as it satisfied my love of a small-town setting in a romance novel. The small town itself, as well as getting to see Amelia slowly come out of her shell and integrate herself more in the town, was really nice to read, and I thought all of the secondary characters were great. The little things like this, and the scene where Amelia watches Roman Holiday with Noah's sisters, really made it feel like an homage and a genuine appreciation for the film, which was nice to read.
Dual narratives aren't essential in a romance book in my opinion, but I always appreciate how it allows me to see the pace at which Amelia and Noah fell for each other, or at least allowed themselves to admit it internally, and just how hard they both battled against it. While slow burner romances aren't always my favourite, I really enjoyed the tension that got built up between Amelia and Noah, especially because they fought their feelings for so long. I also liked how it was Amelia who took on the role of the celebrity who crashes into an 'ordinary' person's life - I feel like the trope can easily turn into the 'boring' woman whose maternal instincts kick in to sort out some sort of badboy troublemaker, and while I do enjoy that, it was nice to see a slightly different take on this kind of story.
Noah as the rugged leading man felt like the perfect fit contrasting against Amelia's overwhelmingly sweet nature, especially when he let his jealousy and protectiveness take over! Seeing this side of him come out when Amelia was dealing with that whole twist at the end about her professional life was great, as was that storyline in general - it brought a bit more depth to the story alongside the romance and the more softer plot surrounding small-town life. Overall I really liked this and I will definitely be keeping my eye out for Adams' next work!
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