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A review by abbier_14
When in Rome by Sarah Adams
1.0
THEY. HAVE. KNOWN. EACH. OTHER. FOR. TWO. WEEKS
WHAT IN THE INSTALOVE HELL IS THIS?
The instalove:
This book is set over a time span of about two weeks and the MFC already uproots her life to go live with the MMC at the end.
So basically they were admiring each other at the start like they had never seen a member of the opposite sex IN THEIR LIVESSSSS. They were practically obsessed it was soooo annoying to be in their heads.
Enemies to lovers is no where in sight, its maybe a one sided annoyance for a few pages but then they are fully in love. terrible.
They had absolutely no chemistry, not even at the end. This was a very low spicyness level story so maybe thats why they didnt have that much obvious palpable chemistry but come on as a romance author i expect them to be able to convey the characters feelings without having to resort to stupid out of nowhere descriptions about how there is tension even though literally none has been established (alot of telling not showing in this story)
Maybe the characters were mistaking awkwardness for tension AS THEY HAD ONLY KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR TWO WEEEEKS.
The MFC:
I physically put my head in my hands everytime I read a line this girl says.
This woman has the mental age of a 13 year old. She cant cook or clean, she takes a very old unreliable car on a roadtrip, she waits in a SMOKING car just incase the man who is offering to help her 'is an axe murderer', she lets people push her around and control her life, she runs away and enters busy bars without security (shes famous btw), almost burns things down twice
All of that was infuriating and im so over incapable MFCs. Its not quirky, its not cute or endearing it just makes me sympathise less and less with the character.
Elaborating on some of those points - This woman is apparantly a world wide famous pop singer who repeatedly says how she does not feel safe without her security because of crazy fans, leaves her home without notifying anyone where she has gone and without her security, accepts to stay overnight in a strangers house, and then is convinced to enter a packed bar without protection and surrounded by potentially drunk idiots. Great what a clever plan and not stupid at all.
And then to make matters worse she MIXES UP HER PILL BOTTLES because she is trying to take them sneakily WHILE DRIVING TO A BAR. This woman is so irresponsable like she could definitely have gotten herself killed by mixing drugs and alcohol together. I was honestly rolling my eyes at how chill and calm everyone was treating this situation and how no one brought up how lucky she was that she 'only needed to sleep it off'.
Another thing but i hated this whole plot of a controlling manager who is literally just a caricature of an evil overbearing boss stereotype, and they were relied on for the conflict of this whole book (im not accepting any other attempts at conflict this book tries to do because its literally pathetic). BUT OMLL does the MFC get on my nerves relating to this. She lets her manager steal from her, ruin her relationship with her mum, make her the target of paparazzi, leak personal information, and completely erode her love for singing, AND I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY. This girl honestly has absolutely no backbone at all she couldnt stand up to her manager. If your manager is screwing up thissss bad surely you will be aware that you can get rid of them from your life right. But the MFC was just stupid and hadnt thought about that before so instead is just meek and lets her manager ruin her life.
Urgh a thing I hated was the fact that the MFC starts off as so weak, pathetic, and immature that by the end it kinda looks like she has an arc but its actually just her becoming a normal person that you should expect from your MFC. I had no sympathy for any of her struggles to me she was just whiny and annoying. Also such lazy writing like the author has to make the MFC be at such a low point just to make it look like the story progresses anywhere.
Also she was just so disrespectful and such a nuisance to the MMC like stealing his clothes (he never said it was ok and they werent together) and just generally enjoying when he gets annoyed at her. They were only together for two weeks so i guess this is still cute and fresh to them but i guarantee this is gonna get annoying for him and they aint gonna last.
Another thing but this famous pop star never talks about her fans that actually support her. Like in the beginning she would talk about being stalked or like grabbed at when walking through crowds but not once did she mention how she appreciates the fans that literally give her her fame and money. Evidence of this was when at the end of her concert flowers get thrown onto the stage and her assistant asks her if she wants to put them in her tour bus and keep them and shes literally like nah (she only keep sthe ones the MMC threw on the stage). Wow how ungrateful. All she talked about was what made her job and life bad, but never what made it good and her motivations for continuing the tour.
The MMC:
I dont know whether i just dont enjoy this trope anymore but can MMCs no longer grunt, or just stare blankly when someone talks to them, or just in general be rude to everyone they come across.
I was not enjoying this grumpy MMC. I dont think he said more than 5 sentances this entire book.
Also hated how he had such a tragic background like im not here to get depression im here for a cute romance. Like his parents die and now his grandma has dementia like i dont need to be reading about all this sad stuff. I also found it so ridiculous and funny how he took the MFC to visit his grandma in the care home after knowing her for like a week and they werent even together.
The thing that annoyed me though was this whole backstory about his new york ex. So basically his ex was like a real estate agent or something and she comes to town (i think for like a week, wow does this guy like to move fast) and during this time (a week probably) they become close, so close in fact THAT HE LITERALLY PROPOSES and he moves back with her to NYC. WHAT THE HELL if that isnt the most ridiculous thing you have read all day. And then he has the audacity to be shocked when the relationship eventually breaks down and he moves back to the small town. Like im actually laughing that is genuinely hilarious omg im sorry what.
But what is ironic is he literally repeats the exact same thing again but this time its with the MFC. Like at the start of the book he was like "oh no im off the table dont fall in love with me grunt" and tbf to him thats understandable as it was the same situation as last time and he should have learnt that it probably wouldnt work. But does he? nope. Still falls in love, still uproots someones life, still moves wayyy to quickly.
The rest of the town people:
If i had the MMC's sisters i would literally kms. They were so goddamn annoying, nosy, disrespectful, pushy. They just didnt know how to take a hint.
They would force the MMC and MFC into certain situations like making the MFC move back in with him after her whole drug-alchohol fiasco bc they were trying to meddle in their private lives even though they had no buisness doing so. But then i found it stupid how the sisters do a full 180 and are suddenly against them getting together even though they were part of orchestrating the whole thing. They were scared about repeating the same thing that happened last time with the MMC's ex but im like could you not see that coming? why practically force them together if you didnt want them to end up together in the first place. In the words of the MFC, they truly annoy, annoy, annoyed me.
Also side rant but they were literally so entitled they kicked him out of his own house just so they could have like a sleepover thing with the MFC even though all the sisters live in one house together so why have three people leave one house when you can just have one person go to their house. So frustrating like they almost made me feel bad for the MMC by the way they just kinda treated him as if he wasnt a person and that his feelings arent really important.
BUT OMG ARE THE TOWNS PEOPLE ANNOYING AS HELLLLLLLLLLLLL.
Mabel the old lady literally lies to the MFC saying she doesnt have any more rooms in her BnB to make sure that she has to stay in the MMC's house. First of all how disgusting is that. Mabel has known the MMC his whole life but the MFC has only just met the guy, why are you assuming that shes comfortable with the situation? She doesnt know what hes like or if hes safe, its kinda taking advantage of her and shes in a compleately new town and doesnt want to be rude to the townspeople so doesnt argue or fight back.
Also im pretty sure the MFC has literally booked a room in the BnB as thats what she was driving too when she broke down. Unless the author forgot about this part and just ommited it for convenience surely the MFC could have been like actually i have a booking. Because this is a tiny town so im not accepting the excuse that there are multiple BnBs.
The diner workers oml. They start telling the MFC about the new york ex without even consulting the MMC first. LIKE EXCUSE ME WHAT. This is very very private and still sensitive information that im sure the MMC didnt appreciate being told to some random girl he hasnt even known for a week. But instead of arguing he just sits there so the diner workers LITERALLY MAKE HIM GO AND SERVE THE COFFEE FOR THEM while they continue telling the story to the MFC. This town sounds like a nightmare if thats how they think is acceptable to treat people. So so so so so so rude and honestly baffling. Its not cute or funny at all if thats what the author was going for.
Honestly reading the blurb i thought this was gonna be a cute slow burn where the characters fall in love over seeing the different cute aspects of the town but nope. I dont even get why in the blurb it says the MMC becomes a tourguide because they literally dont go anywhere, talk about misleading.
WHAT IN THE INSTALOVE HELL IS THIS?
The instalove:
This book is set over a time span of about two weeks and the MFC already uproots her life to go live with the MMC at the end.
So basically they were admiring each other at the start like they had never seen a member of the opposite sex IN THEIR LIVESSSSS. They were practically obsessed it was soooo annoying to be in their heads.
Enemies to lovers is no where in sight, its maybe a one sided annoyance for a few pages but then they are fully in love. terrible.
They had absolutely no chemistry, not even at the end. This was a very low spicyness level story so maybe thats why they didnt have that much obvious palpable chemistry but come on as a romance author i expect them to be able to convey the characters feelings without having to resort to stupid out of nowhere descriptions about how there is tension even though literally none has been established (alot of telling not showing in this story)
Maybe the characters were mistaking awkwardness for tension AS THEY HAD ONLY KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR TWO WEEEEKS.
The MFC:
I physically put my head in my hands everytime I read a line this girl says.
This woman has the mental age of a 13 year old. She cant cook or clean, she takes a very old unreliable car on a roadtrip, she waits in a SMOKING car just incase the man who is offering to help her 'is an axe murderer', she lets people push her around and control her life, she runs away and enters busy bars without security (shes famous btw), almost burns things down twice
All of that was infuriating and im so over incapable MFCs. Its not quirky, its not cute or endearing it just makes me sympathise less and less with the character.
Elaborating on some of those points - This woman is apparantly a world wide famous pop singer who repeatedly says how she does not feel safe without her security because of crazy fans, leaves her home without notifying anyone where she has gone and without her security, accepts to stay overnight in a strangers house, and then is convinced to enter a packed bar without protection and surrounded by potentially drunk idiots. Great what a clever plan and not stupid at all.
And then to make matters worse she MIXES UP HER PILL BOTTLES because she is trying to take them sneakily WHILE DRIVING TO A BAR. This woman is so irresponsable like she could definitely have gotten herself killed by mixing drugs and alcohol together. I was honestly rolling my eyes at how chill and calm everyone was treating this situation and how no one brought up how lucky she was that she 'only needed to sleep it off'.
Another thing but i hated this whole plot of a controlling manager who is literally just a caricature of an evil overbearing boss stereotype, and they were relied on for the conflict of this whole book (im not accepting any other attempts at conflict this book tries to do because its literally pathetic). BUT OMLL does the MFC get on my nerves relating to this. She lets her manager steal from her, ruin her relationship with her mum, make her the target of paparazzi, leak personal information, and completely erode her love for singing, AND I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY. This girl honestly has absolutely no backbone at all she couldnt stand up to her manager. If your manager is screwing up thissss bad surely you will be aware that you can get rid of them from your life right. But the MFC was just stupid and hadnt thought about that before so instead is just meek and lets her manager ruin her life.
Urgh a thing I hated was the fact that the MFC starts off as so weak, pathetic, and immature that by the end it kinda looks like she has an arc but its actually just her becoming a normal person that you should expect from your MFC. I had no sympathy for any of her struggles to me she was just whiny and annoying. Also such lazy writing like the author has to make the MFC be at such a low point just to make it look like the story progresses anywhere.
Also she was just so disrespectful and such a nuisance to the MMC like stealing his clothes (he never said it was ok and they werent together) and just generally enjoying when he gets annoyed at her. They were only together for two weeks so i guess this is still cute and fresh to them but i guarantee this is gonna get annoying for him and they aint gonna last.
Another thing but this famous pop star never talks about her fans that actually support her. Like in the beginning she would talk about being stalked or like grabbed at when walking through crowds but not once did she mention how she appreciates the fans that literally give her her fame and money. Evidence of this was when at the end of her concert flowers get thrown onto the stage and her assistant asks her if she wants to put them in her tour bus and keep them and shes literally like nah (she only keep sthe ones the MMC threw on the stage). Wow how ungrateful. All she talked about was what made her job and life bad, but never what made it good and her motivations for continuing the tour.
The MMC:
I dont know whether i just dont enjoy this trope anymore but can MMCs no longer grunt, or just stare blankly when someone talks to them, or just in general be rude to everyone they come across.
I was not enjoying this grumpy MMC. I dont think he said more than 5 sentances this entire book.
Also hated how he had such a tragic background like im not here to get depression im here for a cute romance. Like his parents die and now his grandma has dementia like i dont need to be reading about all this sad stuff. I also found it so ridiculous and funny how he took the MFC to visit his grandma in the care home after knowing her for like a week and they werent even together.
The thing that annoyed me though was this whole backstory about his new york ex. So basically his ex was like a real estate agent or something and she comes to town (i think for like a week, wow does this guy like to move fast) and during this time (a week probably) they become close, so close in fact THAT HE LITERALLY PROPOSES and he moves back with her to NYC. WHAT THE HELL if that isnt the most ridiculous thing you have read all day. And then he has the audacity to be shocked when the relationship eventually breaks down and he moves back to the small town. Like im actually laughing that is genuinely hilarious omg im sorry what.
But what is ironic is he literally repeats the exact same thing again but this time its with the MFC. Like at the start of the book he was like "oh no im off the table dont fall in love with me grunt" and tbf to him thats understandable as it was the same situation as last time and he should have learnt that it probably wouldnt work. But does he? nope. Still falls in love, still uproots someones life, still moves wayyy to quickly.
The rest of the town people:
If i had the MMC's sisters i would literally kms. They were so goddamn annoying, nosy, disrespectful, pushy. They just didnt know how to take a hint.
They would force the MMC and MFC into certain situations like making the MFC move back in with him after her whole drug-alchohol fiasco bc they were trying to meddle in their private lives even though they had no buisness doing so. But then i found it stupid how the sisters do a full 180 and are suddenly against them getting together even though they were part of orchestrating the whole thing. They were scared about repeating the same thing that happened last time with the MMC's ex but im like could you not see that coming? why practically force them together if you didnt want them to end up together in the first place. In the words of the MFC, they truly annoy, annoy, annoyed me.
Also side rant but they were literally so entitled they kicked him out of his own house just so they could have like a sleepover thing with the MFC even though all the sisters live in one house together so why have three people leave one house when you can just have one person go to their house. So frustrating like they almost made me feel bad for the MMC by the way they just kinda treated him as if he wasnt a person and that his feelings arent really important.
BUT OMG ARE THE TOWNS PEOPLE ANNOYING AS HELLLLLLLLLLLLL.
Mabel the old lady literally lies to the MFC saying she doesnt have any more rooms in her BnB to make sure that she has to stay in the MMC's house. First of all how disgusting is that. Mabel has known the MMC his whole life but the MFC has only just met the guy, why are you assuming that shes comfortable with the situation? She doesnt know what hes like or if hes safe, its kinda taking advantage of her and shes in a compleately new town and doesnt want to be rude to the townspeople so doesnt argue or fight back.
Also im pretty sure the MFC has literally booked a room in the BnB as thats what she was driving too when she broke down. Unless the author forgot about this part and just ommited it for convenience surely the MFC could have been like actually i have a booking. Because this is a tiny town so im not accepting the excuse that there are multiple BnBs.
The diner workers oml. They start telling the MFC about the new york ex without even consulting the MMC first. LIKE EXCUSE ME WHAT. This is very very private and still sensitive information that im sure the MMC didnt appreciate being told to some random girl he hasnt even known for a week. But instead of arguing he just sits there so the diner workers LITERALLY MAKE HIM GO AND SERVE THE COFFEE FOR THEM while they continue telling the story to the MFC. This town sounds like a nightmare if thats how they think is acceptable to treat people. So so so so so so rude and honestly baffling. Its not cute or funny at all if thats what the author was going for.
Honestly reading the blurb i thought this was gonna be a cute slow burn where the characters fall in love over seeing the different cute aspects of the town but nope. I dont even get why in the blurb it says the MMC becomes a tourguide because they literally dont go anywhere, talk about misleading.