I really enjoyed the characterization of Amelia in this novel. She had a very specific “voice,” one that choreographed vim and verve without flipping over towards old school manic pixie dream girl. I’m struggling with the exact vibe, but maybe she had the pizzaz of both Harry and Sally mixed into one person, set against the laconic/stoic vibe of Noah (genuinely remembered his name as Nick, to give you a sense of who is the main character in this book).
The gist is this: Amelia is an uber-famous pop star (like…maybe not Taylor Swift, but a level down?) who is getting stifled by her life. She’s been a pop star for ages, she’s not in control of any part of her life, there’s a new tour forthcoming, and she just needs…out. She also has a not-at-all-quirky love of Audrey Hepburn (the wrong Hepburn to model your life off of, but such is the choice that many do make) so, inspired by Roman Holiday she decides to go to Rome. Except Rome, Italy doesn’t work with her touring schedule, so Rome, Kentucky it is. Her car breaks down, she is unwillingly rescued by aforementioned Noah, there is no room at the inn but there is room at his house, and we are off to the races.
I liked this a lot more than I’d expect, given that Amelia (in my mind) trades one sort of suffocation for another sort (the kind that comes with a small town without cell phone reception) (without cell phone reception!) (except when it’s convenient to the plot). Part of me could never turn off the incessant logical bit of my brain, which pointed out all the things that don’t make sense namely:
– how profitable can a pie shop be in a town where everyone fits into a single school building
– why is there a large school, how many kids can there possibly be
– same question re: flower shop, how many people can need flowers?
– there are no signs of small town issues, how are they maintaining to avoid the dollar store and walmart
– same question re: hardware store, how many hammers does one town need
In addition, the Big Bad of the story seems very obvious from the get go!
But all that aside, it’s not the point. The point is in the ending, wherein these two people with radically different lives (Noah is literally rooted to this town, Amelia’s job requires her to be traveling and moving about) need to decide what to do in the future. And yes, as someone who’s faced these sorts of issues more times than I could count, I’m always a bit suss when there’s a solution to geographic problems (hello Flying Solo. I suppose in this case we’ve got a few things going for it, namely Amelia is both 1) rich and 2) lacks community, and seeking the latter desperately.
I started this because I really wanted to read the third book in the series, and I’m just about there so stay tuned 🙂