Book Review - When In Rome

I received When In Rome by Gemma Townley for a birthday gift by my sister in law. I had never heard of the author, but I liked the cover, so I was all for it. (I'm a sucker for silly, chicklit cover art...). Anyhoo, I absolutely loved this book! Definitely a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars!




So what's it about? Georgie Beauchamp has this dream of running into her ex boyfriend Mike who dumped her a few years ago. It's going to be this surreal, she-looks-gorgeous-but-he's-lying-in-the-gutter moment and it'll be awesome. However, when she finally does see him again, she's dressed in unglamorous sweats and carrying a curtain rod down the street, while Mike is driving an expensive sports car and looking better than Brad Pitt at the Oscars. She longs to have the glamorous life Mike can offer—and starts to think that he might want her back in his armsm despite her being happy with her new, solid, dependable boyfriend, David.

Mike starts emailing and calling. David doesn't want her to have anything todo with Mike, not even as friends. David is working all the time, Mike is flirty, and invites her to jet off to Rome with him for a weekend. Georgie is torn and has to decide between them.

It is in some ways a very typical chick lit novel. There is the love triangle, the bad decisions that become good ones, a whole lot of worrying about if your dress is ok, and the token best friend (in this case, it's more of the mother that comes to the rescue though). Georgie is the typical heroine who you relate to, laugh with, cringe with and want to shake when she does stupid things. But she is likeable, fun and I felt for her the whole way.

I think anyone who has ever been dumped would really enjoy this book. It captures the resentment for her ex boyfriend, but also the what-if mentality. What if he hadn't dumped me? What if he is sorry? What if we can make it again?

There was a bit of language (I don't mind mild language, but this one dropped the old f-bomb a few times), but other than that it was a good, clean read. And the language that was used was used appropriately, by people that would use that language and anything else might seem far fetched, if that makes sense.

Definitely recommend this one! Thanks, Monica, for the gift!

PS - For another fun, uplifting, 5-star novel, immerse yourself into Tanned, Toned and Totally Faking It. It's the perfect summer beach read, and will keep you turning pages right to the end!