sandlynn's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed Sarah Title’s Falling in Trouble, published in 2017. It was reviewed by All About Romance (AAR) here and was given an “A” : https://allaboutromance.com/book-review/falling-for-trouble-by-sarah-title/
Although AAR described this story well, I will encapsulate it. A rock n’ roll gal from a small town in New York State returns to stay with her grandmother after she walks away from her band — on stage — during one of their first big concerts. Joanna never really liked living in Halikarnassus, NY, where she was left by her parents in the hands of her grandmother. She was all punk and rock n’ roll and rebellion, while the town was much more staid and appalled by her actions. Years later, Joanna — who had achieved some success in music — has returned after a very bad disagreement with her band, feeling that they sold their souls to go mainstream.
Our hero, Liam Byrd, is the new director of the library in Halikarnassus. He’s also quite the geek when it comes to music and a fan of Joanna’s before she went commercial. When Joanna returns home, he is star struck, but what he doesn’t know is that many women in town, including Joanna’s grandma, thinks he is quite attractive and, before long, Joanna is reluctantly sharing their opinion. Leaving aside this dynamic, Liam also faces the problem of maintaining the library’s funding which is under assault by a football crazed mayor who wants to use library funds for a new stadium. (This dynamic becomes much more important than one might suspect.)
This is a very good book. The characters ring true. The hero seems like a librarian and the heroine is the funniest, snarkiest rock n’ roll chick. I really enjoyed it and chuckled many times. (I loved the gender switch from what we usually get in romance novels.) However, what knocked off a couple of points is that I felt the story left a lot of unanswered questions at the end without the possibility of a sequel to answer them. Plus, there was a time or two where I felt the story jumped (including at the end) without explanation, for instance, when Joanna came over to Liam’s to cook dinner for him. That seem to come out of nowhere, or at least, we never saw Joanna’s thought process beforehand. But, I liked this book very much and I’d give it an A-. I’ll look forward to reading more from this author.
Although AAR described this story well, I will encapsulate it. A rock n’ roll gal from a small town in New York State returns to stay with her grandmother after she walks away from her band — on stage — during one of their first big concerts. Joanna never really liked living in Halikarnassus, NY, where she was left by her parents in the hands of her grandmother. She was all punk and rock n’ roll and rebellion, while the town was much more staid and appalled by her actions. Years later, Joanna — who had achieved some success in music — has returned after a very bad disagreement with her band, feeling that they sold their souls to go mainstream.
Our hero, Liam Byrd, is the new director of the library in Halikarnassus. He’s also quite the geek when it comes to music and a fan of Joanna’s before she went commercial. When Joanna returns home, he is star struck, but what he doesn’t know is that many women in town, including Joanna’s grandma, thinks he is quite attractive and, before long, Joanna is reluctantly sharing their opinion. Leaving aside this dynamic, Liam also faces the problem of maintaining the library’s funding which is under assault by a football crazed mayor who wants to use library funds for a new stadium. (This dynamic becomes much more important than one might suspect.)
This is a very good book. The characters ring true. The hero seems like a librarian and the heroine is the funniest, snarkiest rock n’ roll chick. I really enjoyed it and chuckled many times. (I loved the gender switch from what we usually get in romance novels.) However, what knocked off a couple of points is that I felt the story left a lot of unanswered questions at the end without the possibility of a sequel to answer them. Plus, there was a time or two where I felt the story jumped (including at the end) without explanation, for instance, when Joanna came over to Liam’s to cook dinner for him. That seem to come out of nowhere, or at least, we never saw Joanna’s thought process beforehand. But, I liked this book very much and I’d give it an A-. I’ll look forward to reading more from this author.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
5.0
A 2017 staff favorite recommended by Erica. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sfalling%20for%20trouble%20title__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
lisaluvsliterature's review against another edition
4.0
So, I loved the first book in the series, The Undateable, and this one was pretty good as well. It was a quick read, and hard to put down. While I didn't necessarily connect with the female in this one, I did connect with all the stuff about the library funding that the male character was dealing with. The small town was funny, and I loved how all the women would have to go outside and watch the new hot librarian, Liam, when he was jogging in the morning. The storyline behind Joanna's band, as well as her problems with the other small town characters was a blast. A cute fun read. Definitely recommended! Not a lot to say on this one other than that, guess it's really a mini-review this time!
readerpants's review against another edition
5.0
well, that was a charmer with a solid Bechdel test pass and a sanitized but hilariously accurate depiction of small town public library romance. I laughed a lot while reading it and even rec'd it before finishing.
the epilogue threw me for a loop, though. .. really came out of nowhere!
the epilogue threw me for a loop, though. .. really came out of nowhere!
sarahfett's review against another edition
2.0
This book had great potential, but it fell flat for me. I liked that one of the main characters, and the man, was a librarian, and I liked that the small town library figured prominently in the story. The main female character's antagonistic personality grated on me, but I assumed that was so that we could see her character develop. There was little personal or relational growth shown, and the love story was driven by lust. The ending came quickly and out of nowhere.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
melbsreads's review
4.0
Trigger warnings: near car accident, public humiliation??
Was this a great book? No, not especially. Was it memorable? I suspect not. Did I get my $1.42's investment worth of enjoyment out of it? Absolutely.
There's a male librarian dealing with budget cuts (and it was all too real) and a woman who's just quit her band and moved home in shame after they made it big and she didn't like the terms of their contract so she walked out in the middle of a concert. There's a delightful supporting cast of characters, including a dog and some small children. There's the realisation that the person you were in high school is a very different person to the person you are today and that you probably shouldn't hold grudges as a result. And there's swooniness. So.
My one real gripe here is that we're told NUMEROUS times that Joanna's hair is dyed black and the girl on the cover has.......decidedly not black hair. But whatever.
Was this a great book? No, not especially. Was it memorable? I suspect not. Did I get my $1.42's investment worth of enjoyment out of it? Absolutely.
There's a male librarian dealing with budget cuts (and it was all too real) and a woman who's just quit her band and moved home in shame after they made it big and she didn't like the terms of their contract so she walked out in the middle of a concert. There's a delightful supporting cast of characters, including a dog and some small children. There's the realisation that the person you were in high school is a very different person to the person you are today and that you probably shouldn't hold grudges as a result. And there's swooniness. So.
My one real gripe here is that we're told NUMEROUS times that Joanna's hair is dyed black and the girl on the cover has.......decidedly not black hair. But whatever.
acdom's review
3.0
All I have is two about this book is:
1. I want to marry Liam.
2. The cover is ridiculous.
1. I want to marry Liam.
2. The cover is ridiculous.
mara_jade510's review
5.0
I just read the entirety of this book in one sitting. Really good solid story and romance.
readerpants's review
5.0
well, that was a charmer with a solid Bechdel test pass and a sanitized but hilariously accurate depiction of small town public library romance. I laughed a lot while reading it and even rec'd it before finishing.
the epilogue threw me for a loop, though. .. really came out of nowhere!
the epilogue threw me for a loop, though. .. really came out of nowhere!