Review: Famous in a Small Town by Emma Mills

Synopsis from Goodreads:

For Sophie, small town life has never felt small. With her four best friends–loving, infuriating, and all she could ever ask for–she can weather any storm. But when Sophie’s beloved Acadia High School marching band is selected to march in the upcoming Rose Parade, it’s her job to get them all the way to LA. Her plan? To persuade country singer Megan Pleasant, their Midwestern town’s only claim to fame, to come back to Acadia to headline a fundraising festival.

The only problem is that Megan has very publicly sworn never to return.

What ensues is a journey filled with long-kept secrets, hidden heartbreaks, and revelations that could change everything–along with a possible fifth best friend: a new guy with a magnetic smile and secrets of his own.

Emma Mills books always make me happy and Famous in a Small Town was no exception. It’s been awhile since I smiled so much while reading a book.

As I’ve come to expect from Mills’ books, there are strong themes of friendship and family. I loved Sophie and her group of friends. There is so much effortless banter and I am completely here for it. I think that is one of the reason why I love books by this author so much. They are exactly my sense of humor.

While I loved the group of friends, a few of them – Flora, Dash, and especially Terrence – could’ve been a little more developed for me. Brit was well developed, but she was probably my least favorite person in the story. She was kind of the “wild” friend with a backstory that never really made sense to me. Which brings up another issue that made parts of the book not work for me. Several of the characters have some kind of heavy things happen to them, but none of them were really given enough attention to feel like anything more than a random side plot. A couple of them come kind of completely out of left field and then were never really explained or fully explored. I appreciated what Mills was trying to do with these storylines, but I just don’t think it worked here. I think if she would have picked one and focused on it, it would have worked a little better.

Enough with the negative, though, because I really enjoyed everything else. I loved Sophie and August together and really shipped the romance. I felt like they clicked from their very first scene together and then it just kept getting better. There’s some requisite angst here and there, but it still worked for me. I also really loved August’s brother and his family, who Sophie does a lot of babysitting for.

Overall, I really enjoyed Famous in a Small Town. I love how addictive Mills’ writing is and how even though it doesn’t feel like a lot is actually happening in the story, I never want to stop reading it. I loved the humor, the romance, the friendships, and that beautiful cover and I will be anxiously awaiting Mills’ next book.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 4 Stars