REVIEW: Falling for Trouble by Sarah Title

In Falling for Trouble by Sarah Title, rocker Joanna Green has returned to her hometown of Halikarnassus, New York, after walking off stage during a concert, leaving her band behind. Always considered a trouble maker, some members of the small town aren’t happy to see her back, while some others are thrilled. Among the thrilled is the head of the library, Liam Byrd, who was a fan of hers. While he wants to get to know her, Joanna makes it hard. She keeps most everyone at arm’s length, but Liam is determined to get close to her.

I felt bad for Liam. As the head of the library, he has a fight with the town council and the mayor, who want to slash his already meager budget by half in order to get lights for the football field. It’s apparent that the leaders of the town placed more emphasis on a game instead of on an educational facility. I liked that the townsfolk, including Joanna’s grandmother, always tried to help him fight his seemingly uphill battle. There was one altercation between Liam and the mayor that brought my respect up a notch for him.

I found Joanna to be a bit too standoffish and selfish at first. Everyone thought she returned because her grandmother had broken her leg, but, in fact, she didn’t even know her grandmother was hurt. She was only returning to nurse her own emotional wounds, which the small town quickly finds out. As the book progresses and she thaws a little, she started to grow on me. I did, however, find her to be a immature in some of her reactions. For instance, I understood why she was upset with what had been happening with her band, but she could have handled it better than she did. Instead of just walking off stage before they started the first song, she could have, and should have, pulled them aside and addressed her concerns instead of leaving them in the lurch.

Another example was her fight with Kristin, in which she comes across as childish.

“Grow up, Joanna. Don’t you think it’s time you let this whole mean girl thing go?”
“I’m the mean girl? I’m not the mean girl! You’re the mean girl!” And whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you, Joanna wanted to add. But she didn’t, because that would mean she was freaking out, which she definitely was not.

Liam, not having grown up in town, is still very much aware of Joanna’s antics in her younger years, yet he doesn’t let that deter him. He’s willing to get to know her as the person she now was, instead of the person everyone else remembered her as. It was nice to get to see them open up to each other and accept each other for the way they were. He also helps her see that it’s possible the town isn’t still judging her as harshly as she thinks they are.

The ending threw me off; I’ll admit I didn’t see that one coming. Nowhere in the book was it mentioned that Joanna was interested in the job she ends up with. It completely came out of left field, which left me feeling a little confused. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was an interesting twist, but it was a bit of an odd choice for her.

Overall I enjoyed the book, I just wished Joanna was a little more likeable than she was. I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy small town romances or books about returning home to rediscover oneself.

Book Info:

Publication: June 27, 2017 | Zebra Shout | Librarians in Love #2

Liam Byrd loves Halikarnassus, New York. He loves its friendliness, its nosiness, the vibrant library at the center of it all. And now that Joanna Green is home, the whole town sizzles. A rebel like her stirs up excitement, action, desire–at least in Liam.
Joanna never thought she’d have to come back to her dull, tiny fishbowl of a hometown ever again. She almost had a record deal for her all-girl rock band. She almost had it made in L.A. And then her deal went sour and her granny broke her leg . . . and now here she is, running into everybody’s favorite librarian every time she heads to a dive bar or catches up with old friends.
He has charm, he has good taste in music–and the sight of him in running shorts is dangerously distracting. But when he loves her old town and she can’t wait to check out, their new romance is surely destined for the book drop…