ROMANCE

Charm City Rocks: A Love Story

Dell. Jun. 2023. 368p. ISBN 9780593499832. pap. $17. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
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Billy Perkins has a pretty great life teaching music lessons to people of all ages and living in a funky Baltimore neighborhood with the best neighbors. His son Caleb is a good kid, close to graduating high school, and Billy has a great co-parenting relationship with his ex and her husband. Billy doesn’t really miss having a love life, but Caleb wishes his dad would find someone special. When Caleb accidentally catfishes Billy’s reclusive musical crush Margot Hammer, the powerhouse drummer of the band Burnt Flowers, things get horrifically awkward. Margot, persuaded by a junior-level record label publicist that a viral moment is an easy way back into the public eye after the messy breakup of her band two decades earlier, heads to Baltimore to meet fans. Making the best of a bad situation, Billy takes a shot and invites Margot for a beer, and just maybe they can both find happiness despite their messy introduction.
VERDICT Norman (All Together Now) has created a compulsively readable rom-com with nostalgic flair, unexpected twists, and affable characters whom readers will care about. Highly recommended.
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