America's Sweetheart

Jessica Lemmon writes contemporary romance with a particular fondness for celebrity, sports, and small town setups, and her readers know they can rely on her for a fast paced, emotionally satisfying story that does not waste their time. America's Sweetheart leans into the celebrity angle, which is a subgenre Lemmon handles well because she gives both the famous half of the couple and the regular person enough room to feel like distinct people rather than fantasy templates.

The celebrity romance subgenre lives or dies on whether the writer can make the famous lead believable as a person. Lemmon's heroes in this lane tend to be men who have everything they thought they wanted and are starting to suspect they wanted the wrong things. Her heroines are usually women with their own lives and ambitions who have no particular interest in being rescued or impressed. The friction between those two starting positions is what powers the romance forward.

Lemmon's prose moves quickly. She does not write the longest books in the genre, and she has a knack for moving past the obvious obstacles so she can spend time on the more interesting emotional ones. Readers who enjoy Helena Hunting's celebrity romances, Christina Lauren's contemporary work, or Tessa Bailey's bantering couples will find similar territory here. The pages turn easily and the heat level stays warm without going extreme.

For a weekend read or a vacation pick, America's Sweetheart is a solid choice from a writer who has built her career on consistency. Lemmon does what she promises and her audience keeps coming back, which in romance publishing is the sincerest compliment any author can get.