Charm City Rocks: A Love Story by Matthew Norman
Fells Point and Baltimore are characters in Charm City Rocks, much as Fenwick Island is in All Together Now. (I just sent a copy to a friend who took me to her uncle’s cottage in Fenwick Island eons ago). You’ll get to know Baltimore and some of its neighborhoods as well as you do some of Charm City Rocks’ leading characters.
I’m an OG Norman fan. Since a mutual friend said, “My friend wrote a book; you should read it,” of Domestic Violets back in 2011, I haven’t missed one. That’s why I jumped on the opportunity to read this advance copy.
I’d never call Norman’s characters quirky. Quirky is too forced. But they’re not stereotypes, either. They’re regular people, likely to remind you of someone you know. They have dreams, but they also have flaws and contradictions.
Billy Perkins is a comfort meal of a man with his oversized cardigans, engaging approach to teaching music and loving relationship with his son. Billy’s life may have grown a little too comfortable. Not in terms of privilege, but he’s stuck in something that’s not quite in a rut. His life has become like a mattress slept on so long it’s taken on the shape of his body. The kind you don’t realize is a problem until your back hurts.
Slowly he’s nudged out of his comfort zone. He realizes his son is reluctant to leave him alone to go away to his dream college. He’s gentrified out of the apartment he’s called home for many years.
In an unlikely twist, his celebrity crush, Burnt Flowers drummer Margot Hammer, wanders into his life, thanks to a bit of meddling from his son. I was predisposed to like Margot. She’s a drummer. I pretty much always like drummers and goalies. And catchers. (Anyone want to analyze that?) She’s been a borderline hermit in the years since the band broke up in a spectacular fashion.
A new documentary returns Burnt Flowers to the spotlight, and their record label’s publicist nudges her to take a photo opp in Baltimore, which does not go as planned but reawakens Margot’s love of music and performing.
Charm City Rocks is a nice reminder that sometimes good things happen to good people. Do yourself a favor this summer: turn off the news, stop scrolling social media and treat yourself to this warm and funny read.
I received this advanced reader copy of Charm City Rocks: A Love Story from Random House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher’s Description
When a single dad meets the former rock-star crush of his youth, everything they thought they knew about happiness and love is thrown into chaos in this hopeful, heartwarming romantic comedy.
“Bound to charm readers from page one . . . You’ll root for everyone in this sweet love story.”—Elissa Sussman, bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask
Billy Perkins is happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He loves his job as an independent music teacher and his apartment in Baltimore above a record shop called Charm City Rocks. Most of all, he loves his brainy teenage son, Caleb.
Margot Hammer, on the other hand, is far from happy. The former drummer of the once-famous band Burnt Flowers, she’s now a rock-and-roll recluse living alone in New York City. When a new music documentary puts Margot back in the spotlight, she realizes how much she misses her old band and the music that gave her life meaning.
Billy has always had a crush on Margot. But she’s a legitimate rock star—or, at least, she was—so he never thought he’d meet her. Until Caleb, worried that his easygoing dad might actually be lonely, cooks up a scheme to get Margot to perform at Charm City Rocks.
It’s the longest of long shots, but Margot’s label has made it clear that any publicity is an opportunity she can’t afford to miss. When their paths collide, Billy realizes that he maybe wasn’t as happy as he thought—and Margot learns that sometimes the sweetest music is a duet.
