Thank you so much to @GalleryBooks & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 28 April 2020)

SYNOPSIS | Parker sells her popular bakery in New York with the goal of spending more time focusing on herself & finding her mojo again. She decides to follow in her best friends footsteps & spend some time in the quant small town of Hope Lake.

WHAT I LIKED:
- I am now rethinking my housing situation and want to move to a small town where everyone knows each other
- that feeling of found family is perfect (I want to be in this friendship group)

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the romance (which is really hard to say when this is a romance book)
- a good bit of communication could have solved the majority of issues in this story
- Nick is supposed to be the cheeky mischievous flirtatious guy of the group & he seems to have had a personality transplant
- sadly this is my least favourite of the Hopeless Romantics series

Nina brings another wonderful sweet story full of humor and self discovery.
Memorable characters and a fast read.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Ok so I enjoyed Meet Me On Love Lane by Nina Bocci which is book 2 in the Hopeless Romantics series so I bought book 1 (On the Corner of Love and Hate which I still haven’t read yet). Now why did I read book 3 before book 1? Two reasons: 1. Book 3 is on my Netgalley list of books I need to read and Book 1 isn’t. 2. A friend was talking about book 1 the other day and while I still do want to read book 1 since I’ve read book 2- I already kinda know how some things go in Book 1- so I was more interested in seeing how things progressed from book 2 to Book 3. Confused? It totally made sense in my head!

What I liked:

That COVER is gorgeous. PS: I SO want a cake like that.

Parker. She’s strong and feisty and I love it. I loved how determined she was to find her mojo again.

The Golden Girls. I so want to be them when I grow up. Particularly Mancini.



Bottom line: This was a cute and sweet book- a perfect break from some of the emotional and suspenseful type ones that I’ve been reading. Hallmark movie fans will love this book (heck, this series!) and I would love to hear from these characters in a future book. Now, I can’t wait to read book 1 🙂



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

I've really enjoyed the other two books in Nina Bocci's small town series. But wow, this book was not was I was expecting. After being on a hamster wheel for a few years, Parker decides to sell her bakery in NYC and heads to Hope Lake for a more relaxed pace and to reconnect with her besties. But she'll also be seeing Nick, the guy who ghosted her after a multi-month fling. And when she gets to Hope Lake, she discovers Nick has a girlfriend.

Now, here's the thing, Parker and Nick, the would be couple in the book aren't together for 90 percent of the book despite bumping into each other non-stop. And while both claim to want closure, they start and stop the "what happened" convo about 10 times. Through the middle, I started skimming because I really didn't care about the project Parker takes on to get her baking mojo back.

Add in Nick's girlfriend who's a world class clinger, turned evil ex, and wow, this one just wasn't for me.

Nina Bocci takes small town romance and makes me fall in love with it over and over again.

If you don't fall head over heels for Parker and Nick, I don't know if we can be friends!

But really, Hope Lake will pull you into its shenanigans once again. And once again, it'll leave you filled with love and hope.

I am really enjoying the Hopeless Romantics series. I am a big fan of Nina Bocci’s writing. I really enjoyed Parker and Nick’s story. Parker owns a bakery in New York City that is unique. After a while she is ready for a change and sells her business and moves to a mall town where her friend live. She wasn’t expecting to run into Nick, someone from her past.

If your looking for a feel good romance that will have you smiling you need this book.

Absolutely loved this book and series. Huge fan of this author and can't wait to see what she does next.

I had heard some great things about this book, so I went into it with high hopes. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations.

This book really annoyed me. Nick was a wimp. He may not have thought of himself as a cheater, but it’s essentially what he did by ghosting her and immediately taking up with someone else. He was also stupid, willing to ignore all the signs of Jillian’s craziness because he wanted a relationship so much. The fact that he was also willing to blow off his lifelong friends for a woman who was, on the surface, saccharine sweet and who his friends didn’t warm up to, is just more proof that he was being selfish.

It made sense that Parker wanted to sell her business, but no sense that she’d instantly forget how to bake. It all just seemed so contrived. Also, why on earth would she be so decent to Nick after he ghosted her? He owed her an explanation.

Overall, it’s just another book in this series (like Book 1) where the man behaved badly and the woman put up with it. In this case, the hilarious antics of the old lady brigade were not enough to compensate for the train wreck that is Nick.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Gallery Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

What a fantastic author! I loved every second of this delicious romance!

ohhhhh nina bocci. girl. you be doing me wrong. i'm so sadly disappointed with this book and this sereies. i just wanted more from it, okay? i'm so sorry to disappoint.

Parker Adams, a famous baker in New York, is starting the next stage of her life - Parker Phase Two. She decides to sell her bakery but, despite her initial excitement to start something new and make time for herself, Parker is plagued with uncertainty. In an attempt to get her mojo back, Parker decides to go visit her best-friend Charlotte in a quiet Pennsylvania town, which is also home to Parker’s secret ex-boyfriend Nick. Once there, Parker must confront her lingering feelings for Nick while she finds her new purpose by joining the Golden Girls, aka the senior society of Hope Lake, and creating a new kind of baking business.

Despite the fact that this novel is a romance, I found myself more interested in the Golden Girls and the business that they were creating with Parker than the actual love story. The older women were funny and interesting, and stole the show with their charming antics. I think their characters are arguably the best writing in the book; it’s when the author’s demonstrations of humor and friendship are at their finest. I would have happily read a book just about them, with the romance as a subplot. Alas, this book is a romance and that’s where I got a little stuck.

A common trope in romance is miscommunication. When done right, it’s one of the most emotionally effective tools that can be used. However, when it is done wrong, it can be annoying at best and infuriating at worst. This book teetered dangerously on that line. Parker and Nick broke up due to miscommunication, which is fair, but those two spend 75% of the book repeating this mistake. Parker shies away from important conversations and Nick can never seem to commit to things he says. After half a dozen failed attempts at them having a clear, practical conversation, I was just about done with them. I also heavily disliked Parker and Nick constantly boasting the claim of “no cheating” when they are constantly crossing boundaries. Even if Nick never explicitly cheats on his new girlfriend and Parker argues that she’d never be a homewrecker, they are obviously romantically involved with each other and no one (except the evil girlfriend) seems to find this inappropriate. And that doesn’t even begin to explore the overused and grating choice to have the new girlfriend be a terrible person, which therefore negates all the crappy stuff Parker and Nick do.

With that being said, this is the kind of stuff that you sign up for when you decide to read a romance novel and it’s something that I have to consider when I’m reviewing. I’m not a frequent romance reader and this book reminded me of why I choose to avoid the genre BUT I will say that it was technically well-written, entertaining, and had a certain charm to it. If you’re someone who enjoys romances that read like a Hallmark movie, this is a great novel for you.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to be an early reader.

This is such a cute & fun series. This is perfect for Hallmark fans & anyone looking for a sweet & fun escape. This is my favorite of the trio!

I had no idea what to expect when I started reading The Ingredients of You and Me, but I was pleasantly surprised once I really got into it. This is the first book I’ve read by Nina Bocci, but I can’t wait to go back and read the others in this series.

Parker is burned out, feeling uninspired, and has lost her sense of self. After much contemplation, she finally decides to sell her bakery in New York and give herself a fresh start. A budding romance helps to motivate her decision, but in the end, it’s her own mental well being that pushes her to take the deal. However, once the papers are signed, Parker feels lost. She no longer knows who she is, and the one things she’s always been good at, baking, has turned on its heel and ran. She can’t even seem to make a decent batch of cupcakes. It’s with this in mind that she heads to Hope Lake, hoping to find some inspiration in the small town that her best friend Charlotte calls home. At the same time, she’s hoping to avoid a run in with her former flame, who just so happens to be close friends with Charlotte.

If this book could be described as anything, it would be a warm, sweet cupcake that’s just begging to be devoured. This book was the perfect mix of humor, romance, and friendships that help to make the world go round. I love a story that takes place in a small town. They’re normally filled with some of the greatest characters, and The Ingredients of You and Me was no exception. Especially when it came to Parker and her relationship with the towns Golden Girls. These senior ladies were an absolute joy, and they brought so much to the story. Mancini was an absolute hoot, and I just loved her spunky personality. Honestly, she was 100% my favorite thing about this book.

The Ingredients of You and Me is a book that thrives on relationships and friendships. It is 100% driven by the relationships that Parker develops throughout the town, along with her friendship with Charlotte, and Emma. And throughout all of that, is this tension between her and Nick that pushes and pulls and kept me reading through the very end. While The Ingredients of You and Me is a bit of a slow burn, with much of the romance happening in the last fourth of the story, its worth the read just for the banter and love between all of the characters.

I am so glad to have participated in the tour for The Ingredients of You and Me because otherwise I probably would have let this lovely book pass me by!

In this third Hopeless Romantics book, Parker Adams heads to Hope Lake to figure out what she wants to do next. She just sold an incredibly successful bakery in New York City, but seems to have lost her baking mojo and needs some clear direction. Of course, having her unofficial ex, Nick Arthur, around all the time makes her process of discovery all the more complicated, as she grapples with her feelings for him.

As Parker figures out her life, Nina Bocci’s The Ingredients of You and Me proves to be delicious and delightful. It explores the conflicted relationship between Parker and Nick, while also giving a glimpse of the series’ previous couples—plus so many mentions of mouth-watering food. Romance fits my mood perfectly right now, so I enjoyed this third trip to Hope Lake so much. If you love romance, too, definitely check this book (and series) out.

Parker is an baker from New York - she's been fortunate enough to be successful and she is able to sell her bakery business. She's eager to start the next chapter in her life so she visits her best friend in a small Pennsylvania town, Hope Lake. She meets up with old friends, including her ex, Nick. Nick now has a girlfriend and before we know it he's caught between new and old loves.

The book felt like a Hallmark channel movie, which is fine if you're into that kind of thing! The high point for me was The Golden Girls, a group of older women that embrace Parker - they are a hoot!!! Otherwise, while the story is good, it wasn't very exciting for me - kind of predictable formula of romance novels.

Thanks to Nina Bocci, Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

This being the 3rd book in the Hopeless Romantics series I really loved the evolution of the characters story lines. This was without a doubt my favorite book In the series!

This was unfortunately not the book for me and I wasn't able to finish it. Everything was fine until we meet Nick's girlfriend (our heroine feels the same way) but then it turned into a book that pits two women against each other and the aw shucks man torn between them.
I was already not connecting with the heroine of this story and this was the nail in the proverbial coffin. I'll still recommend the first in the series, but these sequels haven't had the same spark.

I enjoyed this sweet contemporary small town romance book. It was not too heavy on the romance... that actually felt like more of the side story to me. It was Parker's growth and rediscovering herself, and the relationship with The Golden Girls that was the heart of this book to me.

Parker was a strong character with integrity and class. She took the high road with the drama with Jillian (which I totally pictured as Janice from Friends!), stood her ground when she needed to, and was a great friend. I always appreciate it when the lead character is not a pushover! Se had gumption, grit and respected her.

The Gold Girls with all their spunk and shenanigans was such a highlight for me also! I loved Mancini, she reminded me so much of my own Gram. I laughed at all those old ladies so much!

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This author is becoming one of my new faves. This book was fantastic! The characters were relatable and memorable. I love seeing glimpses of the couples from the previous books in this series and cannot wait to see what's next!