I absolutely LOVED this book! It was a very sweet romance! The main female character, Beckett, was quirky, energetic and loads of fun! And Levi? What a man! The author did an excellent job in creating all characters (even Gregory Pecker the chicken)! This book made me laugh (a lot!), cry, and sigh....every woman should have a Levi in their life! This was the first book I've read by Marina Adair and it most definitely won't be the last! Most definitely a book you're going to want to read!

Hopeless Romantic is book two in the When in Rome Series by Marina Adair. This book is anything but hopeless and ALL romantic. In this story we see the relationship develop between Levi and Beckett. We met them in book one as Levi is Paisley's uncle and Emmitt's best friend and part of the dad squad. Beckett is friends with Annie.

Throughout this book we learn more about Levi and what he has gone through the last several years losing his dad, sister, helping to raise his niece, and keep his families bar, restaurant, and marina going. His big dreams and trip to sail for 6 months is put on hold. Beckett is struggling to take care of her brother with autism and dad who has aspergers. Where her mother walked out when they were young, she was left to run the family along with several jobs.

Levi and Beckett form a bond and further their connect when they learn to trust each other and take care of themselves instead of others first. This is a fun rom-com full of ups and downs but mostly love.

I received this book from Netgalley as an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*A big huge thank you to Marina Adair, Kensington and NetGalley for a extending an ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book*

This book made me smile. From the very first chapter, with Beckett and her menage of support animals in training and her quirky way of doing business, she is automatically such a lovable character.

Beckett is a girl in her mid twenties who has a lot on her plate. Abandoned by her Mother in her teens, she is responsible for her teenage Autistic brother and her Musician Father, who also has Aspergers, She makes sure they get everything they need while she runs her own concierge business and volunteers to train support animals such as Gregory the Duck. Levi has taken over his Father's restaurant, while mourning the death of his beloved Sister and taking care of her teenage daughter and his very needy Mother. Together, Levi and Beckett find love together while helping each other out.

I loved this book. It was lighthearted, funny and while there was a little angst, I was rooting for Beckett and Levi so much that the angst didn't get me down. This book is a slow burn which is nice sometimes.

Hopeless Romantic by Marina Adair is a great read. It is not just a romance book, but also a story about Beckett taking care of her autistic brother. Beckett spreads herself thin by running a concierge service to help people with errands around town and also trains emotional support animals. Beckett frequents a bar/restaurant which is owned by Levi. Levi falls in love with Beckett's quirkiness all while helping her see how special she is.

You can never go wrong with a Marina Adair book. I have loved all her stories with this towns. Go read this one.

This book made me smile so much! The heroine’s emotional therapy cockerel, fir example, gave endless opportunities for cheeky one liners! I love how the author covers difficult topics such as supporting an autistic family member, but mixes it so deftly with quirky humour, emotional intensity and sizzling chemistry between the two main characters. Reading this book is as comforting and uplifting as a warm hug on a cold day!

I really enjoyed this book. It was charming and well written. It is part of a series and I feel like I would have connected with the characters more If I had read the others. I also had some issues with pacing. Overall I give it 3.5 stars. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Hopeless Romantic is inspiring, flirty, and funny...all adding up to a wonderful book. Continuing with characters introduced in Romantically Challenged, this story is about Levi and Beckett. Beckett was left at age 16 to care for her high spectrum autistic father and low spectrum younger brother. This responsibility has left her little time for personal relationships, except with her girlfriends and the service animals she trains. She basically is shy and no longer believes in love for herself. Levi has his own guilts trying to keep his father’s business interests afloat, his Greek mother’s endless calls for help satisfied, and care for his sister’s teenage daughter...as one of Paisley’s three dads. Ms. Adair has written an engrossing story about Beckett and Levi finding their way out of an emotional maze of responsibilities that will inspire, educate, and entertain. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Most highly recommend.

This is a charming and heartfelt story, starring two absolutely lovable characters who I was fully rooting for from the offset. Beck is so lovely and well-intentioned, and her character flaws are sympathetically written. Levi is just an absolute dish, and his commitment to his family is absolutely gorgeous.

I loved the whole cast of characters, and thought that the quality of prose and dialogue was high. This was a smooth, easy read, and provides a lovely sense of escapism with its oceanic setting.

The reason for my rating is that I struggled with the pacing and structure, which I feel was somewhat off. Some scenes were much longer than they needed to be (primarily scenes which focused on character development over plot) and other issues weren't given quite enough space.

I would suggest that the reason for these issues is that the list of traumas and struggles faced by the characters is simply too long. Whilst life can certainly be relentlessly unfair (and so this isn't necessarily an unrealistic feature of the book at all!) the sheer number of challenges faced by the characters doesn't allow sufficient room for each issue to be properly dealt with (family members with ASD, PTSD from childhood neglect, familial and romantic abandonment, two lots of grief, losing children through a break up, non-conventional family structure, etc). These are all real and important issues, and I completely respect the author for tackling them. However, this book would benefit from trying to tackle fewer issues, and give each the room and thorough exploration it deserves.

There are a couple of specific things that caught my attention as feeling a bit "off". One was the push for Grey to meet someone new despite only being widowed a year - this seems pretty prompt to be pushing someone to date again, especially after losing their partner in an accident. Another was that Lynn and the Ride or Pie friendship group are mentioned in Chapter 5, yet we never meet Lynn in this novel. This seems odd as Beck says that Ride or Pie means as much to her as her family, but we never see the group assembled.

Structurally, it seems strange that one of the main plot devices - the planning of Annie and Emmitt's wedding - doesn't actually happen in this book. I assume this will take place in the next book, but its absence from this story made the novel feel a little incomplete. I felt that the ending overall was too rushed, and could have used another chapter or so to work it out more slowly and fully.

I'm confident that this book would perform at its best when read as part of the overall series, although it is a sweet read on its own. I think that Grey's book will be especially lovely!

Thank you Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC, gifted in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely adored Romeantically Challenged so when I received a copy of this ARC, I dropped everything to return to Rome, RI. This was a slooowwww burn. The first half of the book felt really slow with not much going on besides highlighting the family obligations both Beckett and Levi have and how they are both completely overwhelmed. Then things moved really quickly and I thought the book ended with a lot of loose ends. I literally got to 99% of the book and I was worried my ARC was messed up because there were still so many open questions. Perhaps this is just me but I wanted to see how Annie and Emmitt's wedding went, if Levi went on his trip, who Paisley's crush was, etc. I am hoping we will find out in book 3???

Overall, I still enjoyed it. One of the highlights of the book is the chicken Beckett was training. She reminded me of Penelope from The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare. I also liked that Adair brought awareness to autism spectrum disorder.

I just love Rome, Rhode Island and this group of dads finding their way through parenting, life, and love. Levi and Beckett's story of letting others in and letting them help and recognizing life for what it was is so relatable and real. Their slow burn was worth the wait, but the end felt so hurried that I think I still have question. I can't wait for Grey's book to get a little more of each character and to finally find his love.