The Ingredients of You and Me
By: Nina Bocci
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 304
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): After selling her famous bakery back in New York, Parker Adams visits Hope Lake, Pennsylvania, to figure out her next steps. And soon she’s wondering why she ever loved city life in the first place. Between the Golden Girls—the senior women who hold court—and Nick Arthur, her equally infuriating and charming former flame, Parker finds a community eager to help her get her mojo back.
But even though Hope Lake gives her the fresh start she’s been looking for, Parker discovers that it’s not so easy to start over again with Nick. Their chemistry is undeniable, but since Nick is a freshly taken man, Parker is determined to keep things platonic. With a recipe for disaster looming, Parker must cook up a new scheme, figuring out how to keep everything she’s come to love before she loses it all.
First Impressions
I’ve read the previous two Hopeless Romantics Books (review for book 1 here) so this book immediately went on to my to-read list. I was excited to read Parker’s story, having met her in previous books. The cover is also adorable and happy and I definitely would’ve picked it up based off of that. I’m also a sucker for romance novel series where you get to follow all of the secondary characters.
What I thought
While I enjoyed this book and I still really like Parker, it wasn’t my favorite of the series.
Parker and Nick hooked up on July 4th when she came to visit Charlotte. Neither of them expected that their connection would continue. Right as Parker is deciding to sell her bakery, Nick disappears and stops returning her calls. Parker, stuck in a rut, decides to visit Hope Lake and her best friend in hopes of getting her baking mojo back. But that also means facing Nick again.
Parker is one of my favorite of the female characters. I like her more than I liked Emma. But while I liked Nick in the previous books, I felt like he fell flat in this one. In the previous books he was a bit of a bad boy and had a bit of a naughty spark. In this book, he spent the majority of it in a relationship with someone who is not the main character and he’s boring. I know that’s a little bit of the point, but it didn’t make for much of a love story.
Even though this is a romance novel, it seemed more like a contemporary fiction. It focused mostly on Parker’s growth and what she wanted to do with the romance on the side. While it didn’t bother me too much, I think it might disappoint some people who expect more of a romance.
The Parker/Nick connection is interesting. They do have a good connection, but Bocci spent the majority of the novel keeping them apart. It seemed like she kept them apart because she couldn’t think of another way to stop them from getting together.
I did love getting to catch up with the old characters, though I do wish that there had been a little bit more Parker and Charlotte. I did like the feature of Mancini and the other older women of the town. I love the town of Hope Lake and everyone that lives there and Bocci didn’t fail to bring this to this book.
I was torn between giving this book 3 or 4 stars. There was a lot of it that I liked, but there were parts I was disappointed in. Like I said, I liked Parker, but the romance side was lacking considering this is meant to be a romance novel. I could see this entire series on Hallmark, so I do love it. I also think this one is stronger than the first book, but not as strong as the second. It rounded out the series well, and I would recommend looking into the series as a whole.