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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
This book was sweet and wholesome and was just as much about the family dynamic as it was a romance. Rosalie and Nick both have a lot of growth they need to go through to be the best parents they can be in the face of the new challenges their lives present to them. So when they fall into each other's paths, naturally they find themselves orbiting one another. Rosalie notices Nick is unmotivated and after overhearing a conversation between her and her mom, Nick is all too aware of her early opinion of him. Dedicated to changing the way she sees him, but also the way he's turned his life in the wrong direction, Nick agrees to work with Rosalie to make things better.
It was cute. I liked it well enough. Was it the greatest read? No. Would I read it a second time? Probably not. Do I regret reading it? No way.
It is an even 3/5 stars. Good but not great.
It was cute. I liked it well enough. Was it the greatest read? No. Would I read it a second time? Probably not. Do I regret reading it? No way.
It is an even 3/5 stars. Good but not great.
This was a perfect romantic comedy read, especially for someone who loves food/to cook. The problem with a lot of these types of books for me is there is too much yearning to the point where I’m just frustrated by the stupid miscommunications that keep happening. This book had NONE of that nonsense. Nick & Rosalie kissed on page 100, officially dating by 130 (not to say there’s not drama after the fact). This book was a quick read for me. I couldn’t put it down after the first chapter. Loved the character development, every character had a nice character arc- Nick stops being lazy & puts in effort towards the restaurant & Rosalie, Rosalie stands up for herself & reaches independence/finds love, ass hole mom realizes she’s projecting & apologizes, lazy restaurant workers actually give a shit, Rosalie’s ass hole ex husband even steps up in the end for the daughter. Just a perfect quick read with a compelling but fun story!
Perfect for RomCom and Hallmark/Lifetime Movie fans alike.
such a cute little small town love story! i felt it was little rushed at the end but still so good!
This book is about Rosalie who is a single parent raising her daughter. She moves back with her mother, with who she doesn't have the best relationship.
She wants to stand on her own feet and quickly. She quickly finds a job as a waitress to the local diner. A place which could be much better.
Nick is the diner's owner, he isn't intrested in the diner, he is watching it slowly dying without doing anything to save it.
Rosalie sees the potential of the diner and how they can earn more by doing small changes.
A local competition is the perfect way to advertise the new and improved diner, but first she have to convince Nick.
I liked the moments where they were cooking together. Rosalie's determination was also a great factor in the book. Nick might seemed like he didn't care but was only because he cared too much.
Rosalie's mother was not my favourite by far, she was very judgmental and didn't supported her daughter.
She wants to stand on her own feet and quickly. She quickly finds a job as a waitress to the local diner. A place which could be much better.
Nick is the diner's owner, he isn't intrested in the diner, he is watching it slowly dying without doing anything to save it.
Rosalie sees the potential of the diner and how they can earn more by doing small changes.
A local competition is the perfect way to advertise the new and improved diner, but first she have to convince Nick.
I liked the moments where they were cooking together. Rosalie's determination was also a great factor in the book. Nick might seemed like he didn't care but was only because he cared too much.
Rosalie's mother was not my favourite by far, she was very judgmental and didn't supported her daughter.
I do love a good small town romance with a protagonist who's recently returned home. Usually there's some history between the love interests, but there's not the case with Love's Recipe so there are no serious hurdles to overcome as far as that's concerned. Nicks does highlight a contentious mother-daughter relationship, which is a bit of a departure from what we usually see in the small town romance genre, but it feels honest and refreshing in a genre where everything and everyone tends to be practically picture perfect.
The author does characters and their story lines really well. There's a bit of her next book, Wild, Dark Horses included at the end of Love's Recipe. Sign me up because the little I read of it already has me hooked.
The author does characters and their story lines really well. There's a bit of her next book, Wild, Dark Horses included at the end of Love's Recipe. Sign me up because the little I read of it already has me hooked.
3.25 stars
ARC provided by author through NetGalley for honest review
This was such a cute romance! I always love a good single parent(s) romance and this one was so good. The characters are so relate able and you feel so much for them. This was a little slow in the beginning and is a slow burn romance but, the reading experience was enjoyable.
ARC provided by author through NetGalley for honest review
This was such a cute romance! I always love a good single parent(s) romance and this one was so good. The characters are so relate able and you feel so much for them. This was a little slow in the beginning and is a slow burn romance but, the reading experience was enjoyable.
A pleasant romance novel
3.5 stars
This is a nice book. It’s an easy, pleasant chick lit novel with a well-developed plot and clearly thought-out characters. Rosalie returns to her small town after several of being away and starting a family elsewhere. Nick is the owner of a struggling restaurant inherited from his late mother. The circumstances of their meeting and building a relationship made sense and wasn’t far-fetched. Rosalie begins working at Nick’s restaurant and their relationship grows from their. The plot is also well-developed. Rosalie and Nick come together with the intention of pulling the restaurant out of the dumps and returning it to its former glory. I like that the author kept the plot simple and relatable. The characterizations also were mostly consistent throughout the book. Rosalie and Nick have several things they’re able to bond over such as being single parents, they share a mutual goal to restore the restaurant and they bond over food. I like how they were able to bond over cooking and how Rosalie eventually came to love after initially hating cooking and it being a source of contention with her mom. Rosalie has a strained relationship with her mother that stems from her mother’s instability in her romantic relationships. I could see Rosalie and her mother’s relationship being relatable for readers and the progression towards reconciliation was nice to see. However, I think that in several instances Rosalie went to easy on her mother and never fully held her mother accountable for all of the hurtful things she said. I wish that would have been addressed in more depth but this a pretty light novel so I get it. There were times when I just felt Rosalie was not saying the things she really needed to say. She was always biting her tongue or too shocked for words and I just wanted to be like, “girl, spit it out! Unleash all of that frustration!” But she never really did that so I’ll have to accept it. The two people she had adversity with-her mother and her child’s father- we ultimately “resolved” even if I wish they were handled differently but I accept it.
Rosalie and Nick has nice chemistry. You could understand the bond between them. I will say if you’re looking for really steamy moments in this book then prepare for them to be mild. But the characters did have chemistry.
One thing I didn’t like was that at the height of the plot the author used the miscommunication trope which I hate. Frankly, I think it’s insulting to readers. Rosalie was being willfully obtuse to the issue that Nick was trying to explain. Neither of them were fully and completely explaining their thoughts and feelings. If they had a complete conversation about their feelings then they wouldn’t have had a falling out in the first place. I would like to petition for authors to STOP using the miscommunication trope. It’s annoying and insulting and not a clever writing tool. Also another thing I wasn’t a fan of was the handling of gender expression. The writing made seem like Nick’s daughter was “not like other girls” because she’s a “tomboy” and likes things that aren’t typically associated with being “girly”. Rather than creating this dichotomy of “tomboy” and “girly-girl” I wish it was written in a that normalized that you do girls have diverse interests and they don’t have to be associated with a certain gender. The author was probably trying to be progressive and I respect that but it came across as “I’m unique because I’m not like other girls”.
On the whole, this is a nice romance novel. It’s a book to read when you’re looking for a pleasant, blissful read. I liked how Rosalie and Nick bonded over cooking and in those moments you could see their relationship blossom. The writing is also nice; it’s straight to the point and the story is well-developed and the pacing is balanced. The reason I give it three stars is because I didn’t have any overwhelming feelings in either direction. It was just a cute, pleasant read!
3.5 stars
This is a nice book. It’s an easy, pleasant chick lit novel with a well-developed plot and clearly thought-out characters. Rosalie returns to her small town after several of being away and starting a family elsewhere. Nick is the owner of a struggling restaurant inherited from his late mother. The circumstances of their meeting and building a relationship made sense and wasn’t far-fetched. Rosalie begins working at Nick’s restaurant and their relationship grows from their. The plot is also well-developed. Rosalie and Nick come together with the intention of pulling the restaurant out of the dumps and returning it to its former glory. I like that the author kept the plot simple and relatable. The characterizations also were mostly consistent throughout the book. Rosalie and Nick have several things they’re able to bond over such as being single parents, they share a mutual goal to restore the restaurant and they bond over food. I like how they were able to bond over cooking and how Rosalie eventually came to love after initially hating cooking and it being a source of contention with her mom. Rosalie has a strained relationship with her mother that stems from her mother’s instability in her romantic relationships. I could see Rosalie and her mother’s relationship being relatable for readers and the progression towards reconciliation was nice to see. However, I think that in several instances Rosalie went to easy on her mother and never fully held her mother accountable for all of the hurtful things she said. I wish that would have been addressed in more depth but this a pretty light novel so I get it. There were times when I just felt Rosalie was not saying the things she really needed to say. She was always biting her tongue or too shocked for words and I just wanted to be like, “girl, spit it out! Unleash all of that frustration!” But she never really did that so I’ll have to accept it. The two people she had adversity with-her mother and her child’s father- we ultimately “resolved” even if I wish they were handled differently but I accept it.
Rosalie and Nick has nice chemistry. You could understand the bond between them. I will say if you’re looking for really steamy moments in this book then prepare for them to be mild. But the characters did have chemistry.
One thing I didn’t like was that at the height of the plot the author used the miscommunication trope which I hate. Frankly, I think it’s insulting to readers. Rosalie was being willfully obtuse to the issue that Nick was trying to explain. Neither of them were fully and completely explaining their thoughts and feelings. If they had a complete conversation about their feelings then they wouldn’t have had a falling out in the first place. I would like to petition for authors to STOP using the miscommunication trope. It’s annoying and insulting and not a clever writing tool. Also another thing I wasn’t a fan of was the handling of gender expression. The writing made seem like Nick’s daughter was “not like other girls” because she’s a “tomboy” and likes things that aren’t typically associated with being “girly”. Rather than creating this dichotomy of “tomboy” and “girly-girl” I wish it was written in a that normalized that you do girls have diverse interests and they don’t have to be associated with a certain gender. The author was probably trying to be progressive and I respect that but it came across as “I’m unique because I’m not like other girls”.
On the whole, this is a nice romance novel. It’s a book to read when you’re looking for a pleasant, blissful read. I liked how Rosalie and Nick bonded over cooking and in those moments you could see their relationship blossom. The writing is also nice; it’s straight to the point and the story is well-developed and the pacing is balanced. The reason I give it three stars is because I didn’t have any overwhelming feelings in either direction. It was just a cute, pleasant read!
Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of Love’s Recipe.
A small town love story sure to make you fall head over hills in love. A story about letting go of your past and toxic people in your life.
Absolutely beautiful story about a single mother coming back to her home town to the last place she ever wanted to come back to... her mothers.
If a book ever had a theme song to start out it would be Suds In The Bucket by Sara Evans. If you ever listened to that song there is no way you would not agree that is how this book starts out.
Only thing I wish that was mentioned in the book was what happened to Nicks baby mama maxie’s mother. It did leave me wondering what happened to her. Or even if that was something Rosalie and Nick could have bonded over.
A small town love story sure to make you fall head over hills in love. A story about letting go of your past and toxic people in your life.
Absolutely beautiful story about a single mother coming back to her home town to the last place she ever wanted to come back to... her mothers.
If a book ever had a theme song to start out it would be Suds In The Bucket by Sara Evans. If you ever listened to that song there is no way you would not agree that is how this book starts out.
Only thing I wish that was mentioned in the book was what happened to Nicks baby mama maxie’s mother. It did leave me wondering what happened to her. Or even if that was something Rosalie and Nick could have bonded over.
This was a short and sweet romance that left a smile on my face. At points, it was a little cheesy, but a lot of people love that! I would have enjoyed a little more depth in the characters; I felt like we were just scratching the service. However, I still liked reading this when I wanted something light and breezy. I think it would be a nice vacation read.