Meet Me on Love Lane by Nina Bocci ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

"The bus rolled to a stop.  A blinking yellow light hung over a pair of rickety train tracks.  They looked defunct with the chipped white safety bars remaining at attention on the rusted metal poles.  I spied a large green sign next to it.  It swung back and forth in the May breeze.  HOPE LAKE  25 miles"  (p 11)

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

December 2019; Gallery Books; 978-1982102043
audio, print (304 pages); women's fiction

Meet me On Love Lane is the second book in the Hopeless Romantics series but can be read as a standalone with no problem.

Charlotte lived in Hope Lake, Pa., until she was ten years old and she and her mother moved to New York City after her parents' divorce. She hadn't been back to visit in many years and her childhood memories of Hope Lake had faded. When she finds herself out of work and out of prospects at 31 years old, she decides to move in with her father until she can get back on her feet again and move back to New York. She knows that small town life isn't for her. Her father is the town doctor and her grandmother is loved by the people in the town. As Charlotte begins to meet her old friends, some of her memory of growing up in Hope Lake begins to return. She knows that she has a connection with Henry, a high school English teacher, but much to his dismay, she can't remember anything about him. As Charlotte struggles to get back on her feet again so she can return to New York City, life in small town Hope Lake is beginning to look better every day. Will she leave her dad and grandmother and old friends to return to her life in New York or will she make a radical decision and stay in Hope Lake??

This is a perfect romance read - the characters and well written and the setting in small town PA makes you want to check the town out yourself. The book is full of love -- family love, love from friends - old and new - and a delicious love triangle between Charlotte, the English teacher and the new doctor in town. As Charlotte struggles with her decisions on life and love, she becomes stronger and more decisive in making her plans for her future.

Buy Meet Me On Love Lane at Amazon


If you missed book one of this series, here's my review:

On the Corner of Love and Hate by Nina Bocci

August 2019; Gallery Books; 978-1982102036
audio, ebook, print (336 pages); women's fiction

"Dating is like shopping the clearance racks:  you sift through a lot of pretty yet questionable items in the hope of lucking out and finding the one perfect outfit." (p11)

This is the first book in the Hopeless Romantics series and it takes place in the small town of Hope Lake, Pa.  Emma and Cooper had been friends their entire lives -- they even work together as city employees trying to bring more business to their town.  Emma had a major crush on Cooper when they were younger but something happened in college to turn that love into hate -- maybe not hate but extreme dislike!  They both have a strong love of their home town and are able to put their feelings for each other aside when they are working together.  Emma's dad is mayor of Hope Lake but is retiring and he asks Emma to help for Cooper's campaign for mayor.  She knows that she's the right person for the job but her feelings toward Cooper are making it difficult especially when another woman starts spending a lot of time with him.  Is Emma jealous and are her feelings for Cooper love instead of hate?

I enjoyed this romantic story and I liked the relationship between Emma and Cooper as it developed throughout the book.  I thought the book was too long - over and over Cooper did something stupid and over and over, Emma had to help him get his campaign back on track with snarky comments.  It seems that if Cooper really wanted to be mayor, he could have cleaned up his playboy lifestyle without lectures from Emma.  Overall, it was a fun read and a great start to the Hopeless Romantics series.

Another little teaser:

"Lately work had become my life and I wanted to find something that would bring me a little more joy.  There had to be more in life than getting a contract flawless on the first try or finding the perfect business to take over a vacant building.  There was always a little hopeless romantic lying dormant inside me." (p 11)

Buy On The Corner of Love and Hate at Amazon

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling. She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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