Title: Meet Me on Love Lane
Author: Nina Bocci
Genre: Romance
Published On: December 10, 2019
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: physical
Pages: 304
Synopsis:
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of On the Corner of Love and Hate comes a romantic comedy about a woman who grudgingly returns home to small-town Pennsylvania, only to find herself falling in love—not only with the town, but with two of its citizens.
Charlotte Bishop is out of options in New York City. Fired, broke, and blacklisted by her former boss, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Hope Lake, PA to lick her wounds. Although she’s expecting to find a miserable place with nothing to do, she is pleasantly surprised to discover it is bustling and thriving.
She’s only supposed to be in Hope Lake temporarily until she can earn enough money to move back to New York. She’s not supposed to reconnect with her childhood friends or her beloved grandmother. She’s not supposed to find her dream job running the local florist shop. And she’s definitely not supposed to fall for not one but two of Hope Lake’s golden boys: one the beloved high school English teacher, the other the charming town doctor.
With a heart torn between two men and two cities, what’s a girl to do?
A perfect blend of humor and heart, Meet Me on Love Lane is the second in a new series from USA TODAY bestselling author Nina Bocci that is sure to charm fans of Josie Silver and Sally Thorne.
My thoughts
(Spoiler free)
First, I’m sorry for the rambling review ahead, but I have some mixed feelings about Meet Me on Love Lane, which I read in November.
One of the issues I’m the most frustrated by is the fact the cover does NOT match the book. You would assume when you look at this cover that this romance is set in the fall, right? There’s a pile of heart-shaped fallish leaves in various shades of red and brown, giving off all kinds of autumnal vibes. When I was searching for seasonal books, books set in the fall, this one came up A LOT. I even skimmed through a few reviews—trying to avoid spoilers—to see if anyone said it wasn’t set in the fall. I found nothing. But this book is set entirely in the summer—except for the epilogue. This cover could have been just as cute with a heart made from flowers. I mean, the main character is a florist, for goodness sake.
Anyhoo, Meet Me on Love Lane started out strong, with an adorable remeet-cute and great characters. And while I enjoyed this one, I feel like it could have been even better with a little editing and tweaks. There were some continuity issues, or just plot points that weren’t clear to me. And the book felt like it was leading up to a big secret reveal, but I didn’t feel like it delivered. I think one thing that definitely could have helped is if we had gotten part of the book from someone else’s point of view besides just our main heroine, Charlotte. She’s blocked most of her childhood memories, which does add to the mystery of the book, but it also left me confused about many details most of the time. Things felt glossed over.
And if you’re worried about a love triangle, there isn’t really one. The romance didn’t really kick in until the last few chapters. And while I did adore the main love interest, I wanted more of his story. Maybe scenes from his point of view?? But the romance—when it finally happened—was steamy!
I’m not sure if I enjoyed this one enough to pick up either of the other two books in the series. (Each one is about a different childhood friend and can be read as a standalone.) But out of all the friends—besides Charlotte and Henry—Nick is my favorite. So maybe I’ll want to pick up the third book to check out his story.
I read this one mostly in one day, the day after my Covid booster, so it was a nice one to curl up with, but would have been even better if it had been the seasonal read I was hoping for.
Rating:
About the Author
A Song For A Book
Even though Charlotte is returning home, she doesn’t have many memories of her childhood, so it’s a new beginning of sorts for her. I’ve chosen to highlight “Now is the Start” by A Fine Frenzy.
Hey
Do you hear, do you hear
That sound
It’s the sound of the lost gone found
It’s the sound of a mute gone loud
It’s the sound of a new start
Kiss
With a mouth of shooting stars
Of lost and broken hearts
Unafraid you can name your scars
With a touch of a new heart…
Have you read Meet Me on Love Lane? Or did you add it to your tbr? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
Great review! Glad that you were still able to find things to enjoy about it. I find myself irrationally irritated when covers don’t match the stories inside 😂 This one sounds kind of disappointing on a few fronts so as cute as it looks, I think I’m gonna have to give it a pass!
Yes! I’m especially irritated when they’re seasonal reads and the covers could so easily be made to match. 😉
Nice review! I would also be really irritated at the cover not matching the season, especially as you said when it would be so easy to just use flowers and make it match that way. Still, it sounds like a quick cute read!
It was cute! And it *might* would have gotten a higher rating from me if I wasn’t irritated by the cover. 😉
LOL, I know that feeling! Sometimes little things can impact a book’s rating.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy this more. It was my favorite of the series.
Oh ok! I think the mismatched cover might have influenced my opinion more than it should have. Ha! But I was so excited about a fallish read. 🙂