In Love's Recipe we follow Rosalie who after leaving her home when she was 17, returns 7 years later with her 5 year old daughter. Rosalie does not have a great relationship with her mom but is left with no choice but to return home when her husband disappears on her. On her first night back in town Rosalie takes a job at Ady's, where she meets the owner Nick. The restaurant is a far cry from what it used to be when she lived there before but but with Nick's reluctant help they start to turn it back around. I found this to be a pretty straight forward contemporary, the love story was cute with two little 5 years old thrown in to the mix, things progress nicely until a miscommunication and the everything is solved. It was definitely a fun read but not one that really wowed me. At times I also found the language a bit jarring, curse words would randomly be thrown into the dialogue. I have no problem with this type of language but just felt like it was a little out of character. The book was also a bit steamy at times so be warned if you are not into that. Over all the book was a fun read and loved the parts that dealt with the cooking. Thank you Netgalley and KDP for my copy to review.

I really enjoyed this book and flew through it. The main character and the love interest had really great chemistry and the romance was well done.

So this one was a little slow for me. I did really enjoy the diversity and the setting but I kept putting it down to read other things. That could very well be just me being in a reading slump though. Overall the writing was good but nothing mind blowing and the romance between the two main characters was cute but I didn't connect with them all the way. I did like that the kids were involved in the story. Overall, I give this book a 3.5 stars. It was cute but not very memorable.

Love’s Recipe
by: Mika Nicks
⭐️⭐️⭐️
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I wanted to love this - the cover is so my style! It started slow... it took me foreverrrr to read the first half of this. However, I devoured (no pun intended) the second half!
I received an ARC of Love’s Recipe from @netgalley. The pub date for this was Cinco de Mayo, so you can grad it now!

Was such a cute romance story. Really enjoyed the writing style as well! With a small town romance usually you see the love interests have a past but this wasn’t the case with these Two and I have to say it was a nice change than your usual small town romances!

Because of issues with my reading device I was unable to read this, and because of the current state of things in unable to replace it. I'm sorry I was unable to get to it but i do plan on purchasing this title in three future.

Thanks for the ARC, Netgalley!

Wowww, okay, I loved this one!

It hit all the things I love in a romance, it was sweet & real, talking about life & grief & falling in love. This one had me falling all over myself with Rosalie and Nicholas falling in love and walking through what falling in love with someone and their children looks like. I enjoyed the family dynamic just as much as the romance, which is rare!

Overall this was a cute, easy but well-rounded read! Plus is KU which is always the best.

such a cute and fun food focused romance!

i loved the dynamic of having to single parents and then trying to figure out their life, job and romance around their kids instead of having the romance be the main and only focus of it all.

the writing was good and easy to read and the characters a joy to experience.

i personally think the mom was a bit over the top and could have been handled with a bit of a softer touch than it was in the book especially in the way it ended but that’s clearly a personal preference.

all in all this is super cute and i loved all the food talk and cooking moments!

if you want a fun romance that makes you want too get into the kitchen?? this is the book to read!

I received this from NetGalley. This was a short & cute read. Rosalie and Nick are the main characters who are going through their own issues when they meet. You can feel the chemistry between them.

This book addresses divorce, grief, single parenting. The author reached mulitple feelings as I was reading it.

It was heartbreaking at times, but a sweet book. I recommend it.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Rosalie Underwood is a hard-working, single mother, who has reluctantly moved back to her hometown after her marriage ended in disaster. Nicholas Fontaine is the grief-stricken, single father, and new owner of failing Ady’s Creole Café. When Rosalie walks into Ady’s and asks for a job, Nick hires her on the spot, not knowing that she was going to turn his life and the café around.

I found this book to be cute, cliché, and frustrating. I liked the two main characters, and I thought that they brought out the best in each other. I liked how hard-working and determined Rosalie was, and I loved her relationship with her daughter Remi. I liked Nick, and I felt bad for him because people were calling him lazy when in actuality, he was struggling to process his grief. I also loved Nick’s relationship with his daughter Maxie, and I loved the moments featuring just the two of them. I loved Remi and Maxie’s relationship, and I’m glad that these two little girls found each other and were able to balance each other out.

One thing that frustrated me about this book is that the timeline didn’t make sense. The entire book takes place over a span of a few months, and in my opinion, too much happened during those few months. I think it’s great that Nick and Rosalie were able to get Ady’s back on its feet again, but I couldn’t wrap my head around that much progress being made in such a short amount of time. I also had a difficult time believing that Rosalie went from making spaghetti from a jar to being able to work side by side with a professionally trained chef and churning out an award-winning menu in a matter of weeks.

This brings me to my favourite part of the book, which was all the food. I love food and books with descriptions of food usually make me hungry and happy. Some of the dishes like cheesy shrimp with grits, gumbo, and cheesy creole pasta sounded delicious, and I wish I could eat what they were making. I also loved the Autumn festival, because the thought of being surrounded by falling leaves, delicious smelling food, and autumn treats made me happy, especially since I’ve barely left the house in seven weeks.

There were a few other things that annoyed me about this book, including how quickly the conflict was resolved. This book features the classic characters fail to communicate, and then they have a fight scene, and then they talked, and everything was resolved shortly after that. I was also annoyed with some of the language used when the characters were getting intimate. I’m not a writer, and I have to imagine that writing sex scenes is incredibly difficult, but there must be better language choices than the ones that were used in this book. I was also slightly annoyed with how many clichés were in this book, I love clichés, but it felt like this book had too many of them.

Overall, I liked this book. I thought it was cute, and I liked the relationship between the main characters. I especially liked all the food featured in this book, and I enjoyed the relationship between Remi and Maxie. If you’re looking for something cute and quick to read, I recommend checking this book out.

Right from the start, I was captured by this book; I love a good book set over food and romance. First, you are drawn in by the characters - a young woman just trying to redirect her life and provide for her daughter, a critical mother, a grieving son struggling to find purpose after his mother's passing.

Mila Nicks brings us a wonderful story about resiliency, love, food, and all with a diverse cast.

The conclusion felt realistic, satisfying, and wrapped up in a way where the reader felt content - without it coming too easy.

I cannot wait to read more from Nick's and hope she continues to offer diverse characters in a genre overrun by white women.

A lovely read. This isn’t just a romance but a look at life, it deals with issues like divorce, single parenthood, grief, it’s a great read. It’s very slow burn but that feels absolutely right here. The characters are realistic and the kids are just so funny. I loved how strong Rosalie is, such an inspiring character. This is a great romantic read that is very real feeling. I loved it.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

In Love’s Recipe, we follow Rosalie as she moves back home after having a rough start to her adult life with her young daughter in tow. She takes the first job she finds, which just so happens to be in one of the most famous restaurants in town, or was. Enter Nick who is spiralling as the restaurant is close to going out of business. I really enjoyed this story! It was a perfect ‘chefy’ summer read. I thought that it not only had the tension and relationship build-up that I would want from a romance but also tackled serious subjects (such as divorce, unstable family relationships and being a single parent.) My only complaint is that at times I felt it to be a little slow. However, I am amazed with Mila Nicks ability to writing a wholesome family dynamic romance but still keep the steamy times alive. Overall, I highly recommend this if you are looking for a cute romance to pick up and I will be checking out any future books by Mila Nicks.

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.

I loved this entertaining read and I’m looking forward to reading more from this very talented author.
Rosalie Underwood is back in the small town she thought she had left forever, she is a broke recently divorced single mum and she had no choice but to come home to St Aster, Louisiana. Determined not to be her mothers puppet she sees a notice on the window of Adys Creole Cafe for a waitressing job but what she doesn’t expect is to find herself working for a business on the brink of going under. If Rosalie wants any future for her and her daughter she needs to convince the owner Nick Fontaine to save his mothers restaurant, to do what his mother would want and make sure Adys survives.....
Two single parents with two adorable little girls help make this an entertaining read, the characters are loveable, the banter is witty and the one liners these two 5 year olds deliver is perfection.
What’s starts of as friendship soon turns into so much more but can this couple overcome the past that seems to haunt them both. I love small town romance and I loved Love’s Recipe so all that’s left for me to say is I highly recommend this gem of a read.

I feel like the best way to describe this book is to say it had potential.
The writing for the most part was good, and the general storyline was what originally drew me to this book, so clear potential there.
However, I felt like it never really reached its full potential.
At times, I personally found it to be a little too cheesy, and I know that some people love that style, but it's not my favourite thing. While at other times I felt myself getting a little bored.
Mostly I think the pacing was a little off, with some parts feeling slow and as if nothing was really happening to move the story forwards, whilst at other points, especially towards the end, I felt like the story was moving too fast, and some of the more dramatic parts were skimmed over and dealt with too quickly.
Overall, the book had enough enjoyable moments to keep me motivated to finish it, but it probably won't be a highly memorable book for me.

After reading a few heavier novels, I was pleasantly surprised by Love's Recipe. It was fresh and endearing.

Love's Recipe offers up a wonderful story about Rosalie and Nick, two people who are searching for something more out of life. Both of these characters were lively and well-developed. I loved them from the start. The story that follows their relationship stole my heart as well. The highlight of the novel were the two children that Rosalie and Nick are raising alone. The dialogue was sweet and effortless. The plot was fun and would make a wonderful addition to the Hallmark lineup of spring romances. It was a refreshing and lovely story.

I give this novel 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

4 star Review Love's Recipe by Mila Nicks

Mila Nicks is a new author to me and I enjoyed this story. There was a lot going on in Love’s Recipe, it is a story of trying to overcome what life has put in our way, it was a sweet story that at times was also heartbreaking.

Rosalie Underwood is a recently divorced single mum who has returned to her hometown of St. Aster, Louisiana. Hiring on at at Adys Creole Cafe she is concerned when she realises that the job may not last long as the cafe looks to be in a downward spiral. Nicholas Fontaine is the owner of the cafe and despite hiring Rosalie Underwood, he doesn’t expect the cafe to be in business for much longer.

I really loved the interaction between Rosalie and Nicholas, the camaraderie and chemistry that lays between them. What will happen when the feelings that are growing be or are they destined to fail?

I enjoy small town romances and this one was well written and engaging. I enjoyed the relationships that developed and the kids, in particular were absolutely adorable.

My Review: I am a bit of a foodie, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to read a romance centered around food! I haven't read many single parent romances but I like how that, in addition to work place forced proximity, drew the characters together. I have to say at the beginning Nicholas was not my favorite character at all, but I did enjoy discovering what made him tick and what lay beneath the facade. Rosalie on the other had was an instant favorite for me, beaten down but determined to push through to better days. As an added bonus to the book, it is also set in a small town atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone and supports each other, the downside is that everyone knows everyone and gossip spreads fast, which plays into this story perfectly. It was a fun and completely satisfying read, even though I am awfully hungry now!


My Rating: This was such a fun book, it had some heavy topics in it but they didn't drag the story down at all. It was just what I needed. There was also plenty of tension between Rosalie and Nicholas, but it didn't get over the top with the sex scenes for those of you worried about that. I give it a rating of Four Paws!

Rosalie Underwood is a broke, recently divorced single mother. After she’s forced to return to her hometown St. Aster, Louisiana, she lands a waitressing job at Ady’s Creole Café. Life’s not done giving her lemons just yet, though. Ady’s Creole Café is on the brink of going out of business. If Rosalie hopes to recover from her disastrous marriage and keep her job, she must figure out a way to save the restaurant. But the only question is how?
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When Nicholas Fontaine hires Rosalie Underwood, he doesn’t expect his newest waitress to stir the pot. He was hoping to keep up the charade he’s created since his mother’s passing. Soon he realizes that Rosalie refuses to let Ady’s fail. She cooks up a plan to salvage the business—including the part where she enters the restaurant in a food competition to generate town-wide buzz.
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There’s no time for butting heads. The clock is ticking and the business is tanking. Nick’s stuck teaching Rosalie how to cook the one-of-a-kind menu. Rosalie’s trying her best to learn the delicious recipes. In order to succeed, they must come together and work as a team, but brewing feelings between them only complicates matters. Is this a recipe for disaster or a recipe for love?- Goodreads

If you are looking for a light read then this is the book for you.  Very straight-forward and not as much drama as the summary makes it seem.

I enjoyed this book because it wasn't as drama filled as most romances are. Nick and Rosalie are adults and for most of the book you see them in a actual relationship. I loved that aspect. It gets really tiring seeing two adults go back and forth with how they are feeling. But, I guess I would say, the downside of this is the conflict within this novel is resolved extremely fast. The only reason why I would that this is a downside is because there wasn't anything else building up the story. For instance, the story lacked depth in regards to the history of the town, the restaurant as well as Nick and Rosalie's  personal history; even Rosalie's marriage is mentioned vaguely. 

I would have liked to see more chemistry between the two as well. Despite this I enjoyed the novel and I really liked the author's writing style. 

Overall, 

3 Pickles