THE INGREDIENTS OF YOU AND ME

A big-city baker faces off with her ex-boyfriend when she moves to his small town to start a new chapter.

Parker Adams made her name in New York City with a chic bakery and appearances on a cooking competition show, but six years of 12-hour days have taken their toll. When she gets a buyout offer too good to refuse, she takes it but finds herself at loose ends with no firm plan for “Parker Phase Two.” She accepts her best friend Charlotte’s invitation to visit the small town of Hope Lake, Pennsylvania, with equal parts desperation and reluctance. Desperation, because she sold all her recipes along with her shop and cannot seem to find a new groove in the kitchen. Reluctance, because a secret long-distance affair with Charlotte’s friend Nick ended badly when he suddenly stopped answering her texts. Parker sees the move as a way to “kick the cobwebs off the creativity pool in my brain and help me find what’s next.” She tries to ignore Nick, focusing instead on working with local seniors to reconstruct recipes from their childhoods. Soon, Parker rediscovers the magic of baking, but lingering mutual attraction and unfinished business draw her to Nick again. It turns out that the thing that ended Parker and Nick’s relationship—poor or absent communication—still infects their relationship to a frustrating degree. They begin an air-clearing conversation without finishing it so many times it's hard to keep track. Worse, Nick is incredibly dull, but at least Parker’s journey through a transitional period is interesting, and her close relationships with her girlfriends add humor.

A competent small-town romance.