Years after her stint living and working in Paris, Amy Thomas has settled back into life on the island of Manhattan. Brooklyn in Love chronicles a new chapter of her journey as she embraces marriage, motherhood and moving out of the city. To preface my thoughts, I must tell you how I adored Paris, My Sweet, which was a lovely combination of memoir and food recommendations told in an easy-to-read way. So, when I learned that Amy was writing another book with a similar set-up, I was excited! Brooklyn in Love was definitely an interesting new chapter in Amy’s personal life (a chapter that I could relate to in a number of ways, since it’s close to where I’m currently at). While it didn’t quite match the charm and easy flow of its predecessor, I still appreciated the glimpse at what Amy was up to and her recommendations for places to check out around New York (especially as a local).

Amy Thomas has had quite a life before this book even begins. She lived and worked in NYC in advertising and when an opportunity to move to Paris comes her way she does just that. Now she has returned from Paris and she is debating about reprioritizing her life and putting love and family a little bit ahead of careers, self and goals - this book is that journey.

I hadn't read her book - Paris, My Sweet before I read this one and there were a few moments where I wish I had because she referenced her time in Paris and I would have known it intimately if I had read that book. I would suggest reading that one before diving into this one.

Although I was younger than Amy when I had the change from focusing on myself and my job, I could still feel her anxiety and her wonder about how the next chapter may look. I think even if you are younger than Amy and may have already made this transition you can read this book and enjoy her journey.

The other thing I loved about this book was the growing places I need to visit on my New York City list - almost like a TBR pile for a reader. Amy Thomas lists everything from crazy expensive restaurants to ice cream shops to bakeries and I was making notes about all the places I will now "need" to visit on my next trip to the city!

I sure hope Amy Thomas continues to write books like this. I would love to see how her life has been since this book ended and her adventures in marriage and motherhood!

I've read Paris My Sweet with a pen and notebook on the side, taking careful notes about the most delicious places to try in my top favorite city. Many notes are still there, waiting for me to start checking thiose places, one by one.
Meanwhile, the author returned to NYC and Brooklyn in Love is the account of her searching for a home at home, while looking for love and discovering parenthood. Altough the return is not easy, because expat experiences are changing and challenging, food and sometimes good drinks are the best ingredients to create the sense of belonging, involving the author and inspiring for settling down.
'Coming home after two intensely profound and fulfilling years in the most beautiful city in the world was harden than moving abroad to a city where I knew no one. There was no distraction of a foreign culture, no challenge of learning a new language or meeting new people, and no promise of what might be. There was no French romance. I was back in familiar territory, among people, places and things I knew and had always loved...and yet everything had changed - most of all me'. But life is going to settle slowly, and the story goes in the most natural and simple ways: setting up a profile on an online dating network, getting settled with the new job, finishing writing Paris My Sweet, dating, exploring NYC through its iconic eating destinations and food fixations of the season. Exploring the freedom while struggling to keep up a relationship, but jumping to projecting a possible parenthood story with the 40s just around the clock.
There is no drama or suspense when it somes to the everyday life story, but what makes the big difference is the food, and its histories, the stories behind the success of a location or a delicious dish. The writing flows, inspires and makes you hungry. Hungry for the Brooklyn that I personally love and miss a whole lot. But it makes me miss also the plates I haven't had yet. From the entire memoir, the food part is what I loved the most because it is inspiring, charming and always interesting. Either you are a travel or a food writer, you will find a lot of good samples of writing in this book.
Maybe the rest of the book doesn't sound so exciting and fascinating - after all, we all have a life to live - but it is inspiring in its simplicity and genuine soul searching.

An enjoyable read, well written and engaging. Amy Thomas has returned to Manhattan from a 2 year sojourn in Paris. She finds herself single, engrossed in her career, about to turn 40 and wondering about finding love. This is a memoir about changing her life profoundly. She meets a man online,goes through some bumps with him (very mildly expressed ones) , finds love. Within a short time they are pregnant, married and have bought an apartment in Brooklyn. Ms. Thomas has an engaging writing style and holds one's interest throughout. This is noteworthy because she apparently leads quite a charmed life with no traumas of any note. She loves her husband, her baby, her apartment, her neighborhood and her career. The fact she can make this an interesting read is a tribute to her easy writing style. I would also be interested in reading her memoir of her time in Paris.
I should mention that she makes a fairly substantial part of the book her travelogue of various eateries and takes particular joy in describing the food available therein. This aspect was okay but not of great interest to me. I'm sure someone with a connection to New York and/or Brooklynn would enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and the author for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

A refreshing, honest look into one women's world where she navigates her return home from living abroad, friends, family, dating and a old-new city. The memoir is complete with a normal!! romance, tons of descriptive writing on food (my favorite) and a very happy ending.

I really enjoyed this memoir and following the authors journey after returning to NYC from having spent a few years in Paris. Single and wanting to immerse herself in the NYC scene, we follow her through, jobs, dating, finding love, marriage, having a baby and that wish of hers to move to Brooklyn.
Amy's description of her journey to find herself and a life she has wanted, was a fun one to read. The author has a sense of humor and the way she expresses things we have all gone through makes, it very relatable to almost all.
She also has a love of food, so intermingled with her life story is her life around the many eating establishments in NYC and Brooklyn. It is definitely a book that will make you hungry, and want to try new places. This is a great story for people that both live in the NYC/Brooklyn area, or for those going to travel there.
Now I will have to read her first book, Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light, which I already have.
I would like to thank: NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC of this book.

When I requested this on NetGalley, I was taken in by the title. Brooklyn in Love. It seemed quirky to me, different. I enjoy memoirs, as they are a way of getting to know someone through their writing and experiences in life. I was curious to see the links between the words food family and finding yourself, and just a look at the cover of this book (also very cute, quirky and original) I finished the book in a matter of hours. I was that absorbed in the writing.

As a person who is not from the USA, or New York but has been there, I could identify with the busy bustle of Manhattan. This was something I immediately loved when visiting New York City. I'm a city girl at heart, but enjoyed accompanying Amy on her retelling of her journey in this book. I have never been to Brooklyn, and have only seen it on TV, in films or travel shows.

This book wasn't just any "stroll around the local neighborhood," though. It's a culinary treat. I could smell and practically taste the cakes, pastries and treats and different dishes Amy ate in her daily life in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Paris. I have a Geography degree and adore traveling. The book was also a travel log for me. I've been to Paris, and loved it. Amy effortlessly captures the essence of what Paris and New York are. From the chic and homely eateries to the world-famous sights, I really felt as if I were there.

Apart from all this, there's a deeper, more personal side to this book. I enjoyed seeing the more intimate parts of Amy's life, love, loss joy worry. I identified greatly with the happiness found at being in a relationship, at the difficulty finding housing and making a life for yourself in the big city (multiple times, no less) with the pull and rush of being back somewhere you love and where you really feel at home.

This memoir made me ask questions: what is happiness really? Is "home where the heart is?" I found Amy to be a very strong and resilient person throughout, and was rooting for her. I rejoiced and identified with her passion for Sex and the City and her boxset of the series (a passion I share for mine). It was a perfect personal detail given that much of the story took place in New York.

By the end of this book, I was sorry it had ended. I felt I really wanted to go to New York again and to see the city and also Brooklyn for myself as it certainly seems like an interesting melting pot of an area. In answer to the questions I had, I think, really "home" is where you want it to be, where feels best for you. 5 stars to this beautiful memoir! It made me feel hope, loss happiness and so many other emotions. For me, that's the best type of memoir there is. Brooklyn in Love is truly powerful.

Thanks to Amy Thomas and Sourcebooks for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. It was a real pleasure to review this and to be a part of the blog tour. I'm looking forward to reading Paris, My Sweet, a Year in the City of Light next!

Food and Love in Brooklyn, what's not to love about that combination. A very feel good book if you like food and are interested in a guide to food in Brooklyn. Throw in a pinch of romance and you got yourself a winner.

I followed Amy's blog, God I Love Paris, while she was working there for a few years and I enjoyed reading her first book, Paris, My Sweet. Her blog posts from her time there were short but thoughtful and Paris, My Sweet gave readers a deeper background into her stay in the City of Light.

Brooklyn in Love picks up after Amy moves back to NYC. She takes us through dating, meeting her husband, and adjusting to being in a long-term relationship after several years of flying solo. Their adventure of buying an apartment in Brooklyn sounds a lot like what we went though buying a house in Seattle (spoiler: not fun) and it was a welcome change to hear about the less glamorous side to having a baby.

Accompanying her personal milestones are culinary-themed stories of restaurants she takes us to along the way. We learn about Blue Hill (by Chef Dan Barber), the legendary home fries from HOME/MADE, the Il Buco restaurants, and more.

I am not a huge fan of New York City but this book makes me thinks there's something more to it after seeing it through Amy's eyes. The in-love feelings she has for her city can only be contagious and this book will definitely be shelved along side my other favorite memoirs.

Part memoir, part Brooklyn/NYC restaurant guide, Brooklyn in Love follows the story of the author and her husband as they meet, fall in love, marry and start a family in Brooklyn. Each chapter is 1/2 memoir, and 1/2 description of a restaurant genre in the NYC/Brooklyn area. Many different genres of food and drink are covered. A fun read and lots of good ideas for future restaurant adventures in Brooklyn.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley.

I received a free e-book copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Brooklyn in Love is a memoir of the author's return to New York after the time she spent in Paris, of her looking for-- and finding-- love, and starting a new family. She describes her return to the dating life, finding a new partner, moving in together, and, later, becoming pregnant and giving birth. All along, she talks about the life of a foodie in New York: visiting restaurants, cafes, bakeries and so on. These parts of the book take on a form of subchapters devoted to the owners and chefs of particular restaurants the author has visited. She also discusses living in New York, looking for a new apartment, and her move from Manhattan (I think) to Brooklyn.

The book is very readable (easily digestible, I should say), but there is not much more substance to it than what can be seen on the surface. The parts concerning the author's private life are okay, but the details are not particularly memorable (except for some issues that I think boil down to cultural differences between the US and Europe). The parts regarding the eating opportunities in New York were, in a way, frustrating. Some felt interesting, even inspired, but a few of them read exactly like scripts for the listening part of a Cambridge ESL exam. (And as an ESL teacher I can tell you, I've had my share of these exercises). I was much more interested in the author's own reflections regarding the places she visited than in guidebook-like snippets describing restaurants. After all, if I wanted to read a guidebook, I would be reading a guidebook.

All in all, while Brooklyn in Love is a good one-time read, I don't think I will want to revisit it in the future.

I honestly don't know how I feel about this one. It made me hungry with all the food descriptions, and I loved getting an inside look at places around New York. That said, I didn't feel like the author was very relatable. She pretty much came across self-absorbed and whiny most of the time.

This is a cute book about the author's courtship with her future husband and the baby they had after, and the food they had along the way. I enjoyed learning about different places in Brooklyn and other NYC restaurants. Unfortunately, most of the book felt like eating a series of amuse bouche options rather than entrees - a taste of what is to come, but without much meat to dig into. I could have used more detail either on moments of courtship or on the food. 2,5 stars, because while the author's work is enjoyable, I left feeling hungry.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I needed to read something light and cute and this fits the bill.

If you are a lover of Paris and New York and food, then this is a great read.

Well written and passionate, I breezed through this travelogue/foodie book in no time.

Brooklyn in Love was one of my favorite books of the year. It’ was was such a fun , heartwarming book. The characters were so vivid it made the book come alive , not to mention the food! Lucious , mouthwatering descriptions.
Look forward to reading more from this author .

Amy Thomas writes a page-turning novel--again--about her single days, but this time in New York, where she meets her husband to-be. A word to the wise--do not read this on an empty stomach. It evokes images of Sex and the CIty, but centered around food.

The author of Paris, My Sweet returns to New York, not knowing that the food culture she’s about to find in Brooklyn is every bit as vibrant as the one she left behind in Paris. Readers travel to farmer’s markets, food trucks, restaurants large and small, and experience a new decade in Thomas’s life as well as a new relationship. A fun frolic for foodies and armchair travellers