[14] With the stressful factors of having two unreleased albums, contentions within her record label, the breakup of her country duo, motherhood and subsequent divorce, Branch was on the verge of officially quitting her music career.

"[18] The album's content is very personal, featuring songs about Branch's breakup with ex-husband Teddy Landau and about her new relationship with Patrick Carney.

[20] Promotional appearances in the media to support the album included a performance of "Best You Ever" on Good Morning America[21] and Late Night with Seth Meyers on April 6, 2017.

[23] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated the album four out of five stars, calls it "a new beginning on several different fronts", and writes, "it comes on so smoothly, it's easy to overlook how the songs quickly sink into the subconscious.

"[24] Writing for Paste and rating the album 7.2 out of 10, Max Freedman states that on Hopeless Romantic, Branch "tells her story with enough variance to stay engaging.

"[29] Entertainment Weekly's Madison Vain rated the album a "B", commenting, "Hopeless Romantic charts new ground, going beyond the simple math of adding the blues-rock percussionist and anthemic pop-rocker together.