"The Pumpkin Spice Cafe" (Book 1 in the Dream Harbor Series) by Laurie Gilmore, eBook, 267 pages
From GoodReads: When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job. Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs but Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her. Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes…
BOOK REVIEW: When I started reading, something about the characters felt familiar. I have never heard of this author before but when I looked her up, her bio includes small towns and even mentions Stars Hallow (y'all know I'm a HUGE Gilmore Girl fan right?) Jeanie and Logan definitely have a Lorelai and Luke vibe in the sense of their attraction to each other and not wanting to act on it but for different reasons in the book. Just like some of my recent reads, this is a small town with wonderfully described characters that are easy to love! You have Logan's best friends Annie (local baker) and Hazel (local book shop owner), a kooky mayor that thinks his dreams tell the future, and a book club that enjoys the smuttiest of smut for their weekly reads. This does have some spicy scenes that do get a little explicit but it is only a handful of pages that you could totally skip if you need to.
This was a straight up 5 star read for me because I love the Gilmore Girl vibe of it all. I'm excited for the next book in the series to come out at the end of August 2024.
5/5 Stars
2024 Reading Challenge: 32/50 complete
