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…
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe Book Review
The book delivers exactly what it promises – a warm, fall-themed read with a charming small-town setting. It definitely had a Gilmore Girls vibe to it, with the dynamic between Jeanie and Logan echoing the classic Lorelai and Luke grumpy/sunshine chemistry.
The prose is simple and focuses heavily on the dialogue between characters, which I don’t mind when reading a romance novel. I don’t want to be bogged down in too much description when I’m looking for a light hearted read.
I also really enjoyed the small-town setting. It added so much charm to the story and made the cosy, autumnal atmosphere even more inviting.
That said, this book didn’t quite hit the mark for me. For one thing, the grumpy/sunshine trope fell a bit short. Logan wasn’t really grumpy, he was more of an introvert. There’s a difference!
I was also hoping for a slow-burn romance, but everything happened pretty quickly. There were a few miscommunications thrown in to complicate things, which felt a bit cliché, but otherwise the relationship progressed quite rapidly.
I also had a minor issue with the level of spice. I don’t usually have an issue with plenty of steamy moments if it adds to plot but the graphic sex scenes seemed a bit out of place for a story with such a Hallmark movie vibe. They felt unnecessary and didn’t quite fit the cosy tone of the book.
Overall, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is captures the cosy essence of autumn and small-town life but I was slightly disappointed in the plot itself.
