Book Review: Pumpkin Spice Cafe

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Book Review: The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

Spice Meter: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Personal Rating: 2-3 out of 5

Perspective: Switches between both main characters perspectives.

Book Started and Ended in about 2 hours

I feel like this was deemed the Autumn Novel of Booktok. I was excited to purchase it and hoped it would get me back into reading. The Novel helped me get back into reading but I did not get the immersed experience I was hoping for. I was envisioning a Gilmore Girls smell pumpkin cider experience.

The story follows Jeanie, a new resident of Dream Harbour who has recently inherited her Aunt’s town's beloved cafe “Pumpkin Spice Cafe”. Soon into her arrival she meets Logan, a farmer who is protected by the town. I won’t go into much detail as I do not want to spoil 

I liked the idea of the storyline, gave me hallmark vibes with a passion for self transformation. My issues resulted in the details. I felt like it was one situation to the next so quickly that I was unable to visually capture the storyline. I was telling my sister I felt like the book could have been split into three and capture the essence of the town and everyone in it.

I wanted to know the cafe specials or who the regulars were. Their stories bring a sense of home to the storyline. I felt like the characters were stuck on specific feelings and the reader is not able to know the depth and only the surface. The majority of the first half is not spicy but I would say the last 3 chapters are the spicy part. It felt like the characters were more focused on the nocturnal activities versus the initial passions that were spoken about in the beginning. Overall an easy romance read that is quick to get through if you want to find a book to get into. I find if you were wanting to escape into the book I would not recommend this one to start with.

Although there are 2 more books coming out by the end of 2024 which may fill in the gaps I was hoping for. Stay Tuned For More Reviews !