Book Review: The Pumpkin Spice Cafe 

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest opinion.*

The Pumpkin Spice Café is a beautiful and cosy read that is perfect to curl up in a blanket with a hot drink. The world building is well developed and creates a sense of the type of people who live in this small town. The description of the people, places and general atmosphere of the town, Dream Harbour is thought out and helps set the scene for the novel’s action.

Jeanie is gifted her aunt’s cafe and a new start is just what she needs, the looming threat of living an unfulfilled life that is dominated by work and managing other people’s lives propels Jeanie to Dream Harbour. This small town is fiercely protective of their own and especially Logan, orphaned at a young age and lives with his grandparents. Logan’s tragic childhood and evermore humiliating failed romantic relationship is the topic on everyone’s lips. Logan decides to stay away from the centre of town at his grandparent’s farm, until Jeanie nearly decapitates him with a baseball bat. Their relationship is propelled into ghost hunting and town meetings. Logan’s fear of everyone he loves leaving him hangs like a shadow over his feelings for Jeanie. Can they take a leap of faith and begin to trust one another?

The novel’s main protagonists Logan and Jeanie are both flawed characters who don’t have a perfect personality. These flaws and miscommunication creates likeable and also frustrating characters. The fact that these characters have flaws and emotions creates an interesting and realistic dynamic throughout the novel that makes their romantic relationship evermore heart-warming. Initially, I thought the romance between these characters was far too quick but then I realised this is the point and this is a whirlwind romance that ends up as something bigger. The romance isn’t a slow burn that becomes an inferno but one that is within the first few chapters, I would have liked more forced proximity situations that encouraged these characters to confront their vulnerabilities.

I wanted to learn more about the townspeople and have more interactions where these individuals were meddling in Logan and Jeanie’s potential romance. I also wanted to hear more about the Mayor’s prophetic dreams and see this cause a lot more tension and interference within their relationship – this would have made a funny side plot. I would love to be a fly-on-the-wall in the Book Club’s meetings as they are clearly much more than they seem. If there is a possibility of a sequel I would like to see more of Noah’s character and how he develops, the reader only sees small snippets of him.

Overall, this is a cosy romance novel perfect for autumn and colder evenings. I was compelled to read on and the short chapters made this an easy and light-hearted read! Romance, drama and 100% autumn vibes.

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