Dream Harbor Series by Laurie Gilmore

If I were not so very charitable. I would say, if you read one, you read them all. If I were nicer, I would tell you that although this is true, the same can be said for Hallmark movies, and they are just great, aren’t they?

Today I want to talk about the first five books in this series; book number six (The Apple Pie Ice Cream Parlor) isn’t out on the audio platform where I read these books yet. What I find fascinating about the discourse surrounding this series is mainly the fact that a lot of people praise the world-building.

As in, you meet these characters throughout the earlier books, and then you get to know their stories. I like this too, and I enjoy this aspect, but it’s not new. It’s done a lot in erotic fiction, and I feel the need to give those women the flowers they deserve.

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe in short
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…
I got this information here.

The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore in short
When a secret message turns up hidden in a book in the Cinnamon Bun Bookstore, Hazel can’t understand it. As more secret codes appear between the pages, she decides to follow the trail of clues… she just needs someone to help her out.

Gorgeous and outgoing fisherman, Noah, is always up for an adventure. And a scavenger hunt sounds like a lot of fun. Even better that the cute bookseller he’s been crushing on for months is the one who wants his help!

Hazel didn’t go looking for romance, but as the treasure hunt leads her and Noah around Dream Harbor, their undeniable chemistry might be just as hot as the fresh-out-of-the-oven cinnamon buns the bookstore sells…
I got this information here.

The Christmas Tree Farm in short
Kira North hates Christmas. Which is unfortunate since she just bought a Christmas tree farm in a town that’s too cute for its own good.

Bennett Ellis is on vacation in Dream Harbor, taking a break from his life in California. And most importantly, taking a break from his latest run of disastrous dates.

After a run in with Kira in her fields, Ben has no intention of offering to help the grumpy owner set up her tree farm, despite the fact she’s clearly got no idea what she’s doing.

Kira knows she should stop being so stubborn, but her farm is not all cute and cozy like people always show on social media, it’s borderline dangerous with no heating, and she’d rather no one saw it.

But somehow fate finds Ben at Kira’s farm once more, and as Kira watches him swing an ax at the first tree, she finds herself appreciating his strength and questionning why she refused help in the first place..
I got this information here.

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House in short
As a world-renowned chef, single dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive.

Iris has never managed to hold down a job for more than a few months. So when it’s suggested that Archer is looking for a live-in nanny, she almost runs in the opposite direction.

Now, Iris finds herself in a whole new world. One where her gorgeous new boss lives right across the hall and likes to cook topless… Keeping everything strictly professional should be easy, right?
I got this information here.

The Gingerbread Bakery in short
A wedding in Dream Harbor can only mean one thing, everyone wants to get involved!
With Jeanie and Logan set to tie the knot, and Kira desperate to hire out her newly renovated barn at the Christmas tree farm, everything seems to be going well. Annie has agreed to bake the cake, and Mac is responsible for, well… just being Mac. And as the whole of Dream Harbor comes together to celebrate the wedding of the year with the snow falling around them, can Annie and Mac put aside their dislike for each just long enough for the ‘I Do’s’ or is that one request too far…
I got this information here.

My Thoughts
Honestly, Dream Harbour sounds like a lovely place to visit, though it’s a bit too much cinnamon for my taste, and I do love cinnamon.

As for the names, the Pumpkin Spice Cafe was interesting enough and even a bit quirky, the Strawberry Patch pancake house was amazing, and I loved the name change; it was wonderful. And fit well within the story. Even the Christmas Tree farm made sense, as that is what it was. The Gingerbread Bakery, I can also see, it is her signature cookie, and the bakery did not get a lot of time in the book in general (a big miss if you ask me). But cinnamon buns in a bookstore are too much.

Maybe it has to do with my love for books and my dislike for sticky fingers. It might have to do with the fact that I grew up with a parent with a cinnamon allergy, but the whole idea is just rough. Also, the spicy book club meetings in the bookstore was a choice I personally wouldn’t have made.

The information about the books is very focused on tropes, something I’ve been seeing a lot recently. I do not like this, I feel it forces characters into a mould instead of exploring them and their relationship. It might be my intense feeling that enemies-to-lovers never work, or that grumpy/sunshine isn’t really something one should aspire or that forced proximity does not work with adults with cars and autonomy and that even if it did, then everyone in a small town falls under this trope.

All books can be read as stand alone but they are best read in order. I did think the Pumpkin Spice cafe was cute, and I felt it was a good start to a series. Jeanie is new in town and we get to know everyone through her.

I liked the Cinnamon Bun Bookstore the most, even though I am against eating cinnamon buns in bookstores. I thought the relationship between Hazel and Noah was very cute, and I enjoyed Noah’s growth throughout the book.

The Christmas Tree farm was fun, but I did not feel as strongly connected with Kira or Ben. Also, no one eats three stroopwafels at one time, especially not freshly made ones. I almost threw up reading that. It would be too much caramel, too much sugar; you would be throwing up before you even finished the last one. Even if they are very small. They are very rich to eat, and as I said, no one would. It took me right out of the story as well.

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House was the tropiest book out of all of them, but also the most emotional one. I loved the addition of Olive and enjoyed her relationship with Archer and Iris. There were some tears near the end, I must say.

Finally, we learn what has gone on between Mac and Annie in the Gingerbread Bakery, and I had a hard time liking Annie. Which was a bit of a let-down, as I actually enjoyed her in the other books. She clearly still fancied Mac but did not want to give him the time of day. I personally think she would have moved on years earlier if she had just let him explain. I wasn’t that big a fan of the switching timelines, as you were supposed to be rooting for them, and thus neither of them was in the wrong. It felt all quite immature, and I felt everything could have been solved with a normal conversation.

As I said at the start, if you read one, you read them all. The stories are very cookie-cutter tropy stories akin to a Hallmark movie. But as I also said, those are great. Sometimes it’s the exact vibe you are going for, and bottom line, it’s very autumn.

Am I going to be reading The Apple Pie Ice Cream Parlor? Of course, I will at some point. Because tropy or not, it’s awfully cosy at the end of the day.

Details
Wordcount the Pumpkin Spice Cafe: 373 pages
Wordcount the Cinnamon Bookstore: 384 pages
Wordcount the Christmas Tree farm: 369 pages
Wordcount the Strawberry Patch Pancake House: 384 pages
Wordcount the Gingerbread Bakery: 358 pages