The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

-


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 — The Pumpkin Spice Café: Cozy Sabotage, Sweet Romance, and Zero Murders Required 🎃☕️

⚠️ Trigger Warnings

Light sabotage
Mild smut (not super spicy, but enough that your grandma would blush)
Small town gossip
Emotional abandonment fears
A whole lot of baked goods that will make you hungry 😋

Spoiler Warning 🚨

This review contains full plot details, spoilers, the identity of the saboteur, and a complete ending description. If you haven’t read the book and don’t want to know who tipped over the flowerpots, turn around now 😜

🍂 First Impressions

Let me be brutally honest: I don’t usually care for cozy romance mysteries because, well… they’re cozy, predictable, and usually involve a sabotage plot so gentle you could fall asleep to it. But The Pumpkin Spice Café totally hit me at the right moment in life — I needed something easy, mellow, comforting, and sweet enough to sip like warm cider. 🎃

My rating for this cutie?
4 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It’s wholesome, sweet, small-town charming, lightly steamy, and surprisingly emotional without being melodramatic. And the mystery? More sabotaging than killing — which, honestly, felt very refreshing. Sometimes you don’t need a body count to care!

🍁 Story Overview: A Cozy Escape

Jeanie Ellis is DONE with the fast-paced city grind. After discovering her boss literally died at his desk of stress (talk about a sign from the universe), she realizes she needs a fresh start. So when Aunt Dot, the eccentric queen of Dream Harbor, retires and offers Jeanie her beloved café, Jeanie jumps on the chance.

Dream Harbor is a seaside New England town full of nosy neighbors, small-town committees, gossip, excellent muffins, and too many town meetings. So basically, my dream community… if the gossip skewed more toward book recommendations than my personal love life 😂

Jeanie arrives ready to reinvent herself, only to realize the café might be haunted. There are mysterious noises, things getting knocked over, flowerpots breaking, garbage cans tipping — you know, the kind of haunting that’s more annoying than terrifying.

Enter: Logan Anders, the handsome local farmer who delivers produce, looks great in flannel, and immediately decides Jeanie needs help. The two share instant chemistry, but both are commitment-phobic in their own charming ways:

  • Jeanie: still figuring out who she is and where she belongs

  • Logan: traumatized by a small-town breakup that basically made page one news in Dream Harbor

And yes, both have trust issues, because otherwise this would have been a one-page novella.

☕️ The Sabotage Mystery

Once Jeanie officially reopens The Pumpkin Spice Café, business booms… until someone keeps knocking things over, tipping trash cans, disturbing pots, and making Jeanie question whether ghosts are angry about her new ownership.

Norman — the café’s loyal longtime employee — insists that ghosts dislike Jeanie and are rejecting her takeover. Which is strangely adorable coming from a grown man. He also seems slightly eccentric, but in that cute small-town way where you just smile and keep baking muffins.

Meanwhile, Jeanie becomes more involved in the community — trivia nights, book clubs, farmers markets, Rainy Day Hideaways With Logan™, and more. It’s warm, cozy, and honestly made me think: Why don’t we all live in a small seaside town where everyone knows our business and secretly ships us with the local farmer? 🌾

❤️ Secret Romance, Small Town Gossip, and Smut (A Surprise!)

Jeanie and Logan share more than produce deliveries — one rainy day, they hide in the café and share a kiss that turns into a secret small-town relationship.

Why secret?

  • Logan fears public breakups

  • Jeanie doesn’t want to disrupt her business or her budding friendships

  • Also: nosy neighbors with binoculars

Here’s where I genuinely laughed:

I was SHOCKED by how explicit a few scenes got — not Fifty Shades explicit, but definitely more descriptive than the average cozy mystery. If you’re expecting totally PG, just… adjust your expectations. Nothing wrong with it, just don’t read this aloud at a pumpkin patch with children nearby 😂

The chemistry is sweet and genuine, and watching Jeanie and Logan learn to trust each other is one of my favorite parts of the book.

💔 Logan Panics (Because Of Course)

Just when everything finally seems stable, Logan finds realtor papers in Jeanie’s things — she has no intention of selling, but her fear of disappointing others made her keep the papers instead of immediately rejecting them.

Logan spirals.
Because abandonment issues + small town trauma + fear of heartbreak = emotional self-sabotage.

So he ends the relationship.
In classic cozy-romance fashion.

Jeanie is devastated but determined — and decides she is building a life here with or without Logan’s emotional courage.

🎭 And The Saboteur Is… Norman 😅

Turns out Norman — the sweet, loyal employee who’s been grumpy about change and secretly in love with Dorothy (Aunt Dot) — is behind the sabotage. NOT ghosts. Not Logan’s jealous ex. Not a rival café.

Why?

Norman once wanted to buy the café from Aunt Dot and poured years into the business, believing it would become his someday. So when Dot gave it to Jeanie instead — because Jeanie needed a fresh start more — Norman felt overlooked and heartbroken.

He acted out in tiny childish bursts:

  • flowerpots tipping

  • trash cans knocked over

  • noises in the night

Just enough to stress Jeanie out — and he fully regrets it. Once caught, Norman apologizes and offers to pay for damages.

And honestly… I found the reveal really gentle and surprisingly kind. No malicious villain. No danger. Just a disappointed man who didn’t communicate his feelings like an adult.

❤️ Cute Surprise Ending

Here’s the twist that made me grin:

Aunt Dot didn’t want to sell to Norman because she was secretly in love with him too — she wanted to retire with him. But neither confessed their feelings.

So instead of sabotaging romance, this story is an ode to fear of emotion, small town stubbornness, and how people would rather ruin their own haircuts than admit how they feel.

Norman and Dot could have been happily sipping pumpkin lattes on a porch with matching slippers if they just TALKED.

Classic cozy-romance cuteness, and honestly a lovely surprise.

🌅 Final Reconciliation

Jeanie finds her confidence, stays strong, works the café, integrates with the town, and slowly earns Dream Harbor’s love and respect.

Meanwhile, Logan has a personal awakening thanks to Hazel and Annie, who gently remind him that:

  • Jeanie is staying

  • Jeanie works hard

  • Jeanie loves him

  • He is sabotaging his own life out of fear

Logan apologizes publicly at the café — declaring love in front of everyone — and the two reconcile in a warm, sweet, pumpkin-spiced bow. 🎃❤️

Cue cinnamon-scented happily-ever-after.

☕️ Final Thoughts

The Pumpkin Spice Café is predictable, yes, but also gentle, cozy, charming, and genuinely heartwarming. I enjoyed it more than I expected to — especially because I wanted something that didn’t require deep focus. I listened while cooking, walking, and folding laundry, and still followed everything perfectly.

If you’re in the mood for:

  • cozy sabotage instead of murder

  • pumpkin-scented romance

  • small town sweetness

  • some light smut (like 2-inch cinnamon-spice heat)

  • fear of commitment, miscommunication, and emotional growth

…this is IT.

⭐ Final Rating: 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A perfect autumn read with relatable characters, a silly mystery, sweet romance, and a comfort-book vibe you can enjoy without 100% of your brain switched on.

📚 Similar Books You Might Enjoy

If you liked The Pumpkin Spice Café, try:

  • A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall

  • The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel

  • The Cafe at Seashell Cove by Karen Clarke

  • The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

  • The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner (not cozy, but wonderful small-town mystery vibes)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts This Week!

Beautiful Things by Emily Rath

-
Image
Beautiful Things (Second Sons #1) — ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (3/5 Stars) Author: Emily Rath Series: Second Sons (Book 1) Genre: Regency Romance / Reverse Harem / Historical Romance ⚠️ TRIGGER WARNINGS Explicit sexual content Strong language (many, many F-bombs) Emotional manipulation Parental abuse (past) Classism Infidelity themes Power imbalance Alcohol use 🚨 FULL SPOILER WARNING 🚨 This review contains a complete, start-to-finish plot summary , including the ending and series setup. Proceed at your own risk. 😈📖 ✨ Overview: What Is Beautiful Things About? Beautiful Things is the debut novel from Emily Rath and the opening act of her Second Sons series. It’s a spicy Regency-era romance that blends Bridgerton-style aesthetics , modern dialogue, and an unapologetically horny heroine who inspires… intense devotion from nearly every man in her orbit. We follow Rosalie Harrow , age 22, broke, sharp-tongued, sexually confident, and freshly summoned to a duke’...
Read more

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

-
Image
  📚 The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai — ⭐ 1.5/5 Stars Beautiful Writing, Chaotic Plot, and a Whole Lot of Boredom... Ohhhh I wanted to love this one. I really did. 😩 As an Asian American who immigrated to the U.S. , I went into this book READY. I was prepared for a deep, layered exploration of immigrant loneliness , cultural displacement , racism , and the quiet ache of trying to belong in a country that doesn’t quite see you. And at first? It delivered. But then… it just… unraveled. 🫠 For a novel that won awards and was shortlisted for major prizes, this felt wildly unfocused. The central love story between Sonia and Sunny? Lovely. Thoughtful. Tender. The problem? It’s buried under 600+ pages of side plots, ghosts, financial scandals, murder, Mexico, Venice, amulets, political lectures, sexual assault, lymphoma, and a demon dog. Yes. A demon dog. Let’s talk. ⚠️ Content & Trigger Warnings This book contains: Racism Gender discrimination Religious discriminatio...
Read more

Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry

-
Image
  📘 Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry – Book Review Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️  3 out of 5 stars A raw, unsettling read that forces us to confront the unthinkable—and asks us to consider what compassion really means. ⚠️ Spoiler Alert This review discusses major plot points, including the ending. Proceed with care if you haven’t read the book yet. 🧠 What Saving Noah Is Really About This is not an easy book. It’s not meant to be. Saving Noah tackles a subject most people don’t want to acknowledge even exists: what happens when a child—a good, kind, seemingly normal child—develops an attraction to younger children? What if that child is your child? That’s exactly the nightmare that Adrienne , a mother and former competitive swimmer, finds herself living in when her 15-year-old son Noah confesses to having molested two little girls on his swim team. Noah doesn’t try to hide it. In fact, he turns himself in and begs for help. But there is no real help. Instead, Noah is arrested and...
Read more

Audition by Katie Kitamura

-
Image
🎭 Audition by Katie Kitamura — ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5/5) 🛒 Buy Audition on Amazon (affiliate link) ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Pregnancy loss, abortion, emotional abuse, elder abuse, relationship tension, and grief. 💬 My Thoughts Some books feel like entertainment. Others feel like an experience . Audition falls firmly into the second category. Katie Kitamura writes in a way that’s hard to describe — it’s controlled, elegant, and quietly unsettling. The story moves slowly, but it absorbs you. You don’t just read it — you live inside it for a while. The premise sounds deceptively simple: an actress preparing for a new stage role meets a young man named Xavier, who claims to be her son. From there, the story morphs into something much stranger and deeper — about identity, performance, and the thin line between truth and illusion. I can’t say I fully understood it, and I’m not even sure it’s meant to be fully understood. It’s layered and cerebral, and at times it felt a little too “hig...
Read more

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm

-
Image
🧠 What If the Scariest Monster Is Forgetting? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm Oh. My. Brain. 😳 You know how I cannot handle horror movies? Ghosts? Dead bodies? Skeletons? Absolutely not. Hard pass. But losing your mind? Losing your memories? Losing yourself? Now that is horror on a whole different level. And this book? It weaponizes that fear. 🔥 Five stars. No hesitation. ⚠️ Content & Trigger Warnings Before we dive into this beautiful nightmare: Graphic violence Death & mass casualties Body horror Brain damage Self-harm Mental illness Substance abuse (mnestic drugs) Emotional trauma Animal death Apocalyptic themes This is not cozy sci-fi. This is existential dread in a lab coat. 🧪 📚 Overview Published: 2021 (traditional release 2025) Author: qntm (Sam Hughes) Genre: Science Fiction / Cosmic Horror / Philosophical Thriller Originally born from the SCP Wiki universe, this novel follows a secret global research group— the Unknown Organizatio...
Read more

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

-
Image
  👶🔍 The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena — ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5 Stars) A Baby Monitor, A Missing Infant, and the Worst Dinner Party Ever Okay. Let’s talk about a book that I absolutely devoured in one sitting. The second I started The Couple Next Door , I knew sleep was not happening until I reached the last page. And guess what? I was right. 😅 This is classic Shari Lapena — fast chapters, escalating suspicion, morally messy characters, and twists that make you side-eye literally everyone. And yes… it absolutely gave me shades of the Madeline McCann disappearance situation. Uncomfortable? Yes. Unputdownable? Also yes. ⚠️ Trigger Warnings Kidnapping of an infant Postpartum depression Infidelity Murder Financial fraud Emotional manipulation Dissociative episode Domestic tension 📖 Overview: What’s This Thriller About? Anne and Marco Conti are exhausted new parents to six-month-old baby Cora . When their babysitter cancels last minute before a birthday dinner next door, they make a choice...
Read more