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REVIEW
The Pumpkin Spice Café is about relationships, abandonment fears, healing from the past and making a fresh start. A desire to fit in is also an important part of this story. This light cosy romantic mystery focuses on two main characters: Jeanie and Logan. And to a lesser extent Jeanie’s aunt, Dot, and her store manager, Norman. There are other notable cast members who fill out the edges of the story: including a cat named Ghost!
Jeanie has decided to leave her office role as an Assistant to the CEO of a company in the city; especially after she finds her hard working boss dead in his chair. She realises that life is too short to work so hard that you never have any fun. So, when her live aunt bequeaths her a cute little café in Dream Harbour, she decides it is time to make a change and start living. Once arriving in the quaint village to run the successful café, she meets some interesting townspeople. When she moves into the flat over the café, she immediately begins to have many sleepless nights. Her imagination goes into overdrive when she hears some re-occurring strange sounds. Is it a burglar, an animal, a ghost or something else? This first mystery doesn’t take long to be solved. Thanks to the help of Logan, the local farmer. He first advises her to attend a town meeting where someone may be able to help her but in the end he teams up with her for an all night stake out session to catch the culprit. What they find is quite a surprise. But with one mystery solved, the strange noises and a series of events that follow prove someone is out to frighten her or make her leave her business. And after guessing a number of suspects, the guilty party eventually confesses.
In the meantime, a relationship blossoms throughout the story between Jeanie and Logan but not without a few tests and emotional obstacles to overcome. They are indeed very different people from very different backgrounds but their attraction is strong. Logan is fiercely under the protection of the community who do not want to see him hurt or humiliated again. But Jeanie’s cheerful attitude and sincere affections capture his heart and that of the townspeople. They all eventually see she is serious about staying and caring about Logan.
This is a light and friendly read though there are a few overly spicy bits that seem out of place for this kind of story. On the positive side, the autumnal tones in the descriptions and cover are eye-catching. The mention of pumpkin in the title first drew me in as it made me think of my favourite Thanksgiving pie (due to my Canadian roots)!
This story has humour, happiness and healing (and some unexpected overt spice). A lively reminiscent read to keep you busy while the leaves are falling. 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to One More Chapter and Netgalley for my review copy.
