This book is full of emotions, so grab a box of tissue before you start reading it. Emma and Josh's story is a heartwarming read with a twist, it has a haunted house mystery to solve. This book was a great read.
I received a complimentary copy from Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Reunited on Sugar Maple Road is the perfect fall read. It is a mix of cozy mystery and romance, with a little bit of a ghost story.

This is the sixth and the last in the Highland Falls series. You can definitely read this without having read the others. I am a little sad that this is the last one, but having not read any others in the series, at least I can start at the beginning.

Reunited on Sugar Maple Road has:

🍁 Second love,
🍁 Brothers Best Friend,
🍁 Fake Dating,
🍁 Divorced-Widowed,
🍁 Small-town.

This story focuses on Emma and Josh
Josh is Em's brothers best friend. Josh, recently divorced, has become known as a serial dater. Em, recently widowed, has closed herself off from everyone. They decide to fake date to improve Josh's reputation and get people to stop bothering Em about "getting back out there". But there is also a decades old murder mystery to solve and a haunted house to deal with.

At times, this story had me grabbing for my tissues and other times I was chuckling out loud, plus there was definitely some mystery and suspense. It was just such an enjoyable, cozy read!

Definitely pick this up if you like a fall romance with a little mystery and a ghost or two.

Reunited on Sugar Maple Road is book 6 in the Highland Falls series by Debbie Mason and I am so thankful Netgalley sent me an advanced copy to read and review!

This was a perfect fall romance featuring ghosts, witches, and a haunted house. It made for the perfect fall cozy romance! Note that the first half focuses on Emma's grief over the loss of her fiancé 17 months prior, and also miscarrying their baby shortly after his funeral.

Even though this is book 6 in the series it could definitely be read as a stand-alone. Josh and Emma's romance is one that you won't want to miss.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra

Debbie Mason has done it again with the final installment of the Highland Falls series, Reunited on Sugar Maple Road. An engaging contemporary romance which kept my interest from the first page. Well, if truth be told, I was hooked just from the summary of the book.

This story involves Emma Scott, a local police officer in Highland Falls. Emma is still recovering from the death of her fiancé, whom died a little over a year ago. What is frustrating to Emma is that her friends and family think she should be “getting on” with her life. Well, they should walk in her shoes! There is no timeline in processing a grief as great as losing a loved one. However, Emma is starting to feel like she wants to figure out how to move forward. And then we have the ever fun loving and hunky Josh Callahan. Josh is the high school football coach and is known around town as the “heartbreaker of Highland Falls”. He seems to break off any relationship after just two dates (is that really then considered a “relationship”). As the reader learns, Emma is actually the ‘annoying’ little sister of Josh’s best friend Cal. The arrangement Emma and Josh cook up is to fake date so that Emma can have some much needed practice, as well as satisfy her family and friends need for her to move on. This arrangement also lends itself to a plan for Josh to recoup some of his credibility as a nice guy and not just a serial dater.

There are a number of other plot lines to keep a reader intrigued, like haunted houses (and the ghosts within), crooked politicians (oh my!), rambunctious teenagers (as if there are any other kind at Halloween) and finally – visits from Emma’s deceased fiancé urging her to move on so that he and their deceased baby can too. With a storyline around Halloween, you really get a supernatural vibe and even the teenagers refer to Seaton House as haunted and thus a place of interest around this time of year.

I enjoyed the depth and breadth of the characters, especially Emma and Josh. The storyline was one that widowed readers can relate to. Additionally, anyone who has lost a child will also be haunted by the presence of the many ghosts/aberrations that appear. But lest we forget – there are certainly laugh out loud moments! Watching the two main characters navigate their way through speed dating had my chuckling out loud.

The ancillary story lines were also filled with mystery, intrigue, romance and just good ole sleuthing as to who was murdered and by whom. I also enjoyed how Emma also assisted Josh with the football team – it just seemed so natural and frankly, something that would happen in a small town. This story also pulled at the heartstrings as well as the funny bone. A well rounded read.

As always with this series – I love the book’s cover art. Draws me in every time!

If you have read any of my previous reviews – I like to leave the majority of the very scintillating details out so that you can discover them. This story had many intriguing tangents, which I hope you will get to discover yourself. If you are into romance with a bit of intrigue and murder thrown in, then I would highly recommend Reunited on Sugar Maple Road in particular and the Highland Falls series and Debbie Mason in general.

I really liked this book. Well written and very entertaining .
It’s an easy ready and I couldn’t stop reading .

I do recommend.

Emma and Josh’s love story in Reunited on Sugar Maple Road by Debbie Mason, book six, and the last story, in the Highland Falls series, is a sweet, heartwarming, emotional tale of love, loss, and learning to move on. Josh Callahan and Emma Scott have both suffered the loss of their love ones, though in completely different ways. Josh's wife left him suddenly and they are now divorced, whereas Emma's fiancé was shot in front of her. Both have gone through the grieving process: denial, anger, hopelessness, and sadness. Josh moved on by returning to the dating and socializing scene, so much that he is known for being a serial dater. Emma, on the other hand, is stuck in the sadness stage. Other than her job as a police officer where she has become a workaholic, she avoids interacting with others, as much as possible. Her family and friends are worried about her; urging her to get back into the social scene, or volunteering in the community, rather than constantly working or locking herself away at home. Aft Emma has a near-death experience while rescuing a family whose car runs into a river along with a spiritual visitor urging her to return to the world of the living. Josh is the one to resuscitate her and stay with her after being released from the hospital. With everyone meddling, Emma and Josh decide to fake date in order get everyone to back off on their lives. Along the way, there’s the release of a book about the history of an abandoned and haunted house, teens fascinated with sneaking into said house, and Emma trying to solve the 100-year-old murder mystery surrounding the house. Even Gus, Emma’s dog, gets involved with the case. Both are determined to resist the attraction they feel and those deeper feelings lurking in their hearts as they try to solve the happenings around them, real and paranormal. Emma and Josh will need to let go of the past and drop the guards around their hearts before they are able to let love in, once again.

Ms. Mason wrote an enjoyable, emotional, and heartwarming story that should not be missed. She provided a tale in which the whole town gets involved with Emma and Josh’s dating life as ghosts, witches and kids get in on the action. Rich with sizzling chemistry, family dynamics, clever banter, supportive friends, and paranormal characters help Emma and Josh find love, happiness, and a future together. I highly recommend Reunited on Sugar Maple Road to other readers; the perfect read for the upcoming Halloween season.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Emma has kept a secret since her fiances death. When she suffers a near death experience while saving 3 drowning victims after a car accident sent their SUV into the river. Her finances ghost cones to her and she shares this with her friend Josh. Her family doesn't know her secret but are concerned that she hasn't entered the dating scene and it's been 3 years.

Josh and Emma concoct a plan to "fake date" so his reputation improves and she gets comfortable in dating protocol. They didn't figure on falling for each other and aren't sure how their family and friends would react. Can they move beyond the friend zone? As tensions rise in town over a haunted house, A fire traps Emma and 2 boys from the football team in the haunted house. Her fiance Brad's ghost appears to Josh to communicate Emma's in peril and needs help. Can he get there in time to save them?

Although I received a free ARC eBook from Net galley, all thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Reunited on Sugar Maple Road is the sixth novel is Debbie Mason's Highland Falls series, and it's also the first book I've read in the series as well as the first book I've read by this author, and it was just a so-so read for this reviewer. Having not read the first 5 books in the series created quite a bit of character confusion, and considering the 150 to 200 or so unnecessary filler pages in this novel, I can only give it, at best, a 2-star rating.

Emma Scott, a police officer in this small town, is the heroine. She lost her fiancé 17 months earlier, and her unborn child a week after that. She's been unable to get past her grief at the loss--she only has her dog, Gus, for company, and she's just going through the motions at her job. On her way home from work one night, Emma spots a car veering off the road and into the river, and she jumps into the cold river to rescue the family trapped inside--and after she nearly drowns, she has a near death experience, seeing and talking to her dead fiancé, Brad. So far, so good--I don't mind a bit of the paranormal in my romances, and who should come to rescue her from the icy waters? It's Josh Callahan, her brother's best friend, who works for the local fire department. He's a serial dater with a 2-date per woman limit, and this novel suddenly becomes a friends-to-lovers romance, as eventually these two characters pretend to fake-date, so that all th eother people in Emma's life who keep telling her it's time to stop grieving and move on, including the ghost of her dead fiancé, Brad, who makes numerous appearances, will stop bugging her.

What I felt bogged this story down unmercifully was the 100-year-old murder mystery, the author of a book about the haunted house and her husband who have just moved to town, the strange occurences at the haunted house, all the Halloween-themed events and home decorating in town, a whodunit with someone attempting to stop the renovation of the haunted house, Emma's involvement with the members of the school football team that Josh coaches, a seance, small town politics, etc, etc., etc. In this reader's opinion, I think this would have been a far better read without all the seemingly endless and unnecessary subplots that seemed to take forever to wade through. Additionally, there are numerous references to a Halloween movie entitled Hocus Pocus, which I've not seen and don't care to see. What I did want to see was the growing relationship between Emma and Josh, which is all but lost amid the many other subplots.

The timing of the release of this novel prior to Halloween, is good, as is the HEA ending of this novel, but getting to there was rather tedious, and although this would probably work as a Hallmark movie, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this. The opinions stated are my own.

This is a Women's Fiction/Romance, and this is the 6st book in the Highland Falls series. This book is a cheesy romance with a little bit of paranormal mixed in. I wanted more of the paranormal stuff in this book, or that it was mixed in this book better. I also felt a little of things in this book kept getting repeated until I was sick of hearing about it. I also felt the characters were just ok. I felt overall this book was just ok. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

This is the final book in the Highland Falls series and I'm sad to see it end.

Emma has moved back home to be near her brother and his wife after losing her fiance and having a miscarriage. In order to deal (or not deal) with the pain from her loss, she throws herself into her work as a police officer. Josh has finally moved on from his wife leaving him for her ex and has thrown himself back into the dating pool and is shocked to learn that he's earned himself "heartbreaker" status because he never makes it past a few dates before moving on. After Emma rescues a family from a drowning, nearly drowning in the process, she is visited by her fiance's ghost telling her that he needs her to move on so that he can cross over to be with their baby who also passed. Feeling pressure from her fiance's ghost and her family to get a life outside of work, Emma takes Josh up on his proposal to fake date to revamp his reputation and to prevent the townspeople from setting them both up on dates with other people. Josh and Emma have both crushed on each other in the past but neither of them are aware and they didn't act on it because of her older brother Cal, who happens to be Josh's best friend. It seems that everybody but Cal is plotting to get them together though and it isn't long before they can't hide their feelings anymore. But can Josh play second fiddle to Emma's dead fiance (and his ghost) and can Emma trust that Josh would choose her over her brother's feelings?

Beyond the romance aspect of this story is the element of the haunted, abandoned house and mystery of the sisters who are rumored to haunt it. Emma and Josh take it upon themselves to keep watch over the house as the local teens make plans to explore the house. From nosey teenagers to greedy property investors and the family who has inherited the abandoned house, the paranormal aspect of the story lent that perfect added side plot that made the story perfect for a fall read.

I love Debbie Mason's storytelling and really don't mind that she closes the door on sexual situations. She does a great job of creating tension and a slow burn and remains one of my favorite authors who I read on the regular.

*I received an early copy from NetGalley for voluntary review

*I received an early copy from NetGalley for voluntary review

Reunited on Sugar Maple Road is Mason at her finest. When she is writing about ghost her stories adds another layer. I loved reading Reunited on Sugar Maple Road, but I was also sad at the same time. I hate leaving the people of Highland Falls. I've grown to really enjoy them.

Both Emma and Josh are in prior books, so you know who they are and know a bit about them from the prior book. You really learn about them in this book. I really love Josh. He's fun loving and open and honest. Sadly, because he wants to play around and not settle down it seems like he's a player and not a good person. Instead, he just didn't want to go back to a time where he felt broken hearted and alone.

As you get to know Josh you see the real guy, the one that's good and caring and loves hard. I also loved the relationship he has with the boys he coaches. He really cares about them and takes his job seriously. He's the type of person that you can't help what to know.

Now Emma is the total opposite of Josh. She's angry all the time and sad. You do understand it. She's very sad about losing the person she loved. As cold and uncaring as she comes off you see beneath all that to the good caring person she is.

Together these two are perfect. They balance each other out and bring out the best in each other. As the book progresses you see more and more of how these two works together. You also see how much they care and love each other.

I really enjoyed this story and as much as I am sad to see them go, I am looking forward to seeing what's next.

This was the perfect ending to the series! I loved Emma and Josh and really enjoyed their emotional love story.

Reunited On Sugar Maple Lane is the final book in the Highland Falls series. Debbie Mason always delights with her small town stories. It is a romance mixed with a little magic.
Em is finding it hard to move on after losing her fiancé and her unborn child. She buries herself in her work until she nearly dies in an accident herself. With the help of her family and friends she learns how to be happy again.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for copy for my honest opinion.

This is a sweet and rather poignant story of love, loss and learning to move on. Both Josh and Emma (Em) have suffered the loss of their chosen one, though in different ways. Josh's wife left him suddenly and they are now divorced, whereas Em's fiance was shot in front of her. Both have gone through the grieving process…...the denial, anger and abject sadness. Josh has made the effort to move on by returning whole heartedly to the dating and socializing scene, so much much so that he is now labeled as a player. Em, however is stuck in the sadness stage and other than her job as a police officer, she tends to shut herself away from others. So much so, her family and friends are worried about and keep urging her to get back into the social scene, even volunteering in the community rather than working constantly or locking herself up at home. It takes a near-death experience and a spiritual visitor to nudge her back into the world of the living.

Once upon a time, Em used to fantasize about dating Josh, her brother’s best friend, but Josh never showed any interest in her and always treated her as a kid sister. She has no idea that Josh had similar feelings for her, but didn’t want to lose her brother as a best friend. Getting back to dating is torturous for Em, especially with everyone watching, critiquing and far too interested in what’s going on and how she feels about it. Then everyone seems to be nudging Em and Josh together…. his parents, their friends and her dead fiancé. Both are determined to resist the attraction they feel and those deeper feelings lurking in their hearts. Can they each let go of the past and drop the guards around their hearts to let love in again?

I loved these characters and their story both pulled at my heartstrings and entertained. The addition of a murder mystery and a haunted house to the storyline made this book even more intriguing and enjoyable. I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

After her fiancé, Brad, was murdered, Emma returned to her hometown, now an officer with the Highland Falls Police Department. She keeps to herself, working and trying to accept the loss of the man she loved and the baby she lost a year ago. Her family is unaware of her miscarriage and encourage her to date, to love again. As a teenager, she thought she was in love with Josh Callahan, her brother’s best friend who is now single again after his wife left him. When Emma almost dies rescuing a family from drowning, she sees Brad as he encourages her to fight, to survive. She knows that she must let him go, to be with their baby, so she agrees to “fake date” with Josh, but is there really a chance for them? As they investigate a local home that is said to be haunted, she more than anyone knows that there are things beyond what we can see. Can she and Josh right the wrongs of the past and help the spirits move on? A beautiful heartwarming story. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

I just love holiday books and I'm so drawn to their covers. But this book has a lot more going for it than just its cover. This is the sixth and final book in the Highland Falls series, the series has had a great run and I've read almost all of the books in it. Now I just need to find the time to read the rest of them. Reunited on Sugar Maple Road has some characters we've already met in previous books, which I just love, and we are introduced to some new characters.
Highland Falls police officer Emma Scott is reeling after the devastating loss of her baby and husband. She's really struggling, which is understandable. She's not ready to move on, all she needs is her police work right now. In the background has always been her brother's best friend, Josh Callahan. They decide to fake date just to get everyone off their back about dating for real but what happens when you don't want to fake date anymore because it feels too real? Josh is the perfect support person she needs as she's going through her grief, not pushing her at all just giving her all the time and support she needs. This is such an emotional book that just kept me reading.
I enjoyed the Halloween vibe it has as well, along with the hundred-year-old unsolved mystery, and can we say spooky haunted house? The book really has a lot going for it, supportive hero for our heroine, heartwarming, emotional and packed with Halloween goodness. I recommend this one to you!

Pub Date 05 Sep 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

If you enjoy contemporary romance that's low on steam but huge on heart, with emotional depth that brings the tears and humor that has you laughing out loud, Debbie Mason is an author who should be on your must-read list. I've been reading her since her debut and she continues to pull my heartstrings, getting better and better with each book she writes.

Reunited on Sugar Maple Road brings Mason's Highland Falls series to a conclusion with another heart-tugger that I've already read twice. Her characters become like family. I'm totally invested in them, in their struggles and their happiness, immersed in the ups and downs of their lives. Whether it's Emma and her journey through grief, Josh and his realization that his best friend's pesky sister holds his heart, a dog who captured my affection, or any of the secondary characters who bring humor, richness, and poignant emotion to their lives - even a few ghosts stuck in the in-between - I'm with them, rooting them on, every step of the way, not ever wanting to say goodbye.

If you enjoy friends-to-lovers romance with fake relationships, second chances, grief, healing, mysteries to be solved, well-placed humor, and poignant emotion, give this one a try. I loved it.

While Reunited on Sugar Maple Road is the sixth and final book in Mason's Highland Falls series, it's written in such a way that it can be enjoyed on its own. I, of course, highly recommend the entire series but readers who have not yet discovered these stories, should not hesitate to jump in here...and then go back to the beginning and enjoy everyone's journeys to love.

ARC received from publisher via NetGalley. Fair and unbiased review.

Emma Scott is a Highland Falls police officer and she loves her job and her family. Emma is also still mourning her late husband and has forgotten how to enjoy life. Her family and friends are worried she is burying herself in her work. When her brother’s best friend Josh fondly known as the Highland Heartbreaker suggests that they should fake date, this may just be the solution Emma is looking for. Her family and friends will stay out of her life plus she gets to hang out with Josh Callahan whom she had a crush on as a teenager. Things seem to be going according to plan except when Emma and Josh both start to realize this may be becoming more than just a ruse to fool their families. Can they keep their hearts from being broken when their feelings for each other move beyond friendship?

I loved this last book in the Highland Falls series by Debbie Mason. It was so nice to read Emma’s and Josh’s story and to also catch up with past characters from the previous novels. I am a fan of small town, recurring character novels and this was a fabulous series. Debbie has a way of writing that brings the reader into the story and you can just sit and imagine the small town she is writing about. My thanks to Forever, Grand Central Publishing for my advanced readers copy which I voluntarily read and reviewed. Stop by Highland Falls and meet some really wonderful people.

This is the final book in the Highland Falls series by one of my favorite authors Debbie Mason. Although I enjoyed every book prior to this in the series, this story by far is my favorite. The story to me was people trying to move forward in life after a huge loss and discovering how to do that.

Emma Scott is a Highland falls police officer who lost her husband in a tragic accident and losing the baby she was pregnant with at the time of his death. During a rescue that Emma was trying to save people in a crash, she has a near death experience that changes the way she was dealing with her loss.

Josh Callahan is a head coach and is her brother's best friend. He has always been around as since Emma and her brother were young kids . Josh has always viewed Emma as "off limits" since he cherished the friendship they all shared. Since he was trying to help Emma move on from her loss and his breakup from awhile ago, he comes up with an idea to "fake date" to throw family and friends off their backs so they can both try to start real dating. What could go wrong?

Debbie Mason writes such heartwarming stories that carry you away, but this story with the ghostly element ,fun banter between Emma and Josh, and a visit with some Highland Falls characters makes this a winner! I will be sorry to see this series end, but I loved how it ended. Highly recommend this series and Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the arc.
#NetGalley
#ReunitedOnSugarMapleRoad
#Forever

I wish it wasn't 98° this weekend so I could feel more in the mood for a cute fall romance! Reunited on Sugar Maple Hill by Debbie Mason is book six in the Highland Falls series.

While I enjoyed the romance and the small town of Highland Falls the mystery and ghosts weren't as much my thing. I've read a few brother's best friend romances recently and I want more of that trope!

If you're looking for a fall small-town romance this would be perfect!

Thanks to Read Forever for my copy! Happy Pub Day!