Sweet with a decent helping of spice! The Cinnamon Bun Book Store was a deliciously fun read. Bookseller Hazel follows a trail of mysterious clues leading to fun and mischief, helped along the way by handsome rogue Noah. Their summery adventures in the seaside sleepy town of Dream Harbour were captivating and at once I felt at cozily at home and yet so far away from my everyday life. I am so intrigued by the people of Dream Harbour (the ‘Dreamers’!) and want to know all their stories. Thank you and please keep them coming Laurie Gilmore and team One More Chapter.

I loved this story and am probably going to read it again. Being able to follow the growth of two people and all the fun that happens was very entertaining. The supporting cast of characters were definitely an interesting bunch! I'm very excited to recommend this to my customers and will be hoping for more in this small, cozy town.

Thankyou Net Galley for this ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed The Pumpkin Spice Cafe and was so excited to see another book in the Dream Harbour world. This book was fun, flirty and full of chemistry. If you are looking for a small town romance (which is also an interconnected stand alone series) then I highly recommend these books. I cannot wait to read more books set in Dream Harbour.

4 ⭐️ | 3.5/5 🌶️ - The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore - Thank you to One More Chapter via @netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

What to expect:
📚 Forced proximity
☀️ Small town romance
📚 Literal cinnamon bun MMC
☀️ Cozy mystery
📚 Summer Adventures
☀️ Swoon worthy moments, followed by steamy spice

Laurie Gilmore delivered a strong second book in the Dream Harbour interconnected series! I was very excited about this after enjoying The Pumpkin Spice Cafe last fall. I have so far really enjoyed the small town vibes, with found family, and the townspeople quirks.

Hazel and Noah's Summer of Fun (HANSOF!!!!) starts due to Hazel's fear of turning 30 in a few months, without feeling like she has truly lived. Add in a cozy mystery in her bookstore, where clues are being left in her books, and a handsome fisherman with the hots for Hazel... It equals a summer she won't forget!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I look forward to continuing the series as new books are released. This book was significantly spicier than her last book and it did not disappoint! Laurie Gilmore's writing is simple but effective, and often feels like a warm blanket. You just want to cozy up and binge read these stories.

While I enjoyed the plot and the characters, I highly dislike the miscommunication trope in books. It was relevant to the story at least, but it was frustrating too. It contributed to a bit of pacing issues in some spots of the book, but overall I still liked the book and would recommend it to others! A great end of summer story ☀️

This book was a delight! I adored The Pumpkin Spice cafe, and I couldn't wait to jump back into the Dream Harbor world.

This series has that small town charm that I love.

Hazel and Noah have great chemistry from the start, and I love that they complement each other's personalities so well - Noah bringing a more carefree, fun-loving side that Hazel has neglected, and Hazel able to give Noah more confidence in his achievements and the impetus to reconnect with his estranged family.

This series is the perfect comfort read for me, I read this book within a day in the sun. I highly recommend reading this book it is fun, cute and you just get lost in Dream Harbor. This book is exactly like a warm cinnamon bun. I can't wait for more adventures from Dream Harbor!

After loving the Pumpkin Spiced Café last year I was so excited to read the second instalment of the cosy Dream Harbour series. The Cinnamon Bun Bookshop is a cute and lighthearted, small-town romance, perfect to pick up on a summer afternoon - would definitely hit as a beach read! As with the Pumpkin Spiced Café I enjoyed how the mystery sub-plot contributed to the relationship development of the two main characters. I’m not a huge fan of the insta-love trope and found the epilogue a bit too over the top, I think I preferred book one. However, the low stakes of this fluffy romance made for a quick and easy read.

A fairly sweet return to Dream Harbor, as we follow bookstore manager Hazel's last two months before her 30th birthday. The cinnamon Bun Book Store has a lovely premise, and does promise at lot. Unfortunately it feels a wee bit shallow, moving quickly past conflicts and troubles, when I was desperate to sink my teeth into something (anything!).
The spice felt out of character, and out of place in such a sweet story, as if it was tacked on rather than an integral part of the book.
Overall it was a quick read mostly because it didn't quite go deep enough into the plot, into the characters, or into the setting. Unfortunately just a fine sequel.

The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore was a cute romantic story between a bookstore manager and a fisherman. The author avoids an insta-love plot by providing backstory that the characters have been attracted to each other for a long time, but the two do fall quickly. The romance starts out as friendly and casual and the two grapple to come to terms with whether their feelings are real. All in all, a cute love story.

4.5⭐️

Thank you so much, One More Chapter, for allowing me an ARC of this book. I absolutely loved it!

After how much I loved book 1 (The Pumpkin Spice Cafe), I had high hopes for this one, and it didn't disappoint. It had the same small town, cutsey vibes with great characters, and a dash of spice.

Hazel manages the local book store and has worked there since we was 15 working her way up to management with 2 months until she turns 30 she realises she's been stuck in abit of a rut for a while. Enter a mystery scavenger hunt hidden in the pages of some of the books the shop sells.

Hazel needs a had to work out these clues, and who is better to help than the gorgeous fisherman Noah, who just so happens to find an excuse to pop into the bookshop and buy a book.

This book has friends to lovers, golden retriever MMC, and an FMC who doesn't quite realise how amazing she is. I loved seeing the precious characters as well and also the subtle hints on what we can expect from book 3.

If you love a hallmark romance or you just want to boost some joy in your life, then I highly recommend this book.

I did not think I would love a book like I loved the pumpkin spice cafe and wow!!
I enjoyed this so much! Completely heartwarming and unputdownable, the steamy scenes were just a bonus and not my usual thing but I did enjoy them in this novel. The pumpkin spice cafe teases at this relationship and finally we got a book focussed just on that! Loved it and I so want to live in dream harbour.
I will recommend this series to every person I know.
Can’t wait for the next one! Thank you so much for allowing me the pleasure of reading this novel

The Cinnamon Bun BookStore - Laurie Gilmore

I loved The Pumpkin Spice Cafe and fell in-love with the small town of Dream Harbour! #Dreamers

The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore gave me everything I needed from an easy read and was the perfect addition to the Dream Harbour series!

This book was simple and relatable as Hazel is quickly approaching 30 and feeling like she has nothing to show for it. Known as an ‘old lady at heart’, Hazel has a comfortable, predictable routine running the local bookstore as she has done since she left high school. But as the daughter of the mayor approaches her milestone birthday, Hazel realises she didn’t have the exciting 20’s that everybody else did.

That is until, she spots one of the books at the store peeking out of the shelf and upon further inspection, notices a dog-eared page with a highlighted passage. These seemingly random clues begin to appear randomly and after confiding in regular customer and local fisherman Noah, they decide to use the passages from the books to make up for the lack of memories before Hazel turns 30!

Hazel and Noah’s Summer of Fun (HANSOF!!) consists of plenty of romantic and sometimes dramatic experiences, but as Hazel’s birthday is approaching, there seems to be an expiry date on HANSOF.

The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore is a really cosy and easy read. I read it in less than 24 hours, eager to learn what the next clue was and more importantly, who was leaving them? Each of Noah and Hazel’s encounters has an urgency to it, making it just as romantic as they navigate their feelings and life choices throughout.

“She was the tart spark of blueberries on his tongue, she was salt air and rainy days, she was the perfect book. She was kisses and secret smiles. She was everything.”

Thank you Netgalley and One More Chapter for the arc in return for an honest review!

Whilst I enjoyed Pumpkin spice cafe I found this to have that extra little something. There is that small town charm that I expected but the main characters had that extra sweetness that is always enjoyable. Although Noah is described to be a playboy, there is none of that on show and he proves himself to be a thoughtful self conscious mmc. Also the very fleeting information about Kira and Bennett was enough to draw you in and want to add their book to your tbr

This was a total delight! I really enjoyed the Pumpkin Spice cafe, and was so looking forward to more in the Dream Harbor world with the characters we were introduced to in book 1. I wasn't disappointed. Hazel and Noah have great chemistry from the start, and I love that they complement each other's personalities so well - Noah bringing a more carefree, fun-loving side that Hazel has neglected, and Hazel able to give Noah more confidence in his achievements and the impetus to reconnect with his estranged family. This series is THE perfect comfort read for me, exactly the equivalent of a warm cinnamon bun. I can't wait for more adventures from the Dream Harbor gang and they're definitely going on my TBR list.

I love Laurie Gilmore as an author and this book didn’t disappoint. I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t bear to put it down. And then I was sad to have finished it. I’m hoping for more in the series soon.

A satisfying romance set in a small town with characters you fall in love with. There wasn’t too much going on in it so perfect for those lazy days when you want to chill with a book.

Just the perfect amount of sugar and spice in this series of book. Already excited about reading about the Christmas tree and Kira’s story.
I loved reading about Hazel and her mystery adventures and of course the insanely gorgeous fisherman Noah and his aversion to dating dream harbour inhabitants and his roguishly good looks.
This was a literal dream to read and I relished sinking into it.
Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I could not put it down.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Hazel is a few months away from turning 30. Suddenly she finds herself worrying that she has missed out on life. She feels that she doesn’t stray from routine or take risks. She has worked at the bookstore for 15 years and has become very comfortable in her life, but she’s starting to think maybe she is too comfortable.

Noah is a local fisherman who is always up for an adventure. He also happens to be secretly crushing on Hazel. He has been running from some family issues and mental back and forth in what to do with his life after a falling out with his family.

When Hazel discovers secret clues left in books at the store who better to ask for help than Noah. The 2 of them have a summer filled with stepping outside of comfort zones, so much fun and great memories. What else will the summer bring?

There is such great character growth in this book and such good chemistry between Hazel and Noah. This book made me feel so giddy and happy I couldn’t put it down!! The second I finished it I preordered the physical copy because I have to have it.

🤎 Small town romance
🤎 he falls first
🤎 summer romance
🤎 cozy mystery

The second instalment takes readers back to the beloved town of Dream Harbour and follows bookseller Hazel and fisherman Noah in this treasure seeking adventure – but what these two don’t know is the treasure they're seeking doesn’t always come in a glittering gold treasure chest. Hazel is soon to turn 30 and she is stuck, but when a mystery book defacer sprinkles a trail of breadcrumbs she enlists the help of Noah to discover the clues.

This is an unputdownable book that I devoured within days. The pacing and plot is perfect with the right amount of spice. This book has all the elements that the author got so right in the first book and continued to develop this town of interesting personalities. Laurie Gilmore creates enough mystery to hook readers and then swoops them off their feet with a cute romance between Hazel and Noah. Dream Harbour is not short of a vibrant and hilarious cast of characters to help breathe life into the already charming town. And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’d love to be a fly on the wall in those book club meetings! My only criticism is that Noah didn’t seem to interact with many characters aside from Hazel, Jeanie and Logan by himself, so I would have liked to see more of his personality and quirks with his friends. But I can overlook this because I just enjoyed reading the book. I liked the inclusion of Jeanie and Logan from the first book and how they interact with Noah and Hazel.

Overall this is a charming, cute and easy to read romance.