Thank you Netgalley and Scholastic Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice" by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc is a cozy fall-themed YA book that transports you to the picturesque small town of Briar Glen. The story centers around Lucy, a teenager helping her single mom run their quaint coffee shop. However, their business is threatened when a new chain coffee shop opens up across the street, run by the parents of Lucy's new classmate, Jack Harper. This book is an extremely cozy fall-centered book, so if you’re in the mood for some autumn vibes, no matter the actual season, then you will definitely love this book. I also recommend this book for younger YA and even MG readers as it’s a simple but fun rom-com.

The book excels in creating a charming fall atmosphere, with vibrant descriptions of autumn leaves, cozy coffee shop vibes, and the community spirit of Briar Glen. The book also touches on important themes such as the impact of big corporations on small businesses and the value of slowing down to enjoy the present moment. It subtly critiques the instant gratification culture fostered by social media, urging you to savor life's simple pleasures, which fits perfectly with the autumn vibes.

Lucy, the protagonist, is a driven and hardworking teenager who loves her mom and their coffee shop. However, her intense dislike for pumpkin spice and her initial hostility towards Jack make her come across as rude and unlikable at times. Her behavior can be off-putting, especially when juxtaposed with Jack's kindness. I didn’t really like Lucy as a character at all throughout the book. There were times when she demonstrated some depth/growth, but she was just extremely immature and a bit annoying. She didn’t act like a 16-year-old; more like a middle schooler, which some readers might like if they are younger as well.

The writing itself is straightforward and accessible, fitting well within the YA genre. The budding romance between Lucy and Jack is sweet but underdeveloped. Their interactions, particularly the baking scenes, add a delightful touch to the story, which I enjoyed. I probably liked the setting the most and then the romance elements. The story hints at a potential romance but stops short of fully exploring it, which can be disappointing for those looking for a satisfying romantic subplot.

Overall, "Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice" is a light-hearted, quick read that captures the essence of fall and small-town life. While it has its shortcomings in character development and plot depth, it remains an enjoyable and cozy read for the season.

ARC Review
4/5 stars
This book genuinely felt like drinking a warm pumpkin spice latte while watching Gilmore Girls. SO sweet! I couldn't stop giggling and kicking my feet! The plot was adorable, the friendships felt so real and genuine, and the mother/daughter relationship was sweet! I think I was expecting the romance to be a little stronger, but this gave ALL the butterflies and fuzzy feelings of a first crush.I would consider this closer to Middle Grade, or on the younger side of YA. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Super cute book, quick and engaging read. Will definitely get you in the fall mood. The characters are relatable and will put you in the pumpkin spice comfy mood!

This was such a cute little fall and coffee shop themed book. Lucy works at a local coffee shop owned by her mom, but is not a fan of the staple fall scent/flavor, pumpkin spice. A new chain coffee shop opens up, and the coffee shop that Lucy works at, finds themselves competing against the new coffee shop, which is run by the parents of Lucy's new classmate, Jack.

This book was easy to get into and follow, and definitely shows itself as a YA, due to Lucy absolutely acting like a bit of an immature teenager (keep in mind that she is a teenager in the book), but it was a bit offputting at times when Jack was nice to Lucy, but she was non-stop acting rude to him in such an immature way and her attitude was a bit much sometimes.

I do wish there was more description in this book as well, especially when it comes to setting the scene for where the characters are located, or what is happening.

All in all, it was a good, quick, and cute read. It wasn't the best book that I've read this year, but it also was far from the worst. I would recommend to anyone looking for an easy read to get into the spirit of the fall and PSL season.
 
Thank you to Kaie Cicatelli-Kuc, Scholastic Press, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

I would have liked this book in middle school, I think. As an adult...there's really not a lot there for me and it was difficult to get through. This book reads like it was written by a teenager and aimed at middle school/younger high school girls.

Jack is SO SWEET right off the bat and she constantly thinks poorly of him for no reason? I mean...she threw a PIE at him when he was being perfectly nice to him and he played it off and laughed about it. Why is he even interested in her? She's downright awful. She is your typical 'pretending to hate anything popular (including popular kids)', 'I'm special', 'no one gets me' teenage girl. She's so mean to him and snaps at him for no reason. She's absolutely insufferable.

I did like the text message format in parts of the book. That was neat, I've never seen that before.

Thank you to Scholastic for providing this book to me for review!

DNF: 21%

From the cover and synopsis, I thought this would be a cute YA romcom with major fall vibes. Being from a small New England town, that sounded perfect to me.

Unfortunately, it's very hard to read. Lucy is over-the-top dramatic. Yes, she's a teenager but she acts like every little thing is the end of the world. I was over it by the time I stopped reading. Also, she doesn't have much of a personality. She has a Gilmore Girls-esque relationship with her mom (though that felt contrived), she loves to bake, and she hates pumpkin spice with a fiery passion.

The other characters don't fare any better. Jack is hot. Amber is sporty and has two moms. Evie was the new girl before Jack arrived? It's boring.

The narrative is also very repetitive. I felt like the first few scenes of Lucy at the coffee shop were identical. Someone comes in, they talk about the rival coffee chain that's coming, someone asks for a PSL, she freaks out. Rinse and repeat.

I think there's potential but it needs a lot of love. As it exists now, I couldn't make myself slog through it.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, Scholastic, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me an ARC of this book. This was a cute YA fall themed story! I especially enjoyed reading about all the different fall themed foods and the small town vibes. I would definitely read from this author again and recommend this book to others.

DNF 40% I tried really hard to keep going with this book. Everything about "Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice" sounded cute, like the perfect fall read: the setting, the season, the coffee shop rivalry, I could even understand our MC's dislike of pumpkin spice lattes despite liking pumpkin pie but unfortunately we got stuck with a main character that was nothing short of annoying. I feel mean saying it but it's true. Lucy is supposed to be 16 but acts more like she's 12 or 13. Actually I know 13 year olds that are more mature than our MC. Her 'rival' treats her so nice and she just acts like a total jerk. After the first inciting incident I tried to give our MC another chance but she just kept digging a bigger and bigger hole for herself. Eventually I just gave up despite the cute premise. Also her friends are completely interchangeable and are just Friend 1 and Friend 2. I'll give it some bonus points that at least as far as I read it didn't throw in any swearing or anything crude I just couldn't get past our MC.

How could this book be bad?!? It has Gilmore Girls vibes + fall/Halloween setting + an adorable high school age cast + a Leni Kauffman cover!!!

This book follows Lucy and Jack (the new kid in town), who have competing coffee shops (one local shop vs corporate franchise) and the BATTLE to make the best pumpkin spice latte! Well, I guess it's kind of a battle (for Lucy) but also kind of a collaboration (for Jack). I did LOVE the story and all of the plot movement, the adorable fall vibes, the great friend group (and mom)! Now, I did feel like the book felt a little unfinished because the whole Jack x Lucy story wasn't closed BUT, does that just kind of leave options for sequel books? ABSOLUTELY!!!!

Thank you so much to Scholastic for an ARC of this fun fall read in exchange for an unbiased review! 💖

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice is a cozy, small town, YA book. It follows Lucy as she tries to help save her mom’s coffee shop by creating the perfect pumpkin spice latte. It definitely reads VERY young, and there’s not necessarily any romance. However, it is a quick read and full of fall vibes.

Thank you Katie Cicatelli-Kuc, Scholastic, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

3.5 stars

This was such a cute fall read. It made me want to go and buy a pumpkin spice latte with some apple crisp. I was always hungry when reading the baking scenes. I think the main character was trying too hard to be different and argumentative, and was overall very childish, even for a teenager, which brought my review down. I loved the relationship with her mom though and I definitely think this gave off Gilmore Girls vibes. Overall, this was a good read to get in the mood for fall.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book.

I don’t believe I was the intended audience for this book, which may mean make my review less meaningful. I believe this would be much more well received by a young teen or even pre-teen who wants to explore a sweet “romance”. So if you’re in that age bracket this may be for you.

This story is about Lucy finding a way to navigate how to be a normal teenager while also helping support her mom and her mom’s coffee shop. She has a hard time trusting that people’s intentions are good, which leads her to believe the worst of the new kid in town, Jack. She dedicates almost all her free time to making sure the coffee shop is thriving even if it means creating things she doesn’t really like or enjoy.

I had a difficult time feeling invested in the story, and I feel like it has a lot to do with the FMC Lucy. The book is from her POV only, so we only get to hear her inner thoughts, but they feel repetitive and she’s making a lot of generalizations/assumptions which just had me feeling pretty tired of her quickly. I felt like Jack was better than Lucy and wish we’d gotten a little more insight into his situation and even his relationship with his family. I also felt like the plot of this story never really advanced very far, and didn’t have enough actual conflict to be able to demonstrate a resolution.

This was a cozy fall story! I think that the age range for this book is middle school or maybe early high school. I think it clearly depicted moody teenage drama, self realization, and friends/family relationships. Overall it was a cute competition between coffee shops and pumkin spice lattes!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I really struggled with this book. I think maybe I was not the target audience. I know it’s YA, and i enjoy some YA, but this felt more young than adult to me.

It was pretty predictable as well. Girl trying to save coffee shop from big corporations swooping in. Falling for the owner of said big corporation’s son. Maybe i have just seen too many Hallmark movies but thats what this felt like.

I think a younger demographic, even from YA, may appreciate this more than I did.

This was a quick cute read. While didn't love the main character, Lucy (she was a smidge annoying at times), I loved Jack. And honestly would of loved his pov as well. While this is marketed as a ya romance, the was no romance, at most the hugged twice and never admitted their feeling for each other. While I wouldn't recommend to someone to add to their tbr pile, it is a good palette book.

3.75 stars


Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy of this books. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received a free copy of, Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice, by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I love autumn, the sights the smells, thee is no season better. New England is so beautiful during the fall, and that is where this book takes place, in Briar Glen. Teenager Lucy Kane, think pumpkin spice is way overrated, though she works at a coffee shop her mom owns. This autumn will be different as they have competition with a new coffee shop in town. I really enjoyed Lucy, she is your typical girl next door.

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice is a cute, cozy fall read. It takes place in the small town of Briar Glen, which also serves as a destination spot to fall-loving tourists. Both tourists and residents love the fall leaves, beautiful autumn scenery, and, of course, Lucy's mom's coffee shop. When a popular coffee chain is set to open up across the street, Lucy is on edge. She then finds out the owner's son is also her new classmate, Jack Harper. Tensions are high, and Lucy finds herself not only disliking pumpkin spice but Jack Harper as well.

I love a cozy fall read, plus if it's YA because I usually find those work better when creating the setting and atmosphere and making everything fun, but this book was not that fun for me. It's more juvenile than I expected and it was difficult to really enjoy it with a character like Lucy. Lucy was rude and very unlikable. She seemed to make it her duty to express how much she hated pumpkin spice and in the most negative ways. She was also nasty to Jack while he was nothing but kind to her. She was very childish throughout the book, and unfortunately, I didn't feel like she experienced any character growth, which I would have loved to see. 2.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley, Scholastic, and Katie Cicatelli-Kuc for this ARC!

This is a cute and cozy book, perfect for fall!

Lucy and her mom own a local coffee shop in their cute, quaint, touristy town. Lucy loves working there and baking fun treats for the shop. Everything has been going smoothly for years until one day she notices a big chain coffee shop opening up right across the street. Immediately she’s worried about the future of the coffee shop and takes her animosity out on Jack Harper, the owner’s son. He’s in her grade and while she was attracted to him at first, this new development proves he cannot be trusted. She despises him and their perfect pumpkin spice latte. But what if she judged Jack a little too quickly? What if all her hatred is misplaced?

I love YA, but off the bat, I felt like this may be a bit too juvenile for me. The main issue was that the MC really wasn’t that likeable. She was rude and obsessed with hating the PSL and making sure everyone knew it. It’s like the people who hate on people who love Taylor Swift for no reason and about their hatred to the world. It’s annoying and unnecessary. Thankfully, Jack was the saving grace in this book. He was a total sweetheart and no matter how rude Lucy was to him, he just wanted to help! Total golden retriever energy.

Overall, I thought the story was incredibly cute and I do think a large audience will absolutely love this! I’m getting all the fall vibes and I can’t wait for the season to start! 🧡

This book overall was cute. I guess the disconnect I had was with was how she kept going "I have to hate him" but she like him. Like I get why everything happened and like how important it was for Lucy to help her mom and save her mother's shop. Like I got all of it, it quickly felt repetitive with the "I don't like him".

I'll also say the romance is barely there, like barely. Not even a brush. They did have cute moments together but not a lot. I did like it a lot.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I feel a little insane for reading a Fall-themed book in July, but as soon as I read the description, I had to pick it up.

This is one of the easiest YA recommendations I could give. It had the PERFECT fall small-town cozy vibes. I'm telling you, if Gilmore Girls is your comfort show, you will love this. The story follows Lucy and her single mom who run a local coffee shop. But at the beginning of the story you find out that a chain coffee shop (bum bum buuuum) has opened up right across the street.

The writing was fairly simple, but I found it endearing to be in Lucy's headspace. The story is full of baking and coffee shop vibes. I literally can't wait for Fall to come now ahaha. You have an adorable hint of romance between Lucy and Jack- the son of Cup of Jo's rival coffee shop. This aspect of the story has vibes similar to Tweet Cute, which is also one of my favorites. I loved the baking scenes that they shared together and how determined Jack was to be kind, especially with how harsh Lucy was to him.

Thanks, Net Galley for letting me read this advanced copy. Look out for this book's release in August!