Thank you to Laurie Gilmore, HarperCollins360, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Christmas Tree Farm is described as a spicy Hallmark Christmas story, and I think it delivered on that claim. Much like a Hallmark movie, I thought it was fine but I felt like we didn’t get to know our main characters well enough to root for them to date each other.

I really struggled with Kira. She’s meant to be the grumpy of this grumpy/sunshine book, but for the majority of the book she was more than grumpy, she was aggressive and rude to anyone who would try to talk to her.

On the other hand, we have Bennett. I felt like we were getting constant reminders of how good of a guy Bennett is. He can’t stand to see someone struggling, he must intervene and save the day. That’s all we learn about him.

Together, something about them didn’t sit right with me. It just felt like they hardly knew each other. Kira seemed like she was looking for a man because her twin sister has one and she’s been dependent on her for years. Bennett seemed to forget how rude Kira was to him. It truly was reminiscent of Hallmark Christmas movies.

This book was so cute and cozy with great winter/Christmas ambience! I really enjoyed seeing how Kira and Bennett's relationship bloomed (reluctantly) and the conflict in this book felt very natural to me. I am excited to read the other books in this interconnected series!

Ok full transparency- I did not read the first two books in this ~Dream Harbor~ series (Pumpkin Spice Cafe & Cinnamon Bun Bookstore.) Everyone is in their fall feels so the wait on Libby is out the door. BUT @netgalley so graciously gifted me with this early copy of the third book, The Christmas Tree Farm, and I just couldn’t wait any longer to read it! Definitely catch me going back to the first two books though, because this series is cute!

So imagine this. Your stereotypical hallmark Christmas movie, but with way more spice. If you’re a Bk Borison fan, it gives Lovelight Farms vibes. There’s a small town setting, a perfect meet cute, and a house with no heat so body heat and a wood burning fire are of course essential. It’s giving cozy, cheesy Christmas energy and I’m here for it!

Kira bought the local Christmas Tree farm and is in over her head. She’s become known as the town grouch, and Bennet confirms that the first time he meets her when he’s walking his dogs on her property. She’s trying to be independent and get the farm up and running on her own, while he has the Mr. Fix it mentality. She’s resistant at the start, but Kira warms up to Bennet (figuratively & literally) and she wonders why she was denied his help for so long.

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This is so stinking cute!

Kira and Bennett had great chemistry. They give the black cat x golden retriever energy. I thought their dynamic was super cute and entertaining. I also enjoyed that this was a slow burn romance. It was nice to see Kira and Bennett connect on a deeper level before anything sexual happened.

I love the small town of Dream Harbor. It captures what we all hope a small town feels like. That Hallmark movie magic if you will. It just provides that heartwarming feeling you crave in a holiday read.

Loved this one!

Big town man visits a small town and falls in love with the owner of a Christmas Tree Farm - sounds pretty Hallmark to me! But this story adds a bit of spice and I loved every second of it!

This book is like a spiced hot cocoa, warm and cozy with a little kick to it.

If you don't want some spice in your cute small town romance, this book isn't for you. There are plenty of "clean" romances out there especially small town ones, but this isn't that and I personally had no problem with that (especially because they tell you ahead of time so there's no surprise there).
I also think the author does a good job of weaving it in, the characters are clearly not celibate and occasionally think about sex leading you to figure that they're no strangers to it and it could happen naturally in the story. The early mentionings of sex are not heavy handed either, they just simply exist in a perfectly normal way.

Moving on from the spice--

I've read all the previous books in this series and I would recommend reading them in order for the full effect (otherwise you'll read book 2 after book 3 and find yourself getting introduced to the new woman who bought the Christmas Tree Farm). While not a horrible decision, Dream Harbor is a small town and the series includes all the characters in all the books for the most part so it's best to follow the overall story.

I find Snowed In to be one of the lesser used tropes but it's so effective! It's a great tool to utilize for some forced proximity and I loved the way it unfolds in this story.

I adored Kira and Bennett - they're both fairly new to town but their stories both together and individually along with the progression of Dream Harbor all really worked for me. Kira and Bennett both have a bit of growing to do at the beginning of the story and this book allows them to grow together as much as they grow individually which I really love. I especially liked the ending and look forward to seeing more of them and their farm in the future books!

I am very much invested in all the lives of the Dreamers and will drink up any morsel of Dream Harbor at this point. Keep throwing these books at me I will be reading every single one.

Thank you Netgalley, Harper Collins, and of course Laurie Gilmore for the eARC!

I was so happy to come back to Dream Harbor and get another fix of my favorite adorable town, this time during Christmas. Kira wants to get away from her family and decides buying a Christmas tree farm is the way to go. She envisions herself as a homesteading queen because...social media made it look easy. She realizes she may actually have to sell Christmas trees in order to make ends meet. Bennett is in town for the month visiting his sister and runs into the grumpy Kira when her life is falling apart. However, Bennett has bad luck with women and gets used often. While they may be falling for each other, they may or may not be good for each other. Very cute third story, can't wait to read the next one!

Christmas Tree Farm is described as hallmark but make is smutty, and I don't disagree. It feels like a warm cup of coffee and a fuzzy blanket while reading it.

Thanks to HarperCollins for my NetGalley ARC!

Reformed spoiled rich girl Kira North buys a run down Christmas tree farm in an attempt to make it on her own. The meddling townsfolk (including our fave couples from Dream Harbor books 1 and 2!) send Mr. Fix-it Bennett Ellis (and his adorable dogs) to make sure she's safe, and despite wanting nothing more than a holiday fling, the two find they balance each other perfectly. This cozy spiced-up version of every classic Hallmark Christmas movie is a great holiday romance read!

Definitely not a work of fine literature, but that's not what we read romcoms for! Everything you love about Dream Harbor books is here - town meetings and events, knowing looks and comments from the book club, comfy cuddly vibes, the sweetest MMCs, a little bit of mystery sprinkled in, and just the right amount of spice. This is a perfect potato chip book for the season, romance lovers will eat it up. Bennett is precious and I think a lot of readers will love and relate with Kira's grumpy-but-secretly-soft personality, as well as her working through her loneliness. AND, there's an accompanying playlist and plenty of Taylor Swift references, so you couldn't ask for more.

4 stars. Recommended read, but the writing felt a bit repetitive and juvenile for the first half, which can take me out of the story if the characters feelings/motives/worries come off as overly simplistic, unreasonable, or I get "kuzcos poison, the poison for kuzco" vibes.

I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed in this book especially when I really loved the prior book in the series. I was frustrated by the couple's start. When the MMC continued getting turned down repeatedly, him coming back time and time again made it feel like he just had no backbone, no self-esteem, and it made me think less of him. I couldn't understand their motivations.

It’s good to be back in the cozy town of Dream Harbor!

If you have ever wanted a Hallmark Christmas movie in book form, this book will fill that void.

The Christmas Tree Farm is the story of grumpy farm owner Kira North and Bennett, in town to visit his sister (Jeanie from The Pumpkin Spice Cafe) for the holidays.

This book obviously has a romantic plot, but also a bit of mystery to uncover when they townspeople are certain that there is treasure…or a dead body hiding somewhere on the tree farm property.

It’s short and sweet and perfect for the holiday season!

This might be my favorite in the series, so far.

"He set himself up on the couch. Laptop, coffee, peacefully snoring dogs: check, check and check." is such a vibe and honestly, relatable since Bennett do remote work and I do it too.

We briefly met Kira, the new owner of the Christmas Tree Farm in book 2 and she was a bit grumpy and aloof. Bennett's the FMC's brother in the first book, so we saw glimpses of him. Bennett is in Dream Harbor to visit Jeanie and for a vacation. When the town banded together, Bennett was given a task to visit Kira's farm and look for treasure due to a rumor.

Kira was a grouch and grumpy at first, and that's due to her decision buying the farm, sight unseen and was overwhelmed with how much it actually needed work for her to get by. Bennett got this hyperfixation to fix things.

"He probably needed therapy, but that was an issue for another day". We love a self-aware man.

The book was sweet, and I love all things Christmas-sy. It was such a vibe, especially with holidays coming. Add in dogs in books, love!

I do appreciate how we both saw character development in both characters. Kira realized that she can be friends with Dream Harbor residents and she can ask for help, while Bennett got past his issues. The third-act was really understandable, and I am glad for it to happen.

Overall, I love this series because it felt like a warm hug and it's always good to be back in Dream Harbor. I cannot wait for Iris' story since she's next and she seems fun in this book.

Laurie Gilmore’s *The Christmas Tree Farm* is the perfect festive romcom for fans of the grumpy x sunshine trope, with just the right amount of spice to warm up the holiday season! Kira’s reluctance to embrace Christmas and her chaotic tree farm setup make her the perfect grumpy heroine, while Bennett’s easygoing nature and charming determination balance out their unlikely dynamic. Their banter and chemistry keep the pages turning, especially with the added tension of forced proximity and that classic one-bed situation.

Set in the delightfully quaint town of Dream Harbor, the story brings together small-town charm, sizzling romance, and a dash of mystery, making it an entertaining and cozy read. While the plot has its predictable moments, the heartwarming character growth and undeniable chemistry between Kira and Bennett make it a delightful holiday escape. A definite must-read for fans of holiday romance!

I absolutely love this book it’s very cozy romance. The main character Kira was very flawed but she was able to own her flaws and over come her codependency on her sister is what I believed was holding her back after she got out of that mind she she started to flourish from finding love for Christmas and a special person opens her to be a likable person I loved this series thanks to netgalley I had to pleasure of reading this book early in exchange for a honest review. Out of the three books I would say this is my favorite it was like reading a Hallmark movie.

4.5 stars for this sweet small town romance. This is my first time reading this author and I’m so happy I gave her book a try. I will be going back to read the other two in the series but don’t think it took anything away from this one not having read them yet.
Kira is new to Dream Harbor and Bennett is just there visiting his sister for most of December. Great set up for a Holiday fling right? But can they end it when they agreed to? Or did they already root themselves into each other's hearts ? He is a fixer and she is trying to be independent. What can go wrong? Very enjoyable story. Love the characters. Love the banter between Kira and Bennett. From the fun times to the steamy times, this one checks off so many boxes for me.

I loved this as much as I loved the others, which was A LOT. This was a very cute holiday romance and just really the icing on the cake for this series. I NEED MORE

I really did try with this book because I love smutty books. And "Hallmark but spicy" sounded like a lot of fun in theory.

But not in this case.

But the dialogue was hard to distinguish from everything else because it's all apostrophes. So the book reads like consistent blocks of text when there's dialogue to be had.

I wanted to enjoy it but reading this book felt like a chore because it felt so bulky. I definitely think this author is not for me.

What a charming, gentle escape during a hectic holiday season. I want to move to Dream Harbor, I could be the librarian character that falls in love with the town Veterinarian!

3.5 stars!!!

I really enjoyed this book! It is the perfect read for the winter. Lauries writing style was reminiscent of a hallmark movie without being cringy in my opinion! I loved the two main characters and how self aware of their character flaws. They both worked on themselves throughout the story so they could be better for the other person!

Thank you Net Galley and Harper 360 for the ARC of the third book in the Dream Harbor Series by Laurie Gilmore. I enjoyed Kira and Bennetts story, and was quite surprised to be introduced to both of them in the book since they were both new to Dream Harbor! This book is a great read for Christmas Time and really got me into that mood even in September! I think one of my favorite aspects of this book is the dogs part in it and their relationship. Be ready for grumpy sunshine, being snowed in, Christmas Trees, new friends, an MMC that is always fixing things, FMC that lets her past get in the way of what she really wants. But you’ll have to read to figure out how they endured up! Overall an enjoyable read.

Laurie dedicated this book to anyone who wanted Hallmark movies to be spicy and I can tell you that is exactly what this book is. So cozy and festive but also very spicy. I loved the found family aspect and the main characters energies. Not a huge spice girly so I did skip over some parts