ARC Review: Big Bad Wolf (Maple Hollow #1) by Laurie Gilmore

 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dream Harbor series, comes a brand new paranormal romance set in the small town of Maple Hollow.

The darker the woods, the bigger the secrets...

Ruby Bellerose lives on the edge of the woods, in a cottage more akin to a fairy tale than modern day life. Her love life is basically non-existent, and she keeps away from the whispered gossip that travels through Maple Hollow.

Until a chance encounter with Rafe.

As mysterious as he is brooding, Ruby is drawn to the woodsman, curious to find out more about the stranger who lives deep within the woods.

But Rafe is hiding a secret. And with something lurking in the shadowy forest, will Ruby find that Rafe is her knight in shining armor or something altogether more dangerous...

Title: Big Bad Wolf (Maple Hollow #1)

Author: Laurie Gilmore

Publisher: Harper Collins/Harper 360

Expected Publication Date: September 8, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Harper Collins, Harper360, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I really love Laurie Gilmore's writing. I was so excited to get to read this installment in this series and watch the paranormal romance bloom. I love paranormal romance, and I love werewolves! This one is totally different from her Dream Harbor series. 

This one seems as if it was a bit of a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, but not totally. I saw some aspects but it's certainly not totally lined up with that story. It's a bit of a dark romance in a way, given the mystery over why the FMC, Ruby, and her sister, Lena, are being hunted by the Highlands pack. There's a bit of magic wrapped in the story, as well. Witches, seers, and nymphs, OH MY!

This one is a bit more steamy than the other books I've read by Laurie. I enjoyed that aspect. 

This one had me turning pages for sure. It was a fast read for me. I didn't want to put it down. I was totally immersed in the story.

My one complaint was the back and forth in the romance. I understood the reasoning for it, but it was so much. I wanted to smack them both many times and just say, "snap out of it!" There's definitely chemistry between these two, though. I was for sure there for it. 

This one 100% ends on a cliffhanger, so if you're not a fan of waiting, as the next book isn't out yet, I'd hold off reading. Or just re-read it right before the other comes out. I really want to listen to this one audio when it's released. Definitely a book that will be a re-read for me! If you're a fan of cozy fantasy, I think you'll enjoy this one! Small town feel, magical characters, and a fun plot.

Author:

aurie Gilmore is a #1 New York Times, Sunday Times, and Globe & Mail bestselling author who writes steamy small-town romance. Her Dream Harbor series is filled with quirky townsfolk, cozy settings, and swoon-worthy romance. The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, was featured on Good Morning America and was named the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024.

She loves finding books with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and strives for that in her own writing. If you ever wished you lived in Stars Hollow (or that Luke and Lorelai would just get together already!) then her books are definitely for you.

ARC Review: The Daisy Chain Flower Shop (Dream Harbor #6) by Laurie Gilmore

 

The greatest love is the one you never expected to find

Daisy is fed up with being unlucky in love, and after several weddings she has done the flowers for end in divorce, her beloved flower shop has gained a reputation of being cursed, thanks to Mayor Kelly and his infamous visions.

Dream Harbor newcomer, Elliot, has been adjusting to town life following his own relationship turmoil. And until now he’s avoided the flower shop at all costs. If the mayor is correct, he doesn’t need any more bad luck in his life.

But with his family coming to visit, Elliot finds himself reluctantly in front of Daisy’s store in need of some flowers. As the petals blossom in the sunlight, Daisy and Elliot might find that love comes when you’re least expecting it…

The Daisy Chain Flower Shop is a cozy romantic mystery with a fake relationship dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed.

Title: The Daisy Chain Flower Shop (Dream Harbor #6)

Author: Laurie Gilmore

Publisher: Harper Collins

Expected Publication Date: May 5, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Harper 360 and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Is this one of my most highly anticipated books for 2026? Yes. Did I squeal a bit when I was approved to read this? Also, yes. Did it meet every expectation I had for Daisy and Elliot's love fest? It sure did!

Daisy is cursed. Or at least that is what it seems like since every wedding her flower shop has provided flowers for recently has ended in the couple breaking up. It doesn't help that she hasn't been able to keep hold of a relationship of her own. She feels doomed to forever carry around the dark cloud the mayor dreamed is over her shop. Enter Elliot. He's more than willing to play the fake boyfriend for Daisy to show she can be lucky in love and hopefully get her business back on track. But when pretend feelings start turning into something more reel, can either put aside their past failed relationships to see they could be happy together?

There is must something about Dream Harbor that makes me so happy. Gimore brings us into this fluffy romantic world with fun characters and back stories, plus a small town feel where everyone knows everything that's going on. It's so much fun to watch all these characters interact. It's fun to see characters from the previous books still so happy and spreading that joy to others. And it's really fun to watch a fake relationship grow and change and become something very real. Gilmore is always ready to give us the happily ever after we need, without the excessive drama you see in other romances. I love that she avoids the third act break up and just has the characters talk things out and be adult about it all. 

As with the previous books in this series, the pacing is fast. The plot is easy to navigate and all the little things that happen along the way really lend to the entire story being told. I really enjoyed the historical back story as Elliot and Daisy found out more and more about their ancestors and the parallels in their relationship with Daisy's Great Aunt D and Elliot's relative, Nathan.

Gilmore continues to bring us a charming town with charming people and stories that are just the right side of fluff to keep you hanging on until the end to see the outcome. I love the eccentric towns people, the small town vibe, the local shops, and just about everything else Gilmore throws at me in these books. This story is cute and cozy and heart warming. I cannot wait to see what else Gilmore might bring us in this world!

Author:

Laurie Gilmore is a #1 New York Times, Sunday Times, and Globe & Mail bestselling author who writes steamy small-town romance. Her Dream Harbor series is filled with quirky townsfolk, cozy settings, and swoon-worthy romance. The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, was featured on Good Morning America and was named the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024.

She loves finding books with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and strives for that in her own writing. If you ever wished you lived in Stars Hollow (or that Luke and Lorelai would just get together already!) then her books are definitely for you.

ARC Review: The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5) by Laurie Gilmore

The highly anticipated new Dream Harbor romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Café! 🥐

Every book in the Dream Harbor series can be read as a standalone.

❄️❄️❄️❄️

As owner of her beloved Gingerbread Bakery, Annie Andrews should have a love life to match her business; sugary and sweet. But instead, she’s locked in a game of words with the irritatingly upbeat bar owner down the street.

Mac Sullivan has everything he wants, except the girl he dreams of. It’s easier to argue with Annie than get her to talk to him but with Jeanie and Logan’s wedding coming up, they're about to spend a lot more time together.

As the snowflakes fall and with romance in the air, will Annie see that the one she loves to hate might just be her perfect match after all?

The Gingerbread Bakery is a cozy romantic novel with an enemies to lovers dynamic, small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

• Enemies to lovers
• Found family
• Small Town
• Forced Proximity

Title: The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor #5)

Author: Laurie Gilmore

Publisher: Harper 360

Expected Publication Date: September 16, 2025

Review:

Thank you to Harper 360 and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I've been loving this series since it was introduced to me through one of my Facebook book groups. Then I saw that Laurie had a group for this series and joined that so I could be with my people. I was excited to chat about all the things Dream Harbor. So, of course, given the chance to get an early copy of this title and read and review, I took it. And I'm so glad I did. This is hands down my most favorite story so far. There is just something about second chance romance that hits differently than any other type of trope. It's the chance for the characters to find redemption and right wrongs that may have been done. It's a chance to watch them as they grow and change and fall back in love for the second time. And Gilmore hit this one spot on! The only reason I put this title down while reading it was because I had to work or tend to family responsibilities. Given the chance, I would have skipped all of that and read this in one sitting, I was that invested.

Annie and Mac have been sprinkled throughout the other books in this series. Their hate for each other palpable. But at the same time, you can feel the tension of chemistry that runs between them. And you know there is something there, something from their history that makes them bicker and fight and hate each other. But it's never really hate.

Mac is such an amazing character. Having spent years away from his home town trying to find himself, he returned three years ago to take over his family's bar business. He has finally found himself and knows who he wants to be, and knows who he wants, as well. But his longing goes unrequited as the mistakes he's made in the past are still haunting him. He's such a golden retriever. I absolutely adore his banter with Annie. Every interaction they have shows they have an undeniable connection. He tries hard to use that to his advantage. And he's not afraid to tell Annie exactly what he wants, even if she's not ready to hear him. He knows they have a lot to work through and makes himself available and vulnerable for this to happen. But it's hard for him to break through Annie's tough exterior. She's built a wall around her heart in the hopes of never being hurt as she was all those years ago by Mac. 

Annie is such a tough cookie. I love her brash manner of approaching things. She's undeniably herself and doesn't take crap from anyone. All she wants to do is take care of others and make them happy. Unfortunately, this often comes at a detriment to her being happy herself. When she and Mac are forced to spend time together, her icy exterior begins to melt. Even though their past is rough, she still feels a pull to Mac. Even as she denies it throughout the book. I love how she slowly comes around and realizes she is allowed to be happy even if she is still hurting from the past and needs to work through it. Mac allows her to feel all her feels.

Gilmore builds the story around a prior couple. So I do suggest this be read in the order the books were written. It will give much more understanding to all the couples in the book and their relationships to each other. This plot is built around the wedding of a previous couple. It was great to watch all those relationships continue. To see how the friendships that have formed continue to grow and change. And the pacing of this book was amazing. I never wanted to put it down. Gilmore built Annie and Mac into a relationship they ultimately couldn't deny, even with the baggage they carried between them. And then alternating time chapters were just another wonderful addition to this story. I loved watching the past unfold while Mac and Annie floated through their present. 

Hands down Annie and Mac are my favorite couple Gilmore has written so far. I loved how she built their story and showed all their vulnerabilities. The story was raw and honest. While the book might be billed as a bit of enemies to lovers, I really didn't get this vibe. It's really the second chance romance that makes it so relatable and understandable. I cannot wait for more in this universe but I know it will soon be coming to an end and I'll be sad for that. If you are looking for cozy romance reads with just a bit of spice, pick up this series and dive into Dream Harbor!

Author:

Laurie Gilmore is a #1 New York Times, Sunday Times, and Globe & Mail bestselling author who writes steamy small-town romance. Her Dream Harbor series is filled with quirky townsfolk, cozy settings, and swoon-worthy romance. The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, was featured on Good Morning America and was named the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024.

She loves finding books with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and strives for that in her own writing. If you ever wished you lived in Stars Hollow (or that Luke and Lorelai would just get together already!) then her books are definitely for you.

 

ARC Review: Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffrey

 

Red, White and Royal Blue meets Formula 1!

Kian Walker has always been the golden boy of motor sport. The four-time Championship winner has racing in his DNA – his father was a legend on the track, just don’t let him catch you comparing the two. As reckless and unreliable at home as he was behind the wheel, there’s nothing Kian wants less than to be just like his dad.

Enter Harper James. This year’s rookie called up to compete with the big boys – and Kian’s new teammate. Cocky, hot-headed and with a reputation for breaking as many hearts as he does new track records, Harper’s the opposite of Kian in every way. But when the season starts, there’s no getting away from him.

This might be one of the most dangerous sports in the world, so why then does Kian’s heart feel safer flying around the track at 220mph than when he's anywhere near his teammate?

Title: Pole Position

Author: Rebecca J. Caffery

Publisher: Harper 360/Harper Adult Audio/One More Chapter

Review:

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Adult Audio/One More Chapter, and Harper 30 for providing  me with an egalley an audio arc of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I've been looking for a good F1 book. I'm a huge fan and follow pretty closely so I know a lot about the sport, the teams, some of the technology and engineering, even. This is not my first F1 book and so far they have all let me down in one way or another. I picked this one as it made sense to me to read a book in a male dominant field with the main characters as two males. Sadly, this book did not live up to my expectations, either.

Let's start with the audio part of the book. I'm unsurprised the narrators use British voices but I will say Joshua Chase and James Joseph were similar enough that it was sometimes hard to tell them apart. This was annoying if I missed the title of the chapter saying who it was. I could usually pick it out once it got going as the narrators did make the voices of the characters unique enough with tone and inflection, plus the author definitely showed each personality of the characters. The narrator that did Harper's voice had a very low quality of his voice. Almost a whisper at times and I found myself having to rewind to hear what he said.

If the narrators not being to my liking wasn't enough, the entire story and plot line just fell short. I feel like the author needed to do a lot more research into F1. You can see some if it there, while at other times it's severely lacking. It's not believable that two F1 drivers would share a trailer for weeks on end while touring. It's not believable that a reserve driver is brought up and has zero understanding about how to talk to the media; he's getting his first trainings now? Seems highly unlikely. Finally, F1 is an expensive sport. You don't really see poor, orphaned kids who have zero support racing. Where is the money coming from? it just makes zero sense.

As I said above, the author did a good job making the two characters distinct. Kian as the stuck up, regimented driver who doesn't want to deviate from his schedule or be friends and Harper who is carefree and not caring who thinks what of him. He does as he pleases and has no inkling of how his actions hurt or injure others. This was truly the only part of the story that might be believable.

Did I feel the chemistry between these two? Not at all. Was their relationship (love/hate, I guess?) believable? Not really because the attraction they talk about (what the author tells us, rather than shows us) just didn't feel like it was really there. And, since this was the entire premise of the book, the growth of the characters felt stunted and overall underdeveloped. I felt zero connection or empathy for either of these characters. Even when the author gave us a bone and look into the background of the characters, which I would hope would help me connect, I just didn't care enough to feel badly for them in any way.

And the pacing was so slow! I just kept waiting for something to happen by even by 60%, when the characters have finally gotten together in some capacity, it was still just stunted. It dragged and I had to push and push and push to even care to finish it. Once I got annoyed enough with the narrators, I switched to Kindle version. But it did nothing to improve the story.

Overall, I'm completely underwhelmed with this title. There is a lot wrong and I feel like it needs another round of edits to point out where pacing could be picked up, characters could be developed, and story line could use some tweaks.

Author:

Rebecca Caffery is a BA Politics graduate and enthusiast, who can always be found curled up reading somewhere when she isn’t working on a new novel idea. She grew up in Birmingham, UK, where she’s been writing since the age of fourteen. It wasn’t, however, until she moved to Canada for a year that she found her voice and passion writing again and was inspired to write her first book.

As an author, Rebecca started her writing career in the Young Adult (YA) section. She is the author of the Contemporary YA Cherrington duology which features the two titles – Cherrington Academy and Coming Home.

Since then, she has completely stepped away from writing YA and her focus is now solely on writing Contemporary Adult Romance. She is the author of the soon-to-be-released Olympic Enemies (Feb 6th 2023)

She always has one too many ideas and often finds herself jotting them down in the middle of the night.

When she’s not writing you’ll find her either reading all the Sports/Adult Contemporary Romance or binge-watching (read: constantly rewatching) her Netflix faves such as Brooklyn 99, The Good Place, New Girl, and Lucifer. Outside of this, She is a BA Politics graduate and despite my degree being over I still have a vested political interest and am always keeping up to date with current affairs.

Where else to find her?

Twitter – @BeckaWrites
Instagram - @RJCafferyAuthor
Author Website - RebeccaJCaffery.com

ARC Review: The Story Collector by Evie Woods

 

In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything…

One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.

In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.

With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Woods's latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell.

Title: The Story Collector

Author: Evie Woods

Publisher: Harper 360/One More Chapter

Expected Publication Date: August 13, 2024

Review:

Thank you to Harper 360 and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I really enjoyed The Lost Bookshop by Woods. I'm not much of a historical fiction person but she intertwined it with modern day magical realism and that really drew me in. The same can be said with this book. Though the magical realism isn't quite as prominent in this one. 

I loved the idea of an American abroad in Ireland learning about the culture through the locals and a diary hidden in a tree! It was fun to jump between the present of 2010 and the past of 1911. And the folklore of the fae as related to Ireland was really fun. 

The prose is eloquent and easy to read. Each chapter easily moved the story along. Woods inserted the historical parts at just the right times to ensure the reader understood the story line. This made it easy to see the story unfold.

The modern romance was nice enough but not really a huge part of the story. I liked watching the FMC, Sarah Harper, grow and learn about herself. It was interesting to see how she was able to come into her own while being in another country and trying to learn their traditions and understand their culture.

Going into this book, I was not aware of the Irish folklore associated with fairies. I know about them from reading some paranormal books. But never in the context of Ireland the the superstitions that go along with them in that country.

I will admit the pacing was sometimes a bit slower than I would have liked. Mostly with the chapters set in 1911. But overall I enjoyed the story and I really enjoy the way this author writes. I will be picking up future books by her! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves stories by TJ Klune and/or Meg Shaffer.

Author:

Evie Woods is the author of The Lost Bookshop, the #1 Wall Street Journal and Amazon Kindle and Sunday Times bestseller, which has now sold over half a million copies. She is also the author of The Story Collector, The Heirloom and The Mysterious Bakery On Rue De Paris under her real name, Evie Gaughan.

Living on the West Coast of Ireland, Evie escapes the inclement weather by writing her stories in a converted attic, where she dreams of underfloor heating. Her books tread the intriguing line between the everyday and the otherworldly, revealing the magic that exists in our ordinary lives.