“Samson thought he might have a chance when Florence came along. She seemed more reasonable, a bit more level-headed, and she was just the type of cute he’d be attracted to if they weren’t in this situation. Samson rubbed his face hard. Because he’d had to admit to himself last night, he was attracted to her, despite the circumstances. Why else would he half freeze to death in the Pacific just because he didn’t want to see her cry?”
When Florence Mackenzie is fired from her job as a barista in Portland, Oregon just days before Christmas, she heads home to Windia, a beach town filled with eccentric characters who know each other’s business and don’t forget anything. Florence is lost and bereft. But when a handsome stranger rolls into town and plans to open a corporate chain coffee shop that will compete with her family’s generations-old coffee shop, she is ready to fight to save her family’s business and her town. Desperate, Florence faces her fears and accepts the magic that is part of her family history. But instead of chasing the stranger, Samson, from town, she finds herself falling for him instead.
This is a super sweet and cozy romance; picture a hallmark Christmas movie in book form. It’s a light and fast read with a quirky cast of characters. Florence and Samson are enemies from the get go: Florence has returned home with her tail between her legs when she’s fired from her job at Sam’s ‘Spresso coffee cart. When she discovers that Sam’s son, Samson, is trying to bring the chain to her small coastal town she’s ready to run him out of town anyway she can – which brings a delightful amount of comic accidents her way. This is a clean romance, much like a Hallmark movie. Don’t expect a lot of physical sparks. While Florence and Samson are super cute together, the book would have benefited from a stronger emotional arc. The enemies-to-lovers trope was a slow burn throughout the book, and readers don’t get into either main character’s head. More emotional development would have helped tighten the tension and raise the stakes between Florence and Samson.
This is a book with a strong cast of secondary characters, but we really only get to touch the surface with all of them. This is one novel that could have used some more worldbuilding and more developed backstory to really flesh out the characters motives. I loved Pearl, Florence’s grandmother and matriarch of the family. Pearl is described as being wiccan at the beginning of the novel. While the book is described as a paranormal romance, the magic system isn’t fully fleshed out, and the reader slowly realizes that Pearl is more than a wiccan by the end of the book. I wish we had seen Florence come to this realization of her history and her family magic on page – it’s part of the book that seems to happen off the page.
This is a fast and sweet read. Brew yourself a cup of tea and dig in. The characters are quirky and the story moves quickly. It’s perfect for fans of You’ve Got Mail and The Good Witch.
Thank you to BooksGoSocial for giving us an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
