Review by Ronny
Love and Lattes at Pumpkin Hollow is a cozy fall romance.
Favourite Quote:
Dylan spun to face me then and I could see I had finally managed to push his buttons like he had pushed mine. His blue eyes finally had a spark of fire in them. I had to take another breath because they took him from being conventionally handsome to being… attractive.
Book Synopsis:
I remembered my mum telling me that autumn was a chance for nature, and for people, to let go of anything that was holding them back…
Willow Connor has one shot to save her family’s farm – turning it into Birchbrook’s first ever pumpkin patch. There’s just one problem: she has exactly zero pumpkins and only six weeks to make it happen. Everyone in the close-knit town thinks she’s crazy, but she’s determined to prove them wrong.
Enter Dylan Henderson, a hotshot property consultant with a clipboard full of reasons why selling is the smarter choice. Determined to stand her ground, Willow makes him a bold offer – stay and watch her turn the farm around. To her surprise, he agrees.
Now, as Willow throws everything into making her pumpkin patch a success (even if it means buying every pumpkin in the county), she also finds herself learning a thing or two from Dylan – about business, about ambition… and maybe about love?
Will she save the farm and prove everyone wrong? And when the deal is up, will Dylan walk away – or has he found something worth sticking around for?
Review:
I love a cozy romance where the heroine takes on an impossible task because it is sure to be bursting with difficult and at times humorous challenges. In this lovely story, we meet Willow, who loves living and working on her family farm. The problem is that the farm has faced several challenges in the past few years, which have made it hard to make ends meet. Willow’s father is also getting older and is struggling to keep up with the farm work. Willow’s father has been approached by a developer who wants to buy their farm to build houses on it. The developer has sent Dylan to negotiate a deal. It’s a tale as old as time, or as old as Hallmark has been making Hallmark-y movies. This book doesn’t break that stereotypical “save the farm” plot line, but it was still an enjoyable read. The setting is utterly charming, and coziness just leaps from the pages. I kind of wished it wasn’t 40-plus degrees outside because I would love to get comfy in a sweater while reading this book.
This is a light and fluffy read. Yes, the stakes around saving the farm are high, but there isn’t much conflict. Willow and Dylan didn’t have those sparky interactions that often come from two people who have very different goals. Dylan is a nice guy, and right from the beginning and jumps on board to help Willow save the farm by starting a pumpkin patch. I didn’t quite buy him jumping on board so quickly. It just felt wrong and didn’t jive with the overall plotline. I was hoping for a bit more conflict and sharp banter. I missed getting to see that progression of two people who dislike each other, start to feel some feelings, and then find themselves madly in love with one another. Their chemistry was just a little flat. I truly was hoping for more.
If you love those cozy, easy breezy feels that Hallmark movies give off, then you might enjoy this story.
Thank you, Boldwood Books, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
