I always love to find a Halloween/Fall romance because there are never enough! This whole book felt very cozy, maybe a little sedate and I don't think I would ever reread but still nice and fuzzy.

I enjoyed these stories however, I am not a great lover of novella's. This is three stories in one book which are all connected and intertwined in the same town in Maine set around Halloween. I loved reading about the town of Moonbright, I would just like longer stories so you can really immerse yourself in the story and the details. I would recommend this story to anyone that enjoys the novella format and they are lovely romantic stories.
Thank you to Netgalley, Marina Adair, Kate Angell, Stacy Finz and Kensington Books for the opportunity of reading this as an arc

A fun read centered on a small town in Maine and an old Halloween legend. Three different authors share their stories about love and Halloween. Cute.

Three stories of finding true love at Halloween.

In Moonbright, Maine, a legend promises that a woman who glances into a reflective surface on Halloween will see the man she's destined to marry.

Love Over Easy brings us sweet local Hannah who reunited with bad boy Jake while at the Moonbright Halloween parade. But could this chance encounter lead to happily ever after>

Love Rising bring us baker Sydney who has returned to sell her deceased grandmother's estate only to find hot tradie Nick building an unexpected commercial kitchen that her grandmother had paid for before she died. With high school pasts causing tension between the two, will her grandmother's attempt to bring them together work?

In Romance On Tap Mila saw her future with Ford James right from young, but after one kiss he left her for someone else. Years later she decides she's been cursed in relationships by him and needs to kiss him again to break it. Only it wasn't Ford but his twin Hudson. So is Ford James the one she was destined to be with after all?

Each story is sweet, varies in length and by a different author. The first two cross over slightly, the third seems quite separate. A nice way to check out three new authors and see which writing styles appeal. I enjoyed them all and will check out each author individually.

Sweet with a side of sizzle! All 3 stories were nice, light HEA’s perfect for curling up in front of the fireplace on a chilly Fall evening! I swear I could smell the baked goods. Hope there are more Moonbright Maine stories to come!

Within moon bright Maine there’s a pumpkin on each porch fresh brewed apple cider in every cup and a touch of the sweetest sorcery in the air. This is a well written collection that calls to mind brisk autumn nights cuddled w a loved one. Each pairing comes to fruition in a unique way.

This is a super fun read. I really enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

A fun triptych, 3 different authors, same town in Maine. I loved the Finz installment, liked the Adair, was not too keen on the Angell chapters. I guess that’s par for the course with multiple authors. The first 40% was Angell and it was too saccharine for my taste. Stacy Finz always brings the humor and down to earth romance and this was a terrific example. She even brought her Nugget family to Maine. I appreciated the Adair plot involving international adoptees, an issue rarely covered in the genre. Overall I was happy to have read it and discovered new authors.

We're back in Moonbright, Maine for a new anthology of three cozy love stories centered around autumn and Halloween time. All three stories are based on a legend of Moonbright women seeing a reflection of the man they will marry in a mirror on Halloween. This was a very sweet read and perfect for the fall.

I love this series so much! The setting is so sweet and cozy, the characters are complex, and the happy endings seem well-deserved. My one issue with this collection is that the first story resolved so quickly I felt like I got whiplash. A few more pages to bring the couple around to their HEA would have been beneficial to the storytelling.

Weather or not you believe in magic or even fate, these three delightful stories will have you entertained for a few hours. Three amazing authors take us on a fun trip through Moonbright Maine during the Halloween season. There is a "lore" to the cozy town that keeps you reading to see if it comes true for these characters.
Each story had me laughing and had some heartwarming moments and not without a little romance. (I have to admit Jake and Hannah were my favorite couple) The writing was descriptive and made me really want to be visiting the corner cafe and spending time with some of the towns people. Just a little warning.....reading this book will definitely have you craving moonpies, pie , cake and all kinds of yummy home cooking and baked good. Not to mention Halloween candy galore!
Two of the authors were new to me and I will definitely be reading more of their books.I found each story entertaining and enjoyable. Even though the story takes place in Autumn, I will enjoy rereading these books all year long.

Three authors collaborate in this trio of fun tales of Moonbright, Maine. The legend continues.
Love Over Easy written by Kate Angell brings us Hannah Allan, sweet, good-hearted and maybe a little clumsy. She hasn’t found her forever love. Legend has it she’ll see him in a mirrored image on Halloween, but she’s disheartened.
Jake Kaylor; not looking for love, but something about Hannah intrigues him. Ms. Angell weaves her tale around the pair and their families and throws a bit of competition in, just to add some spice. She’s added humor, love and a little angst for the perfect mix.
Love Rising by Stacy Finz has Sydney returning to town to settle her grandmother’s estate...at Halloween and includes a second chance with her first love, Nick Rossi. The pain in their past needs to be worked through as well as present day problems for them to get that chance. Humorous and sweet
Romance On Tap is Marina Adair’s contribution to the trio. Mila Cramer has mooned over Ford James for years. This year she thinks she has a chance only to find out the man in costume was his twin, Hudson….and that’s not all that comes to light. Humor, sweetness and a little steam make Ms. Adair’s addition a sweet Halloween treat.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kensington for the opportunity to read and review this book.
#NetGalley #Cafe’BetweenPumpkinandPie #MarinaAdair #KatieAngell #StacyFinz #KensingtonPublishing
The Cafe’ Between Pumpkin And Pie is an anthology of three stories that connect.
All the stories take place in the town of Moonbright, Maine during Halloween. All are very sweet and fun.
This book is as delicious, mostly, as the offerings from the titular cafe’. These stories are charming!! Let me start by saying that I REALLY want to try the whoopie pies. After I write this review, I’m going to try to find one. Although this book does include the recipes for some of the cafe’ favorites, I’m not much of a cook. Each story features different residents of the town and all centering around the bakery. The first story was my favorite. Hannah and Jake felt the most real to me than the other characters, although I loved them too. Sydney and Nick, in the second story, took me a little longer than the others because Nick was hard to like at times. He was kind of misogynistic. Sydney was an enjoyable character. She was funny and stubborn. The third story was about Mila, who is a Vietnamese girl who is taking care of her elderly, adoptive parents. This story was the hardest for me to like. The characters were not as likable and the story didn’t flow as well as the others. I liked the plot of the third story though. It was a bit more original than the others.
Each one of these authors shows a lot of promise. The writing, as a whole, was good. This book accomplished the intended job of making the reader feel good. I fully intend to read the previous two books in this series.

I love Stacy Finz' world creation Nugget, so I was anxious to read this anthology. It was really hit and miss for me. I enjoyed the romance, am negative on the graphic sexuality and liked the characters. I will stick with Stacy, but will pass on the other authors.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book given to me via NetGalley. I was interested because of Kate Angell. There was humor and omg the heat in this book! I devoured this book. Don't hesitate get this book!

Thank you Netgalley, Marina Adair; Kate Angell; Stacy Finz and Kensington Books for the ARC of The Café between Pumpkin and Pie. This is my personal review.
This was a fun and easy book to read. It is three stories in one and each is taking place in Moonbright, Maine. The setting for the stories in Halloween time. This is a town that loves Halloween, and it gets a lot of tourists for the big celebration there.
The romances are wonderful in each story.

Moonbright, Maine where pumpkins are everywhere and love is in the legends.

During the Halloween parade the excitement of gathering at Corner Cafe is a Moonbright tradition. People in costumes come to reveal in the wonderful food, Whoopie pies, and the spooky stories that local legends tell to the young children.

The magical legend promises that a Moonbright woman will marry the man she sees reflected in a mirror on Halloween. For three single woman this Halloween with the leaves changing colors, and backing pies this will be the most memorable Halloween for true love.

This was an enchanting book of love. I loved the setting and the promise of love on a beautiful fall day. If you want to fall in love don’t miss this book.

I can’t wait for another book by the author it was truly magical.

I really liked this book, and would recommend it to others! I loved the short story format and that they were all connected by the same lovely town. I think every book should be set in Maine!

I wish each story was a bit longer to really dive into the town. I knew so much about houses and cafes, but not a lot about the town or the area. Even the flying scene in the third story didn’t tell me enough about the landscape.

Thanks, NetGalley!

The Café between Pumpkin and Pie is a collection of three stories intertwined in the same location of Moonbright, Maine during Halloween. Love Over Easy, Love Rising, and Romance on Tap follow three love stories that are draped in a local legend: a woman will marry the man they see in the mirror on Halloween. Each woman's journey is unique in it's own right, and there is plenty of small town charm and romance to go around in each section of the book.

I was initially drawn to The Café between Pumpkin and Pie based on the premise, my prior reading of some of the authors' books, and the promise of sweet treats and love stories. The general setting of the book was lovely: who wouldn't want to be in this adorable small town during this time of the year? The authors did a great job making each story it's own, while still carrying the main themes throughout the book. I found myself the most invested in Hannah and Jake's story in Love Over Easy; however, my interest starting waning a bit with each of the following stories. I think readers familiar with any of the authors will enjoy this feel-good book, even if it more so for one of the stories over the others.

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC; this is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you NetGalley, I was looking forward to this.

Accurate rating: 3.33 ⭐️

Love Over Easy by Kate Angell // 3⭐️

I had really high hopes in the beginning, and I quickly realized that dialogue and character development were far more important than atmosphere to this author. Angell doesn’t have unattractive writing, there’s an appeal to her characters and their somewhat unique traits, how she handles family dynamics and how well she treats older characters far better than most. She writes her characters respectfully with a bit of flair, her older characters really.

The MC was okay. I related to her insecurity, her shyness and slight innocence, but the author made it very clear to both reader and love interest, that her main selling point was how undeniably kind she was, with no flaw. It was borderline Mary Sue.

The love interest was, ofc, a broody man with a six pack, lock hair and a need for speed on his motorcycle, unable to settle down since he was a high school John Travolta from grease, and our MC was Sandy. I do not fault them, as much, because we actually got quite a bit of something from his POV. I adored seeing the grandfather ’major’ and his friend, his interactions with his family and their relation to the small town and the mc’s family.

I also quite enjoyed the lore and magical realism behind the story, as small as it was to the plot.

I can’t help but be disappointed by the obvious things that put me off. One, it was very contradictory. One moment he understands her independence and wants to give her space, and the next he’s looking up her skirt and calling her babe two days into seeing her again after years.

The dialogue often felt... unrealistic and too pitched in favor for the characters to be perfect for each other in the end, which I can’t %100 complain about, because it’s a story routed about magical soulmates.

I thought this author made the mistake of making the narration very similar to male authors who don’t understand how to write women, or how to not over sexualize them and make them objects with one or two needs... either or both being sex.

Often the writing took me out with humorous one-liners such as the “breath he’d been holding” and honestly I couldn’t contain my laughter.

I won’t lie, Angell has promise, but I won’t be reading any of her works. This book was not for me.

I do rec this for anyone who is die-hard about cheesy romcoms with laughably tropey characters and rushed romances where (spoiler) their fates are sealed by proposal after having sex ( without foreplay??? ).

Anywho. It’s a three star that isn’t quite a 2⭐️ and not a 3.5⭐️



Love Rising by Stacy Finz: 4.5⭐️

From the moment I started reading this short, I was aware of how much I would come to adore it. The writing is top notch, humorous constantly, and full of story. I adore our mc, who I remember, Sydney. A somewhat well known baker and recipe book writer who moved from our main plot small town Moonbright, Maine. Unlike our last mc, Syd got away from the small town to grow big.

From the get go when we have an altercation between Sydney and her love interest, Nick, we learn there’s a lot more between them than we know. There’s some sort of spoiled history, a grudge Syd hasn’t let go of, and it seems Nick hasn’t let go of her either.

Sydney is an incredible character, funny in narration, strong willed and wildly stubborn. I adore her quirks, how she handles herself and how she‘s straightforward. Her relationship with her grandmother even in passing was detailed and allowed us to have emotions for their relationship despite only seeing it per her recollection and situations with other family and townsfolk. Sydney is a great character and I loved getting to know her, her Insecurity on the past and how she struggled to have good relationships, and how her love for her job keeps her from moving on from past failed romance and pain.

Finz did an amazing job at what Angell didn’t. The way she connected the town and brought the characters from Angell’s story felt molded in like pottery, no cracks. Whereas the first story felt like a short rundown, this was the full body film that kept me hooked.

I knew very soon that I wasn’t too fond of Nick. Where at some points he was this antagonistic brute who played off Sydney with cute and hilarious banter, the author didn’t hide that she wanted Nick‘s trait of being a sexist pig to be hot. I hated it.

I love Nick’s family and his relation to wanting to stay in Moonbright, unlike his high school love Jennifer who he broke off with after unforeseen red flags, and Sydney who couldn’t stand the small town discomfort. I enjoyed seeing how he was genuinely a good person at times, caring, willing to help others, and how he respected his promises even after death. I also like that he admitted his fault at how his past actions hurt Sydney, and that it was important to acknowledge what it meant for both of them.

However, and I’m tired of this, I don’t understand why female authors make their female characters so authentic... and then make rubbish, by making the men solely desiring a woman’s physic. At many points in this story, I just kept asking why women lit write this way, the sexist and misogynistic way that woman every day fight against.

I won’t stop pointing this out. Every time Nick, or any love interest in this anthology, seem to get their head straight and show emotions, some sort of non-toxic-masculinity trait, the progress is shut down by a scene where he wonders what underwear the mc is wearing.

I just don’t understand. I really don’t, and I’ve come to learn that I despise the love interest point of views, aware that at any time I will see more gross paragraphs about the female sex.

The writing is great. The story is well crafted and interesting, I loved learning about the characters and seeing their romance unfold. I also liked that even though the Moonbright Lore wasn’t a huge catalyst, it still brought everything together neatly.

I liked this story a lot, but I brought it down a little bit because I’m especially tired of reading stories where women are objectified... by woman authors. It’s not hot, and I wish y’all would think of yourselves better... by creating things that make y’all feel better

This is the best story out of 3!



Romance On Tap by Marina Adair: 2/2.5⭐️

Oh boy. This one. I stopped reading at 80%, about 5/9 chapters finished. Umm.. lets get started.

This story is about Mila, a Vietnamese artist in Moonbright, Maine whose taking care of her senior adoptive parents while struggling to make her career soar... while still hung on her first love and target, Ford James.

After so many years, Mila believes she was cursed by the seven minutes in heaven kiss she supposedly shared with Ford James, the best kisser then and still now, in town. She believed he was the one, but thinks the best think she can do is break the curse by kissing him again, so she can find true love. He shows up, they kiss again. And oops. It’s not Ford, but his twin brother Hudson, the bad boy.

There’s miscommunication, since Hudson pretended to be his brother bc he liked Mila, while Mila liked Ford. Due to the mixup, there’s a grudge. However, as typically as one might expect, she falls for Hudson.

The writing was okay until it wasn’t. It didn’t flow well, and even through Mila is a lot older, she didn’t get any more mature, and don’t get me started on how long some particular scenes went on for. It truly felt like I was reading a 60 page script for one scene, in one single paragraph. There seemed to be so much going on in one scene that it was hard to tell what the main focus was, her old crush, the curse, her list of qualities she’s looking for in Mr. Right... I just started skimming.

I can’t say that I would have enjoyed this if anything had been different. I was indifferent towards Mila, I thought the twins were written okay and their relationship.. I liked the dynamic of the romance..

But.. I hate military men characters due to trauma and I prefer not reading romance stories about them... and I just couldn’t get behind Mila’s personality or her motivations. It was very ... simplistic and overdone.

I found myself skimming afterwards, even after forcing myself to finish it since I am trying not to get back into a slump.. but this wasn’t it. I honestly can’t make myself read any more, but I’m sure someone else will love it.



I recommend the second or third author, and recommend the second author if you’re needing a reason to check it out or continue!