Aspiring pastry chef Nicole Evans is just waiting to hear about her dream job, and in the meantime, she goes to work in the café at the local bookstore. But that’s before the recently widowed Nicole meets her temporary boss: her first crush, Liam Mendez! Single dad Liam has always kept his life, and his heart, closely guarded from Oak Hollow gossip. Will his simmering attraction to Nicole be just one more thing to hide, or the stuff of his bookstore’s romance novels?
This was a great romance to curl up to on a snowy day. Nicole and Liam had chemistry and were great characters to read about. Both of them were productive, honest people that were open to love even after having bad relationships. I will read more from this series. This review is my unbiased opinion. Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the honor of reading this ARC.

I loved visiting the small town of Oak Hollow for the first time in this 6th
Installment of the series. It was so fun how the town really welcomed Nicole back into the fold. While waiting to secure the coveted pastry chef position at her preferred resort, Nicole gets a job at the local bookstore's café. It just so happens that the bookstore is owned by her first crush Liam. I loved all of the family members of both Nicole and Liam. The kids really stole the show. A fun old friends to lovers story set at a small town bookshop with a café with the most delicious sounding treats!

A cute romance where a guy and gal fall for each other in spite of their reservations and have to untangle some secrets and hangups along the way. Good for when you want a low-risk read.

Nicole and her daughter leave home and drive to her family home in Oak Hollow. It's supposed to be just a temporary stop until she hears if she got her dream job working at a resort.

She gets a job as a pastry chef in a little cafe at the local bookstore. The owner of which is her long-time crush, Liam. As they work together and spend some time together the sparks fly between them. But they are both hiding secrets and Nicole can leave at any time...

I really liked reading The Bookstore's Secret. It's a fast and light romance story, that you can get lost in for an afternoon. I'm a sucker for stories set in a bookstore. There is something about them that screams magic and romance. :)

thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC, all thoughts are my own

dnf 43%
I'm done. This book is painfully boring. That is a sentence I never through I would write about a category romance from Harlequin. The characters are beyond bland and everything that comes out of their mouths is stilted and repetitive. The book felt so formulaic like no thought or heart went into it. Nothing happens. Literally I made it almost half way and it took me almost a week to get that far because the plot did not move. There was an entire chapter where the people from the previous books paraded their way through the bakery / bookshop that did nothing to move the plot and therefore did nothing for readers like me who have never read the previous books in the series. Liam's secret that is advertised in the blurb was not even referenced until 35% in. I am so done that I can't even get my self to read the remaining 150 pages.

Makenna Lee’s The Bookstore’s Secret is a sweet story about second chances. Makenna quickly makes you fall in love with both characters (and their kids). What’s better for a booker lover than reading a book about a secret author and a bookstore/bistro? Definitely a fun read!

*Thank you NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I really enjoyed the concept of this romance. I love the second chance/boy next door trope so much! I thought the chemistry between Nicole and Liam was definitely there and I enjoyed watching it unfold. I especially liked the callback to teenage romance (the drive in movie kiss, Liam climbing up the tree and into Nicole's bedroom window, etc.)

The characters both had big things they had to overcome in order to grow together and I thought those challenges were resolved nicely.

The one thing that didn't quite work for me was a lot of the dialogue. It just didn't seem to flow very well.. I almost wish they said less.

Overall, it was a sweet story and I liked it.

3.5 stars!

Terrific book about love, family, and following your dreams. Pastry chef Nicole and her daughter have returned home to Oak Hollow to heal after the death of her husband and a career disappointment. While waiting to hear the results of her applications for her dream job, she's talked into taking over the café at the local bookstore where her boss is her high school crush.

Liam is the divorced dad of a teenage son. He's happy to have the talented Nicole working for him but not so happy about the sparks of attraction that flare between them. Starting a relationship with someone who doesn't plan to stay is a recipe for heartache.

I loved both Nicole and Liam. Nicole has two passions in her life - her daughter and her career. She overcame a lot to become a pastry chef, including her husband's negative attitude about her chosen profession. Their marriage wasn't happy, and Nicole still hears his voice in her head. Even though he's dead, she feels she has something to prove. She's a bit wary of being back in her gossip-friendly small town, but she and Katie settle in quickly.

Liam works hard to keep his private life private. He had a bad social media experience with a former girlfriend while in college, which still affects him. His divorce from Travis's mother was amicable but left him keeping a close guard on his heart. Travis lives with Liam while his mom is away and isn't very happy away from his school and friends. In addition to dealing with Travis and the bookstore, Liam is also keeping a big secret from everyone around him. He's written a best-selling romance under a pen name, and his publisher is after him for another book.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Nicole and Liam develop. Because they were friends as children, it doesn't take long to rekindle that friendship. They work together well and fall into a teasing, flirty style. There are plenty of sparks between them, but neither is ready to start a relationship when Nicole will be leaving. However, the more time they spend together, the harder it is to resist the pull between them. There are many sweet scenes of the two together and others that include their children. It's hard to resist the feeling of family, and Liam soon finds himself hoping that Nicole will decide to stay as he falls harder for her every day.

Nicole's feelings are just as strong as Liam's, but she's been so focused on her goal of being a restaurant chef that she suppresses them. When her dream offer arrives, Nicole has a lot to consider. The decision is complicated by her discovery that Liam hadn't cared for or trusted her enough to share his secret with her. I liked that Liam was smart enough to realize how badly he'd messed up and wanted to make things right. I laughed out loud when some of his best advice came from his teenage son: "You are a writer, Apparently a famous one. Use your words." The ending was outstanding as they shared their feelings and hopes for the future. I loved the epilogue and seeing Nicole and Liam start their lives together.

Travis and Katie were my two favorite secondary characters. At the beginning, Travis was a typical teenager, resentful of being uprooted from his life and not afraid to show it. Fortunately, his attitude changed as he settled in. I liked how he connected with Nicole and was very sweet with Katie. I loved how the tech-savvy teen came up with ideas to help Nicole with her career. Katie was adorable in her acceptance and enthusiasm for everything around her. I love her hero worship of Travis and Liam, and her request for Liam at the end was fantastic. I also liked catching up with characters from previous books as Nicole rekindled old friendships and made new friends.

I also loved the bookstore setting. Having worked in a bookstore for twelve years, it brought back some wonderful memories.

I was hoping to enjoy this more than I did. There's nothing wrong with the setup, but the execution is lacking. From a writing perspective, there's a lot of very corny dialogue, and also lines that get repeated more than once, and not in a "what a fun throwback" way. There was potential to add depth to the characters; Nicole could have had severe trust issues after her first marriage, for example. And we do get hints that both she and Liam are struggling with things from their pasts, but it never really digs deeper into that. Their relationship is super smooth sailing until the inevitable 3rd act conflict, making the entire story very surface-level. I was left wanting more.

This is a Romance, and this is the 6st book in the Home to Oak Hollow series. I have read and reviewed most of the other books in this series before picking up this book. I do think this book can be read as a standalone without any issues. The two main characters of this book are learning to move on after a bad relationship, and I really loved all the characters in this book. I also love that there was so much book talk in this book. The storyline was great, and it pulled me into it right away. I really loved the ending, and I follow it to be so sweet and cute. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Harlequin Special Edition) or author (Makenna Lee) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Widowed pastry chef Nicole Evans is temporarily back in Oak Hollow with her daughter while she regroups and waits to hear on the jobs she’s applied for. Liam Mendez is a divorced dad who now owns a book shop with a bistro. He needs a pastry chef, she has time to spare, so it’s a perfect match. It doesn’t hurt that they both had crushes on each other when they were younger. But the longer they spend time with each other, the more they and their children start to feel like a family. The only problem with that is Nicole’s time in Oak Hollow has an expiration date on it. But does it have to be that way?

The Bookstore’s Secret is a sweet second-chance romance. This was my first foray into Makenna Lee’s Home to Oak Hollow series but it was easy to fall into the rhythm of the small down. I liked the characters, setting, and romance but I admit I wasn’t wowed by the book. It followed a standard formula and felt like it, nothing jumping off the page or exciting me. Nicole was hurt by her husband and his voice is one she’s still listening to in her head. She’s focused on having what she sees as an important career because of it. Liam was hurt by his ex-wife and wants someone to choose him before their career. He also has a secret he’s very careful to not let out. The obstacles aren’t huge, the drama is low-stakes, and the characters are all vanilla. This isn’t a bad thing, as a nice formulaic romance is still enjoyable. So even though The Bookstore’s Secret didn’t knock my socks off, I still recommend it for anyone looking for a comforting romance with nice characters and a picture-perfect happily ever after.

This was a sweet kind of second chance romance if you count a crush as the first. Nicole is a pastry chef but after her husband passed away she moves back to her parents with her daughter. I liked the romance between Liam her old crush/new boss.
The secret was juicy and hurt her in a way but it all turned out ok.
This was told in dual POV which you know is my fav in romance it helps so much with motivations and feelings the feels.
Love the single parent, blended family, dating love story. There is life and love after failed marriages and death.


Thank you harlequin and netgalley for the gifted copy for my honest and voluntary review.

A great read, small town, many second chances. Review to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and HARLEQUIN - Romance (U.S. & Canada), Harlequin Special Edition for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

This sweet book was about Nicole, a single mom and widower, and Liam, a single dad who owns a book store/bistro in Oak Hollow. I've really enjoyed reading books in this world. You get to catch up with several past characters in snippets as well as fall in love with Nicole and Liam's story. This was a low-angst read that was a little steamy and whole lot of sweet. Nicole is a pastry chef looking for her big break. She unexpectedly loses her husband in an accident. Unfortunately, that relationship was not a healthy one and she is hurt and sad. She comes home to Oak Hollow with her daughter to heal and recover while looking for another job, her dream job with a big hotel. I love the setting of this little town. It seems like such a cozy community. Maybe Liam can convince her to stay? This delicious little story is a fun holiday read. 4 stars!

Pastry chef Nicole takes a temporary job in a small-town bookstore café while she searches for her dream job at a resort. Her boss, single dad Liam, was her first crush. Will they get a second chance at love?

This is a heartwarming, family-oriented romance. Nicole and her daughter are a perfect match for Liam and his son. A sweet, satisfying romance.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Small town romance with a friends to lovers plot.
Second chances
Finding love again
Following dreams
A cozy, cute and heartwarming story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Bookstore's Secret by Makenna Lee, book six in the Home to Oak Hollow series, is a sweet, friends-to-lovers romance, set in the small town of Oak Hollow, in Texas Hill Country. This is a story about family and believing in yourself. Divorced bookshop/bistro owner, Liam, a divorced single parent and widowed single parent pastry chef, Nicole, were neighborhood friends when they were younger, lost touch and easily slide back into that friendship. Family is so important to both Liam and Nicole, and together with their two kids they created a cute little family. Though Nicole's time in Oak Hollow was originally temporary, she falls hard for Liam, and shares all her secrets with him. When Nicole finds out that Liam is keeping secrets of his own and doesn't trust her the way she does him, it might ruin her second chance at happiness.

Filled with lots of baking, bookshop goodness, fishing trips, drive in movie nights, stolen kisses, family and a happily ever after. There’s so much to enjoy in this moving story of family, love, second chances, and following your dreams. Nicole and Liam, bring this heartwarming story to life with their words and their emotions, their wishes and hopes, their affection and love for each other and for their families. I highly recommend The Bookstore's Secret to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
#TheBookstore’sSecret, #MakeenaLee, #HarlequinBooks

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭒
The Bookstore's Secret by Makenna Lee is the sixth book in the Home to Oak Hollow series. This small-town romance is everything I want.

Nicole Evans and her nine-year-old daughter have moved back to Oak Hollow until Nicole can secure a pastry chef position at a resort. She secures a position at the cafe in the local bookstore until she hears from the resorts she’s applied to. The bookstore is owned by Nicole’s first crush, Liam Mendez. Liam is also a single parent to a teenage son, Travis. Working together causes all kinds of sparks, but, neither Nicole nor Travis can start a relationship as they know that Nicole is only in town temporarily.

I enjoyed this fun, fast-paced romance. There is a lot more to Liam than someone who runs a bookstore, and his secrets may destroy a relationship, but he’s so perfect for Nicole as he appreciates her talent for pasty and cooking. Something her ex-husband did not.

Liam’s son Travis, and Nicole’s daughter Katie both stole the show, they are both so adorable in their own ways. Nicole was set in her ways, but there is nothing like a charming small town and a swoon-worthy bookstore owner to possibly change her mind.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A small town romance centered around renewing an old friendship and developing a closer connection. A friends to lover romance. A sweet, charming read about recovering from a bad marriage and finding yourself again. Added cuteness were the kids. A story of family, love, second chances. A new to me author, this is book six in a series but read as a standalone. Couples from prior books were mentioned but I was not lost or felt that I was missing anything. An emotional journey to finding love once again.

Reviewed by Comfy Chair Books/Lisa Reigel (December 9, 2022)
ARC received by publisher via Netgalley
posting on comfychairbooks.com on release day

Thank you NetGalley for a pre-release of The Bookstore’s Secret. Overall this was a good book. It’s definitely more of a drama rather than a romantic comedy.