Kira and Bennett were the couple of the hour in The Christmas Tree Farm, the third book in the Dream Harbor series. This was a cute book with strong Hallmark movie vibes. It was a great read to get me in the holiday spirit! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Although I enjoyed the Pumpkin Spice Café, I found The Christmas Tree Farm to be somewhat disappointing. I'm grateful for the chance to read the ARC, but this story didn't engage me as much as Pumpkin Spice Café did.

Finally got to this one after missing my Dream Harbor friends for too long! I picked up the first two in this series this year, and could not WAIT to get my hands on The Christmas Tree Farm. This one was just as sweet and cozy as the other two. I'm a little sad to have read through it so quickly as I now have quite a wait ahead before the next! Thanks Netgalley for the gifted copy!!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start off saying this is the 3rd book set in Dream Harbor, and I have not read the first two books before reading this one. The beautiful thing about these books is they are all standalones, even if they are set in the same world.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked both the FMC and MMC, I liked the Christmas tree farm setting. I liked that Kira was kind of the grump and Bennett was more of the sunshine. There are definitely some on-page steamy scenes. But I think what I liked most of all was these two people finding each other, clicking, and talking things through. Though there is the dreaded third act break up, it makes sense in this one, and it resolves smoothly. If you want holiday vibes, small town vibes, helpful and kind people, dogs, and lots on inner monologue through development and growth, I'd recommend checking this one out. After reading this I'll probably add her other two books to my TBR.

A perfect holiday read, get you favorite fluffy blanket, your hot beverage and snuggle in with this sweet Christmas read!
The FMC Kira hates Christmas and unknowingly buys a Christmas Tree Farm. She's stuck fixing it up to earn money to survive. When she meets out MMC Bennet who is only in town for a short time visiting with Family and getting some work done. He loves to help people too much and she's trying not to need anyone anymore. What a match made in heaven!

3.75⭐️ I enjoyed this book overall. I loved how characters from the previous books actually played a part in the story. The main characters relationship didn’t feel rushed, it felt genuine. I’m excited to read the next book in the series!

To say BookTok made me do it is a totally true statement. Sometimes I feel like fantastic authors, especially new ones are hidden behind all of the other mega famous authors and if it weren't for BookTok, I might have never discovered some cozy seasonal reads like these.
Forever grateful for NetGallery allowing me this early ebook copy in exchange for a review.

This was my least favorite book in the *Dream Harbor* series. I found it a bit dull and had trouble connecting with the characters. The story focuses on two new people who move to town, and I was hoping for a romance involving characters we already know and love, like Annie! Without that familiar dynamic, we lost some of the small-town charm and the community interactions that make these books so special.

The romance between the main characters felt rushed and lacked depth. Their relationship didn’t develop organically, and I couldn’t really buy into their love story—it seemed to happen too quickly without much emotional connection.

There were also mentions of social media and influencers, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. I like to escape into a book, not be reminded of the digital world, so that felt like a distraction.

Overall, while it wasn’t awful, it didn’t fully capture the magic of the other books in the series. It still has that cozy, Hallmark-style holiday vibe, but the pacing and the unlikable FMC, Kira, made it a bit hard to enjoy. The MMC was great, but I struggled to get invested in the romance.

If you’re a fan of the series, it’s still worth reading for a light, seasonal read, but it wasn’t as memorable as the others.

YOWZA! What a great read! I became a Laurie Gilmore fan after reading the first book in this series, but just wait until you read how she does Christmas! This is a must read!

These books make my head hurt, I love cozy holiday books and movies and this one did not work. Felt forced, like the others in the series. Trying to hard to fit into a mold. Others will love them, and have, I did not.

Thank you to NetGalley for the earlier copy of this book. Sorry my review is technically late. I like to read series in order and the second book in the series was ordered for me by my local library, but took over a month to come in. The first book in the series will definitely stay my favorite, but this story was great too. Other readers keep comparing the series to Gilmore Girls, but I don’t see it at all. This book follows Kira, the woman who bought the town Christmas tree farm but hates Christmas. This book gave hallmark vibes. However, it felt very unrealistic. Some would say that is just a romance novel thing, but not to me. This book had a grumpy/sunshine trope and also a one bed trope. While this wasn’t my favorite, I love the idea of Dream Harbor and will most likely continue the series.

Okay the third book was the cutest, in my opinion! Such a fun and super easy read with just the right about of spice. I loved how this book also balanced the friendships of Dream Harbor and wasn’t just about the love story. Such a fun a feel good series and read that is perfect for the holidays!!

Kira and Bennett are a really fun couple to watch fall in love and the ending of this book made my romance loving heart SO happy! It was absolutely perfect for them. The Christmas Tree Farm had a great premise and I think overall, it worked super well. It's definitely a feel good holiday romance with the perfect amount of well-written spice. I mean, how can you not love a book that takes place on a tree farm over the holidays?! I also love the Dream Harbor crew - they're so much fun together.

Personally, it fell flat for me within the trope of their characters, though I don't think that's necessarily due to Gilmore's writing - I I think it's a me thing. I loved Ben and I think he worked. Kira just didn't for me. I'm not a huge huge fan of the "reformed rich girl" (though she was a good person all along for sure, ha!). I think at like 75% I got a little tired of the, "I have to be a better person because I have nothing to offer as a rich girl trying to find herself" mentality from Kira. It just felt silly by the point of their "breakup".

Also the lack of quotation marks just really gets me... ugh. But honestly, another great read from this little town and I'll obviously be reading the 4th book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book! (I know, I'm a little behind!).

Always love her books I’ve read everyone so far! This book was the perfect Christmas romance book better then hallmark to get me in the mood for Christmas. I would recommend this always

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper360 for providing me the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication!

I thought this was a really sweet, cute story and very much enjoyed it. This was my pallet cleanser to the thriller books that I have been reading and I couldn’t have chosen a better book to read as a thriller break. I was not able to put this book down! I fell in love with the main characters and the author wrote this book so well that it felt as though you were right there with the characters. This book has officially put me into the holiday spirit and now I am on a mission to read more from this author and to read more holiday romance books.

Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine, One Bed, Small Town, Romance, Christmas, Cozy, Forced Proximity
Spice Level: 5/5

2.5 ⭐️/5

👩‍❤️‍👨 Dual POV
☀️ Grumpy/sunshine
🏠 Small Town romance
🖇️ Forced Proximity
🌶️ Some spicy scenes

Thank you @Netgalley and @Harper360 for the ARC! Kira is new to the little town of Dream Harbor. In her rush to branch out (get it?) and do something separate from her twin sister, she accidentally bought a Christmas Tree Farm. Now, she's figuring out how to be independent for the first time in her life and is STRUGGLING to get it right. Bennett is in town for the holidays to visit his sister Jeanie, and he can't resist a damsel-in-distress. On top of it all, the town is convinced hidden treasure is buried somewhere on the farm. The two just can't seem to stay apart, and this Christmas tree farm is in for a Merry Christmas indeed.

💛 Becca says:
This one was my least favorite of the series. I didn't really love the main characters, I didn't like how the “searching for treasure” storyline resolved. It didn't feel like the tension was very earned and the emotional realizations fell flat for me. A lot of the character growth happened previous to the start of the book, so I was left wanting more to really feel invested. Over all, it's a No from me.

We're back in Dream Harbor for the third installment of Laurie Gilmore's series. For book three, Kira is the new owner of the Christmas tree farm. The twist is that she hates Christmas! We also have Bennet who is visiting his sister, Jeanie, for the holiday season. Our holiday grump and golden retriever end up crossing paths and take us on a "will they/won't they" journey.

This was an enjoyable read and recommend to anyone in search of a cozy holiday read ! I appreciated Kira's self-awareness and her determination towards achieving change in her life. I also loved seeing the relationship with her sister, even when their relationship had its own set of challenges. Ben was sweet but I wished we saw more of his past to better understand why he has a "people pleaser" personality. We get a glimpse at his previous toxic relationship but it just felt a bit off. Overall, I liked seeing how these two characters came together and were able to push each other to be vulnerable and outgrow their old habits.

Something I struggled with was that this was a part of "Dream Harbor" series when both of these characters are new to town. I absolutely loved the first two books in the series and wished book three was Annie and Mac's story. Even though there were mentions of Bennet throughout the first two books and glimpses of Kira in the last, they felt disconnected from the series as a whole.

I will never not be thankful for this series. it gives my gilmore girls loving heart all the feels! dream harbor is where i want to live out the rest of my days!

I love that Laurie adds a bit of suspense in her books, every book has had some sort of mystery to it (as per the nosey book club). Kira bought the Christmas Tree Farm in Dream Harbor and while she doesn't want to open it back up, she decided she must do it for an income. Enter spooky happenings, the book club says that the tree farm is "haunted" and has some "possible treasures."

I liked this one for the plot a lot. the hallmark small town vibes of the grumpy girl coming into town and buying a tree farm but refuses to open it b/c she is basically a grinch. Bennett was the best part of this book for me, I loved him with all of my being which in all truth, is why I kept reading. he was such a good mmc and so likable and precious to me. this definitely gave all the rom com and hallmark holiday vibes, and I ended up loving the plot and how the story played out. it was warm and cozy, and Bennett is the best for just wanting to make Kira happy, even if at some points, i almost felt like he deserved better, but that quality about him made him that much more endearing.

I will say part of the reason I'm only giving this book 4 stars is because I struggled with Kira's character throughout the book. she was so mean, not just grumpy, plain mean. her character development was definitely good to see because i did see parts of her i liked, she was funny and really did deserve a happy ending in the end, but at points it was hard not to think about how she acted in the beginning.

This was a really fun and quick read for me. I read the other two books in the Dream Harbor series. This was like entering a Hallmark movie but with spice. We have these two characters- grumpy x sunshine trope, and you'd never guess the FMC is the grump! I really enjoyed this one, thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for the galley. I am looking forward to reading the rest of Dream Harbor!

💕📚ARC Review📚💕 Thank you @netgalley, @lauriegilmore_author, and @harpercollins360 for an ARC of The Christmas Tree Farm! This has been my favorite so far in the Dream Harbor series. 🎄

While this could be a stand alone, definitely read the first two in the Dream Harbor series, The Pumpkin Spice Café and The Cinnamon Bun Bookshop to get to know the other secondary characters. The is the story of Bennett Ellis, Jeanie’s (the owner of The Pumpkin Spice Café) brother who is visiting and taking a break from his life (and past romantic decisions) in California and Kira North, the new owner of the Christmas Tree Farm, who is grumpy and not a fan of Christmas. Kira is heartbroken that her twin and best friend got married and now lives abroad with her husband.

Kira quickly learns she has no idea how to run a farm and Bennet offers to help grumpy Kira (he’s a fix-it guy) when he’s on her property walking his dogs, but she stubbornly resists his offer. The grinch has a change of heart and begins to warm up to both Bennett and accepting help from her new community.

I loved this one! As I mentioned, it is my fave of the Dream Harbor series so far. Some may find Kira a bit unlikeable, but I really enjoyed the reverse grumpy x sunshine trope. Being the third in the series, coming back to Dream Harbor and seeing Jeannie, Annie, the town meetings, Logan’s grandparents’ farm, etc. is such a joy to revisit. The perfect Gilmore Girls-esque Hallmark Christmas style novel with a touch of spice. 🎄