Was a fun cosy read, definitely one of my faves, being a small town romance and a grumpy x sunshine. Wren seemed happy go lucky and Gus was the perfect grump. I enjoyed the setting descriptions and the romance was fun too. Definitely a perfect read for autumn.

Such a fun autumn read! An excellent cast of characters i can't wait to hopefully see return in their own books!

3.5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley and publishers for letting me read this book in advance.

This is a cozy fall read for the upcoming fall season. The relationship between Gus and Wren is dynamic with slow burn romance. Gus learn a lot aabout himself and he has Autism and lot of stress which makes him seem grumpy. He’s just trying to survive in a small town. He learns to love himself and that not everyone is going to abandon him. Wren learns to give love a chance again after her previous relationship. She’s also trying to rekindle her business with a major party for her bestie.


All this enlightenment happens on the pumpkin farm.

As always, thank you NetGalley and thank you to the publisher for the ARC of this book❤️

Pumpkin About You is super cute and gives off all the autumnal vibes, but something was missing for me.
I'm for sure an autumn girl, I was born in autumn, it's my season and I've kinda expect to enjoy this reading but I didn't. It had all the ingredients for a cozy fall romance: the pumpkin farm, autumn vibes like the ones you see in the Insta reel, and a sweet setup but unfortunately, it didn’t quite made the "click" for me. I felt that the story was kinda forced, and the writing style, especially the repeated use of words, pulled me out of the narrative more than once and I've found myself lost about the plot more than I like.

The main character, Wren, is a party planner who meets Gus, a pumpkin farmer with autism. While I appreciated the attempt at neurodiverse representation, Gus’s portrayal felt a bit off, and Wren’s attitude didn’t help. I really disliked her, in a very short time and I was sad about it

Despite the author’s research, the execution lacked authenticity and nuance because I felt it too predictable and too resemble to the stereotypes of autistic people

The fall setting was lovely and atmospheric, that clicked really well because I can visualize the setting in a very realistic way, but the romance itself was... At least embarrassing, I can say

I’m not an usual romance reader but sometimes I try them for keep me out of my comfort zone because, you know, sometimes you need to, but I keep being disppointed so now, I think that romance books aren't made for me so, I think I just need to stop trying and get other type of story

There’s Pumpkin About You is super cute and gives off all the autumnal vibes, but something was missing for me.

4.5*

Well this book completely charmed me. Grumpy-sunshine is one of my favorite relationship dynamics and I thought it was really well done in this story. Gus stole my heart - he was so easy to root for and I only wanted good things for him. Wren was a force of nature right from the start and I really enjoyed watching her learn to connect with Gus. There were so many little moments that made me smile (wildflower bouquets for example) and I was delighted when Gus and Wren realized how much they liked each other. Not every moment in the third act worked for me but overall I loved this story a whole lot and am so glad I read it.

Review: There’s Pumpkin About You 🎃
⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

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

There’s Pumpkin About You had all the ingredients for a cozy fall romance—charming pumpkin farm, autumn vibes, and a sweet setup—but unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver for me. The story felt forced, and the writing style—especially the repeated use of words like “whilst”—pulled me out of the narrative more than once.

The main character, Wren, is a party planner who meets Gus, a pumpkin farmer with autism. While I appreciated the attempt at neurodiverse representation, Gus’s portrayal felt a bit off, and Wren’s attitude didn’t help matters. Despite the author’s research into ASD, the execution lacked authenticity and nuance.

The fall setting was lovely and atmospheric, but the romance itself felt cringey and underdeveloped. I ended up not finishing the book, which is rare for me.

Great potential—but it just wasn't clicking.

This was a nice cozy read. main take way is to never judge a book by its cover and the right person will accept you “flaws and all” it was a nice book with a simple plot. I will probably reread it when the weather is colder, so I can really immerse myself in the story.

Absolutely love the cover, and cannot wait to use this for decoration after I re read it in autumn. Such a cute cosy read. Loving the autumnal vibes. Such an easy read you don’t want to put down.

fyi - 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars, just for clarity.

I would like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for providing me with a review copy of this book and this review is entirely my own and of my own volition.

There's Pumpkin About You is a cosy autumn read, with a enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity romance and neurodivergent representation. It follows the story of Wren, a determined woman who has recently started her own party-planning business and is tasked by her best friend to host her thirtieth birthday party to kickstart her business. All Wren has to do is convince the owner of a beautiful pumpkin farm to let her use his building to host the event. Unfortunately for Wren, the owner happens to be stubborn, closed-off and autistic August Finch who is very much against the idea of Wren being anywhere near his farm.

What stood out very much throughout the book is how the author has managed to describe the different ways in which an autistic person can function and their inner dialogues. As an autistic and ADHD person myself, I felt very much seen and heard throughout reading August's POVs and I admire the writer for opening the novel with an apology letter in case autistic readers feel like they have been misrepresented as there are definitely different types of autism but I very enjoyed her representation, especially when it comes to how conversations and relationships are formed.

I also enjoyed the overall story and flow of the novel which felt natural, appropriately paced and contained some sweet, comedic moments. However, there was much that I felt could have been improved.

Wren's selfish and often pushy/demanding/abrasive attitude and the way she interacts with August despite knowing that he is austitic from their first meeting feels unnecessary and does not come off in a flirty manner as intended. It feels as if Wren is deliberately attempting to annoy or anger August by insulting him, despite knowing that his autistic nature can come off as cold or rude which is not necessarily his fault. Additionally, the 'spice' of the book only kicks in around the 70% point and is one scene, which is not necessarily the level of spice I was hoping for, and the side characters feel more like added extras to make the romance plot flow as there doesn't seem much dimension to them at all.

Whilst this book does deliver on the autumn vibes and I can kind of feel the 'Gilmore Girls' inspiration behind it, I do feel like this book could have delivered a tad more on adding more dimension to the characters and pushing the romance to the next level with more coziness, spiciness and overall more connection between the two.

There’s Pumpkin About You had all the potential—a pumpkin farmer, a party planner, and small-town charm. Unfortunately, despite the promise of a fun enemies-to-lovers setup, this one fell flat for me. The biggest issue? The characters. Wren came off as pushy and abrasive, not endearing, and Gus’s grumpiness leaned too far into cold and dismissive and didn't represent autism in a realistic manner. Their chemistry hinged on a single tense conversation followed by some romantic leaps that made no sense.

I’ll give it credit for cozy vibes and the occasional sweet moment, but overall, I should have dnf'd.

Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Collins, for the ARC of this title. "There's Pumpkin About You" is both cozy and spicy like a pumpkin spice latte. Party Planner, Wren, is in need of some enthusiasm to get her business back on track after a painful breakup. Pumpkin Farm Owner, August, is in need of an attitude adjustment and some actual physical help to keep the family farm running after his father leaves him and his brothers stranded. When the two collide, there are sparks that turn into a raging blaze. But dealing with each other creates a challenge they both didn't know they needed.

The story is sweet and has a really nice flow. The characters are fun and well developed. There definitely are moments that made me laugh and moments that made me swoon. There's a lot of good stuff in this one. I do hope, however, that there is another edit from the ARC version before the published version. There are some definitely bothersome word choices throughout, and especially in the spicy scenes. I have not ready anything else by this author, and I would definitely give other titles by her a try going forward. But in this ARC version at least, I'd say some editing and coaching still needs to happen to avoid some distracting pitfalls.

Ugh I wanted to like this so badly. But I couldn’t stand the way the FMC Wren treated the MMC Gus. They bickered constantly and it was as though the author was trying to make it flirty but it just wasn’t.

Some key plot points also irked me -

*Spoilers below this point!

Wren is a party planner, but realistically what did she plan? Gus organised all the food, sweets, flowers, drinks and then he also worked at fixing up the barn.

The ‘big’ fight at the end seemed super unnecessary. It felt shoehorned in to add conflict and make a resolution happen.

Wren said she wanted to understand Gus’s autism but then snapped at him every time he reacted to something in a way she didn’t like.

There’s probably more but I’m sad this didn’t live up to what I thought it would be! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

🎃 Bookish Thoughts
Oh this was such a cozy fall read! There’s Pumpkin About You is a small town, grumpy x sunshine romance. I LOVED our FMC and MMC so much! They didn’t love each other at all in the beginning, but once they reluctantly agreed to work together… the tension was chef’s kiss.

Gus is secretly such a softie and I melted when he started calling her sweetheart.
Wren and Gus foreverrr 🫶🏾

I also appreciated how the book explored Gus being autistic with care and understanding.

Definitely add this to your fall TBR!

🍁 What to Expect:
• Grumpy x sunshine
• Pumpkin farm
• Small town charm
• Enemies to lovers
• Opposites attract

📖 Final Score: 4.5 stars
📅 Pub Date: August 22, 2025
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

First, I want to say how gorgeous that cover is. You can really see the fall vibes you'll get along the book. If you're looking for something with autumn vibes, cozy, short and with a good playlist; that's a nice book.
There's a farmer in a small town, cute animals, a grumpy X sunshine trope. A good read and a good entertainment.
I like the diversity presented in this. However, the main characters aren't really the type of personalities I like and I don't see the chemistry between them. The side characters are really developed neither. But the setting is nice.

4.25⭐️ What a sweet story!! This is such a cozy fall read, it had me dreaming of crisp days and visiting pumpkin patches.

August “Gus” Finch is a pumpkin farmer in the small town of Eaglewood. Wren Southwick is a party planner who’s planning her best friend’s birthday party. When she stumbles upon the perfect venue there’s only two problems: getting it in shape in time for the party and the stubborn, grumpy farmer.

They have great banter, and they work together so well together despite their stubbornness. This was a great combo of sweet and spicy! These characters felt like real people and I loved their growth.

There’s Pumpkin About You is available in the US on August 26!! Thank you One More Chapter and Harper Collins via NetGalley for the ARC!

Check this out for
🎃 Grumpy Sunshine
🍂 Small Town
🎃 Pumpkin Farmer and Event Planner
🍂 Neurodivergent rep
🎃 Forced proximity
🍂 Banter

Overall, this was a decent fall romance read. I liked the small-town pumpkin farm setting, but I felt like the romantic connection didn’t fully work for me. I didn’t get the sense that the FMC truly understood the MMC, and some parts of the story came across as a bit juvenile. I do appreciate that the author did her research on autism, and it was nice to see that representation included, though it sometimes felt a bit too focused on teaching rather than blending naturally into the story. It was a solid read overall, but not a personal favorite. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Rating: 2.5⭐️

There's a good book in here and I could *almost* see the Hallmark movie that would be made from it, but this just didn't work for me. 

I love fall girl stuff, so a party planner needing a cute barn location for her bestie's birthday party and stumbling upon a pumpkin farm with a taciturn owner sounded right up my alley. And there are good moments for both of them, but they are few and far between. The townspeople are interesting, but not well-drawn. There's no motivation behind the town crank ever given and everyone else just fells in love with Wren for seemingly no reason, given how small the town supposedly is.

In a fandom to remain nameless that is primarily for an American audience about with British main characters and settings, non-British authors often asked their British fandom friends to "Britpick" their work to remove any Americanisms that Americans just wouldn't see (we are divided by a common language after all!). I feel like this book needs to reverse as it is ostensibly set in America (though it's hard to figure out where - as there's a farm, but there's cliffs, but it's clearly East Coast as there's mention of moving across the US to California), but the main characters say "whilst" A LOT and have other British mannerisms that stick out. They also mentioned that there are like five towns around a lake, but they don't talk about the commute between the towns; Americans spend a lot more time in our cars without thought than Brits do, so it's hard to know if the travel between August's town and Wren's town is actually a big deal. The author also capitalizes "Autism" but not "autistic," which just bugs me. There's a LOT of autism education in here as if in 2025, no one has even run into an autistic person before, but hopefully that's helpful to someone. Wren is also pictured as brown on the book cover, but her ethnicity is never mentioned, even though they seem to live in rural small towns where it would definitely come up in some way.

Beyond all of that, there's just not a lot of there there. Much of action happens off screen (harvest, barn raising, the puppy!), so that Wren and August can fight some more. I like good banter as much as the next person but this was tiresome to read. They seem to fall in love despite each other (and not in a good way) and the third act fight is phrased in such a way that I don't understand why she's apologizing. It was a quick-ish read and if you're British whose dreaming of a Hallmark movie in America, maybe you'll enjoy it more than me.

There’s Pumpkin About You by Athena Carstairs is giving all the autumn romance vibes. I didn’t know I needed in July!

Rating; ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Spice; 🌶️/5

This book opens with Wren, a party planner tasked with creating her best friends 30th milestone party. Which her friend shared the venue of their cute rustic pumpkin patch two towns over.

Gus, is the owner of the pumpkin patch. Who is already dealing with financials and Harvest season with a broken arm. When this curvy vivacious women enters his barn.

Wren and Gus come to an agreement. An upgraded barn for him, and a venue for the party for her.

However these two didn’t see what was right in front of them. The sparkes of creative differences in more ways then one. Will they be able to make it to the end of the build. Or will these two kill eachother prior to the night of the party.

Troupes include;
- Enemies to lovers
- Autumn Vibes Galore
- Autism Awareness
- Diverse Characters
- And a nippy Goat! 🐐
.
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Thank you so much to NetGalley, Harper Collin’s UK and One More Chapter for the opportunity to read and review!

Anything with pumpkin in the title immediately catches my attention. This was a cute easy read.
It was good but not great. The romance and some of the plot was slower than I usually go for.

It’s not a book I found myself necessarily reaching for, but when I did read it, I enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading.

One thing that I think may have improved the story for me would have been seeing Sandra being put in her place. Along with having the town apologise for the way they treated Gus and be better.

The autism representation was written well and I think it’s important that we saw Gus stop hiding who he was, but people like Sandra shouldn’t have gotten away with being so nasty.