The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn is one of those cozy reads that makes me want to move to a small town, make friends with the locals, participate in festivities and never look back.
This is the first book I've read from Valerie Bowman and I was not disappointed. The Inn, the orchard, the coming back home for the first time a years feels, the meeting up with old friends and neighbors. This book had such a homey feel that I fell in love with in the very first chapter. The storyline and plot were well thought of and well executed. The characters were lovable and relatable. I found myself literally wanting to be in town for the weekend to participate in the festivities that were taking place. This book truly brought on the "feel good" feels.
I will definitely be on the lookout for the next in the Honeycrisp Orchard series, but also be looking into more from Bowman to see what else she's created. Finding new authors to read is always interesting and sometimes very hit or miss. I'm glad to say that Bowman is a definite hit.

Read if you are looking for:
- cozy small-town vibes
- boss-girl attitude
- he falls first
- cute dogs
- fall aesthetic
- Belle's Library nods

I gave this book a chance because I unexpectedly enjoyed another fall, small-town with food names romance series. I honestly loved this FMC more! The witty remarks kept me engaged. I was hooked from the initial chapter. Give it a try and see if it your next fall small-town romance favorite!

If you enjoyed The Pumpkin Spice Cafe then you will enjoy The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn. It's a perfect fall, small-town, romance read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital review copy. I will certainly be looking for this one when it's released to have a copy for my shelf. I'm excited to see what Valerie Bowman writes next.

ARC Read

A quick breakdown of tropes:
Grumpy vs Sunshine
Forced Proximity
Friends to Lovers
Gilmore Girl Vibes!

This was such a cute and easy read. This was giving hallmark movie energy but based in the fall. It was actually based in NY which was a really cool surprise as an Upstate NYer myself! Mentions of Ithaca, fall colors, and a Gilmore Girl marathon hooked me in good!
Of course there was predictability but that didn’t stop me from eating this book up. A crappy 24 hours leads her back to her hometown where she runs back in to the stubborn farmer she grew up with and you know how the story goes!
Lots of great sarcasm and the inner monologues were some of the funniest words on the page. This book ends with a HEA and great wrap up on what all the side characters are up to. Pumpkin the pug was the star of the show!!
Although, now I will wait somewhat patiently for Maria and Jesse’s book! 😏

I absolutely adored this book. It has the perfect cozy fall vibes that I love!
Ellie, after getting fired from her job and dumped by her boyfriend in the span of 24 hours, goes home to her family’s inn to help plan a fall festival. When Ellie gets there she finds out she’ll be sharing the apartment at the inn with her childhood friend, Aiden, whose family owns the orchard next to the inn. Ellie finds out Aiden was the one planning the festival and is not super open to new ideas. Ellie and Aiden start to work together and Ellie realizes maybe the way she viewed being successful isn’t the only way she can achieve success. Seeing how Ellie and Aiden’s relationship evolved throughout the book was so cute!

Things I loved about this book:
- The cozy vibes! The small town feel of the book is so good and fit the story perfectly.
- The side characters - I loved all the people from Charlotte to Sera to nosy Mrs. Lawrence. Each character added something to the story.
- The family connection - Ellie has been dependent on herself for so long but coming home and realizing she doesn’t have to be alone and have a support system.
- The spice - while it does take awhile to get there, once it happens it’s so good! Aiden and Ellie having the friendship base for their relationship makes the spice that much better.
- The female friendships - Ellie has a good friend in Maria before she comes home, but once she’s home she forms friendships with Charlotte and Sera. They’re all there for her and they support each other.


Overall, I loved this book! It’s the perfect cozy book for fall and I cannot wait for more in this series!

Ahhh so cute! I liked this book so much more than The Pumpkin Spice Cafe! It is a perfect cozy fall read. The slow burn was excellent and the spice was great. I adored all the characters and their relationships. I think it is set up nicely for more books as I am invested in everyone. This should definitely be added to your fall TBR list!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC.

This book has me from page one! I got sucked into the town and characters so fast! From the moment in the page reading about the Inn and the Apple farm i immediately wanted it to be real and visit! The HoneyCrisp Orchard in was a perfect fall romance read. I loved our FMC,Ellie and how she reconnects to her roots after getting turned upside down from getting fired. The minute Ellie and Aiden reunite the chemistry was bleeding through the pages and I loved their development of their relationship so much! The idea of them hosting an event at the inn and farm and having to reluctantly work together put so much tension and I ate up every second. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun cozy fall romance read!

This was so frickin cute! It was a fast read (the perfect length plus I just didn't want to stop reading!) and really made me want an apple cider donut! I really liked Ellie and Aiden- their chemistry was great and they kicked the series off perfectly. I could see the seeds of sequels as I was reading and I can't wait for the next installment!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the opportunity to read and review The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn but I am DNFing this book at 21%.

This decision is 100% because of how annoying the FMC is. It’s not just the mentions of Taylor Swift and how Starbucks is just the best coffee, it’s the way dementia is being treated as a joke because her mother didn’t remember something. She also liked to describe a character wearing all black with astrology tattoos as “woo-woo” and “I’m wondering if she’s just like Sabrina the Teenage Witch”

This character is not someone I would want to spend 30 minutes with in real life much less the next few hours of my life reading.

Rating: 3.5 (rounded up)

This is a super cute fall romance! It was a light, cozy, funny, and 'fluffy' romance that was a great palette cleanser.

I had fun following Ellie as she went from a disaster situation at work and with her ex to working on the Harvest Festival! There's so much great banter and humor in the book, and I was really compelled by the romance itself. As much as this is absolutely a cozy, small-town, light romance, both Ellie and Aiden are complex and had good character development! Their situation is complicated, and they both know it while trying to grapple with how they feel and simultaneously work together and save their families' businesses. I really liked how their relationship shifted and progressed throughout the story!

I really enjoyed the side characters, too! I can absolutely imagine the different couples that future books might follow. There's a host of people with distinct personalities, famous pets, and generally just a quirky cast that I loved (an old lady with a gossip site - yeah, that was fun!). It was so atmospheric and cozy! If you're looking for a fall book, this is definitely it. Descriptions of the setting were done well and made the orchard and small town, along with the colors of the fall season, come to life.

There were a lot of my favorite tropes, so I enjoyed it (childhood friends to lovers, slight enemies to lovers, forced proximity). The humor in the book is also so much fun, and I thought the end was satisfying!

There were only couple of elements that weren't my favorite. I found the pacing a bit uneven, and I found myself wanting more of the romance. I really enjoyed the romance! At times, the plot of the festival seemed to take over, or at least wasn't super engaging to me. While I did generally love the humor, the writing of it at times took me out of the story when it seemed like 'too much' or seemed more like a text message/conversation than a story (for instance, "btw" being used).

Overall, I think this is a good option for a cozy fall romance!

Throw on your fall playlist, grab a hot cider and get ready to be surrounded by love! For fans of Gilmore Girls, Lovelight Farms and The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. This book truly felt like a warm hug, taking place in a small town that loves fall, we are thrown into the planning of a harvest festival with childhood friend (and now super cute) Aiden. I want to move here because every Friday during the fall, the drive-in plays Gilmore Girls

I need a trip to the apple orchard for a cider while wearing a cute fall outfit now. This book was so stinking cute and perfect for fall. I enjoyed the storyline and the MCs were incredibly likable. I’m feral for these little small town interconnected series. I can’t wait for the next story. I’m so excited to see who will be the stars in the next book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 releases September 9

Eleanor otherwise known as Ellie is working in NYC when everything in her life goes wrong. Her love live and work life are both in question. She heads back to Harvest Hallow where her parents own an Inn. With her event planning experience, she is asked to come back and help with the Fall Festival.
Aiden Parker is our MMC and his parents own the farm/ orchard next door to the inn. They were childhood friends, but grew apart over time. This book has its own Lady Whistledown. Some of the other characters Jessie and Maria I’m hoping for their own book to come? 🤞🏻
Charlotte and Sawyer need a book of their own too!!

The ending was 👩‍🍳 💋 Those greenhouse and ladder scenes (iykyk) 🤭 If you liked Gilmore Girls, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe and Hallmark movies this is your next read! This book has the perfect fall vibes!

Thank you @netgalley and @harpercollins for allowing me to read this arc early for my honest feedback!

I really enjoyed this book it was a cute cozy Romance and I love how they came to get her in the end and were able to talk to each other about how they fell about each other and how she realized she made a mistake and went back to him

I loved this book! Reminded me a lot of Laurie Gilmore books along with the Gilmore Girls show! It’s perfect to get you in the fall mood!

This was such a warm, charming small town romance with just the right dash of spice! I loved the cozy atmosphere of the Honeycrisp orchard, the family inn setting, and the Harvest Festival backdrop it all felt so vivid and inviting. Ellie was a relatable heroine, trying to piece her life back together after everything falls apart, and I really enjoyed watching her slowly find her footing again. Aiden made for a great grumpy to sweet love interest, and their forced proximity plus work-together dynamic brought plenty of tension and banter. While some plot beats were a little predictable, the chemistry and small town vibes more than made up for it.

The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn is definitely the perfect book to put you in a fall mood. It has that feel good, small town romance vibe and this delivered exactly what I wanted. The minute I “arrived” at the orchard through Valerie Bowman’s words, I swear I could smell crisp apples, the cool fall breeze on my face, and hear the crunch of leaves underfoot.

Ellie’s story hit home for me. She’s at that crossroads in life, heart bruised, career plans in shambles and she heads back to her roots. Her banter with Aiden had me smirking into my coffee, and watching their mutual irritation slowly melt into something much sweeter was just chef’s kiss.

The Harvest Festival scenes were pure fall magic. I could practically taste the cider and feel that cozy sweater-weather glow. Sure, I saw some of the plot beats coming, but honestly? That’s part of the charm. Sometimes you want to know you’re heading toward a happy endind, it makes the journey even more comforting.

If you’re craving a book that feels like a warm blanket on a chilly day, with just enough romantic tension to keep you flipping pages late into the night, The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn is it. I closed the book smiling, already wishing I could book a weekend stay at The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn myself.

4.5 stars! ⭐️ The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn is the perfect fall read! Ellie lost her job AND boyfriend so she moved back home to her family’s inn on an apple orchard where she meets the hot flannel-wearing MMC, Aiden. I really enjoyed this read! It’s tension filled, flirty and has some spice.

What to expect:
✨ small town romance
🍂 slow burn
✨ forced proximity
🍂 cozy fall vibes
✨ enemies to lovers

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC. All opinions are my own 🫶🏼

Such a fun and happy read to put you in the fall spirit! Perfect for a sunny fall afternoon when you’re relaxing on the hammock with some cider!

This was so cute and cozy! Perfect for fans of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe.

I picked this up because I really enjoyed The Pumpkin Spice Cafe last year and was looking for something with similar vibes. This is a perfect fall romance. It's got the vibes with the orchard/inn setting and small town. I mean could it get an cozier?

Eleanor is a likeable character. She's at a rough patch in her life and has returned home to start over. Her parents run an Inn. Aiden is a sexy farmer and son of the orchard owner. These two have great sexual tension and banter. If you enjoy dislike to lovers, this pairing is for you. Their scenes are entertaining and will make you laugh and swoon. The flirting between these two was so good! I really enjoyed the romance here. It was sweet and romantic.

Grab a apple cider chai & escape into this book.