The small town, Gilmore Girl vibes were fantastic, however the romance was not. There was no communication between the main characters basically the entire book. If they had talked there would have never been a problem.. it was irritating.

A quick read, and good on audio for the fall vibes, but definitely not a fave.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture & Bookouture Audio for advance copies

this book did an amazing job when it comes to bringing the fall season right up it’s reader’s alleys! however, the relationship of the characters set inside this book really let me down. there were so much miscommunications dotted throughout this book. i was so disappointed with it. not only were the premise of their breakup stems from miscommunication, but our fmc madison’s main problems with the inn and her dad also came from miscommunication. it really frustrated me everytime zach and madison step away from each other instead of communicating their problems. sure, it would have been fine the first few times - but it happened throughout the book. that really undid it for me.

characters aside, like i said: the setting of this book was beautiful. i would spend my days on the cinnamon spice inn if i could! fall is one of my favorite seasons and that is why i wanted to pick up this book. thank you, netgally, for giving me the opportunity to read this book! 🌟

I read this on a rainy night with a cup of tea, and it was exactly the kind of cozy escape I needed. The story is warm and full of heart, with the perfect small-town vibe.

I switched between reading and the audiobook, and I loved both. The narrator added so much to the stort. While this is a sweet, emotional, cozy romance it also has spice. The spicy scenes are well written and add perfectly to the story.

It’s a story about second chances, hope, and finding love (or falling back in love) when you least expect it. Was a perfect pick me up!

Reading this in summer made me very excited for Autumn! If you're looking for a cosy, small town romance, this book is for you! Maple Falls will make you wish you lived there.

A little bit of emotional pain and longing - but still a lot of love - between the main characters can give you a whiplash with how often they go hot and cold. But overall their second chance romance is very sweet, with a tiny bit of spice. I enjoyed all the other charactes too and can't wait for the second book!

This book has great autumn vibes which i always love. As a whole its a good book, but a big pet peeve of mine is miscommunication, which I feel happens a lot in this book. Madison and Zack are childhood sweethearts who drift apart when madison leaves for her work, and both blame the other person for why they broke up. When she comes back to town to help save her familys Inn its an instant love/hate between them both and a bucket load of Just talk to each other!
Another likeable point to this book is the side characters. Liam and Kit in particular.

MAPLE FALLS 🍁

Second chance romance
A complicated history
A Grumpy handiman
Second chance romance
Spice

This book gives all the cosy vibes you could want in a book, I honestly was so engulfed in maple falls I felt like I was living in the story ,

Madison is our FMC and Zach our MMC the dynamic between the two would have you squealing, the tension between the two was so tasteful, and the history between the two had me on the edge of my seat , I adored this read I finished it in one hole sitting I couldn't put the book down , the dopamine hits from this book is amazing and it has all the cosy autumnal vibes you could want , I gave this 5 stars and have no doubt this is going to be a big hit when it's released, a massive thank you to netgalley for giving me this Arc I adored it and the very best to Harper Graham on the release of this book this is going to be big 🥰

I went into this book hoping for a cozy, heartwarming story, but it fell completely flat for me. The plot was predictable, the characters felt one-dimensional, and the dialogue often came across as forced. Instead of comfort, I found myself bored and frustrated — overall, a shallow and rather silly read that didn’t deliver what it promised.

Thank you @bookouture and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

“ This is your life, darling. Create one you love “

This book is everything I want in an autumn read
cosy, comforting, and full of heart. From the golden leaves in Maple Falls to the scent of cinnamon drifting off the page, it's the kind of story that wraps around you like a soft blanket and your favourite oversized sweater.

But it's not just warm drinks and fall vibes. The
Cinnamon Spice Inn also gently explores important themes like grief, healing, facing your fears, and the deep, unshakable bonds of family. It balances light-hearted charm with real emotional depth, and I really appreciated that.

Madison and Zach's second chance romance had me smiling, swooning, and occasionally shouting at them to just talk! Their chemistry is sweet with a dash of spice and the small town setting is pure autumn magic.

This book is truly a warm hug in a mug the kind of story I'll come back to year after year as a seasonal tradition. I will be recommending this book to everyone.

⭐️ Rating: 3.5/5
📚 Tropes: small-town vs. city life, second chance romance, childhood sweethearts, work romance, forced proximity, miscommunication
💌 Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!
"Madison Kelly wasn’t just any girl. She was the only one who had ever wrecked him—and the only one he hadn’t been able to forget."

"Being with Madison was a thirst he couldn’t quench. He’d drown before ever being satisfied, and it scared the hell out of him."

The Cinnamon Spice Inn takes you to the cozy small town of Maple Falls, where Madison returns after getting a mysterious letter stating that her family needs her help with The Cinnamon Spice Inn. Coming home, Madison has to face the changes in her family and the still unresolved situation with her ex-boyfriend Zach.

This definitely was a cozy read perfect for fall: the vibes, atmosphere and general feel of the town were just perfect. I craved a pumpkin spice latte so bad, while reading this. The side characters of the story were great, and I still want to learn more about Kitt, and there definitely can't be enough interactions with her Grandma. Her grandma and her wit made me laugh out loud a few times!

What didn't work for me here was the miscommunication; I didn't like how it was handled.
I'm usually fine with it when we can see growth and improvement in the book. For me, this was lacking. Until nearly the very end, they still hadn't really learned to communicate with each other. Given that Madison and Zach had known each other their whole lives, the lack of basic communication felt unrealistic and weakened the depth of their relationship.

🎯 Final Thoughts: If you want a cozy fall romance 🍂💕 with a bit of spice 🌶️ that feels like a warm hug and don't mind miscommunication, this book is worth picking up.

Very cute fall vibes 🤩 All the descriptions just made me want to cosy up in the blankets with hot cocoa.

If you’re looking for a cosy small-town romance, then it’s the perfect one for you.

All the side characters are also great and add more fun to the book.

The thing that was not it for me - the miscommunication trope. I wish I had known it before starting to read the book. It's just so frustrating, most of the book the MCs are just going through all their anxiety, and it could so easily be fixed with just them talking to one another.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

I really wanted to love this book, I love cozy fall small town reads, but it just wasn’t for me. I’m not a fan of the miscommunication trope, or what felt over exaggerated lack of communication between the FMC and MMC. I grew tired of the repetitive inner monologue of the characters and felt over half of the book could have been resolved with one or two very reasonable conversations. The overarching storyline is cute and reminded me of a hallmark movie.

This book was a nice palette cleanser between some heavy fantasy reads. I am a sucker for fall romance books and this one delivered. My only wish is that it hadn't gone so fast, I felt like I barely got to know anyone or anything in the book before we were moving on. Honestly to me the couple took the backseat in this book as I found myself way more interested in the cast of characters in Maple Falls and the history of the town.

This was such a cosy autumn read and just what I was wanting to read.

It was such a sweet, wonderful autumn romance read! Such loveable characters and a cute autumn setting

I cant wait to read more from Harper Graham

More, i just need more. More from this village, more from this author just more.

This book was gorgeous, I loved the characters and I dont think I took a breath from start to finish. The tension within these pages was just next level.

It was everything I didn't know I needed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is exactly what I needed this week.
It's cozy, it's fall, it's a perfect romance to get you into the season. It's literally the best kind of comfort read for when you really need it.

I loved the story, the pacing and the characters. I really enjoyed how the author wrote the second-chance love story. It is swoon-worthy. It's believable especially with the tension and banter between the FMC and the MMC. I also appreciated how the mystery of the letters was secondary to the romance but it wasn't forgotten. I also loved the development of the main characters outside of their relationship for one another. The FMC had to find herself and figure out what she really wanted in life. This added to the relationship because her character has depth and layers.

I ate this story up and look forward to more from this author! Seriously, a sweet, wonderful fall romance read!

Thank you to the author and the publisher for the eARC! I can't wait for more!

This book started out great but unfortunately got very repetitive. It was a good premise and I loved the fall vibes but after reading about 30% I skipped the middle and finished the last 5-10%.
The writing was very wordy where it didn't need to be. The story line and characters lacked depth or development.
Every few pages something smelled of vanilla and the two main characters repeated their thoughts on each other without communicating.
This was the uncorrected arc so hopefully they'll be able to do some heavy rewrites.

Like most romances, this one is a pretty predictable cozy, small town plot with a girl who has escaped to the big city returning home when she never thought she would. It feels very much like a Hallmark Christmas movie, although this one is set in the autumn.

Of course our heroine finds herself back in her hometown scrambling to solve a big family problem, while her suspiciously well-paying city job seems fine with the time off. Before the end of chapter 1, she has already run into her ex (who she obviously still has feelings for). It's frivolous and predictable, at least to start, and exactly what I want in this kind of cozy, autumn romance book.

Things do get a little frustrating around the halfway point as the characters jump to conclusions over and over again even after talking and realizing that it's happening. It feels like a forced way to add more length to the plot. At 85% of the way through, the character goes from everything being nearly perfect to suddenly have to make an impossible choice. I get how the story arc felt like it needed more drama, but at this point there had been so much back and forth and miscommunication that it just felt frustrating.  The issue does end up being resolved super quickly and with less effort than it seems like it should have taken. But that quick resolution does allow for the book to end in a really sweet and simple way that feels like a nice bow on this fluffy autumn romance.

How lovely! I was apprehensive because it appears to be a copy and paste of a lot of other books coming out lately. It looked identical to the Laura Gilmore books, but it was actually good. Decent cozy vibes. Lovable characters. Sweet setting. I’d recommend.

Copy paste from Goodreads:

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC!

I must say that I debated giving the book 3 stars to not bring down the rating too much, but honestly I don’t want to lie 😭

I had so much beef with the plot that I started to think it must be AI generated since some plot points just do not make sense!! Honestly the writing really wasn’t bad, good even for a debut novel. But oh the plot just didn’t make sense to me.


(Spoilers from here on!!)

My icks:
- no seeming concern about a broken roof, it’s also fixed by 1 guy in no time
- seeminly no real concern about the financial aspects of the inn, no budgeting whatsoever even though theyre near financial ruin
- its so weird that in Madison’s pov she calls her relatives by name, switches back and forth (George instead of dad, Edith instead of grandma,…)
- some plot points that are brought up for no reason?? There is drama to make out of these (the woman flirting with him at the start, woman he was set up with on a date, the auction thing,… why bring it up if it serves no purpose? Were parts edited out afterwards?)
- she calls a flat white a ‘strong’ coffee multiple times?? Okay its got some espressos in there but it’s mostly milk though?
- why was Zach okay with Madison hypothetically cheating with him on her ‘bf Jo’ ? Also that misunderstanding was resolved so quickly, there was such a comedic possibility there for plot
- the DONT TALK TO EACH OTHER AT ALL!! After 12 days they’re supposedly in love, they barely talked, this is just lust based on nostalgic love. They could be such different people after not seeing each other for several years, they barely talked so they had no time to get to know each other again. Several years in New York is bound to change a person
- the big smut scene made no sense to me physically. He’s on top of her, also using both his hands on her and somehow thrusting, this man is a miracle.
- Zach was renovating his home ‘for her’. He definitely bought the home before he knew she was coming back. Either he’s that pathetic over his first love that was ‘the one that got away’ or he’s lying.
- they grew up close together and dated for several years before. Madison somehow doesn’t know that he made the butter with his grandma tf.
- the job offer contains a maple falls cook book OF COURSE IT’S SEMI REMOTE SO SHE CAN WRITE IT IN MAPLE FALLS HOLY FUCK. Also the job offer should mention this?


So sorry to the editorial team. But this one should’ve been edited further… the writing itself is really not a problem, but it definitely has some issues regarding the plot and just idk basic train of thought.

Also I found it wild that the acknowledgements didn’t even mention the Dream Harbour series, since it’s very clearly based on the same tropes.

So in general, fall vibes were definitely there. The writing wasn’t bad enough for 1 star, I got through it pretty quickly! But yeah I think it should’ve gone through a few more rounds of editing before being released. This is a Wattpad level book in my opinion. I see a clear intention, but honestly could’ve been written by a 14 year old with a dream.

I really don’t like giving ARC’s ratings this low, but honestly, I think the publishing team needs to know rip.
I don’t have high standards for fun romance novels, but it needs to be said.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

I loveeeee the fall vibes that this book brings! The vibes were wonderful. The tension between Zach and Madison was so good. I did not love how the miscommunication trope was handled in this book, it took the characters two seconds to clear it up once they finally talked to each other. I usually love a miscommunication trope because I love the drama, but this one fell a little flat for me. Overall I really enjoyed the book and would definitely read more from this series!