384 pages Publisher Harper Collins Publication date March 18, 2025
ABOUT THE BOOK
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Every book in the Dream Harbor series can be read as a standalone.
As a world-renowned chef, single dad Archer never planned on moving to a small town, let alone running a pancake restaurant. But Dream Harbor needs a new chef, and Archer needs a community to help raise his daughter, Olive.
Iris has never managed to hold down a job for more than a few months. So when it’s suggested that Archer is looking for a live-in nanny, she almost runs in the opposite direction.
Now, Iris finds herself in a whole new world. One where her gorgeous new boss lives right across the hall and likes to cook topless… Keeping everything strictly professional should be easy, right?
The Strawberry Patch Pancake House is a cozy romantic mystery with a single dad and found family dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!
Tropes
Found Family
Single Dad
Forced Proximity
Slow Burn
MY THOUGHTS
So, when I read the Pumpkin Spice Cafe, I absolutely loved it, and I was really hoping it wouldn’t be a stand-alone and thank goodness it wasn’t. Now I have several others to read still in the series because other books reading obligations got in the way.
Now I need to read the others very soon because who wouldn’t want to continue with this amazing series.
I must say the covers are beyond cute and have really drawn me to them.
In this one, The Strawberry Patch Pancake House we have a man, a professional chef more comfortable whipping up a fabulous new recipe than dealing with children.
Well, that’s about to change when Archer is informed, he has a five-year-old daughter he’s known nothing about, and the mother has passed away. That’s all about to change when the best course of action is the little girl moving in with him.
Fatherhood leaves him in a frenzy, and he must hire a nanny for help, and their meeting is so disastrous that it’s hilarious. When that’s ironed out, we have grumpy meeting sunshine kind of book.
She’s never taken care of a child before becoming his child’s nanny and has some self-doubts about handling things right but as we all know children don’t come with instruction booklets.
Having children in a romance book can make or break the book but I loved the little girl here, Olive. Such a smart girl and a fun personality.
The characters are realistic as is the setting.
The Dream Harbor series is really great, and I love all the characters I’ve met so far. Characters that are down to earth and you just feel like you could meet up for a cup of coffee and have a great friendly chat.
Can’t wait to get started on more books in the series.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
About the author
Laurie Gilmore is a #1 New York Times, Sunday Times, and Globe & Mail bestselling author who writes steamy small-town romance. Her Dream Harbor series is filled with quirky townsfolk, cozy settings, and swoon-worthy romance. The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, was featured on Good Morning America and was named the TikTok Shop Book of the Year 2024.
She loves finding books with the perfect balance of sweetness and spice and strives for that in her own writing. If you ever wished you lived in Stars Hollow (or that Luke and Lorelai would just get together already!) then her books are definitely for you.
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