Published: 29 August 2024 (print)/29 August 2024 (audio) 
Publisher: One More Chapter/HarperCollins
Pages: 378/7 hrs and 55 mins
Narrator: Regina Reagan
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Romance
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars
When a secret message turns up hidden in a book in the Cinnamon Bun Bookstore, Hazel can’t understand it. As more secret codes appear between the pages, she decides to follow the trail of clues… she just needs someone to help her out.
Gorgeous and outgoing fisherman, Noah, is always up for an adventure. And a scavenger hunt sounds like a lot of fun. Even better that the cute bookseller he’s been crushing on for months is the one who wants his help!
Hazel didn’t go looking for romance, but as the treasure hunt leads her and Noah around Dream Harbor, their undeniable chemistry might be just as hot as the fresh-out-of-the-oven cinnamon buns the bookstore sells…
If I’m going to pick up a romance I do enjoy when you can tell the series will focus on a different character. I did not know this when I did Pumpkin Spice Café, and it doesn’t even read like it, you could easily stop there. But picking up book two is good because we move onto Hazel and Noah who we met in book one.
What I liked was this comes off the back of the previous book where it’s already established they have feelings for each other, so almost a year later when this takes place there’s solid groundwork for this connection.
I do object to the ludicrous conversation where Noah being twenty five and Hazel being almost thirty is a point of concern. Like, come on. The fact Hazel calls herself a lecherous old woman for liking him almost made me stop reading in protest. There are multiple references to her age, but almost being thirty can be a point of dread for Hazel, that’s fine, I only object when this at best four year age gap becomes something that needs to be noted on at all. There is even mention of developed frontal lobes which is BS debunked science and again, a nonsense comment to make on relationship standings when the characters are this age.
The story is ok, very focused on Hazel and Noah’s internal issues and self-esteem. They grow a bit through their time together and realise their own strengths and weaknesses. There is once more a light mystery in the background which acts as a connection to bring the couple together but isn’t the focus for the reader to help solve. In the end it was a reasonable solution and one that made sense for the town and community Gilmore has established. With the book being so much inside our character’s heads their actions and thoughts are the main driving point of the story.
The minor mystery Gilmore keeps trying to add into the books has some real connection as it’s what propels Hazel and Noah’s relationship. There is a lot more sexual content in this book than any real plot. Mainly because the premise between Noah and Hazel is essentially a summer of fun and no strings attached – or HANSOF as it’s dubbed. But I liked the realistic exploration of their concerns and issues. Noah and his feelings about his family and self-worth, and Hazel with her position in the town and how she’s depicted by others.
It was interesting the balance in how often the other characters appeared. After having a wide selection in the first book it was very thinned out this time around, but given book one featured a new arrival in town and establishing the town and series it is understandable.
It’ll be interesting to see where the next book goes, I’ve already got theories on who we’ll be focusing on but I’m curious to see where Gilmore takes the characters and this town.
You can purchase The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore via the following
Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
When Jeanie’s aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.
