Book 2 in the Hope Harbor series | Reviewed by CJ | Rating: 5/5 | Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 | 📖
⚠️ This is a full spoiler review. If you haven’t read Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore yet — go read it first. We’ll be here when you’re done.
OPENING HOOK
Hello Xuxuzinho, and welcome back to Hope Harbor!
THE FULL STORY — SPOILERS INCLUDED
We met Tally Darling in book one, and now it’s her sister Penny’s turn. Penny owns the Bonfire & Bliss bookstore, which two years in is still struggling to find its footing. Penny helped Tally and their mom figure out the social-media-to-get-your-small-business-noticed thing with the bakery and the daffodil farm, but Penny hasn’t cracked that code yet and it’s wearing on her. Add in an engagement that ended a year ago because her ex saw the bookstore as a fun little project to flip rather than something Penny actually wanted to build a life around, and you’ve got a woman who is struggling with her confidence.
Here’s where we meet Jake “Monty” Montgomery, her high school best friend turned bestselling author, except his last couple of books have flopped, and he’s out of inspiration. His roommate in New York just told him his fiancée is moving into their rent-controlled apartment, so with nowhere to live and no words to write, he heads home to Hope Harbor. Where, conveniently, he also has a chance to spend more time with his old friend Penny, whose auburn hair and copper eyes he’s been dreaming about for years.
He’s called her Xuxuzinho (Portuguese for “sweet pumpkin”) since they were teenagers and it’s a great way to show both their easy affection with each other and the quiet crushes they’ve been harbouring. At one point Penny mentions “pumpkin” is one of her favourite nicknames, and he just chuckles, because it’s perfect. He’s been calling her that for years without her ever knowing what it meant. It’s such a small moment but it was one of my favourites.
As they reconnect they find that she needs more dating confidence and he needs to learn to write better chemistry to pivot into the romance market if he wants to try something new with a wider audience. So, they land on the classic fake dating approach to solving life problems. He helps her rebuild her confidence and figure out what she actually wants in a partner while keeping the Liberty Ladies’ meddling at bay. She helps him remember how to write an actual book boyfriend, because his last few lead characters have been a little flat. Monty’s parents divorced ten years ago, and they were his gold standard for real love, so watching that fall apart made him quietly stop believing love actually lasts, even while still wanting it. That’s definitely been reflected in hiw writing since he first made the best seller lists.
The pivotal moment for Monty and Penny is when his parents reconnect while his mom is in town. Monty is blindsided, but if you’re paying attention, you saw it earlier; his dad didn’t ask for the divorce because he stopped loving her. He let her go so she could chase her publishing career in New York. Monty’s spent ten years thinking their marriage was a lie when really his dad loved his mom enough to set her free from small town life. His reaction to seeing them kissing is to flee though, and in doing so he lets Penny down when she needed him most. It takes a heart-to-heart with his dad to get his head on straight before he goes to grovel, but in the end she forgives him. A little more easily than I may have, but it was clear that his actions weren’t intentionally hurtful.
Meanwhile Hope Harbor is doing Hope Harbor things. The Liberty Ladies are inserting themselves into everything, including the book club where a blue three-headed alien dildo gets passed around as the talking stick. Daisy the baby Highland cow is roaming around eating everything and causing chaos, alongside Eli Davis, the golden retriever of an ex-NHL player who shows up to save the day when needed. It’s fall cliché, small-town cliché, fake-dating cliché awesomeness, and I ate up every single page of it. With whipped cream and cinnamon on top.
BEST PART OF THIS BOOK
The pumpkin/Xuxuzinho reveal. Such a small moment, but the impact was huge. He’s been calling her Sweet Pumpkin since junior year in high school, so I love that it turns out to be her favourite term of endearment.
WORST PART OF THIS BOOK
Penny’s self-worth struggles after her ex are rough to sit with. Realistic and well done, but they hit you in the feelings. Also when Monty lets Penny down after finding his parents together. It was such a big moment for her, so I felt her pain there.
THE STEAM RATING BREAKDOWN
- 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Spicy
- Yes, there are sex scenes, and they’re intimate and well written
- Romance is central; this is a full fake-dating-to-real-feelings arc
- Content note: discussion of a past relationship that damaged Penny’s self-esteem
THE ENDING — SATISFIED OR DISAPPOINTED?
Fully satisfied. Monty chooses to stay in Hope Harbor, and the two of them start building a life together. Exactly the ending this book needed.
WOULD WE REREAD IT?
Absolutely yes. This is going straight onto the favourites shelf and will be an easy reread.
THE CHARACTER WE LOVED TO HATE
Dick, Penny’s ex-fiancé. His name says it all, honestly.
WHO IS THIS FOR
Readers who want a smooth, low-conflict love story with no messy breakups once they’re together, just two people who’ve always had feelings for each other finally becoming each other’s person.
This book was everything I love about fall and life wrapped up in a cozy blanket with a mug of hot cocoa.
WHERE TO GET THIS BOOK
📖 Physical Book
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🎧 Audiobook
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📱 Ebook
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📚 More from the Hope Harbor series
- Book 1 — Darling Daffodils Farm | Reviewed by CJ | ⭐ 4.25/5 | Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 — [No review yet]
- Book 2 — Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore | Reviewed by CJ | ⭐ 5/5 | Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 — (this review)
Ready for more reviews from CJ? Find More Here
Plot Twisted. 🔥
📖 | Series: Hope Harbor Book 2 | Genre: Contemporary Romance | Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥