The Strawberry Patch Pancake House: A small-town romance, perfect for fans of forced proximity, found family, and slow-burn romcoms for fall 2025: Book 4 (Dream Harbor)

Cosy, sweet, and heart-warming from start to finish! This book gave me everything I wanted: small town charm, friendships that feel real, and that perfect sprinkle of romance. It’s the sort of story that wraps around you like a blanket and leaves you smiling long after you’ve finished. It reminded me why I love this series so much: fun, feel-good, and the ideal weekend read. Laurie Gilmore just knows how to make her characters feel like friends you want to spend time with.

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House was a very yummy read. It is filled with the most mouthwatering food as well as romance. I really enjoyed getting to know the new characters and especially loved Olive, who was such a cutie. A lovely feel-good story!

This is truly my comfort series. And thanks to this and Captain Of My Heart by Amy McGavin, I have a new favourite trope, Single Dad! Absolutely perfect. It’s funny, heartwarming, tender and spicy, everything I love. I have to say, the beginning and how Archer comes to find out he is a dad is heartbreaking but that’s life. It’s hard, unpredictable and challenging. And like The Christmas Tree Farm, I love that the main character is grumpy to begin with. Just another favourite trope of mine. Favourite quotes ‘Not when she’d been about to pour that entire bowl of batter over her head just so he would lick her everywhere else’ ~ Fricking brilliant! lol ‘I personally don’t think a baby epilogue is required for a happy ending,’ ~ This is exactly how I feel and why epilogues in romcoms make me nervous! Loved this. Love this series. I will be reading The Gingerbread Bakery asap.

Read the first book in series as a free book on kindle and have bought the rest of series in paperback, an easy read, a bit of fun.

I had a feeling before I started this one that I might not enjoy it as much as the previous books in the series, and unfortunately, I was right. It just didn’t quite hit the mark for me, and it didn’t help that it featured one of my most disliked tropes. One thing I really appreciate about this series is that there’s something for everyone. Each book feels different, so it makes sense that some instalments will resonate more than others. This just happened to be the one that didn’t fully work for me. Things I liked: - I really enjoyed Archer and seeing him navigate parenthood. His character development was great, and he came across as a grounded, genuinely sweet person. - There were some adorable moments between Archer, Iris, and Olive that gave off cosy family vibes. - I loved seeing some of the other characters from the series again and learning more about their lives through someone else’s perspective. - All the food talk! I was definitely craving pancakes while reading. Things I didn’t like: - I wasn’t completely convinced by the romance. It felt very superficial and heavily driven by insta-lust. Both characters constantly focused on how attractive the other was, and it became repetitive after a while. I also wasn’t a fan of the power imbalance. - Iris was fun-loving but somewhat flighty. She bounced from job to job and didn’t really seem to have a clear direction in life. She wouldn’t have been my first choice as a live-in nanny, and while the story acknowledged that at times, she still had some genuinely sweet moments with Olive and helped bring her out of her shell. - Speaking of, I felt like Olive could have been given more depth and character development. It didn’t really feel like she had just lost her mother. I’m no expert on child behaviour, especially as someone who is childfree, but her grief seemed to be resolved very quickly. - Skip this point to avoid spoilers: The ending was the biggest let-down for me. I loathe the surprise pregnancy trope, and I hated seeing it included here. Throughout the story, Iris repeatedly says she doesn’t want to be a mother, and this becomes the main reason for her hesitation about pursuing a relationship with Archer. Being a nanny to Olive is one thing, but becoming a mother is completely different. I would have been perfectly happy with the story ending as the three of them becoming a little family unit, but adding in the pregnancy soured the ending for me and undermined the relationship development. Overall, while there were definitely elements that didn’t sit right with me, it was still a cute and enjoyable read. There were plenty of sweet moments, and all the food descriptions left me seriously craving pancakes.

A author to watch out for a great read read her books.

Loved this book and a great addition to my collection too

Excellent book

The perfect book, that’s all I have to say 🥰😭❤️❤️ I highly recommend everyone to read this masterpiece, Laurie Gilmore is a genius ❤️❤️❤️

I have not read yet. But I'm a bit disappointed in the writer. I read tree book from her 2 of those was basic almost without any story. So I hope it's going to be better

I really enjoyed this story. It is a smooth follow up from Laurie Gilmore other stories. You can read them separately but it is nice to have the other characters life integrated. Wouldn't it be amazing to live in Dream Harbor?

Nice novel for the follow up of the Laurie Gilmore serie. Romantic love story in dreamy home town. Cheers you up on a blurry day.