Name: The Café Between Pumpkin and Pie
ISBN: 9781496733207

Stacy Finz

Marina Adair

Kate Angell

On Halloween night in Moonbright, Maine, three single women, with autumn leaves swirling about and the fragrance of fresh-baked pie in the air, fall for the most tantalizing trick-and the most delightful treat-the magic of true love.

The Café Between Pumpkin and Pie

Nikki van Zoom

YES! I didn't even know there was going to be a third book in the Moonbright series, but boy am I glad there is. It was so great to be back at this magical town again, to see some familiar characters and places, and to fall in love with new characters. It was nice to have Thanksgiving more incorporated and not just Halloween. Also... I'm dying for Nan's whoopie pie now! Dear author(s), please let this not be the last book in Moonbright! 

 Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC, in return for a honest review.

Ariel Himboi

Thank you NetGalley, I was looking forward to this. 

Accurate rating: 3.33 ⭐️

Love Over Easy by Kate Angell // 3⭐️

I had really high hopes in the beginning, and I quickly realized that dialogue and character development were far more important than atmosphere to this author. Angell doesn’t have unattractive writing, there’s an appeal to her characters and their somewhat unique traits, how she handles family dynamics and how well she treats older characters far better than most. She writes her characters respectfully with a bit of flair, her older characters really.

The MC was okay. I related to her insecurity, her shyness and slight innocence, but the author made it very clear to both reader and love interest, that her main selling point was how undeniably kind she was, with no flaw. It was borderline Mary Sue.

The love interest was, ofc, a broody man with a six pack, lock hair and a need for speed on his motorcycle, unable to settle down since he was a high school John Travolta from grease, and our MC was Sandy. I do not fault them, as much, because we actually got quite a bit of something from his POV. I adored seeing the grandfather ’major’ and his friend, his interactions with his family and their relation to the small town and the mc’s family. 

I also quite enjoyed the lore and magical realism behind the story, as small as it was to the plot.

I can’t help but be disappointed by the obvious things that put me off. One, it was very contradictory. One moment he understands her independence and wants to give her space, and the next he’s looking up her skirt and calling her babe two days into seeing her again after years.

The dialogue often felt... unrealistic and too pitched in favor for the characters to be perfect for each other in the end, which I can’t %100 complain about, because it’s a story routed about magical soulmates.

I thought this author made the mistake of making the narration very similar to male authors who don’t understand how to write women, or how to not over sexualize them and make them objects with one or two needs... either or both being sex.

Often the writing took me out with humorous one-liners such as the “breath he’d been holding” and honestly I couldn’t contain my laughter.

I won’t lie, Angell has promise, but I won’t be reading any of her works. This book was not for me.

I do rec this for anyone who is die-hard about cheesy romcoms with laughably tropey characters and rushed romances where (spoiler) their fates are sealed by proposal after having sex ( without foreplay??? ). 

Anywho. It’s a three star that isn’t quite a 2⭐️ and not a 3.5⭐️



Love Rising by Stacy Finz: 4.5⭐️

From the moment I started reading this short, I was aware of how much I would come to adore it. The writing is top notch, humorous constantly, and full of story. I adore our mc, who I remember, Sydney. A somewhat well known baker and recipe book writer who moved from our main plot small town Moonbright, Maine. Unlike our last mc, Syd got away from the small town to grow big.

From the get go when we have an altercation between Sydney and her love interest, Nick, we learn there’s a lot more between them than we know. There’s some sort of spoiled history, a grudge Syd hasn’t let go of, and it seems Nick hasn’t let go of her either. 

Sydney is an incredible character, funny in narration, strong willed and wildly stubborn. I adore her quirks, how she handles herself and how she‘s straightforward. Her relationship with her grandmother even in passing was detailed and allowed us to have emotions for their relationship despite only seeing it per her recollection and situations with other family and townsfolk. Sydney is a great character and I loved getting to know her, her Insecurity on the past and how she struggled to have good relationships, and how her love for her job keeps her from moving on from past failed romance and pain.

Finz did an amazing job at what Angell didn’t. The way she connected the town and brought the characters from Angell’s story felt molded in like pottery, no cracks. Whereas the first story felt like a short rundown, this was the full body film that kept me hooked. 

I knew very soon that I wasn’t too fond of Nick. Where at some points he was this antagonistic brute who played off Sydney with cute and hilarious banter, the author didn’t hide that she wanted Nick‘s trait of being a sexist pig to be hot. I hated it.

I love Nick’s family and his relation to wanting to stay in Moonbright, unlike his high school love Jennifer who he broke off with after unforeseen red flags, and Sydney who couldn’t stand the small town discomfort. I enjoyed seeing how he was genuinely a good person at times, caring, willing to help others, and how he respected his promises even after death. I also like that he admitted his fault at how his past actions hurt Sydney, and that it was important to acknowledge what it meant for both of them.

However, and I’m tired of this, I don’t understand why female authors make their female characters so authentic... and then make rubbish, by making the men solely desiring a woman’s physic. At many points in this story, I just kept asking why women lit write this way, the sexist and misogynistic way that woman every day fight against. 

I won’t stop pointing this out. Every time Nick, or any love interest in this anthology, seem to get their head straight and show emotions, some sort of non-toxic-masculinity trait, the progress is shut down by a scene where he wonders what underwear the mc is wearing.

I just don’t understand. I really don’t, and I’ve come to learn that I despise the love interest point of views, aware that at any time I will see more gross paragraphs about the female sex.

The writing is great. The story is well crafted and interesting, I loved learning about the characters and seeing their romance unfold. I also liked that even though the Moonbright Lore wasn’t a huge catalyst, it still brought everything together neatly.

I liked this story a lot, but I brought it down a little bit because I’m especially tired of reading stories where women are objectified... by woman authors. It’s not hot, and I wish y’all would think of yourselves better... by creating things that make y’all feel better

This is the best story out of 3!



Romance On Tap by Marina Adair: 2/2.5⭐️

Oh boy. This one. I stopped reading at 80%, about 5/9 chapters finished. Umm.. lets get started.

This story is about Mila, a Vietnamese artist in Moonbright, Maine whose taking care of her senior adoptive parents while struggling to make her career soar... while still hung on her first love and target, Ford James.

After so many years, Mila believes she was cursed by the seven minutes in heaven kiss she supposedly shared with Ford James, the best kisser then and still now, in town. She believed he was the one, but thinks the best think she can do is break the curse by kissing him again, so she can find true love. He shows up, they kiss again. And oops. It’s not Ford, but his twin brother Hudson, the bad boy.

There’s miscommunication, since Hudson pretended to be his brother bc he liked Mila, while Mila liked Ford. Due to the mixup, there’s a grudge. However, as typically as one might expect, she falls for Hudson.

The writing was okay until it wasn’t. It didn’t flow well, and even through Mila is a lot older, she didn’t get any more mature, and don’t get me started on how long some particular scenes went on for. It truly felt like I was reading a 60 page script for one scene, in one single paragraph. There seemed to be so much going on in one scene that it was hard to tell what the main focus was, her old crush, the curse, her list of qualities she’s looking for in Mr. Right... I just started skimming.

I can’t say that I would have enjoyed this if anything had been different. I was indifferent towards Mila, I thought the twins were written okay and their relationship.. I liked the dynamic of the romance..

But.. I hate military men characters due to trauma and I prefer not reading romance stories about them... and I just couldn’t get behind Mila’s personality or her motivations. It was very ... simplistic and overdone.

I found myself skimming afterwards, even after forcing myself to finish it since I am trying not to get back into a slump.. but this wasn’t it. I honestly can’t make myself read any more, but I’m sure someone else will love it.



I recommend the second or third author, and recommend the second author if you’re needing a reason to check it out or continue!

The Café Between Pumpkin and Pie

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