Loving Literatures

Truly manifesting fall to come sooner as I read this in July! It was everything I would want in a cozy autumn read, even if it’s really 90+ degrees outside. Cinnamon buns and hot coffee in July, anyone?

In the second book of the Dream Harbour series by Gilmore, bookseller Hazel Kelly finds herself moping about her upcoming thirtieth birthday, as she wishes some things would have been different in her life — and when someone begins writing secret messages in her store’s books on ways Hazel can maximize the time leading up to her birthday, she begins an adventure of fun with Noah Barrett, local fisherman known for his adventurous (player) and exciting persona. What begins as casual, fun hookups leads into something more, as the two realize towards Hazel’s birthday, that there may be something more going on. What will happen between the two when the birthday deadline comes? Will things go back to the way they were before? Is that even possible?

With the insecurities of Hazel believing she will never find love and Noah feeling the need to prove he is capable of anything after disappointing his family for not wanting to commit to the family business, the two find themselves with more commonality than they initially thought. Noah promises to make Hazel’s pre-30 time memorable through dates around Dream Harbour, and boy, he did. What started as a simple agreement turned into accidental falling in love, whoops.

While reading this book, I felt for these characters. While I am happily married, I felt bad for Hazel in that so many people would encourage her to get out, but not feeling good enough about what she’s doing, as if she needs to show others and herself that she can be fun — that she can “live” too. In addition, I liked the complexity of Noah’s character. To the townspeople, he has an extroverted, happy, fun persona, but Hazel gains more insight to why he acts this way and she becomes the only person he can fully open up to. I understand the feeling of not thinking you’re doing well enough for others, trying your best to make others happy while also preserving your own peace and happiness, and trying to convince others of your dreams, thoughts, ideas, hoping for some sort of support. Though there was some miscommunication between the two lead characters, it’s inevitable in these kind of books, I didn’t feel annoyed or frustrated; but I think that may have been because the author wrote out their thoughts and feelings, so I really knew how hard they were trying to stay casual, though they both wanted something more. I appreciated the multiple POVs, though it was confusing to read back in forth in a single chapter a third-person POV and a first-person POV.

The book had some spicy scenes, but it wasn’t too much that I couldn’t finish the book; I also don’t think those particular scenes took away from the plot. I really appreciated the effort both characters put into their adventures, their communication, and love confession. It warmed my heart, especially (**SPOILERS**) — when Noah highlighted various romantic lines from all the books he has been reading, secretly confessing his love to Hazel before leaving town to take care of his sister. My heart, it seemed so periodic, like a Mr. Darcy type of love confession, ha!

Overall, a great read. While these books can technically be read as standalones, I should have read this as Book 2 (I read The Gingerbread Bakery this past winter, so the side characters’ plots didn’t add up in this second book, silly me). Yes, I will continue to read autumn-themed books in the summertime, don’t hate!