The Cottage on Pumpkin and Vine by Kate Angell, Jennifer Dawson & Sharla Lovelace – a Review

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Description:
Welcome to Moonbright, Maine…Where the scents of donuts and cider waft through the crisp night air…with just a hint of magic.
 
It’s time for the annual Halloween costume party at the cottage on Pumpkin and Vine, the perfect place to celebrate the pleasures of the season. Guests return to the picturesque B & B year after year to snuggle up in its cozy rooms, explore the quiet, tree-lined streets and enjoy all the spooky fun of the holiday. But local legend whispers that it’s also a place where wishes have a strange way of coming true.
 
For three unsuspecting revelers, it’s going to be an enchanted weekend of candy corn kisses and midnight black kittens, along with some real Halloween surprises—the kind that make your heart skip a beat—for many more celebrations to come…

Review:

The Cottage on Pumpkin and Vine is an anthology of three novellas that take place at the same B & B during Halloween.  I will give you a brief description of each story.

Charmed by You by Kate Angell
Grace is our heroine, who is in the process of decorating the B&B where the Halloween party is; she hires Cade, who owns a moving company.  Grace comes across as very bossy, and Cade’s men are ready to leave when they break for lunch.  Cade, out of loyalty to the B&B owner, stayed to help out Grace. 

During lunch, Amelia Rose, who magically shows her off  tarot cards or her crystal ball, which she does at her Halloween party. Neither Grace nor Cade had any interest in each other, but soon slight accidents kept pushing them together and the heat between them became electric. 

I thought both Grace and Cade were not very well likeable, but that did change fairly quickly.  It was a short fun story, as we watched an unlikely pair discover each other.  It was also enjoyable to see all the Halloween decorations, and Grace giving out her Halloween costumes to the kids.  Nice story with the perfect Halloween theme.

Mesmerized by You by Jennifer Dawson
Another sweet Halloween short story about friends to lovers.  Jake and Chloe have been best friends since childhood, which covers about 30 years.  Chloe forces Jake to take a needed break from his work (he is a doctor), and go to visit her Aunt Iris. They learn quickly that her Aunt’s house needs some repairs, and they will have to stay over at her friend, Amelia Rose’s house, which will also include a Halloween party.  Chloe loves the idea, but Jake isn’t thrilled.

What follows is a fun story, where Amelia Rose shows them her crystal ball, and gives them magical cookies.  Slowly, as they walk around the grounds or share the lone room that is left, they begin to notice each other in a different light.  They both were great characters, and it was fun to watch them begin to be attracted sexually to each other, and try to fight it off.  After all, they are just friends, but maybe just maybe, everything they both wanted was right in front of them.  This was a fun sweet romance, and a happy ending.

Enchanted by You by Sharla Lovelace

This final story, a second chance romance, was beautifully written by Lovelace. Sidney Jensen is our heroine, who finds herself on the brink of getting fired at the law firm she works for in Boston..   Sidney is given the chance to redeem herself by helping her boss by taking a case in a small town in Maine. When Sidney arrives, she is forced to stay at a B&B, as there were no hotel rooms.  Of course, the B&B belongs to our now famous Amelia Rose.  

Sawyer Finn, our hero, works for Amelia doing construction and other handyman things.  He has lived in Moonbright  since he was 18.  We discover early on that Sidney and Sawyer were love struck teenagers, when Sawyer up and left her without telling her why.  When she sees Sawyer, she tries to run away, since she still feels the hurt that broke her heart, but her car breaks down and she is stuck at the B&B for a few days.  It was fun to watch Sidney and Sawyer rekindle their romance, where in Amelia’s B&B, romances are always magically unavoidable.  Sawyer will explain to her why he had to leave.  Sidney feels herself still in love with Sawyer, as he has always been with her.  She will have to decide if she wants to take a chance again or go back to her job in Boston, which she does not feel recognized.

This was a wonderful romance, a likeable couple and the shenanigans of Amelia Rose to make it an enjoyable and fun read. Though the other two stories were good, I did feel this one was the best.

The Cottage on Pumpkin and Vine was a quick and fun read, and even if we are past Halloween, I suggest you give this book a try.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher