The Spicy Pumpkin

by Kate Love

For the fans of Gilmore Girls & Pumpkin Spice Cafe

Maplewood is my haven, my home, a place where the aroma of fresh coffee mingles with the scent of old books in my little shop, The Spicy Pumpkin. It’s the town where neighbors greet each other by name.
But when David sweeps into town with his smooth charm and big-city plans, my quiet world is thrown into chaos.
David is a high-powered lawyer with grand dreams of turning Maplewood into the next tourist hotspot. The very thought makes my blood boil.
And I’ll fight tooth and nail to protect it.
But here’s the infuriating beneath his slick suits and infuriating ideas, David is... kind. Thoughtful, even.
And when we’re not sparring over town hall proposals, we’re sharing moments I can’t quite explain, moments that make me wonder if there’s more to him than his business plans.
Now I’m caught between my love for Maplewood and a growing love for the man who could change it forever.
Can I trust him with my heart—and my town—or will his ambitions destroy everything I hold dear?

Genres: Romance

78 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 3, 2025

About the author

Kate Love is a spicy romance author, smutty books lover, and cat Mom.

She lives in the heart of Romancelandia, spends her days daydreaming and drinking matcha lattes, and her evenings watching romcoms and pleasing herself in all possible ways.

Reviews

[lex 🪐⋆｡°✩ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know this is a short story but the romance is TOO rushed! I don’t think I’m a “insta love” gal

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good at the beginning,quickly became boring it was very fast paced, managed to finish it in 3 sessions, these kind of books are starting to feel like The pumpkin spice cafe knock offs.

[Tommi Key · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skimmed the Surface...good bones, no meat

The Spicy Pumpkin had such a cute setup, but the execution just didn’t land for me. The story felt rushed and skimmed over the very things that make a romance fun—banter, build-up, and chemistry.

The timeline and details were confusing—wrong names used, a lamp mix-up, David supposedly leaving town (but then just walking the streets?). Lucy suddenly says she’s falling in love, but we never actually see them spend time together—no dates, no hanging out, no tension or spice. It all felt like big moments were skipped or only implied instead of shown.

The proposal/protest plotline had so much potential, but it never really developed. Same with side characters like Gracie—she just seemed to vanish. Even scene transitions were jarring: one second they’re at breakfast, the next they’re cuddling on the couch, with no sense of time passing.

Honestly, the epilogue was the best part, but by then it was too late to save the story. This could have been a cozy, fun fall romance, but it fell flat and left me wanting more depth, banter, and build-up.

[Morgan Schell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story has all the makings of a Hallmark movie. A quaint town with a big community feeling fights against a development company wanting to make it more of a tourist destination. The bookstore owner who loves the town just as it is has to navigate her romantic feelings for the guy spearheading the developer’s plans and her desire to save it from being changed. The lawyer in charge of convincing the township to get on board with the development finds himself at odds with doing his job and the way the bookstore owner makes him question everything he is tasked to do. It is a cute storyline and the sweet HEA you are hoping for. There is no deep angst or seemingly impossible obstacle to overcome. If you want to read something that gives you all the warm feels at the end, then this is one for you!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Brittany G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

🍂 BOOK REVIEW 🍂
Title: "The Spicy Pumpkin"
Author: Kate Love
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Novella)
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Maplewood is Lucy’s cozy haven—coffee, ☕ books, 📚 and familiar faces.

Enter David, a big-city lawyer with plans to change it all. She’s ready to fight 🎃… but he’s kind, thoughtful, and frustratingly irresistible. 😏 Sparks fly, hearts are tested, ❤️ and nothing will be the same.

If you love:
📚 Small-town settings
Romance bookstores
☕ Cozy coffee shop vibes
💼 City-meets-country romance
🔥 Slow-burn tension

…then "The Spicy Pumpkin" is perfect for you! Kate perfectly captures the magic of fall—you can almost smell the pumpkin spice ☕🎃, feel the crisp air 🍁, and hear the leaves crunch underfoot 👢. If you’re like me, you’ll never want those cozy autumn vibes to end. 💛

[Brooklynn McCullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucy lives in the small town of Maplewood. She owns the bookstore “The Spicy Pumpkin”. Maplewood is a town where people greet each other by name, and they are all very friendly. Everyone looks out for each other!

But here comes David and he has big city plans. He comes into Maplewood for a month. He is a lawyer and his boss wants him to talk to the people of Maplewood to buy some land to make it the next big tourist hotspot.

When Lucy finds out about this, she isn’t happy about it. She doesn’t want her small town going away. She will do whatever she can to protect her small town.

Lucy realizes that David is super kind and very thoughtful, and when they aren’t talking about the town proposals, they are sharing other moments that she can’t explain.

This was a cute fall read!

[Noreen Lysette · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was not a Spicy Pumpkin

I thought the story line was intriguing and this book could have been so much more, but it fell short. The entire book felt impatient, too fast, not enough detail. I read it in about an hour and a half.

There’s only one espicy scene in the end, the romance between the couple tries to be a slow burn, but it was lacking. The entire time was pretty cringy.

It has its cute moments, and descriptions of the scenery were nice at some moments. But, a lot of the book requires you to imagine and assume things happened because it was implied.

I wanted to like it, and I did for the most part - but not enough to say it was a “good” book. It read like a cheesy p**no.

[Noelle Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Lucy, Stacy and Gracie, I joke sometimes sounds like an 80’s girl band.”

Title: The Spicy Pumpkin
Author: Kate Love

⭐️💫 1.5
🌶️

This is a short romance book.

This book follows Lucy and David. It’s a short little Hallmark style romance. David is from the city looking at a property to establish a resort in Lucy‘s small town. Lucy is not a fan of what it will do to the town. No matter how much she’s attracted to him and drawn to him she will find a way to stop this resort from happening.

This book was not good. It’s told from two different points of view where the characters basically reiterate, the same details back-and-forth. Narration was a virtual voice, I think this is the first time I’ve ever listened to a virtual voice narrated audio. It was not good.

[Anngela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another unique book. Love the characters and the charming small town and adorable name. I love how the name of the town always has an adorable festival and uniqueness to it. I wish I could travel to these small towns. I love the attraction the main characters have towards each other. That immediate love at first sight but they don’t know it’s that. I do love the happily ever after romances. This one didn’t leave me hanging either left me smiling as I read the end.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Spicy Pumpkin was not Spicy

This was the most confusing book i’ve ever read. Stacy (the FMC’s friend) says in chapter one about a new guy. Shes there when he walks into the shop. Then in chapter 3 she acts like she has no idea about this guy she literally saw the day before. The FMC says the MMC is so funny but literally they said like 5 words to each other? Also, FMC and her friend have the EXACT same convo word for word in 2 different chapters. So rushed and the story line is crazy sauce.

[Starr · Rating 1 out of 5]

not for me

I understand the book is only 85 pages but for them to say they think they are in love after only two conversations is wild and they act like they know eachother inside and out after meeting only twice I’m sure this is someone’s cup of tea but it’s not mine there is no depth and I found myself confused most of the time because I just can’t comprehend the feelings when they just met.

[Barbara Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set aside two hours for this sweet autumn contemporary enemies-to-lovers small-town spicy romance novella in Maplewood, Vermont where New York City lawyer David has come to hornswoggle the townsfolk into selling agricultural land for a big resort development.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Christa Cunningtubby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and Cozy

This novella was very cute. It’s set in a small town. The story was fast paced with limited spice but it made your heart fell warm and cozy at the story. If you’re looking for a short cozy story then I recommend this. I do think a little slower pace and detail would have made it better, but it reminded me of a Hallmark movie.

[Kirstin Briana Symmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

small town love

This novella was so good! I throughly enjoyed this novella and the story between Lucy and David. I love that David accepted the changes within his life and embraced all that was! Lucy fought for what she believed in and in turn she was able to help others within Towne

[Jacki Marchelletta · Rating 3 out of 5]

David & Lucy - If this isn't a Hallmark movie, just wait a season and it will be! Lucy is a bookstore owner is the cute litte town, Maplewood, and in stomps David, a real-estate dude looking to put in a new resort that will ruin the charm of the town - but wait, he falls in love with Lucy and the little towm. Cute story, very Hallmark - predictable.

[Jess !! · Rating 1 out of 5]

literally the worst book i’ve ever read. how the actual fuck do you fall in love with a guy you talked to for 20 minutes about lamps??

every part of this book was rushed but specifically the building of their relationship and definitely would’ve been better had it been an actual thought-out book.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy and David are going to become your new obsession when you read their romance story. This book is a quick read that is cozy and sweet and has a really wonderful storyline that makes this for a real page turner of a book by Kate. So, cozy up on the couch and enjoy reading this book.

[Carollee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hallmark in a book, but with some Pumpkin Spice

This was a sweet short novella that was your typical Hallmark movie in a book. Big time lawyer comes to bulldoze small town and falls in love with the small business owner. It was cute and predictable and had a touch of spice.

[Haley Bruner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cute premise, poor execution

EDIT: lowered from 2 to 1 stars cause it was just that annoying.
The overall story could be cute. Insta-love story with a little tension set in a cute fall setting. But the inconsistency in the storytelling was quite frustrating. Best friend owns a toy store, but then next mention is a nurse. Person is in the store and sees the first meeting, then it is recounted like no one is there. MMC buys a floral lamp then it’s a lighthouse lamp. MMC is warm in bed with her then next paragraph she is alone and his spot is cold. Really disappointed in the lack of editing, especially for such a short story. Wanted to like, truly, but honestly just am annoyed with it.

[Kierstin Melendez · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Spicy Pumpkin was horrible. The plot was good for it being such a short book but I feel like thos book would have had better potential if it had more character building ect. The pace was super fast and I wish the Author would have made this longer instead of so short.

[Deb Le · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and cute. Small town setting, big corporate lawyer has plans to turn the town around. Obviously not going to happen. No surprises in this book, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

[kayla’s kindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Corporate lawyer sent to small town to discuss building a resort on their land. Bookshop owner leads the town to be against the lawyer all while they fall in love.

[EJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this short and sweet book. It was an easy read, with dual POV chapters from each character, which I like.
I shall be reading more of her books

[Stephanie Abelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very cute story with a little spice.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand that this is a short story but it felt too rushed for me. It lacked character development and therefore I felt no connection to the characters at all.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute premise but there was no development.

[Kaleigh Darby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, sweet, and to the point. Knowing that going into it- I enjoyed it💛🫶🏼

[Ida Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

MMMM someone come spice my pumpkin ;)

Tooo cute and short. Wish it was a little more but good fun read.

[Heather McCoy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feels very much like I was reading something written with AI

[Chelsea Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ngl kinda gave me the ick