Harvest Day in the Square

Holidays in Hillview #3

by Erynn Mangum

Allie McGrady has always sworn she would NEVER move back to her tiny hometown of Hillview, Texas, and yet, here she is - buying a house in Hillview. But this isn't an ordinary house and doesn't take long before Allie realizes that maybe she bit off more than she can chew with this particular fixer-upper. Add in the pressure to get it done before the town's annual Harvest Day in the Square and Allie is starting to panic.

Enter Harris, a pastor at Allie's sisters' church. He is a lifesaver for Allie and ends up helping at the house as much as possible, which instantly turns Allie's sisters into a bunch of matchmakers. This is completely terrible because Allie really likes Harris as a friend only, so everything is now just awkward and awful. In the midst of all of this, Allie is confronted over and over again with her identity and who she is - not just to herself or others, but who she is to Jesus.

Harvest Day in the Square is a romantic comedy of mishaps, miscommunication and misunderstandings that ultimately leads to a deeper walk with the Lord. Get ready for lots more of the McGrady family and the adorable, quirky town of Hillview!

Book #3 in the Holidays in Hillview series!

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian

355 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2026

About the author

I love to read, love to write and am very blessed to be a wife and mama of two precious boys and a beautiful little girl. My latest books are The Broken Branch and Mind the Gap! Look for the Lauren Holbrook series (Miss Match, ReMatch, Match Point, Match Made and Bake Me A Match), the Maya Davis series (Cool Beans, Latte Daze and Double Shot) Sketchy Behavior, and the Paige Alder series (Paige Torn, Paige Rewritten and Paige Turned) and the Carrington Springs series (Katie in Waiting, Once Upon Eliza and Happily Ever Ashten) in paperback and ebook format, along with lots of ebook novellas. :) To learn more, visit me on Instagram @ErynnMangum.

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars, personally ⭐️ Christian Fiction - Contemporary/Rom-Com

About this book:

“Allie McGrady has always sworn she would NEVER move back to her tiny hometown of Hillview, Texas, and yet, here she is - buying a house in Hillview. But this isn't an ordinary house and doesn't take long before Allie realizes that maybe she bit off more than she can chew with this particular fixer-upper. Add in the pressure to get it done before the town's annual Harvest Day in the Square and Allie is starting to panic.
Enter Harris, a pastor at Allie's sisters' church. He is a lifesaver for Allie and ends up helping at the house as much as possible, which instantly turns Allie's sisters into a bunch of matchmakers. This is completely terrible because Allie really likes Harris as a friend only, so everything is now just awkward and awful. In the midst of all of this, Allie is confronted over and over again with her identity and who she is - not just to herself or others, but who she is to Jesus.”


Series: Book #3 in the “Holidays in Hillview” series. Review of Book #1 Here and Book #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Many Scriptures are read, quoted, mentioned, discussed, & thought about; Going to Bible study (x4, with lessons/conversations shared) & Bible reading; Prayers & Blessings over food; Many talks about God, Christians, & having worth in the Lord; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Many mentions of God, Jesus, God working on someone’s heart, how God views us, & Christians; Many mentions of churches, church going, pastors, Bible studies, & services; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, Bible studies, & devotionals; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of sin/sinners; A couple mentions of missionaries; A mention of the Holy Spirit; A mention of Heaven; A mention of being blessed; A mention of a Christian school; A mention of rabbis;
*Note: A Bible study lesson comments about how meditation and manifestation is commonly said nowadays & the pastor discusses what the Bible really says about it (saying not taking advice or counsel from the wicked, but taking counsel from the Word of God); A couple mentions of luck & being lucky; A couple mentions of a house looking haunted; A mention of a horror movie with a ghost; A mention of a fate.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘crappy’, a ‘dang’, a ‘darn’, a ‘duh’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘holy cow’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘shoot’, a ‘what the heck’, two ‘good grief’s, three ‘holy smokes’s, four ‘stupid’s, five ‘gosh’s, and twelve ‘oh my gosh’s; Lots of eye rolling & sarcasm; Allie exclaims other phrases like “buttered biscuits” a few times; Mentions of a curse being written in graffiti (not written); Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of wars; A few mentions of injuries; A few mentions of a house looking like it belongs in a horror movie & people being murdered by a ghost; A few mentions of envy; A mention of hatred; A mention of gossip; A mention of tattoos;
*Note: Mentions of movies, TV shows, fictional characters (Cinderella, Gone with the Wind, Sleepless in Seattle, Zootopia, Lord of the Rings, Twilight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Wicked, Full House, Home Improvement, Psych, Home Town, Disney princesses, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Olaf, & Hulk); Mentions of brand names & places/restaurants (iPad, Sterno, Formica, Pyrex, Elmer’s Glue, Operation, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Goodwill, In-N-Out, & Cracker Barrel; Mentions of car brands; Mentions of social media platforms/websites (YouTube, ChatGPT, Facebook Marketplace, & Weight Watcher’s); Mentions of HGTV & Hallmark; Mentions of vampires, werewolves, wizards, & aliens; A few mention of celebrities and actors (Steve Jobs, Orlando Bloom, The Pioneer Woman).


Sexual Content- Two head kisses, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, Warmth, Flutters, & Nearness (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (barely-above-not-detailed); Five ‘babe’s; Mentions of couples kissing, embracing, & showing PDA; Mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, & break-ups; Mentions of flirting, blushes, & winks; A mention of staring at lips; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.

-Alexandra “Allie” McGrady, age 30
P.O.V. of Allie
355 pages

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Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- Three Stars
Early High School Teens- Four Stars
Older High School Teens- Five Stars
My personal Rating- Four Stars (and a half)

I cleared my schedule today to read this book in a few hours because 1- when your favorite author releases a new book, you should try to do that (10/10 recommended) and 2- I’m been so excited for this book and needed to know what would happen in it!

I love the big family with all the girls' chaos that is in this series—the McGrady family are just dears and I love being a fly-on-the-wall in their lives. Each girl (Sam, Dani, Allie, & Lucy) has their own personalities (with some that become even crazier when being highly over-caffeinated) and interests, but they are such good sisters to each other. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I will cry at the end of the fourth and final book when it releases because I just love this group so much. 🥹 Major props to Mama and Papa McGrady because they’ve raised some wonderful girls who love the Lord and each other. ❤️

I’ve loved seeing Harris in the previous two books of this series—the Bible studies they’ve all done together as he taught have me reaching to take notes—but getting to see him and his personality even more? Aww, yes please! Harris and Allie balanced each other well and she friend-zones him pretty hard, but I loved how it all worked out. Allie had one moment in this book that stressed me out with a bad decision/thought, but I could see where she was coming from when making it. Again, the ending was perfect in more ways than one—now I just need Sam’s story, especially after all the hints we’ve gotten!

What else can I say? I laughed out loud multiple times, made lots of highlights at different parts I loved, sighed over the sweetest romance, and felt encouraged and convicted while reading the scenes of the characters at the Bible study. So, so, so many parts I enjoyed and I cannot wait for the fourth book—though, I think I need to reread all of the prior books again first so I can enjoy it even more!


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...



*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[Tana Stierwalt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be my favorite book in this series so far! When I first realized that Allie would be renovating a house throughout the book, I was afraid I would be uninterested, but it turns out Allie knows just as little as I do about construction! I love the small bits of Christian wisdom in this book and how Allie's walk of faith is so relatable. This book was so sweet and engaging. I can't wait to read Sam's story later this year!

[Standard Muse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harvest Day in the Square is the third book in the Holidays in Hillview series, offering all the things you can expect from an Erynn Mangum book. Including a charming and clean romance, a good message about overcoming self-doubt and the importance of rest, plenty of references to old romcom movies, and lovable characters that obsess over coffee and chocolate. If you're a fan of Magnum's work you will most definitely enjoy this book.

Harvest Day also succeeds in a lot of places where it's predecessor (Flag Day in the Square) fell short. The story was well paced, the dialogue was engaging and funny, the development in the relationship between Harris and Allie felt genuine and intriguing, and it offers a third act love confession that was sorely missed in the last book. I found myself reaching for this book far more often than I was expecting, excited to keep reading it, and was sad when I finished it.

The only true critique I can give this book, if you even want to call it a critique, is that there is nothing unique here that we haven't seen from Magnum before. In fact, looking at her complete catalogue, it's near impossible to distinguish any of her lead characters from one other--aside from a few superficial characteristics like character A being messy while character B is neat. With a few exceptions, they all have the same voice, the same love of chocolate and Jane Austen, the same personality, and the same sense of humor. To the point where the same jokes are repeated across books. For example, variations of "and don't call me Shirley" as a character's quirky sense of humor is used here the same as it is in Mind the Gap, another one of Magnum's books. This repetition is even more apparent in the Holidays in Hillview series, where each of the 4 sisters is basically a carbon copy of the other, with only a few minor tweaks between them. If you enjoy predictability, these books will not disappoint, but I would love to see Mangum take a stab at a totally knew character or plot structure. Perhaps a character that struggles with a chronic illness, or is of a different race, or has an entirely new personality or sense of humor.

The only other critique is the question of who this book is for. The tone, humor, and conflicts feel like this book series is intended for an age group that skews fairly young, however, she references lines from movies that are going to fly over the heads of anyone born in that younger generation (movies like The Wedding Planner, The Princess Bride, While You Were Sleeping, and Airplane!). All great films, but if these books are intended for people in their late teens/early twenties, are they even going to understand those references? However, if they're meant for an older audience, some of the more unrealistic and borderline cartoonish plot points are a going to be a hard sell for anyone looking for something more grounded in reality.

Overall though, a great addition to this series that made me curious what she's going to do in the last book.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great seeing the McGrady family again in this book with Allie's story. I truly had no idea how Harris the Single's Pastor from church was going to win Allie over when she mentally convinces herself he's not her type. Turns out her self-esteem doesn't deem her HIS type.

LOVED the banter between Ben and Allie, how he mentions a random word and she can easily turn it into a verb. Also LOVED the family dinner Allie invites Harris to and every plastic fork Allie is using ends up breaking! The men in this story are a huge enhancement; Allie's Dad, Ben and of course, Mase, Dani's boyfriend.

The descriptions of how the house is restored were SO well written, you would swear Mangum herself actually did demo work herself in real life. Also enjoyed Allie's reaction to living with Lucy, the sister who needs VERY little sleep and is non stop talking all the day long. They finally have a nice heart-to-heart chat and we understand Lucy a little better.

The only thing I thought could make the story better is if Harris had made his feelings known to Allie before she attempted to set him up on a blind date.

LOVED the ending! That gazebo is so magical and a powerful symbol to this series, even if we only experience it in the story briefly. I have never seen a gazebo in real life and would love to visit one, ESPECIALLY at Christmas. I guess Mangum only has one more story in this series, it will be Sam's story, and I really don't want it to end :)

[Lucille M. Wilde · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, so, wonderful! I just...ahh... :)

I love this series so very much and literally can not wait for the last book! (I am truly thankful, though, that it is coming out this December, and not in like, 2 years :))

Also, let me just say: I KNEW IT! I just knew Harris was going to be in a book! AH!! I'm so happy I got to see his true personality and Allie is just so perfect for him. <3 Harris has always been one of my favorite characters and I just am so so happy he got a big part in this book!!

I loved the message of this book, and I thought Allie's job was pretty fun and unique. The faith content was so lovely, so encouraging, and so amazing. The romance was very little but the bit that was there was innocent and so sweet! Every conversation and mental thought process was over-the-top relatable, and I just felt like I was talking to a friend the whole time. <3

That's the thing with Erynn Mangum books. They are so stinkin' hard to let go of because it's like you're letting go of a friend. <3

The McGrady family is amazing. Hillview feels like home. You should read this book. :)

Age Rating
10-12 - ★★★☆☆
13-15 - ★★★★☆
16-18 - ★★★★★
19-21 - ★★★★★
22+ - ★★★★☆

Thank you for taking the time to read this honest review, and happy reading!

:)

[Rheena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, Erynn Mangum did an awesome job. I've truly been enjoying this series, and this book was just great. I can't wait for the last one!!! God bless you in all your writing, and may you continue to glorify Him.

Allie was just such a joy. I loved her cheerful, generous, and kind personality and the lessons learned in this story in terms of identity is so important. We can get so distracted by how others are or what others think about us, that we miss seeing who we really are as Christians. Comparison is the thief of joy, and that can even lead to you telling lies to yourself when it comes to who you are. The truth is that our identity is only in Christ alone, and we are His.

Seeing more for who Harris was in the story was also really sweet, and he just got along so well with Allie. Plus, I learned a lot about remodeling, so that was also interesting.

"Harvest Day in the Square" by Erynn Mangum is a sweet story that speaks of true identity. Not an identity found in the expectations or comments or things or people around us, but an identity found in the One who saves and gives new life. Jesus calls His children His, and that is already enough. Because our Heavenly Father is more than enough.

[Debra LeFew · Rating 5 out of 5]

another perfect Erynn Mangum book

I loved this book. I’ve read every book Erynn has published, and I always enjoyed each one. I especially like how the characters are believable and their Christian faith has helpful insights. Can’t wait until #4