I Came For the Bookshop. I Stayed For the Seagull Scene.
Laurie Gilmore named this book The Cinnamon Bun Book Store and I need everyone to understand that is not a title. That is a direct and personal attack on readers who are already emotionally living in a fictional coastal town and do not need additional reasons to cancel their plans and stay on the couch.
I did not stand a chance.
Four stars, a Noah appreciation post barely disguised as a book review, and a completely legitimate assessment of whether a fictional fisherman would protect you from seagulls at the beach. You are welcome.
What is The Cinnamon Bun Book Store about?
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store is the second book in Laurie Gilmore’s Dream Harbor series, and it follows Hazel, who manages the tiny bookshop that smells like cinnamon around the clock because yes, it also sells cinnamon buns, and this is apparently a real place that exists in fiction and not in my actual life, which feels unfair.
Hazel is turning thirty and quietly having some feelings about where her life has ended up. Then strange little notes start appearing tucked inside the used books at the shop. Actual clues. An actual treasure hunt hidden inside a coastal town bookstore, which is genuinely one of the more charming premises I have encountered in a while.
She ropes in Noah to help her follow the trail. Noah is a fisherman, cheerful, warm, and the kind of man who actually listens without making it a whole thing. He has been quietly noticing Hazel for months. She has been quietly not letting herself notice anything, because she is very busy turning thirty and having a small internal crisis.
They follow the clues. The chemistry follows them back. Dream Harbor provides the atmosphere and the gossip, as Dream Harbor does.
Why I picked it up
After The Pumpkin Spice Café had me emotionally relocated to Dream Harbor by about chapter three, this was never a question. I was already invested in the town, already attached to the community, and a bookshop setting with a mystery element tucked inside a cosy romance was precisely my kind of reading chaos.
Also: a bookstore that sells cinnamon buns. What was I supposed to do, exercise self-control?
First impression
I went in expecting more Dream Harbor charm and a little more spice than the first book, and it delivered on both. The bookshop setting was exactly as cosy as I needed it to be. The mystery element was a genuinely fun addition to a series I already liked.
What I did not expect was Noah.
Logan from The Pumpkin Spice Café was lovely in a grumpy, safe, emotionally-stable-farmer kind of way that I appreciate, especially after my usual fictional red-flag tendencies. But Noah has something Logan does not, and I will explain what that something is in full later in this review. I am building to it. Respectfully.
The vibe
Warm cinnamon and old books. Sea air through an open window. A small town where everyone knows your business and somehow that is comforting rather than alarming. Cosy dates. A treasure hunt that is also a love story that is also a gentle push towards the life you were too scared to reach for.
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store is the second book in the Dream Harbor series and it feels like returning to a place you already know and love, but finding out there is a new corner of it you had not explored yet. The world building is done. The characters have history. You just get to settle in and let the romance happen around you while Dream Harbor does what Dream Harbor does.
It is soft and warm and sweet, and then occasionally it is not soft at all, and the balance works beautifully.
The romance
The romance between Hazel and Noah is built on dates, which sounds simple and is somehow completely effective.
They spend actual time together. They go places. They discover things about each other in the way that people do when they are paying attention. It is not the instant-chemistry chaos of some romances or the slow-burn tension of others. It sits somewhere in the middle: warm and intentional and genuinely sweet in a way that made me keep reading past my bedtime.
Hazel’s arc around turning thirty and wanting more from her life adds emotional depth to what could have been a straightforward summer fling. By the time the romance lands, it feels earned. Both of them had to choose it.
The tension is a solid three out of five for most of the book, with moments where it climbs higher. The spice shows up earlier than in The Pumpkin Spice Café and is more consistent throughout.
Fictional man assessment: Noah Barnett
Noah is a problem, but not in the way Josh from Lights Out is a problem. Noah is a problem in the way that a genuinely kind, competent man who is also quietly obsessed with you is a problem: he makes you recalibrate your entire fictional-man ranking and then look around wondering what you have been settling for.
He is warm. He listens. He plans actual dates rather than just turning up and having chemistry at people. He is a fisherman with a cheerful, steady energy that is the opposite of chaotic, which is not usually my preference, and yet.
And then there is the seagull situation.
As someone with a genuine and non-negotiable bird phobia, I need to know that my fictional man would handle a beach bird emergency. This is not a joke. This is a very specific and entirely rational evaluation criterion that I apply to all fictional men, and Noah passed with full marks.
The way he responded to that situation told me everything I needed to know about him as a romantic lead. Practically. Without fuss. With the specific energy of a man who has clocked that this matters to you and is simply handling it.
Logan had grumpy farmer charm, and I respect that. Noah had practical husband energy and the seagull defence instinct, and that, apparently, is my actual weakness. He wins. I am sorry, Logan.
Would I survive dating Noah in real life? Yes. Would I trust him to walk between me and any bird situation at any beach? Immediately and without hesitation.
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store spicy chapters: how spicy is it and where?
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store is spicy. The key scenes land in chapters 11, 14, 15, 19, 24 and 29, spread across the book rather than concentrated in the final act.
Is it spicy, and how much?
Spice rating: 3 out of 5 chilli peppers. Tension: 3 out of 5.
This is open door and explicit, and spicier than The Pumpkin Spice Café, which kept most of its heat for the final chapters. Here the spice starts earlier and is more evenly distributed. It is not dark romance spice: no trigger warnings, no intensity dial turned up to eleven. It is warm and romantic and suits the tone of the book completely. Safe to read on public transport. Probably.
Which chapters are the spicy ones?
The scenes are distributed through the second half of the book, which keeps the pace consistent:
- Chapter 11: First real shift in the dynamic; the tension between them tips over for the first time
- Chapter 14: A date that goes somewhere unexpected; the chemistry is doing what it has been building towards
- Chapter 15: A follow-on to chapter 14; the emotional intimacy and the physical intimacy land together
- Chapter 19: The relationship is more settled here; the scene reflects how much has changed between them
- Chapter 24: Established couple energy; warm and intentional and characteristic of how their romance feels throughout
- Chapter 29: Near the end, and worth the wait; the physical and emotional threads of the story come together
Note: the Dream Harbor series is cosy romance with open-door spice. Not dark romance. No trigger warnings required beyond the usual adult content reminder.
Favourite moment
Every single date.
Noah plans actual dates, which sounds like an obvious thing for a romantic lead to do and is somehow rarer than it should be. The dates are creative and specific and clearly thought through, and each one tells you more about both of them than any amount of loaded glances or almost-kisses.
The beach and the seagull situation is also, obviously, a highlight. For entirely personal and non-transferable reasons.
Most unhinged moment
Me, sitting with this book, quietly adding “would handle seagulls calmly and without drama” to my internal fictional-man checklist and realising it had apparently been there the whole time.
Some readers have emotional requirements. I have very specific bird-related safety criteria. Noah passed. That is all.
Also: Dream Harbor gossip. The town’s ability to be in everyone’s business simultaneously while being entirely charming about it is unhinged in the best way, and I want to live there.
If this book had a scent
Warm cinnamon and vanilla fresh from the oven. Old book pages and coffee. Brown sugar and something slightly sweet, slightly coastal, slightly soft.
Think a tiny bookshop on a street near the sea: the kind that always smells like it just baked something, has a corner full of second-hand novels and gets sea air through the gap under the door on autumn afternoons. Warm and bookish and entirely too cosy for your own good.
If this book was a drink
A cinnamon latte, warm and slightly sweet, the kind you order when you want to stay in your favourite chair for another hour and you are not ready to go back to real life.
Alternatively: an iced cinnamon brown sugar coffee. Because Dream Harbor plus a bookshop plus Noah absolutely deserves caffeine.
If this book was a snack
A fresh cinnamon bun, still warm, from the actual book store in the book. Obviously. This answer required no thought whatsoever. The book did this on purpose and I am absolutely fine about it.
Read this book if
- You loved The Pumpkin Spice Café and want more Dream Harbor (you will want more Dream Harbor)
- You love bookish small-town romance and want it set in an actual bookshop
- You appreciate a fictional man with practical husband energy and zero chaos
- Cute, intentional dates are your love language
- You want a cosy romance with more spice than the first book but the same warm atmosphere
- You like a small mystery woven through a romance (the secret notes plot is genuinely charming)
- You have bird-related safety criteria you would like a fictional man to meet
- You want to emotionally move into a fictional coastal town and never come back
- You enjoyed The Pumpkin Spice Café but wanted something slightly more romantic and a little more spicy
Avoid this book if
- Dark romance is what you came for (this is soft and warm and cosy, not intense)
- You need high-stakes drama or morally grey men with complicated motives
- Small-town romance where everyone knows everyone’s business is not for you
- You need your fictional man to be chaotic and unpredictable to be interesting
- You are not interested in a bookshop setting, cinnamon buns or coastal town vibes
- You are coming in cold and have not read The Pumpkin Spice Café (you can, but you will get more out of it if you read in order)
Quick answers
What is the age rating for The Cinnamon Bun Book Store?
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store is adult content for readers 18 and over. It contains explicit open-door scenes, though without the dark themes of darker romance subgenres. Cosy and warm overall, but the spice is present and explicit.
What order do you read the Dream Harbor series?
The Dream Harbor books follow different couples in the same town. Each can technically be read as a standalone, but you will get more from the series read in order:
- The Pumpkin Spice Café (book one)
- The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (book two)
- The Christmas Tree Farm (book three)
- The Strawberry Patch Pancake House (book four)
- The Gingerbread Bakery (book five)
- The Daisy Chain Flower Shop (book six)
All six books are out now.
Can you read The Cinnamon Bun Book Store as a standalone?
Yes, it has a complete, satisfying ending and you do not need to have read book one for the central romance to make sense. However, reading The Pumpkin Spice Café first means you already know Dream Harbor, the recurring characters and the community, which makes the experience richer.
What should I read next if I loved The Cinnamon Bun Book Store?
Keep going in the Dream Harbor series: The Christmas Tree Farm is next and follows a completely different couple in the same town. If you want to try something similar outside the series, Book Lovers by Emily Henry has the bookish-small-town-romance energy without the coastal setting. In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren is a good pick if you want something with the same cosy, seasonal warmth.
EmberSas ratings
- Romance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
- Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5
- Tension: 🔥🔥🔥 / 5
- Book Boyfriend (Noah): ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ / 5 (passed the seagull test; this is not a small thing)
- Emotional Damage: 💔 / 5 (cosy attachment, not devastation; I am fine, I just want to move to Dream Harbor)
- Obsession Level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
- Bookish Vibes: 📚📚📚📚📚 / 5
- Would I Move To This Fictional Town: 🏡🏡🏡🏡🏡 / 5 (yes, again, still, non-negotiably)
Review Snapshot
- Book: The Cinnamon Bun Book Store
- Author: Laurie Gilmore
- Series: Dream Harbor (#2)
- Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
- Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5
- Emotional damage: 💔 / 5
- Obsession level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5
Final verdict
The Cinnamon Bun Book Store is more bookshop romance than I knew I needed and slightly more Noah than I was prepared for, and I mean that as the highest possible compliment.
Four stars. Read The Pumpkin Spice Café first if you have not. Then read this one. Then sit with the unshakeable certainty that you would absolutely move to Dream Harbor if given the option and that your fictional-man requirements now include seagull defence capability.
“Okay, Dream Harbor has done it again and I am not even surprised anymore. I thought Logan and Jeanie were cute, and they were, but Noah and Hazel have taken the lead. Not by miles, but by enough. The dates were adorable. The bookshop vibes were exactly what I wanted. The spice was better in this one. And Noah gets immediate bonus points because I fully believe he would protect me from seagulls at the beach. And honestly, as a woman with a bird phobia, that is basically foreplay. Respectfully. Four stars. Start from book one and work your way through. Dream Harbor is going to be a problem for my to-be-read list and I could not be happier about it.”
