The Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore
The Gingerbread Bakery is book 5 in the Dream Harbor series; however, each book can be read as a standalone. This one follows Annie, the owner of the Gingerbread Bakery, and Mac, the owner of the pub. Annie is just as sweet as the cookies she bakes. She likes everyone well, everyone except Mac. Mac wants the only thing he can’t have…Annie. There is bad blood between the two of them, and whenever they are around each other, all they do is bicker, but when two of their friends are getting married, they have to put aside the bickering and get along.
She’d never been friends with Mac. They’d never made sense together. It was exactly what she’d told him eleven years ago. But Mac had never been good at listening.
⚫️Enemies to lovers ⚫️Found family ⚫️Small Town ⚫️Forced proximity ⚫️Second chance
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart…no sorry.
Last Christmas, I read The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore, book 3 in the series. I hadn’t read books 1 or 2, but because it was December, I decided to only read Christmas books; thus, I read The Christmas Tree Farm. I was meant to read The Pumpkin Spice Cafe in Autumn this year…I never got around to it, so once again, December hits, and I want Christmas books…So I read this one. All that to say that out of all 5 Dream Harbor books I have read, both the Christmas ones lol.
‘But lucky for you, I’m just as stubborn. And I haven’t given up yet. Your little admission earlier today gave me even more motivation. I’m not nineteen anymore, Annie, and I don’t leave women unsatisfied.’
You know by now that I read a lot of darker-themed books, but I do love me a good fluffy romance, especially a small-town one!
I liked the pace of the book; I read it in one day and was hooked from the beginning. This book had some chapters set in the past, and I enjoyed that. It flowed really well.
The book is definitely character-driven, and I loved the characters. I know I would love all the side characters more if I had read their books, but I will…stop nagging me 😂 I liked Annie, she was super sweet, would do anything for her friends. She was so nice to everyone, but Mac and it made me laugh the way the two of them bickered. The banter was good, and I felt like I was there with them. I liked Mac too, he deserved Annie being mad at him to be fair lol.
‘Love is a funny thing,’ the mayor went on. ‘It’s not always big or loud or over the top. Most of the time, it’s quiet and unassuming. It’s a shared cup of coffee on a rainy day or reading side by side together every night. It’s finding the person who gets you. The person who will have your back through it all.
I love the setting of the Dream Harbor books, like I said sucker for small town romance. It seems like such a quaint little town, and I want to visit it! I enjoy Laurie’s writing style; it flows well and is easy to read. I feel like I am there in the book, and before I know it, I am at the end of the book feeling all warm and fuzzy.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will endeavour to read The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, The Cinnamon Bun Book Store, and The Strawberry Patch Pancake House, in autumn 2026…don’t quote me on that though! I would recommend this. It’s fun, cute, easy and fast to read.
‘So,’ she said, snuggling in tight, her hands over his heart. ‘What do you think of me now?’ That was an easy one. ‘I think you’re the love of my life.’
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5
