Author: Nicole Pyland
Genre: Contemporary Romance 🌶️
Tropes: Secret Crush, Slow Burn, Low Angst
Series: Holiday Series #4
Pages: 359
Published: October 1st, 2022
Format: ebook (KU)
Started: 06-20-2025
Finished: 06-21-2025
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character
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readability
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writing style
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plot
synopsis
Eleanor Enger met someone special and thought they might have a chance at being more than friends of friends, but then Carmen McClain showed up to a weekend away with those friends with a date attached to her hip, and Ellie knew she’d lost her shot. When her little brother is kicked out of their parents’ house, Eleanor finds herself acting as parent and sorting through his problems while trying to deal with her own.
Carmen McClain just opened a bakery with her two best friends and had planned on having some one-night fun and maybe a casual relationship or two because she didn’t have time for anything serious while being so focused on the business. When her best friend’s new girlfriend came with a lot of close friends as a package, Carmen began spending more time with one of them and started thinking that casual might not be what she wants, after all.
Eleanor’s crush turned into something more, and Carmen realized she didn’t want to be just friends right around the time of her birthday, which happened to be on Halloween, while her holiday-obsessed parents are having a special birthday event for their daughter that they do every year. Watch Eleanor and Carmen fall in love over cupcakes, coffee, and a haunted house.
rant
- loved loved loved Eleanor and Carmen ‐ I could relate to Ellie sm & I loved the caring older sister vibes she gave ‐ Carmen was the calm she needed in her chaotic life / situation and I loved her for that
- Loved Ellie she is definitely the most likeable in the friend group ‐ she’s also the most relatable (at least as an older sister lol) ‐ Carmen was exactly what she needed right when she needed it ‐ also the way she just easily connected w/ Ellie’s brother had me melting a lil ngl
- perfect mix of family drama and romance 👍👍 from me
- I wish there was a little bit more time exploring Carmen’s life at the bakery
- would 1000% read again
- Definitely my favorite in the series so far
noted & quoted
- their first kiss / date
- Ellie being able to tell the difference between Carmen’s bakes vs everyone else’s was everything
Carmen asking Eleanor if she need help w/ her stuff while the girl she brought is carrying there’s by herself is diabolical 😭