This was such a gorgeous, cosy autumn read with a grumpy-sunshine romance, and a neurodiverse perspective.
There’s Pumpkin About You by Athena Carstairs is released today and is only 99p on Kindle!
Wren is a party planner who has been given a very important job – to organise her best friend’s 30th birthday party at a local pumpkin farm. But when she arrives at the venue and finds it somewhat lacking, she strikes up a deal with the brothers who run it to help them renovate the place. One of the brothers is August (“Gus”/”Auggie”) Finch, who she immediately butts heads with after his goat bites her on the behind! I’m sure you can figure out where this story goes!
This book had the most immaculate fall vibes – we might be in the middle of summer as I was reading it, but mentally, I was there in Eagletown’s small town getting ready for autumn.
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The characters were brilliant, especially August who struggles to make himself understood through his autism. As someone who describes myself as “probably neurospicy”, it was interesting to see parallels in some areas, and see how different it can be for others. I did feel at times it was overdone in the narrative as I think the author tried to put in more explanation than was needed, especially I think the people who are likely to pick up this book don’t need to be taught about it, but I can see why it was there. It was a new angle in a romance book for me though, and I really enjoyed it.
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Overall, it’s a pretty light, fluffy read – a perfect palette cleanser book for the autumn months. Not as outstanding as other romances, but I think it holds its own well against them thanks to the vibes and sassy characters – definite Gilmore Girls feel! It’s not the author’s debut, but it did feel like an early piece of writing in their career, and I think we can expect to see more works that get better and better from her!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a review copy of this book.
You can find the author Athena Carstairs on Instagram here.
PS: This is just one of four gorgeous autumnal cosy romances that I read as ARCs that are launching today! Check out the reviews of them all below:
Mystery Romance Book Review: A Cinnamon Falls Mystery by R. L. Killmore
Fall Romance Book Review: The Cinnamon Spice Inn by Harper Graham
Cosy Romance Book Review: You Had Me At Pumpkin Patch by Anita Faulkner
