The Hot Honey Hideaway by Harper Graham - Romance Book Review

A gorgeous hot summer read in a vibrantly imagined small town setting.

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The Hot Honey Hideaway by Harper Graham book review

Krista runs the Hot Honey Hideaway, a cafe/cocktail bar on the lakeside in Maple Falls – and the work never ends. When Joe, a travel reporter, comes to town and the community’s social media manager decides they should do a life swap for a week, Krista agrees before she can let herself say no. But swapping lives is hard when they just want to be together all the time! There’s also a mystery to solve through Krista’s great grandmother’s diaries, a cafe to pull back from the brink, and a big world out there calling to a travel journalist who suddenly feels like he’s finally found his home.

Maple Falls is one of my favourite book worlds – it’s very similar to the Dream Harbor series by Laurie Gilmore, but it just tops it for me! I really wish more Laurie Gilmore fans would discover this series as I know they’d love it.

Read more of my reviews of the Maple Falls series:

While it’s not quite insta-love, I’d say it’s an insta-attraction romance. I read a lot of enemies to lovers (that’s probably my favourite trope) and quite a few friends to lovers, and these are usually slower developing romances that are denied first. This one wasn’t exactly slow burn, and I really enjoyed the change of pace! It really switched up the formulaic romances I’ve read lately, especially in this small town genre.

Each new instalment in the Maple Falls series has me craving something seasonal. It’s the perfect way to market a book to people like me! And even though I don’t drink coffee, a hot honey latte sounds absolutely divine to me (just cut the caffeine and I might manage!). As did all the flavours of ice cream.

A lakeside location is always going to win me over, and this one with its small town rustic vibes and a campground run by the main character’s grandparents – honestly, I don’t feel you could get a better setting if you tried! I wanted to dive headfirst into this story and live it with the characters!

I feel like the Maple Falls friendship group has really found its legs now too – we now know most/all of the group and have lived their romances alongside them. I know them almost like my own friends now.

Read more romance book reviews like this:

I was worried that, because we’ve had all four seasons in book form in this series, this would be the last one, but the hints towards the end of the book strongly suggest that is not the case! I’ll be looking forward to the stories of the next pairing in Maple Falls!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.