Pumpkin Everything by Beth Labonte

Series: Autumnboro, #1
# of Pages: 196
Publication: September 1st, 2018
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Goodreads | Amazon 

Welcome to Autumnboro, New Hampshire, where the romance is sweet, the lattes are spicy, and more than leaves are about to fall... After calling off her fall wedding, horror novelist Amy Fox is left with a broken heart, a mega case of writer’s block, and a serious aversion to all things pumpkin spice. When she receives news that her grandfather has broken his wrist driving through a Dunkin Donuts—literally straight through the front windows—five hundred miles away, in her hometown of Autumnboro, New Hampshire, Amy has no choice but to return to check on him. If she doesn’t make sure that he’s back on his feet, Grandpa may be moved into assisted living, and Amy’s beloved childhood home will be put on the market. Knowing she must return, Amy worries about the only thing worse than pumpkin spice—a reunion with Kit Parker—her childhood best friend, first love, and entire reason for skipping town in the first place. As the two reconnect, a second chance seems possible...if only Kit weren’t holding on to a secret that just might unravel everything. Set against the scenic backdrop of the White Mountains, New Hampshire, Pumpkin Everything is a small town, sweet romance, and the perfect way to kick off the fall season! A pumpkin spice latte wouldn’t hurt, either.

Fall is hands down one of my favorite seasons; however, I usually have a difficult time picking out and reading books that have a fall theme/atmosphere. This year I sought to change that. Hoping to try something new, I signed myself up for Kindle Unlimited and decided to check out their fall related books. That's when I came across Pumpkin Everything. Like the worlds obsession with pumpkin related items during the fall, Pumpkin Everything centers around a woman and her grandfather who runs a pumpkin based stored. Amy, a horror novelist decides to move back to her home town of Autumnboro, New Hampshire to assist her grandfather who runs into a Dunkin Donuts with his car. She's nervous about her move back because of a high school relationship gone wrong. Once back home, Amy encounters her ex-boyfriend Dunkin and another host of characters that make her reevaluate her previous thoughts and feelings about leaving her hometown in the first place. 

"In the years since I'd been gone, he seemed to have taken on a motherly role to his younger brother. It was sweet, but it made me wonder if there was anybody around taking care of Kit." 

I had high hopes for this book, a contemporary romance set during the fall. I've been reading quite a few romances this year and it was wonderful to find a seasonal romance. Unfortunately, this novel fell extremely flat especially in terms of character development. I found Amy to be completely deplorable. Not only was I annoyed by her obsession with her high school relationship, but her pure selfishness towards Dunkin. Granted he pulled away from her and distanced himself during their senior year; however, he had a perfectly good reason to do so. Instead of being an adult and realizing that her decision as a teenager was rash and immature, the continues to think about herself. Even when Dunkin is proving that he's turned his life around and wants to do something to honor his family member, Amy still only thinks about herself. I just couldn't connect to a character that was so focused on herself and her wants and needs that she couldn't see how things could benefit others. Ironically, I really enjoyed the side characters of the novel especially Amy's grandfather. He was light-hearted, fun and was a balance to Amy's irrational thoughts and behaviors. 

"My stomach knotted at the thought of him having found happiness with somebody else." 

There wasn't necessarily a lot going on in terms of the plot. There was a small conflict that arose between Amy and Dunkin, but instead of letting Amy figure out how to solve her problems, the writer allowed the grandfather to step in and figure out everything for Amy. This frustrated me because in doing this I feel as though Amy didn't learn anything and couldn't take a few  moments to look outside of her own life and consider the lives of others. It simply reinforced her selfishness. In addition to this, I found that this plot line was overall too simplistic. There wasn't really much that happened when I sat back and thought about it. There was a conflict between Amy and Dunkin and then there was a small conflict between Amy and the town people when they found out that she wrote horrible things about them in her horror novels. Even in this conflict Amy was willing to blame everyone around her instead of taking responsibility for the wrongs she committed. Even so, the likelihood that no one in the town read her books until the day that she returned home seemed extremely unlikely. 

"These were plans. Plans for turning my beloved family home into some sort of tourist destination! Visions of strangers tromping through the house with dirty boots and ill-mannered children ran through my head."

Overall, I thought that the writing of this novel was okay but the characters really ruined my enjoyment. While this is the first in a series, I definitely will not be completing the series.