A cute and rather unrealistic collection of three feel-good Autumnal witchy romances all loosely connected to the bakeshop. I preferred one story to the others but I think all of them were too sappy for my taste. In all fairness, I am not much of a romance genre reader though. ( )

This is a collection of three stories and I only liked one of them.

SWEET MAGIC by Donna Kauffman: 1 star
- Bree is 'not like other girls', she doesn't have to watch her weight or wear makeup to be pretty. I literally read three pages and wanted to DNF. I skimmed through the rest of the story and it was just as cringy.

LOVE SPELLS DISASTER by Allyson Charles: 4 stars
- This one was genuinely cute! I'd be interested to see this story as a full-length novel so some parts could be more fleshed out, but I really loved Chip and Cassie's interactions!

SWEET ON YOU by Kate Angell: 1 star
- The writing style of this one was terrible. It was so choppy and it was very much a 'tell, don't show' story. ( )

Bellaluna’s bakeshop with its lovely owner and magical cookies is the tie that binds these three novellas together. Romance is definitely in the air, and if it's helped along by a bit of magic, well, it is Hallowe’en after all. If you are looking for tales with intricate plots, then this is not the book for you, but if you want a light fluffy romance with some magical influences, you’ll likely enjoy the collection. If you are tempted to quit before the end, please keep reading: the last story is the best one. ( )

“The Bakeshop at Pumpkin and Spice” contains three novellas about love that are set in Moonbright, Maine, and all are touched with a bit of magic at Halloween. I thought the main (magic) premise of the stories was cute, and the emphasis on family ties in the first story added depth to the plot. I also appreciated that the female main characters were curvy women and highly admired by their men. No skinny little girls here, just mature women! Another plus (no pun intended) is the respect accorded to elderly folks in the stories. Too often they are portrayed as curmudgeons, cranky, feeble or ill. Although the cranky and curmudgeon characteristics are present, they are not the main features of these senior folks. More emphasis is placed on the good they do for others and their community contributions. The setting is delightful and the time of year adds interest to the plot. The stories contain a common thread with the town, Halloween celebration, and characters.

My main objection was the inclusion of so much sexual detail. This definitely demonstrated the passion between the lovers, but I did not really want to know whose body parts were where. The plot and humor of each story was enough to carry the character and relationship development without it. A little mystery and lack of detail is a lot more spicy than all the particulars. I prefer that the writer leave something to the imagination of the reader. And I guess marriage is just incidental and comes after the consummation of the relationship any more. I guess my morals are different. Readers should be warned about the spicy hot scenes in these stories.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. ( )

Sweet Magic - Donna Kauffman

Good story. Bree is the latest in her family to work at the family bakery. Within the family, it is an accepted fact that some members have a magic touch when it comes to baking. Bree hasn't yet experienced that phenomenon and is beginning to despair that she ever will. That is until Caleb comes into the shop. Suddenly those Italian cookies have a little extra zing to them.

Caleb is in Moonbright to help his Uncle George with his restaurant while George and his wife are on vacation. Caleb does not expect to become fascinated with the baker down the street. He has enough on his plate, trying to figure out what is going on with the restaurant.

Neither Bree nor Caleb can explain why they are drawn together so strongly. It makes no sense because Bree is planted firmly in Moonbright and Caleb is only in town for six weeks or so before he goes back to Philadelphia. But as Caleb gets deeper into the problems at the restaurant, Bree is there to help him. There is no doubt about the attraction between them, but both try hard to resist it. Neither one wants to hurt the other or suffer a broken heart. I ached for them both, as it was clear that their hearts were already deeply involved, but neither could see a way to make it happen. I liked how honest they were about the pros and cons of being together. When the truth behind his uncle's troubles comes to light, Bree and Caleb have to work together to find a solution. It takes the help of family, especially Bree's grandmother, for them to get their happy ending.

I liked seeing Caleb come into his own as he worked through the restaurant's troubles. Though an excellent chef, he avoided the front of the house like the plague in his family's restaurant. In Moonbright, he had to do it all and discovered that he was better at it than he expected. I liked seeing him work with his sister, Cassie, to find the problem and fix it in a way that preserved his uncle's pride. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Cassie. I also liked seeing Bree find her groove at the bakery. Her grandmother's support was critical, and I liked how Sofia helped Bree through her doubts. I loved the scene in the epilogue with Clark Kent and Wonder Woman.

Love Spells Disaster - Allyson Charles

Cassie is a recent arrival in Moonbright. She chose the town because of their focus on Halloween, which is her favorite holiday. Now that she has settled in, she is ready to look for a man in her life. Due to a rough childhood, Cassie has particular requirements for a potential mate. Having had her fill of bad boys, she sets her sights on her boss, an uptight, strait-laced man who has the security she craves. Unfortunately for her, he is oblivious to her interest, so she looks to the tried and true "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." She stops at the Bellaluna Bakery where Sophia gives her two special cookies along with the instructions to be open to whatever comes her way.

Disaster ensues when her boss turns down the cookie because he's in training for a marathon. When she munches a cookie herself, she chokes and is rescued by a visitor to the office. Chip helps himself to the other cookie, but Cassie wants no part of a man who doesn't check her boxes. Chip, on the other hand, is immediately attracted to Cassie. I had a bit a trouble with Cassie here, as she was quite rude and judgmental toward him. She redeemed herself somewhat by feeling guilty and did eventually apologize.

Chip and Cassie are thrown together when she needs a handyman to build her haunted house for Halloween. I liked seeing them together here as their efforts gave them the chance to get to know each other. Chip comes to understand what drives Cassie and has the patience to overcome her fears. Though Cassie tries to resist Chip's appeal, it isn't too long before she realizes that they have more in common than she thought. There were some pretty funny scenes as Cassie experiences one disaster after another in her pursuit of the wrong man. I liked the ending as Cassie finally realized the treasure she had. I also loved how Chip loves all of Cassie's Halloween quirkiness.

Sweet on You - Kate Angell

My favorite of the three stories. The story opens with Lara in the bakeshop where she is cruelly and publicly dumped by her boyfriend. To add insult to injury, she also runs into her landlord who informs her that the rent on her apartment is going up, and her employer can't guarantee she'll have a job past Christmas. Enter the mayor and his coworkers for their daily coffee break. The shop is crowded, and Jack ends up sitting with Lara. Sophia brings them some of her cookies and Jack and Lara chat for a while. A caring man with a big heart, it doesn't take long for Jack to get Lara to tell him of her troubles. He invites her to stop by his office if her job hunt isn't successful.

I loved both Jack and Lara. Lara is a sweet woman, a bit short and curvy, and a little insecure because of it. She is also smart, organized, and determined. Jack is a great mayor. He has the love and respect of the townspeople, and he loves them right back.

I loved the development of the relationship between Lara and Jack. They knew each other in school, where each had a crush on the other but never did anything about it. I loved hearing about how Lara attended all of Jack's hockey games, and that he knew she was there. Jack is currently swamped with the details for the Halloween parade, which leaves him little time for doing actual mayor work. After getting a chance to talk to Lara, he realizes that she would be perfect as the town's event planner and hires her on the spot. There is also the added bonus of being able to see her every day. Jack is well and truly smitten. Lara is surprised by Jack's attention but is equally attracted to him. Over the next couple of weeks they spend a lot of time together, both for work and personal time. I loved how easy it was for them to talk to each other and share their lives. There were some great scenes of them together. One of my favorites was their day of pumpkin and apple picking, and the heat that built between them all day. There was a brief resurgence of Lara's insecurity at one point, but Jack handled it perfectly. The ending was great.

I loved the setting of the story as Lara and Jack plan the Halloween parade. There are so many moving parts that it takes a truly organized person to make it all work. I adored seeing Lara make the job her own, being flexible when necessary for and firm when she needed to be. It was satisfying to see her stand up to her ex when it came to his demands. I liked Jack's assistant, Donna, and her little nudges of pushing Lara and Jack together. My favorite secondary character was Edna. Though she comes across as quite the grouch at the beginning, both Jack and Lara soon see that there is a side of her that few people know about. I laughed at her nicknames for people and cheered when Lara gave her one of her own. I loved her part in the twist at the end. ( )