Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

Lucy helps run a coffee shop with her mother but refuses to join the pumpkin spice hype. She hates how pumpkin spice is artificially made and full of chemicals. When Java Junction, a popular coffee chain, opens up across the street, she fears for what it will do to her mother’s shop. Most people like the predictability food chains offer than supporting local businesses.

At school, there’s a new student named Jack and Lucy swears he’s a robot. He’s perfect in her eyes and she can’t escape the twinkle in his eyes. However, when he visits her mom’s coffee shop, she learns that his parents are the ones opening Java Junction across the street. On reflex, she throws a pie at his face and decides that he’s the enemy. This incident earns her an annoying nickname and only makes her dislike Jack more. But Jack isn’t the villain she paints him to be. When he discovers how affected their coffee shop is by his parents’, he wants to help. So, the two put their heads together to create the perfect pumpkin spice latte to bring in more customers to her shop. But things get a little crazy in the end when social media gets involved.

PUMPKIN SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE is a contemporary young adult novel with themes of friendship, romance, and coming of age. Lucy is a bit neurotic and wants to try to help her mother’s shop any way she can. In return, her mother insists on her focusing more on being a teenager. I love the dynamics between mother and daughter and how close of a relationship they have. I like that her mother encourages her to live her life while Lucy struggles to find that balance because she worries so much for the shop. Add in Jack, who I just believe is the sweetest. He throws a wrench in Lucy’s life and it’s for the better. He pulls her out of her comfort zone and helps her see what’s actually important to her. In addition, I love how supportive Lucy’s friends are with every one of her problems and how they know how to navigate her anxious mind to help her feel better.

Final Verdict: Overall, PUMPKIN SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE is the perfect fall book to cuddle up and read while drinking some apple cider or pumpkin spice. While there is a touch of romance, the man focus is Lucy discovering herself and learning how to navigate her own life without solely focusing on her mom’s coffee shop.

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice is a light breezy read reminiscent of a Hallmark movie. Set in a small town during the fall season we meet Lucy whose mom own the local coffee shop. Things take a worrying turn when a big coffee chain opens across the street. It doesn’t help anything that the new popular and cute boy at school, Jack, is the new owner’s son. Lucy has a lot of ups and downs as she wants to hate Jack but he is too sweet and sincere to dislike for long. Filled with yummy baking that challenges any readers diet not to get a hankering for all food pumpkin and apple and nostalgic scenes of fall festivals this makes a great season read to get in the holiday mood. The characters are a bit one dimensional and the plot focuses mainly on the coffee shop but it is a quick book that is easy to pick up and read to the end. Overall, it is a perfect choice for reading a light hearted YA romance and getting into the spirit of fall.