By Ellen Madden
Laurie Gilmore, who also goes by the name Melissa McTernan, is a USA Today and Sunday Times number one bestseller. She has written the Dream Harbor series, which includes The Pumpkin Spice Café, The Cinnamon Bun Book Store, The Christmas Tree Farm, The Strawberry Patch Pancake House, The Gingerbread Bakery and The Daisy Chain Flower Shop. This series can be read in order or as standalone novels.
The Pumpkin Spice Café, published in 2023, involves Jeanie, who left her job in the city to manage a café where she met Logan the farmer. The Cinnamon Bun Book Store was released in August 2024, where Hazel and Noah conquer a scavenger hunt. The Christmas Tree Farm, published in October 2024, involves the Grinch of Christmas, Kira North, spending Christmas with Bennett Ellis, who wants to escape life in the city.
The Strawberry Patch Pancake House, distributed in March 2025, contains a celebrity chef, Archer, moving to a small town to open a restaurant and meeting his daughter’s nanny, Iris. The Gingerbread Bakery was released in September 2025. Annie Andrews, a bakery owner, has an enemy named Mac Sullivan. However, over time, will that hate turn into love?
The soon-to-be-released novel The Daisy Chain Flower Shop is going to be available in May 2026. Daisy owns a flower shop that the newcomer Elliot was warned by the mayor to avoid it at all costs until his family comes.
Laurie Gilmore has also published two colouring books based on The Pumpkin Spice Café and The Strawberry Patch Pancake House.