Book Review: The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House is the fourth book in the Dream Harbor series by Laurie Gilmore.

There’s no denying that Dream Harbor has become a hit series, largely in part to its success on social media and the aesthetic covers of the books. And it seems like fans still have plenty of Dream Harbor goodness to look forward to in the form of the novella — The Apple Pie Ice Cream Parlor — and the sixth instalment in the series — The Daisy Chain Flower Shop.

The Dream Harbor series will always hold a special place in my heart because The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is what kickstarted all of my bookish content platforms, but how did I find the fourth book in the series? Well, let’s take a look at my book review for The Strawberry Patch Pancake House!

What is The Strawberry Patch Pancake House About?

Iris has never had much luck holding anything down, a man, a job, but then again, she’s never really wanted to. Iris floats through life, but recently her inability to dedicate herself to anything has caught up with her. In need of a more stable job and a place to stay, she begins to reevaluate her future.

When the owner of the diner tells Iris that the new chef needs a live-in nanny, Iris brushes off the idea. She doesn’t have the first clue about working with children; she’s not even sure if she likes them. But it would be the answer to all her problems, a place to stay, a good wage and the opportunity to save money for the first time. There’s just one small issue: her potential boss is smoking hot and grumpy as hell.

Archer is a renowned chef. Having spent many years working at a top restaurant in Paris, all he’s ever wanted is to be at the top of his game. Now he finds himself in the small town of Dream Harbor caring for a daughter, Olive, who he never even knew existed. Olive won’t speak to him; everyone in town wants to know his business, and worst of all, he’s ended up as a diner cook desperately trying to recreate the town’s much-loved pancake recipe. And it’s not going well.

Iris and Archer seem like complete opposites, but as they settle into their new roles, they discover they might have more in common than they realised. And no matter how hard he tries, Archer cannot stop thinking about his new nanny.

Book Review for The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

I had my reservations going into this book because typically I don’t like romance books that centre around having a family, or have children in them and I especially hate when the pregnancy trope is introduced near the end of the book. But as a fan of Dream Harbor, I was willing to keep an open mind. Unfortunately, my reservations were correct.

Almost from the start I was annoyed that Iris was portrayed to be someone who didn’t really like children and probably didn’t want any of her own because I just knew that Olive, the child in the book would win her round. I really don’t like when female characters seem to change their minds so easily about children. But I could look past that as the story line was really good and something like that really isn’t that deep in a book like this.

I actually really liked Iris and Archer, it was good to see a less than perfect couple in the book and follow them as they worked through stuff together. Surprisingly, I ended up really liking Olive too. My initial issue aside, her and Iris’s relationship ended up being pretty cute. After not particularly enjoying The Christmas Tree Farm, it felt really nice to be back with the Dream Harbor vibes I love. And then we got to the end of the book and it all went wrong.

Now things move fast in the Dream Harbor books, unrealistically fast, and I’m fine with that. But when I tell you I nearly threw my book out of the window because the book ended with the pregnancy trope, you best believe I was enraged! It just didn’t feel necessary. Iris and Archer had literally only just figured stuff out between them and it was still a huge learning curve then boom…there’s a pregnancy in the mix. From a character who didn’t even like children at the end!

I’ll be honest, it really spoiled the story for me. Had the pregnancy trope not happened I was ready to probably rank this as my second favourite Dream Harbor book but after that, it had to drop down. To rub salt in the wound, Laurie Gilmore even acknowledged in the authors note that she doesn’t tend to include children in her romance books because she doesn’t think they or the pregnancy trope are needed for a happy ending. So why do it in this book, Laurie?!

I totally get the need for different story lines in this series but, yeah the pregnancy trope was a big fat no from me. I don’t dislike it as much as The Christmas Tree Farm but the ending could have been so much better.

The spice rating in this was relatively low for me. I think we were spoilt with the amount of spice in The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore because nothing has lived up to that since. Personally, I would have liked it a little steamier but it was still a cute romance book and perfect for those who don’t like a lot of spice.

Overall I liked 90% of this book, it was just disappointing that it had to include a trope I really don’t like and it quite a clunky way too.

Check out more Dream Harbor news and reviews here!

Have you read The Strawberry Patch Pancake House? Let me know your thoughts in it in the comments!

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