He thought he had the perfect plan…

When elite university professor Keaton Andrews walks into a meeting with the dean, he expects to hear that his tenure application is on track. Instead, his beloved department is cut. Regrouping in Silver Falls with family seems like his best option. One morning, he takes a risk and orders a pumpkin spice latte from the beautiful barista at the local coffee shop. Too bad she doesn’t seem to find him nearly as intriguing as he finds her…

Raine Hanover is no longer swayed by a charming smile, especially by a nerdy—and distractingly handsome—academic. She’s taking a break from romance and focusing on running her increasingly busy coffee shop. But when Raine is involuntarily put in charge of organizing the town’s Halloween bash, Keaton jumps in to help, and it’s not long before sparks, and kisses, fly.

As the leaves begin to fall, Raine wonders if she should risk taking another chance on happily ever after, especially with a man who has dreams and goals so far away from Silver Falls and her.

Titles in the Silver Falls series include — The Christmas Window —♥— A Slice of Summer —♥— A Cup of Autumn —♥—

Tule ARC

Title:  A Cup of Autumn
Series:  Silver Falls #3
Author:  Melissa McClone
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  September 12, 2022
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4.5 stars

I have loved the Silver Falls series, and now we get Raine and Keaton’s story in A Cup of Autumn.  Raine owns the Tea Leaves and Coffee Beans cafe/shop and while she loves her business she is beyond exhausted by the hours and hours of being understaffed.  Now, because of that situation, she’s missed an important meeting which results in her being named to take on the annual Boo Bash event.  She can barely make it through the day let alone plan and supervise this autumn Halloween event – but, with no other choice she sets out to do her best.

Keaton thought he had his professional life planned out, right up until he learns that he not only did not get tenure but that his department is being cut due to funding.  He’s returned home to write his novel and rethink his plans.  And perhaps be urged by a family member to help out Raine with the Boo Bash, after all, he has the time now.  What began as a reluctant partnership between Keaton and Raine will soon turn into something with more possibilities.  But they each need to take a few risks, trust a bit more, and believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it… even falling in love.

I have to admit that Keaton wasn’t my favorite hero, to begin with.  The man did have a much-needed attitude adjustment along the way which made him much more attractive to me eventually.  Nerdy is cute, but entitled because of family wealth and position is not – so I was very glad to see him become more down-to-earth and realistic the more time he spent with Raine and back home in this small town.  I adored Raine from the start.  Yes, she’s stubborn but she’s also good-hearted, but she won’t be taken advantage of again… and that is made clear several times in their story.

A Cup of Autumn is well-written, fast-paced, and full of all the small-town shenanigans I expect from this author and this series.  With a town full of fun, annoying, charming secondary characters their romance came to life quite easily and I loved every moment of being back in Silver Falls.  If you like your romances sweet but completely satisfying then this is the story for you.  Although A Cup of Autumn could be read on its own, I suspect that you’ll want to go check out the earlier books as well.  I had fun here with believable characters and a satisfying love story, and that’s the whole point.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher. The opinions expressed in this review are my own – good, bad, or indifferent.*

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