Hope Harbor: Book 2
Publication Date: August 27, 2026
Sparks fly as the leaves fall this autumn…From the USA Today bestselling superstar romance author of the Boston Bolts hockey series comes a spicy and swoony friends-to-lovers fake-dating delight. . . This gorgeous first edition trade paperback features colored stenciled edges.
These old flames are ready to catch fire.
For Penny Darling, love is best enjoyed between the pages of a book. After a very public failed engagement, she’d rather cozy up by the fire with a book boyfriend than a real one any day. And as the owner of Bonfire & Bliss Bookstore, she has her pick.
Then Jake “Monty” Montgomery returns home. Her high school best friend, now a struggling author with inked forearms and wicked green eyes. And he needs her help.
His proposal is simple: She’ll teach him to write the perfect book boyfriend and he’ll pose as her real boyfriend, keeping Hope Harbor’s busybodies-and their obsession with Penny’s love life-at bay.
But when their lessons begin, the line between fiction and reality grows dangerously thin. As pretend kisses in the apple orchard turn into searing ones beneath the autumn moon, Penny begins to wonder if Monty could really love her, or if she’s destined for another broken heart.
Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore by Brittanee Nicole is the second book in the Hope Harbor series. Not having read the first book put me at a slight disadvantage initially, but I was able to sort through the characters and relationships pretty quickly.
The story begins in September and is told in alternating chapters by the two main characters, Penny and Monty. He’s a writer struggling with writer’s block and returns home to Hope Harbor to get through it. He lives with his father and grandmother since he can no longer afford to live in New York City. She owns the local bookstore, and they were best friends growing up. But could there be more? Especially when she convinces him to write a romance, and they decide to fake date? Penny is also his muse, and they embrace their romantic sides all under the guise of research. I loved their first date Monty planned. Things definitely heat up after that, and it’s oh so steamy.
The cute businesses are sprinkled about and have adorable names as we are immersed in all the nuances of the small town. There are a lot of social events in town all related to fall. There are vivid descriptions throughout, with every sense being bombarded. I loved all the messages and texts sprinkled throughout, and the addition of the pet cow, Daisy, was adorable. The epilogue ties up loose ends nicely after a few happily-ever-afters are achieved. A satisfying fake romance that turns into something very real.
Bonfire and Bliss Bookstore is a romcom set in a quirky small New England town that had a lot of swooning going on.
Brittanee is an author who lives in New England with her husband and two children. Her town is a character in itself in all of her books. When she is not writing she enjoys spending time outdoors by the water with her children, reading at the beach or by the pool (or really anywhere), dancing with her friends, singing Karaoke, spinning, bike riding and boating.
