Title: The Apple Pie Ice Cream Parlor
Author: Laurie Gilmore
Publisher: Van Ditmar
Genre: Romance
Pages: 90
My Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️🖤
The Apple Pie Ice Cream Parlor
Charlie and Leo are really good friends, but one morning they kissed — and now they can’t stop thinking about it. Suddenly the whole vibe between them shifts, and they have no idea how to act around each other. Torn between preserving their friendship and exploring their undeniable chemistry, will Charlie and Leo realize that love can be easy if you’re willing to open your heart?
Review
It feels a little strange to write a review for a book that hasn’t even been released in most of the world yet. The international release is planned for 2026, but I live in the Netherlands and every year we have an English Book Week. During that week, English books are promoted, and one author writes a special edition you receive for free. And honestly, I’m so lucky, all I had to do was buy one English book, and I got The Apple Pie Ice Cream Parlor for free.
This book is very short, only 90 pages. Laurie wrote it specifically for English Book Week, so it’s meant to be a small gift, but I still enjoyed it. Charlie and Leo work together at a school, and they’ve always liked each other. They’re close friends, but after that kiss, everything changes. They suddenly have no idea how to act around one another, and everyone around them can sense that something happened.
I liked the characters. It’s a little hard to form a deep opinion since the story is so short, but the main characters are definitely not unlikeable. Leo is also a firefighter, so he’s basically a hero and apparently Dream Harbor has several handsome fire fighters walking around. Sounds like every woman’s dream, right? Characters from previous Dream Harbor books are also mentioned, which I loved.
Overall, it was a cute read. I adore the Dream Harbor books, so when I heard Laurie Gilmore was writing the 2025 book-week gift, I had to get it. And the fact that it’s only 90 pages was actually perfect, because I’m trying to hit my reading goal for 2025. My only tiny complaint is that this book isn’t the same size as the other books in the series, so it looks a bit off on my bookshelf. But honestly, I can’t complain because I didn’t even pay for it.