In Laurie Gilmore’s latest installment of the Dream Harbor series, The Strawberry Patch Pancake House, a renowned chef and a commitment-phobic nanny find love amid pancake batter and childcare chaos.
A Fresh Addition to Dream Harbor
There’s something irresistibly comforting about returning to Dream Harbor, the charming coastal town that Laurie Gilmore has lovingly crafted throughout her series. In her fourth installment, The Strawberry Patch Pancake House, Gilmore serves up another heartwarming romance that, like the perfect pancake, manages to be both fluffy and satisfying.
After exploring the cozy corners of The Pumpkin Spice Café, the literary world of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store, and the holiday magic of The Christmas Tree Farm, Gilmore now invites readers into the world of fine dining – Dream Harbor style. The town continues to be a character in itself, with its quirky residents, seasonal festivals, and an uncanny ability to meddle in everyone’s love life. Fans of the series will delight in cameos from familiar faces, while newcomers can easily jump in without feeling lost.
The Main Ingredients: Plot and Characters
Archer Baer, a former Parisian head chef with Michelin-star ambitions, has his perfectly planned life upended when he discovers he has a five-year-old daughter named Olive. Following the death of her mother, Archer relocates to Dream Harbor to provide stability for Olive, taking over as head chef at the local diner despite his culinary snobbery. Meanwhile, Iris Fraser – local yoga instructor extraordinaire with a penchant for job-hopping – reluctantly agrees to become Olive’s nanny despite having zero childcare experience.
What follows is a delightful dance of reluctant attraction, professional boundaries, and the unexpected formation of a family. When Iris’s nannying duties include taste-testing Archer’s experimental pancake recipes late at night, sparks inevitably fly.
Character Development: A Recipe for Growth
Gilmore excels at creating characters with emotional depth. Archer’s journey from ambitious, self-focused chef to devoted father is particularly compelling. His struggles feel authentic – from his initial awkwardness with Olive to his frustration with Dream Harbor’s stubborn attachment to their traditional pancake recipe. His character arc demonstrates that success can be redefined, and sometimes what we think we want isn’t what will truly make us happy.
Iris is equally well-drawn, though at times her commitment issues feel slightly overplayed. Her fear of long-term relationships and children stems from her upbringing with a mother who changed boyfriends as frequently as hairstyles. Her internal struggle between her growing feelings for both Archer and Olive and her fear of disappointing them creates genuine emotional stakes.
Little Olive steals every scene she’s in. Gilmore has a gift for writing children who feel like real people rather than plot devices. Olive’s grief for her mother, her hesitant attachment to Archer, and her innocent matchmaking attempts are both heartbreaking and heartwarming.
The Sweet and the Sticky: Strengths and Weaknesses
What Works Well:
- The culinary details – From Archer’s pancake experiments to his tender descriptions of cooking for his growing family, the food writing is mouth-watering and authentic.
- Found family dynamics – The gradual bonding between Archer, Iris, and Olive feels earned rather than forced, with setbacks and small victories that build to a satisfying conclusion.
- Supporting characters – Dream Harbor continues to be populated with memorable personalities who contribute meaningfully to the story while setting up future books (I’m particularly intrigued by Annie and Mac’s upcoming story!)
- The treatment of parenthood – Gilmore doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges of parenting. From Olive’s sleepwalking episodes to her disappearance at the Strawberry Festival, the book acknowledges that being a parent is terrifying and mistakes are inevitable.
Where It Falls Flat:
- The pacing meanders in the middle section. The will-they-won’t-they dynamic between Archer and Iris drags slightly before they finally act on their attraction.
- Iris’s departure feels somewhat contrived. While her panic after Olive goes missing is understandable, her decision to leave without a proper goodbye seems out of character given her growing attachment to both Archer and Olive.
- The pregnancy twist, while providing a satisfying resolution, feels slightly rushed and convenient rather than an organic development of the story.
- Dream Harbor sometimes veers into caricature with its excessive festival enthusiasm and small-town nosiness, though longtime readers of the series will likely find this charming rather than distracting.
Romance That Sizzles Like a Hot Griddle
The romance between Archer and Iris builds slowly and convincingly, with plenty of sexual tension before they finally give in to their attraction. Their chemistry is palpable – from their initial meeting where Iris spills a kale smoothie down Archer’s shirt to their late-night pancake-tasting sessions in the kitchen.
What makes their relationship work is how they challenge each other. Iris helps Archer loosen up and embrace the quirks of small-town life, while Archer shows Iris that commitment doesn’t have to be scary. Their romance follows familiar tropes – forced proximity, employer/employee, single dad – but Gilmore executes them with enough freshness to keep readers engaged.
The intimate scenes strike a good balance between steamy and sweet, focusing more on emotional connection than explicit detail, which fits the overall tone of the series.
A Slice of Small-Town Life
Gilmore continues to excel at world-building, making Dream Harbor feel like a real place readers might want to visit. The town meetings, the Strawberry Festival, and the farmers’ market scenes all contribute to the immersive experience. Particularly delightful is the town’s obsession with the diner’s “original” pancake recipe and their collective horror when Archer attempts to elevate it.
The rebranding of the diner to The Strawberry Patch Pancake House serves as a perfect metaphor for Archer’s character development – embracing a new identity while honoring tradition.
Final Verdict: A Satisfying Addition to the Series
The Strawberry Patch Pancake House delivers exactly what fans of small-town romance are looking for: heartwarming moments, genuine emotion, and a satisfying happily-ever-after. Gilmore balances humor and heart, creating a story that’s both entertaining and emotionally resonant.
While the book follows a familiar romance formula, it’s elevated by strong character development and the continuing charm of Dream Harbor. It’s worth noting that this can be read as a standalone, though the experience is enriched by familiarity with the previous books in the series.
Perfect for fans of:
- Emily Henry’s small-town romances
- Christina Lauren’s The Soulmate Equation
- Tessa Bailey’s It Happened One Summer
- Any romance featuring food and cooking
The Dream Harbor Series (in reading order):
- The Pumpkin Spice Café – Jeanie and Logan’s story
- The Cinnamon Bun Book Store – Hazel and Noah’s story
- The Christmas Tree Farm – Kira and Bennett’s story
- The Strawberry Patch Pancake House – Archer and Iris’s story
- The Gingerbread Bakery – Coming soon (Annie and Mac’s story)
A Taste of What’s to Come
With tantalizing hints about Annie and Mac’s enemies-to-lovers story in the upcoming The Gingerbread Bakery, Gilmore ensures readers will be hungry for more Dream Harbor romance. If you’ve enjoyed the previous installments, The Strawberry Patch Pancake House will feel like coming home to a warm meal prepared by someone who knows exactly what you like.
The book’s epilogue, featuring the birth of Archer and Iris’s son and Olive’s decision to call Iris “Mom,” provides the perfect cherry on top of this sweet confection. It reminds us that families come in all forms, and sometimes the best ones are the ones we choose and build together.
Like the namesake pancake house with its strawberry-themed decor and comfort food with a twist, this novel offers familiar pleasures with just enough originality to keep readers coming back for another serving. Gilmore has found her niche in creating love stories that feel both cozy and contemporary, making Dream Harbor a delightful place to visit again and again.
So grab your favorite breakfast treat, curl up with this book, and prepare to be transported to a world where love, family, and the perfect pancake recipe are the ingredients for happiness.
