REVIEW: The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn by Valerie Bowman

The Honeycrisp Orchard Inn by Valerie Bowman: Ellie Lawson has been working hard for an event planning company for quite a while. All of a sudden her whole life blows up. Her boyfriend, with whom she shares an apartment, dumps her and then gets her fired after he has stolen her presentation and passes it off as his own. With no where else to go she travels back to her hometown and her parents’ inn. She can stay in the attic apartment there while she looks for a new job.
She is more than a little surprised when she finds Aiden in the apartment. After the initial shock, they decide to share the apartment until repairs can be done at his home. Aiden is the son of the owner of a nearby orchard.

Soon both of them are in charge of the annual Harvest Festival. Ellie can use her event planning skills to expand the Festival so it can help with the inn and the orchard . Both of them are having issues. Ellie believes she can help make the Festival a success and then move on to new career opportunities. The longer she works with Aiden on the plans, the more Ellie remembers how special her home town is.

Ellie also looks at Aiden with different eyes now that they are working so closely together . The chemistry is lurking right below the surface. Will it be enough to change Ellie’s future decisions?

Valerie Bowman is a new to me author. I loved every moment of this story. It lifted me out of the stress of everyday life and transported me to a place that was perfumed with all the lovely smells of Fall. Since this novel is labeled as #1 in a series, I am truly looking forward to a second.

Book Info:

Publication: September 5, 2025 | Avon | Honeycrisp Orchard #1

For fans of the Lovelight series and The Pumpkin Spice Café, this cozy and sexy romance follows a young event planner who returns to her family’s inn on an apple orchard to help run their Harvest Festival–only to find herself butting heads with the handsome son of the apple orchard’s owners.

Ellie Lawson’s city life was treating her just fine until a sour turn of events knocks her out in one fell swoop. Dumped by her boyfriend and fired from her event planning job, she is left with no choice but to return to her parents’ idyllic inn, nestled within a picturesque Honeycrisp orchard on Long Island. Anticipating a quiet hiatus in the attic apartment, she is instead met with Aiden, the stubborn, attractive son of the orchard owner who is currently occupying her planned refuge.

Forced together by circumstance, they find themselves not only roommates but also coworkers, when they’re put in charge by their parents of the orchard’s vital Harvest Festival, a lifeline for both the struggling orchard and the inn. Amidst the enchanting disorder of small-town life, Ellie and Aiden grapple with their conflicting values, burgeoning feelings, and an electrifying tension.

As Ellie discovers the unexpected charm of the life she left behind and Aiden learns there’s much more to Ellie than he’d first assumed, one fact remains: the future of the orchard and the inn depends on their unlikely collaboration.

Embark on a captivating journey of rediscovery, love, and the irreplaceable magic of small-town life.