Book Review - The Candy Apple Cafe by Donna Ashcroft

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Title: The Candy Apple Cafe

Author: Donna Ashcroft

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: 25th August 2026

Rating: 5 Stars

A fun-loving baking queen with a heart of gold. Her gruff neighbour. A tiny Scottish town. Is this a recipe for love – or disaster? This is the utterly unputdownable spicy autumn romance you’ve been waiting for!

Seasonal spice + hot Scotsman = 🧡 🔥🌶️

When Izzi pulls up in her battered old car outside the Candy Apple Café, she takes a deep breath and channels her trademark optimism. She’s run away to Honey Haven to escape the mess her life is in right now. Only, she hasn’t bargained on a handsome, broad-shouldered Scotsman appearing out of nowhere and grilling her on why she’s parked there… it turns out the baking work she has lined up is in his gran’s café and he’s her new landlord...

Cameron is immediately rubbed up the wrong way by Izzi’s upbeat vibes and yet, his eyes keep meeting hers across his gran’s cake display at the Candy Apple Café. Cameron’s heart beats a little faster every time she looks up at him through those long, dark lashes and there are only so many times Izzi can pretend she hasn’t noticed the way he towers over her, his dark brooding eyes failing to avoid hers…

Then Izzi and Cameron find themselves thrown together to organise the town’s autumn festival. Planning a spectacular cinnamon-scented event as a surprise for his gran, they find themselves pressed up against each other as they work to turn a crumbling castle into the perfect haunted house filled with sweet treats…

But he’s closed off his heart. And she’s only meant to be in town for a few weeks.

Will the heat between grumpy Cameron and sunny Izzi dial up a notch? Or will their relationship turn as chilly as the autumn air in Honey Haven?

Snuggle up with a steamy hot drink and bed down with this spicy romance, filled with grumpy sunshine vibes and a dreamy HEA. Perfect for fans of Laurie Gilmore, Harper Graham, and Gilmore Girls!

It had been a long while since I last read a book by Donna Ashcroft but her seasonal releases this year have really caught my eye. And based on this first book in the new Honey Haven series, I'm really glad they have done. 

Izzi has taken a job at the Candy Apple Cafe in part because she needed a job, but specifically in Honey Haven, as she has an ulterior motive for ch0osing this Scottish town.  Cameron is very suspicious of her, but has been coerced into letting her stay in his hut, and sharing his kitchen and bathroom.  He is determined to protect Maud from any further issues, and is convinced Izzi will cause them. 

But there is a clear attraction between them, and although Izzi isn't being entirely truthful, it's not through choice, and it's not in a nefarious way. 

Izzi is though a master baker, and omg some of what she was baking had my mouth totally watering. She's also a really thoughtful person and is determined to help give Maud a Halloween to remember, with the help of the town.  

I loved seeing how they were trying to overcome things in their pasts, and was curious to see if they would find a way to be together.  I am really enjoying the setting of Honey Haven too and am already looking forward to the next book. 

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.