Book Review: the Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore

January 16, 2026

I am playing catch up still with my maternity leave throwing a lot of things off, so thank you for your patience in me getting all these reviews out!

I’m not gonna lie to you. I think this was the most saucy of all the Laurie Gilmore books. I have read. For the most part, I don’t know that I would consider her books terribly saucy, but this one was a little bit more on the graphic side. I thought the story was cute, but I’m not sure I would suggest it to my mom. All that to be said, I did really enjoy the book and would suggested it to other people.

We finally follow the story of Annie, one of our longtime favorite side characters in the dream Hollow world. Her story has dual timelines of when she and Mac first met and this year while they’re trying to plan, and execute, Logan and Jeannie‘s Christmas wedding. All of our favorite characters are back for the wedding of the duo from the first book and if we’re not a reason, I would suggest this book for that we get to see how the stories progress. Annie is the stubborn bakery owner and Mac is the flirtatious bar owner and everyone has been wanting them to get together for years. Much to everyone’s dismay, Annie is very against this, and no one really knows why. There has to be some kind of history there, but she  refuses to tell even her closest friends. Annie is proud, and has never been someone who wants others to see her vulnerabilities so when, three years ago, the boy she may have been in love with the year after high school ended, comes back to town, she does the only thing she feels like she can: hate him. But her facade of hate only works for so long before it disintegrates into desire. How is she supposed to protect herself with all this love around? Can she ever trust him again after her broke her trust so long ago? Why does it feel like he night be the one?

This is probably my least favorite dream harbor book so far, I am going to be honest, but like the rest of them, this was a very quick and easy read. It’s sweet and simple and just what you need around the holidays.