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Laurie Gilmore

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Laurie Gilmore
Pen name
  • Laurie Gilmore
  • Melissa McTernan
Years active2021-present
Notable works
  • The Pumpkin Spice Cafe (2023)
  • The Christmas Tree Farm (2024)
Notable awardsTikTok Book Awards
2024
Website
www.thelauriegilmore.com/about/

Laurie Gilmore is the pen name of American author Mellissa McTernan. She is best known for her ongoing contemporary romance series Dream Harbour.[1] The first book in the series, The Pumpkin Spice Café (2023), won the TikTok Book Awards Book of the Year in 2024.[2][3]

Career

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Dream Harbour Series

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In 2023, Gilmore released the first novel in her ongoing Dream Harbour series: The Pumpkin Spice Café.[4] Gilmore was asked to write the book by HarperCollins after signing a contract for her Wolf Brothers series under her real name.[5] In an article by The Times, the process of the books creation was described by an un-named literary agent as having involved "algorithms devised by their [HarperCollins] marketing people" before "they got a writer on board".[6] The book, described by Good Morning America as "a romantic mystery read"[7] follows a woman, Jeanie, who moves to a small town and falls in love with a local farmer, Logan.[8] The book became popular on TikTok[9] and went on to win the TikTok Shop book of the year at the 2024 TikTok Book Awards.[2]

The follow up book, The Cinnamon Bun Book Store, was released in September 2024. In October 2024, Gilmore released The Christmas Tree Farm. This second release of 2024 led to an increase in sales of The Cinnamon Bun Book Store, with both selling a combined 24 thousand print copies 2 weeks after The Christmas Tree Farm's release.[10] The Christmas Tree Farm sold 14,720 copies in its first week[11] and was a Sunday Times Bestseller.[12] The Cinnamon Bun Book Store was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Readers' Favourite Romance in 2024.[13]

In 2025, the fourth and fifth[14] books in the series were released. In its first 3 weeks of sales, the series' fourth instalment, The Strawberry Patch Pancake House, sold 25,863 copies, the third highest non-World Book Day single week sales figures of 2025 at the time of its release.[15] A Netherlands and Belgium exclusive short story, written as a promotional story for English Book Week 2025, and distributed by Van Ditmar was also published.[16]

Reviews of the series have been mixed. A review by Publishers Weekly praised The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore, calling it a "charming break from reality",[17] whilst a review by Johanna Thomas-Corr in The Times described the books as "SEO-friendly Frankenliterature".[6] The Dream Harbour series has been translated into 31 languages.[16] Videos about the books have been viewed over 26 million times on TikTok[18] and books from the series have featured on The New York Times, The Sunday Times,[19] Indie, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.[20]

Publishing as Melissa McTernan

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Under the name Melissa McTernan, Gilmore has written romantic fantasy. Beginning writing in 2019 whilst her children were at school, her debut novel under this name was published in 2021.[1][5] In 2022, she won the Stiletto Award for "Contemporary Romance - Short", for her novella Secret Family Recipes for Love and Butter Cookies, published under this name.[21]

Her first series under this pen name, The Wolf Brothers trilogy, began with the release of A Curse of Blood and Wolves by One More Chapter, an imprint of HarperCollins, in 2024. The book, described by Good Housekeeping as "Little Red Riding Hood - but make it hot!" was released in September 2024.[22] A Sequel, titled A Curse of Fate and Wolves, is expected to be released in April 2026.[23]

Personal life

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Gilmore lives in Upstate New York with her husband and children.[24] Before her writing career she was a stay-at-home mother.[1]

Bibliography

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Dream Harbour Series

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  • —— (2023). The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780008610678.
  • —— (2024). The Cinnamon Bun Book Store. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780008641580.
  • —— (2024). The Christmas Tree Farm. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780008610746.
  • —— (2025). The Strawberry Patch Pancake House. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780008713348.
  • —— (2025). The Gingerbread Bakery. ISBN 9780008728090.
  • —— (2025). The Apple Pie Ice Cream Parlour. Van Ditmar. ISBN 9780008794521.
  • —— (2026). The Daisy Chain Flower Shop. ISBN 9780008761479.

Companion Books

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  • —— (2025). The Pumpkin Spice Cafe Coloring Book. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780008759858.

Wolf Brothers series (as Melissa McTernan)

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Standalone works (as Melissa McTernan)

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Short fiction (as Melissa McTernan)

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  • "Once Upon an Assassin's Kiss" (2022; collected in Sacred: A Charity Romance Anthology for Bodily Autonomy (2022)) ASIN B0B81B5K7K
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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Inside the mind of viral BookTok sensation Laurie Gilmore". Cosmopolitan. 2024-11-26. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  2. ^ a b "BookTok: Jewell and Yarros among winners at 2024 TikTok Book Awards". BBC News. 2024-07-25. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  3. ^ Haring, Bruce (2024-07-26). "TikTok Book Awards Name Rebecca Yarros's 'Fourth Wing' As International Book Of The Year". Deadline. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  4. ^ "The Dream Harbor Series by Laurie Gilmore". www.harpercollins.com. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  5. ^ a b Aslanian, Emily. "Going Viral on BookTok & Christmas Romances: A Conversation with Laurie Gilmore". Swooon. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  6. ^ a b Thomas-Corr, Johanna (2024-12-28). "'Cosy kink' — the biggest books trend you've never heard of". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  7. ^ America, Good Morning. "It's pumpkin spice season! Shop beauty, home, snacks and more to celebrate". Good Morning America. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  8. ^ "The Pumpkin Spice Café (Deluxe Edition) (Dream Harbor, Book 1)". HarperCollins Publishers UK. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  9. ^ Herbst, Samantha. "INTERVIEW | TikTok fan fave Laurie Gilmore balances the sweet and steamy in The Pumpkin Spice Café". News24. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  10. ^ Publishers Weekly (4 November 2024). "TIKTOK BOOM". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 271, no. 42. p. 11. Archived from the original on 15 October 2025.
  11. ^ "Romantic Fiction tops book buyers' Christmas wish-list". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  12. ^ "Dream Harbor - The Christmas Tree Farm (Dream Harbor, Book 3)". HarperCollins - Rights. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  13. ^ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Readers' Favorite Romance!". Goodreads. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  14. ^ Thompson, Cher (2025-09-16). "The Gingerbread Bakery Review: A Sweet Treat For Dream Harbor Series Fans". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  15. ^ "Happy Gilmore: The Strawberry Patch Pancake House hits the top spot". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  16. ^ a b "Boekgeschenk 2025". NL - De Week van het Engelse Boek (in Dutch). Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  17. ^ "The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore by Laurie Gilmore". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  18. ^ "Laurie Gilmore's Delicious New Book The Gingerbread Bakery Is Coming — See the Cover! (Exclusive)". People.com. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  19. ^ Hackett, Laura (2024-12-22). "Revealed: the Sunday Times 50 bestselling books of 2024". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  20. ^ Community (2025-10-02). "The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists". BOOK RIOT. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  21. ^ "2022 Stiletto Contest Finalists and Winners – Contemporary Romance Writers". Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  22. ^ "What is faerie porn and why should I be reading it?". Good Housekeeping. 2025-02-04. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  23. ^ "A Curse of Fate and Wolves (Wolf Brothers, Book 2)". HarperCollins Publishers UK. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
  24. ^ "About | Melissa McTernan: Short, sweet, and steamy romance". Melissa A. McTernan. Retrieved 2025-10-15.
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