She came home to start over. Falling for Cal Mercer was not on the menu.

Rachel Ashby expected Christmas in Peppermint Falls to be temporary. She never expected to find the first thing she’d wanted for herself in years.

Now Cocoa Cottage is hers, and Rachel has a plan: turn her love of baking into something of her own.

Then the oven dies.

The only kitchen she can use belongs to Cal Mercer—the infuriating owner of the Cocoa Café and the man Rachel has spent years blaming for taking the future they once planned to build together.

Cal remembers things differently.

But with New Year’s approaching, he’s suddenly short a baker. Rachel needs his kitchen. Cal needs her help. One reluctant bargain means spending every night side by side, arguing over recipes, competing over pastries, and discovering the chemistry between them has nothing to do with baking.

As old resentment gives way to something neither expected, Rachel must decide whether being needed is enough—or whether she’s finally ready to choose what she wants.

Even if what she wants is him.

Titles in the Peppermint Falls series include:  Mistletoe Cottage ~ Cocoa Cottage ~ Peppermint Cottage ~

This is a no-spice romance, perhaps with closed-door or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved.

Title:  Cocoa Cottage at Peppermint Falls
Series:  Peppermint Falls #2
Author:  Liv Hollis
Published:  October 8, 2026
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Cocoa Cottage at Peppermint Falls is the second title in the Peppermint Falls series, featuring the second of three sisters who return home at their deceased grandmother’s request, as part of the inheritance she left her granddaughters.  Merritt and Nate opened the series with their second-chance romance; now it’s Rachel’s turn.  Rachel has good reasons (for her) never to even imagine a second chance with Cal.  She’s fully aware of their past, of the betrayal she felt, and she’s not in line to experience that ever again.  But what if it’s not as cut and dried as she’s always believed?

I enjoyed Rachel and Cal’s story.  It is well-written, engaging, and emotional on several levels.  Both are just as stubborn, opinionated, and convinced they alone understood what happened back then.  Watching resentment give way to something softer, something possible for each of them, was a lovely experience.  Toss in some small-town Christmas magic, a grandmother who always knew what was right for her girls and managed to matchmake from beyond, and secondary characters who bring the story to life, and you have a good, solid romance.  If that sounds like your kind of Christmas Romance, then you’d love this one.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. I chose to leave a review with my personal opinion of this book.*

This title is available on Amazon