She’s happy with her life as is.
A decade ago, recently divorced Lena Rhodes bought the abandoned Mermaid Cafe, fixed it up, and began a journey to build it into an institution on the pier in Mermaid Bay, Oregon. She likes to tell people she didn’t save the Mermaid Cafe as much as it saved her. It’s her baby. And the town of Mermaid Bay has become her found family. At forty, she’s not going anywhere.

He needs to prove to his father that he’s worthy.
Cade Delaney has been his father’s right-hand man for over twenty years. Now in his mid-forties, he’s ready to take the reins. Only his father still wants proof that Cade can handle the business. If Cade can put together a big real estate deal to develop the beach boardwalk in Mermaid Bay, his father will finally retire, and Cade can finally be his own man.

There are sparks from the moment they meet.
Sometimes your worst enemy turns out to be the person you didn’t know you needed.

Love, Laughter, and Second Chances—Who Says Romance Ends at 40?

Titles in the multi-author The Midlife Meet Cute series: Battle of the Exes by Ellie Hartwood ~ Fixing Up My Love Life by Cindy Ray Hale ~ Love Takes a Tumble by Susanne Ash ~ Beauty and the Grease by Stephanie J. Scott ~ The Summer I Stayed by Bella Greene ~ Shot on Goal at a Second Chance by Dineen Miller ~ Love & Lattes at The Mermaid Café by Melinda Curtis

This is a clean, sweet romance with either closed doors or fade to black, or only kissing.

Title:  Love & Lattes at The Mermaid Café
Series:  Midlife Meet Cute #7
Author:  Melinda Curtis
Published:  August 12, 2025
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Love & Lattes at the Mermaid Cafe is the seventh (and final?) story in the multi-author Midlife Meet Cute series.  I have not read the earlier titles, although I will go back to the beginning since this series has now captured my imagination.

Lea and Cade make up an unlikely couple.  She’s bought a cafe in this small coastal town, and is fiercely protective of the businesses that have been here for generations.  He’s the son of a powerful property developer, a man who has to prove himself to his father, over and over again.  This small town is perfect for development, to bring it into the modern world, up the tourist traffic, and finally have his father value Cade’s role in the business.  Stubborn meet even more stubborn.

I had a good time in Love & Lattes at the Mermaid Cafe, but then I usually do with this author’s work.  While it’s a short read, it does provide an emotional punch, as lessons are learned on both sides of this battle that change the direction of two lives.  I may have giggle-snorted through some of the shenanigans of that infamous “tour” that Lena took Cade on. If you love a well-written, emotional romance, with a couple you’ll enjoy who are no longer in the first blush of youth, then you’d enjoy Love & Lattes at the Mermaid Cafe by Melinda Curtis.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

This title is available at Amazon (affiliate link)