Hearts at the Lantern Cafe: A Small Town Halloween Forced Proximity Romance Story

By: Emma Rivers

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

When a wrong turn leads architect Isaac Fransen to the charming hamlet of Lantern Grove during their legendary Halloween season, he expects nothing more than quick directions back to Boston. What he finds instead is a century-old café with structural problems he can't explain—and a baker whose pumpkin spice coffee tastes like memories he'd forgotten he had.

Clara Juniper has five days to save her grandmother's café from condemnation, and she's running out of options. The building inspector is circling, a ruthless developer wants to tear it down, and the repair costs are astronomical. The last thing she needs is a handsome stranger pointing out every crack in her walls—even if he does offer to help fix them before Halloween.

But as Clara and Isaac work together to restore the café through jack-o'-lantern festivals and haunted hayrides, they discover that some buildings hold secrets deeper than faulty wiring. Her great-great-grandmother and his great-great-grandfather built something extraordinary together—and now Clara and Isaac must decide if they're brave enough to do the same.

In a town where October magic lingers in every corner and the boundary between impossible and inevitable is as thin as a paper ghost, can a skeptical architect and a determined baker build something that lasts? Or will Halloween night reveal that some foundations were never meant to hold?

A cozy small-town romance where century-old cafés glow with golden light, midnight rituals require more than courage, and love proves to be the most powerful magic of all.