Welcome to Solstice Springs … where it’s Halloween year-round, pink skeletons wear beachwear, and the town’s biggest debate is whether the ghosts are real or just good for business.

Wren Dunlop’s summer plan was simple:

• Hide from viral infamy ✓
• Drink rosé by the lake ✓
• Avoid all men forever ✓

Too bad her godmother (part-time witch and full-time Mayor) has other ideas.

Now Wren’s teaching dance for the Summerween spectacular, in a studio that might be haunted, and trying very hard not to notice the mysterious new guy in town, Dane Trafford.

Between bonfire wishes and midnight confessions, fairy lights and watermelon jack-o’-lanterns, Wren and Dane might just discover that Solstice Springs’ real magic isn’t supernatural…

Titles in the Halloween Town series include:  Summerween ~ Halloween Town ~ Hot Ghoul Summer ~ Talk Turkey to Me ~

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Title:  Summerween
Series: Halloween Town #1
Author:  Joss Wood
Published:  July 16, 2026
Publisher:  One More Chapter
My Rating:  4.5 stars

I have enjoyed Joss Wood’s contemporary romance work for several years now, and I was so glad to discover Summerween, the start of her Halloween Town series… a little bit of paranormal romance, a bit cozy, and a whole lot enjoyable… with town ghosts who have very strong opinions about the happenings around town and definitely the residents.  I had so much fun here.

Wren is back home to brood a bit, determined to get herself back in control after dealing with an ex she should probably ask her godmother to hex.  But said godmother is up to her usual shenanigans, and no, Wren is definitely not going to fall in line with Luna’s outrageous plots… but somehow manages to do exactly what Luna assumes will just happen.  She certainly didn’t count on meeting Dane- talk about a brooding surgeon with severe burnout and putting off making life decisions until he knows what the heck he really wants to do.  He just wants some quiet for a few months; ah, he picked the wrong small town for that!  Neither expected love to bloom between them amid festival planning, dance lessons, and interfering ghosts (that Dane is convinced is just everyone’s overactive imagination, for now at least).  But love doesn’t always come easy, and Wren and Dane will need to make some difficult decisions before they can even imagine a happy future together.  Decisions that will either pull them apart or make their bond stronger for having gone through the tough parts of life.  Luna’s watching from the sidelines, never doubting the outcome, which means they’ll follow her plan to the end.

I enjoyed Summerween.  While the chapters were a bit long, I’m not going to nitpick about something that wasn’t a huge deal to me.  I think shorter chapters would have flowed more smoothly for me, but I’m not a writer, so that’s a personal observation.  Overall, I enjoyed the story, the small-town vibe, and the cozy mystery feel as the resident ghosts get up to mischief and perhaps reveal some of the past that is still haunting them (and the town).  I will definitely be following this series.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.  I’m so grateful to the authors who put their work in KU; my book budget only stretches so far, and KU lets me read stories that aren’t in my monthly budget.

This title is available on Amazon