The Pumpkin Spice Café

Laurie Gilmore positions her setting, the small New England town of Dream Harbor, as representative of The Feeling of Belonging. Having grown up visiting her aunt’s coffee shop, Jeanie views Dream Harbor as an idyllic community, an almost magical space. When she leaves her job in Boston wondering what to do with her life, Jeanie returns to Dream Harbor a place to which she has always felt connected. Jeanie’s desire for a fresh start and longing for a place to truly belong raise the stakes of her early days in the town and escalate her fears that she won’t fit into the community. Over the course of her arc, Jeanie struggles to integrate herself into the community because she initially believes that to do so, she needs to reinvent herself into someone new. Jeanie eventually learns that she can find belonging in Dream Harbor just as she is. For Logan, Dream Harbor represents his past failures and public rejection. Logan takes to only visiting the town to make his deliveries before the sun is up so he doesn’t have to speak to anyone. Through their romance, Logan and Jeanie eventually learn that loving and accepting themselves for who they are allows them to connect deeper with each other and their community.