44 pages • 1 hour read
Laurie GilmoreThe Cinnamon Bun Book Store
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 25-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 25 Summary
After telling Annie and Jeanie everything that has happened with Noah, Hazel’s friends try to convince her that Noah is in love with her, and she admits that she is in love with him. Hazel doesn’t know what to do, especially since she doesn’t know whether Noah will return to Dream Harbor. Annie and Jeanie are convinced that Noah is the one leaving the clues, and they think he has a grand finale planned for her birthday. As the three enter the bookstore, Alex tells Hazel that another book has been marked up. The book is a diary with Hazel’s birthday circled, and a note telling her to go to Mac’s bar at seven o’clock that night and bring friends.
Chapter 26 Summary
Noah gets a text from Hazel as he is looking into getting forms for his beach rentals. He hopes starting to work on this idea will prove to Hazel that he is good enough for her and that he will be back in Dream Harbor after he is done helping his sister. However, he is confused because Hazel’s details about the new clue are sparse. He receives another phone call that he expects is from his nieces, yet he is surprised to see his entire family calling on the phone. As his mother and sisters argue about how to best guilt Noah into coming home, Noah exchanges small talk with his father, who surprises him by suddenly admitting that he is proud of Noah. Noah admits that he was unsure of that, and the whole family is happy that they seem to have reconciled, while Noah starts to feel homesick.
Chapter 27 Summary
Noah and Hazel haven’t seen each other since their boat trip, and they meet again at her birthday party, which Noah finds to be surprisingly empty. As he and Hazel go to the bar to get drinks, Hazel admits that she knows Noah is the one leaving the clues, but his reaction quickly makes clear that she is wrong. As Hazel tries to backtrack and Noah tries to explain that he is coming back to Dream Harbor, Hazel’s parents, friends, and coworkers all rush into the bar with cake and balloons. Hazel’s father, Mayor Kelly, steps forward to reveal that it was his idea to lead her on a scavenger hunt of adventures. He explains the clues were a group effort by many of the townsfolk. Despite the smiles Hazel gives as she greets her guests, Noah can see that Hazel is still disappointed that he wasn’t the one who left the clues, and he knows he must finally tell her the truth about how he feels.
Seeking refuge from the party, Hazel goes outside, where Logan eventually finds her. Hazel confesses to Logan that she feels embarrassed, especially because the whole town thought she needed to get out of the bookstore and start to have fun with her life, but Logan assures her that is not what anyone really thinks, especially Noah. Logan also tells her that Noah is serious about her and is currently talking to her dad about the beach rentals. He plans to come back to Dream Harbor after his sister’s pregnancy. Though Hazel is still uncertain where this leaves her and Noah, she feels comforted by what her friend tells her.
Chapter 28 Summary
For the rest of the party, Hazel avoids being alone with Noah, not wanting to hear his apology or that she was wrong about how he feels about her on her birthday. Nonetheless, she does have a good time at the party and is happy that her father sent her on a scavenger hunt. When Hazel gets to the bookstore the next morning, she sees a mysterious stack of books on her desk. Each book is dog-eared and has highlighted passages like the clues left for her scavenger hunt, but this time all the passages are about love and friendship. In the penultimate book, Hazel finds a note from Noah at the bottom of the page, confirming that these books are actually from him. The last book is a weekly planner, in which Noah circled that day’s date and told her to meet him by the water at eight o’clock.
Noah waits nervously at the beach by the old fisherman’s cottages. When Hazel arrives, he tries to explain to her that he talked to her father and is working on the cottages, and how he wants to return to Dream Harbor after going home if she will have him. Before Noah can continue, Hazel stops him, telling him that he doesn’t need to prove that he is good enough to be with her, because she loves him as he is. After Noah also confesses his love for Hazel, she shows him that she has gotten all the proper paperwork for him to start work on the cottages, showing that she knew he could do it all along.
Chapter 29 Summary
Noah and Hazel head into the renovated cottage, where they admit the full depth of their emotions and have sex.
Chapter 30 Summary
Two months later, Noah is back in Dream Harbor after spending time helping his family. At a “Friendsgiving” dinner hosted by Jeanie and Logan, Noah asks Logan if he plans to propose to Jeanie today.
Epilogue Summary
Six months later, Hazel and Noah take a vacation to Aruba after working hard on the bookstore and vacation cottages. They also plan to visit Noah’s new nephew afterward, as he has become increasingly close with his family over the last few months. Noah brings up the idea of them getting married on the island and asks her if she would consider it. Thinking about all the fun and adventures they will have together, Hazel happily agrees.
Chapter 25-Epilogue Analysis
Toward the end of the novel, Hazel finally begins to recognize what she wants out of her life and her relationship with Noah. When faced with the fact that Noah will be leaving Dream Harbor, Hazel knows she must make a conscious decision to maintain their relationship while Noah does what he needs to do to support his family. Though Noah’s departure is a disappointment, it also gives Hazel the space to recognize that she is content with her life and sufficient in herself. At the beginning of the novel, Hazel worried that her unadventurous nature meant that she was not living up to her potential. By the end, she has moved From Self-Doubt to Self-Acceptance: “[I]t was fine that she had never sowed any wild oats or ever had any wild oats to begin with. She was thirty years old and she knew who she was […] She was allowed to be content. She was allowed to not want anything more than this” (218). Hazel ultimately recognizes that she does not have to conform to a stereotype. She can be quiet and bookish but also fun and flirtatious and much more. With this realization, she starts to enjoy experiences that she would not have enjoyed previously. For example, though she doesn’t typically like parties, she has fun at her surprise birthday party. At the beginning of the novel, Hazel mentions wanting a life full of stories, and in the epilogue, she barely has to think about marrying Noah because she knows “her life with Noah would be filled with good stories” (241). It takes until the end of the novel, but Hazel finally proves to herself that she is enough.
Noah is slower than Hazel to recognize that he is worthy of a fulfilling life and relationship. His conversation with his father in Chapter 26 helps him to realize that he is not a disappointment to his family; however, Hazel’s disappointment after learning that Noah wasn’t the one leaving the clues reaffirms some of Noah’s earlier beliefs. Hazel’s disappointment makes Noah feel that he hasn’t done enough to be with her, threatening all the progress they have made in their relationship. This plot development—a significant obstacle occurring just as the couple seems on the verge of lasting happiness—is a convention in romance fiction. In response to this challenge, Noah becomes fixated on proving himself to Hazel and showing her that he is serious enough about his life to be with her. This impulse is counterproductive: Hazel doesn’t need Noah to prove his worth to her; she only wants him to believe in himself. In Chapter 28, Noah is nervous about telling Hazel that he has been working on the fisherman’s cottages, having “convinced himself he needed this to prove to Hazel that he was worth her time” (203). Despite Noah’s need to impress Hazel, she knows that Noah doesn’t need to do anything to impress her any further. As he tries to prove he is serious, Hazel asks Noah, “Why are you still trying to convince me that you’re worth it?” (223), showing him that she loves him regardless.
As is conventional in contemporary romance, every character in The Cinnamon Bun Book Store gets the ending they have earned. After working hard at building their relationship and becoming better as individuals, Hazel and Noah are rewarded with their expected happily ever after. The final chapter and epilogue end happily and point toward happiness in the future, not only for Noah and Hazel but for their friends and family as well. Noah and Hazel’s romantic life is on solid ground, and all other aspects of their lives are improving as well. Noah has reconnected with his family, whom he visits every few weeks, and Hazel has learned to take time to enjoy herself more often, again highlighting the theme of Romance as Source of Self-Confidence. Both characters change dynamically by the end of the novel, showing their growth. At the end of the novel, Laurie Gilmore also leaves hints about other characters and their happy endings, setting up the premise for the next novels in the Dream Harbor series.
