Pumpkin Spice

Tagan Shepard's Pumpkin Spice follows Nicki Russell, an awkward woman who is accustomed to watching her plans fall short. Money kept her from the college she wanted, postgraduate study remains something she may pursue later, and a major heartbreak has convinced her to give up on love. Her current strategy is to avoid unnecessary contact with other people, especially Carter, the attractive new butch woman in town.

Avoidance becomes impossible because Carter works at the local pick-your-own pumpkin patch. Nicki's niece is devoted to Halloween and persuades her favorite aunt to organize the school festival, which will be hosted at Carter Farms. Volunteer weekends place Nicki in the path of the person she most wants to evade. She worries that Carter will notice how easily she trips over furniture and how badly she handles even the possibility of flirting.

Carter, however, keeps seeking Nicki's company. Their repeated accidental meetings begin to warm into a romance, challenging Nicki's belief that she is a complete disaster. As the festival approaches, the work of organizing a public celebration becomes inseparable from her private willingness to risk another connection. Pumpkin Spice turns an autumn community event into a gentle test of whether embarrassment and past heartbreak must determine what Nicki allows herself to hope for.