Review: Summerween (Halloween Town #1)

Summerween, Book 1 in the Halloween Town Series by Joss Wood

Published By: One More Chapter
Publication Date: July 16, 2026
Date Read: July 24, 2026
Genre: Adult – Romance
Source: Bought
Format: Paperback
Pages: 349

Add to Goodreads | Add to Storygraph

Halloween just got hotter…Professional dancer Wren Callahan’s plan for the summer is sip margaritas by the lake, bask in anonymity, and dodge any drama from her ex. Instead, her meddling godmother Luna –Halloween Town’s mayor and resident white witch – ropes her into choreographing a teen performance at the first Summerween festival.

Her most challenging student? Dane – a burned-out former trauma surgeon hiding out for the summer in Halloween Town. Despite his two left feet, he’s determined to prove to some of the uptight locals that guys can – and should – express themselves through dance.

As they learn new steps, and more about each other, will Summerween season work its magic on them? Or will the skeletons in their closets keep them apart?

Summerween is not a book that I have been aware of for very long. It was a total impulse buy, as I am not usually a big lover of contemporary romance books. However, as I was struggling to get into anything, I felt like I needed something differrent to my usual read. When I saw this, it was perfect. I am a self-professed Halloween girlie, so I was excited to dive in. I am so glad that I picked this one up on a whim, as this book was an absolute delight.

Summerween is set in Solstice Springs, or more commonly known as ‘Halloween Town’. It’s a town that celebrates Halloween all year long. Half of its occupants are true believers in the paranormal, believing that the town is haunted by ghosts. The other half believe it’s just a commercial tourist attraction. Wren, our FMC is not a true believer, but she is back in Halloween Town for her summer, and she gets wrangled into helping out with the Summerween festivities. This is where she meets Dane, a trauma medic with some serious PTSD and sparks fly between them.

This was such a fun, cute read. I really enjoyed every moment of this book. The romance was super cute, and I really loved that the characters had depth to them. Dane was going through PTSD due to what he had seen as a trauma medic, and Wren suffers from abandonment issues. I really enjoyed that the characters grew together as they worked through their issues. It gave so much more depth to the characters, rather than it being a really superficial relationship. They did have some serious miscommunication issues, but with their other issues, I can forgive them a little bit for that.

One thing I loved most about this book was the ghostly storyline. You find out pretty quickly that the town is haunted, and we see the perspective of the ghosts quite a lot. That was the bit I enjoyed the most. The idea of these ghosts just hanging out and getting overly involved in the lives of the people living in the town. It made it feel light and fun. I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.

Summerween was such a joyful, fun and romantic read. For someone who doesn’t read romance a lot, I really enjoyed every moment of this book. I will say the chapters are pretty long, but other than that this is such a fast read. I really enjoyed this one, and I will definitely be reading the next book in the series. If you’re an autumnal/fall girl, who is manifesting the ‘ber’ months, definitely give this one a read. It gave me all the autumnal vibes I wanted. It was great!