At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities Published by Tor Publishing Group on August 1, 2023 Genres: FICTION / Magical Realism, Fiction / Small Town & Rural, Fiction / Women
Pages: 320
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Goodreads
From the USA Today bestselling author of In the Middle of Hickory Lane comes Heather Webber’s next enchanting novel, At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities!
A mysterious letter. An offer taken. And the chance to move forward.
When Ava Harrison receives a letter containing an unusual job listing one month after the sudden death of her ex-boyfriend, she thinks she’s being haunted. The listing—a job as a live-in caretaker for a peculiar old man and his cranky cat in Driftwood, Alabama—is the perfect chance to start a new life. A normal life. Ava has always been too fearful to even travel, so no one’s more surprised than she is when she throws caution to the wind and drives to the distant beachside town.
On the surface, Maggie Mae Brightwell is a bundle of energy as she runs Magpie’s, Driftwood’s coffee and curiosity shop, where there’s magic to be found in pairing the old with the new. But lurking under her cheerful exterior is a painful truth—keeping busy is the best way to distract herself from the lingering loss of her mama and her worries about her aging father. No one knows better than she does that you can’t pour from an empty cup, but holding on to the past is the only thing keeping the hope alive that her mama will return home one day.
Ava and Maggie soon find they’re kindred spirits, as they’re both haunted—not by spirits, but by regret. Both must learn to let go of the past to move on—because sometimes the waves of change bring you to the place where you most belong.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Review:
At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities is a warm hug wrapped up in a book filled with quirky characters, a bit of magical realism, and some sweet romance. Ava has hidden herself from taking chances and adventures due to a medical condition. One day, fate intervenes and pushes her to take a chance on a job far away from all she knows. I love how, though Ava hides her medical condition for most of the book, she embraces the quirky small town. She bravely takes on two new jobs and slowly charms her into a cat’s heart. I love the character Estrella. She has a way of knowing things she could never know, and she has the whole town at her fingertips. The plot twist that ties everything together surprised me, but it makes sense once you get there. It is an excellent book and a fantastic adventure, and I would love to spend a day or two in this quirky town.
About Heather Webber
USA Today bestselling author Heather Webber is the author of more than thirty novels and has been twice nominated for the Agatha Award. She loves to read, drink too much coffee and tea, birdwatch, crochet, and bake. She currently lives near Cincinnati, Ohio, and is hard at work on her next book. *Heather also writes under the pen name Heather Blake.
This sounds a little too women’s fiction for me, but I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!