At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber ~ A Review

by Susan Roberts

A mysterious letter. An offer taken. And the chance to move forward.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

August 2023; Forge Books; 978-1250867261
audio, ebook, print (320 pages); magical realsm

Magical Realism is a genre that I've never enjoyed reading.  Heather Webber's new book sounded like it would be really good so I decided to try this genre again and I sure am glad that I did.  This was a fun book with great characters that I'd like to have a cup of coffee with.  The storyline is uplifting and it was wonderful to see the main characters change throughout the book.  The little town is full of eccentric people but they all work together to help make each other happy.

Ava has led a very sheltered life due to illness as a child.  She is comfortable with her boundaries and doesn't want to try anything new.  A month after her boyfriend died, she received a letter that she believed had come from him, encouraging her to apply for a job in the small town of Driftwood, Alabama.  The job is to be the caretaker of an eccentric man and was posted by his daughter who runs the local coffee shop.  Ava decides to get out of her comfort zone and drive to Alabama to apply for the job.  One of the first people she meets is Maggie -- the owner of the coffee shop and the person who initially posted the job posting because she was worried about her father and the changes that he was going through.  Ava and Maggie are both perplexed about the job posting - Maggie had ripped it off the window and thrown it away but how did a copy get to Ava and was the ghost of her boyfriend responsible?  Ava is totally mesmerized by the town and the inhabitants and the ghost that may live in the house that she's moving into.  As she and Maggie become friends, they both realize that they have lived their lives with a lot of regret for holding on to the past and refusing to accept new challenges in their lives.  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.  Will they both be able to let go of their past mistakes and begin to explore new situations in their lives and find happiness?

I really enjoyed this book.  Yes, there was a bit of magic and talk of ghosts.  But for me, the best part of the book was getting to know the quirky people in Driftwood and to see the friendship between Ava and Maggie change their lives for the best.  I'm going to go back and read the earlier books by this author since I enjoyed this one so much.

Buy The Coffee Shop of Curiosities at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is two hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.  You can connect with her on Facebook.

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