Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber

Amy   
Lynnie

magical realism

After her grandmother dies in her small Alabama town of Wicklow, Anna Kate is willed to manage the diner, famous for its blackbird pies which bring the customers messages from their deceased loved ones overnight. Small town life is an adjustment for Anna Kate--navigating all the personalities as well as her own family history minefield. Natalie, a recent young widow, is handling motherhood as best she can after moving back to her family property while she gets her life back together. But Natalie has to make peace with her domineering mother who was the main reason Natalie left in the first place. Of a similar age, the two young women are destined to get to know each other with their shared family animosities and traumas.

Amy's Review

I fell in love with Anna Kate and Natalie as well as several other characters in this sweet novel. It's about family, forgiveness, independence, self-determination, memories, and love. There is character growth, romance, supportive relationships evolving after previous hardships, and a lot of heart. The story moved me to tears at times. I was very satisfied with this one. Heather Webber's magical realism was perfectly done. I also liked the way she didn't have to spell everything out for the reader but gave sufficient information for us to tease out some conclusions on our own. If you like Sarah Addison Allen novels, I think you'll really enjoy Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe. I cannot think of any reason to hold back on giving this novel 5 stars. It held my attention, was a great story, had fun characters, and was well written. I loved it! 

There were three audiobook narrators. Stephanie Willis performs the part of Anna Kate. Bethany Lind voices Natalie. Nicholas Techosky narrates the voice of a reporter who is writing an article about Wicklow and the blackbirds. I was really impressed by both Stephanie and Bethany. Both have a good repertoire of voices and were terrific voice actors. I'm giving them both very solid As. Nicholas was good but has such a small role in the novel and the production of his audio sounded a bit tinny. Therefore, I'll give him a B+.

Lynnie's Review

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe was an utter delight from beginning to end. Once again I read part of it and listened to part of it during a road trip and enjoyed both experiences immensely. I may have enjoyed the audio book more actually because the voice acting of the main characters, Anna Kate and Natalie was so spot on it truly made the book come alive for me (which is what an audio book should do!).

There were times listening to the audio book that I laughed out loud, particularly at the secondary characters who were so charming & guileless as their intentions were right out in the open for everyone to see. The only reason I'm giving it four hearts instead of five is because everything happens exactly the way you expect that it will in this book- but seriously we ALL would be disappointed, angry even, if it didn't.

It's just a lovely story, filled with magical realism that will bring a smile to your face. It's absolutely perfect for a weekend getaway or any other time you need a little escape from reality. If you're looking for a pick-me-up in your next novel, look no further than this one.