At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber

Amy    
Lynnie 

magical realism

Ava receives a mysterious job posting in the mail and decides she needs a change. So she drives from Ohio to Alabama to apply for the job as a caretaker of a “peculiar” elderly man and his “she-devil” cat at his beach house. Ava believes her dead ex-boyfriend might have somehow sent the opportunity her way.  When she arrives, she feels immediately comfortable with the town and the residents, including the family who hires her. All agree that there has been some sort of unexplainable assistance in causing Ava to appear, but they go with it because it works for everyone and because the people in the town of Driftwood are used to odd, unexplainable things happening.

Amy's Review

Estrelle reminded me so much of Evanelle, a terrific character from Sarah Addison Allen’s Garden Spells (my favorite SAA novel which I read before we started our blog). Their names are similar which is the main reason I connected the two characters from different authors. I wonder if Heather Webber was influenced by SAA here.  All the characters in Driftwood are loveable and quirky which makes the town seem special. As Ava grows to love the community, she also develops fans and friends within the town. The big mystery for the reader is to find out who sent the want ad to Ava in the first place but other mysterious and hopeful storylines pop up too.

This novel follows the same pattern as Webber’s other novels.  In fact, all of her novels have basically the same characters with different names and quirks. The books are so similar, in fact, that I had decided not to read any more of Webber’s novels. But, the title At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities piqued my interest so I read it anyway. And, yes, it reminded me of her other novels I’ve read. There was nothing particularly new here. But I did enjoy the magical realism in this one quite a bit as well as the characters and their resolutions.

As with Webber’s other novels, the audiobook narrators are Hallie Ricardo and Stephanie Willis. They did a terrific job as always. They both have a vocal repertoire and are terrific voice actors.  They even had to pull an English accent out this time and did alright with it.  I’ll give them an A as an ensemble.

Lynnie's Review

This is the second book I've read by Heather Webber and while I enjoyed it quite a bit, there were a few times where I actually looked up the previous book I read (Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe) to verify that some of the characters and locations were not, in fact, the same. Cute coffee shop/cafe, check. Missing mother, check. Family drama, check. Meddling townspeople, check, check, check. Meet-cute romance you can see coming from a mile away, check.

I don't want to say that Webber wrote the same book, but also ... it is kind of the same book in a slightly different setting with slightly different characters who could easily fit into each other's books and stories and I'm not sure a reader would notice the difference. Does that make it less enjoyable? Ultimately, no- unless, I suppose you are reading all of Webber's books in short order and then I think it would be dull. But with a year of distance, another sweet magical story was exactly what I needed to dive into fall.

Just like Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe, I was enchanted by the characters in At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities. They were eccentric, interesting, and wonderfully charming and I found it impossible not to cheer for them and anticipate the happy endings I knew Webber would deliver. I would have been sorely disappointed if Ava, Maggie, and the rest of the folks in Driftwood, Alabama hadn't found their way to happiness.

Webber's books are a wonderful break when you need a book that is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. These days, there is something to be said for that.