Customer Reviews

Coffeehouse Angel

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having read and enjoyed Suzanne Selfors' "Saving Juliet," I was looking forward to her new book, "Coffeehouse Angel." If you're looking for a light, quick teen read, "Coffeehouse Angel" is every bit as frothy and sweet as your favorite coffee drink.

Katrina lives with her grandmother above their coffee shop, Anna's, in the quaint town of Nordby. Katrina, a rather shy and self-conscious teenager, wonders what her special talents are - her one friend Elizabeth is a gifted artist and her other friend Vincent is an amazing swimmer. Meanwhile, Katrina just goes to school and helps out at the coffee shop, but the business is rapidly failing due to rising debt and Java Heaven, the slick new coffeehouse next door. When Katrina meets Malcolm, a messenger angel on assignment in Nordby, she mistakes him for a homeless man and offers him some food. Her kind act leads Malcolm to insist upon granting her her "true heart's desire" - but her first two wishes go awry, creating all sorts of mayhem in Katrina's life. Katrina must sort through the messes her wishes have made while coming to terms with her real heart's desire - Malcolm.

It's a teen romance, so it's light, and it's clean, which is to be expected. But there was also a surprising amount of depth in "Coffeehouse Angel" - themes of forgiveness and living life to the fullest arise in a way that is thoughtful but not cloying or preachy. Katrina does a fair amount of growing up by the story's end and readers will be cheering her on each step of the way.

Definitely a good read and recommended.

Suzanne Selfor's Coffeehouse Angel is a thoroughly enjoyable story of forgiveness, redemption and selflessness set in the quaint midwestern town of Nordby. Katrina works in her grandmother's coffee shop and takes on far more responsibility and worry than a young woman of her age ought. When the business is imperiled by new competition and her grandmother becomes ill, Katrina's worries multiply beyond her ability to handle them.

Enter a homeless man sleeping in the alley behind the coffee shop. Despite the weight on Katrina's shoulders, she performs a kindness to the young man and sets in motion a string of events that not only helps her regain control of events affecting her but also sheds light on questions about her past that she had hardly dared ask. In the process she finds a path to the future and experiences a first love.

Technically, the book is a good one. In Katrina the author has created a likeable, realistic heroine. The hero brings a paranormal element (hinted at in the book's title) that is thankfully nuanced and not an overplayed alpha-male-in-training while supporting characters are well-drawn and provide a good foundation for the main action. Even the villians are more than one-note plot devices and enable Katrina to grow and come to terms with events outside her control (and we don't feel a bit guilty about the schadenfreude we feel at their downfall). Finally, the romantic portions of the story are age-appropriate and feel natural to the story.

Coffeehouse Angel is recommended for anyone weary of the dark, overwrought YA romantic titles of late.

Katrina is absolutely captivating. Selfors' setup showcasing Katrina's heart, soul & desires was sensational. Selfors not only delivered the goods, but made me acknowledge my own hidden aspirations.

Katrina is a sweetheart & her emotions are so precise you actually experience her distress for the coffeehouse's growth & well-being.

Selfors' touching prose is so authentic, you find yourself feeling powerless because you want to help keep grandma's coffeehouse afloat & you just can't jump inside the book to do it. Selfors did a topnotch undertaking describing the picturesque town & its capricious dwellers.

Psst! I wanted to destroy the nefarious Java Heaven.

I'll admit as much as I adored Katrina, there were times I became frustrated @ her ennui.
I just wanted to shake tell her she had the capability to do things on her own ~ w/0 depending on others to come to the rescue & Selfors exhibits it effortlessly. Hats off to Selfors for this uneasy feat!


Coffeehouse Angel is an irresistible read for teens, tweens & anyone in search of a tale as scrumptious as hot cocoa loaded w/ marshmallows!


Quick! Grab a copy of Coffeehouse Angel & feel the magic envelop you!

Check out Suzanne Selfors website!

I love this cover! Thank you to the art department for doing a remarkable job casting the model ~ she definitely captures the Scandinavian essence of Katrina.

The model is beautiful & I am curious to know who she is. I am also going to keep my eye out for future covers she may grace.

These days Young Adult Fiction is as popular as ever. In fact it seems that more adults read it then kids! I always see women reading these types of stories and while I do like them I don't read them often. I myself prefer horror or adventure but a cute, sweet cozy little book with lots of laugh is as refreshing and as needed as a good palate cleanser between rich dishes. Once in a while I pounce on a few of these books and once I'm done the good ones stay in my mind for a very long time.

This was my first time reading Suzanne Selfors and she's really good! I'm so glad that I found a new author whose work I can now dream about. What I really loved about Coffeehouse Angel was the whole Nordic theme going on. The small town of Nordby is a pretty sweet place to live, if you like architectural folklore in your streets. There are windmills, bronze figurines, Swiss Cuckoo clocks and other fairy tale additions and what a better place for Anna's Old World Scandinavian Coffeehouse than here in all the mish mash. I would have loved to visit the place since the author made it so picturesque. Anna is the grandmother of Katrina, the selfless heroine that is a pleasure to read about. This proves that not all fictional teenagers have to be careless and selfish and inexperienced in the way of life, Katrina is a hard worker who helps out in the coffeehouse that her family has owned and pretty much keeps the energy of the whole place humming with positive vibes. When she encounters a handsome stranger and gives him some coffee and sweets since he looks like he can use them more than people who have everything they need, he wants to reward her.

That's when the fun starts, Katrina gets a visit from him at her school auditorium and gets completely embarrassed as the stranger won't take no for an answer until he feels satisfied that he has rewarded her properly. He's no mere male, something special about him and his abilities makes Katrina take notice. Pretty soon things turn serious as she starts to develop feelings but with her grandmother's business being under fire from the coffee place that opened up next door she suddenly has a lot on her plate, and everything is starting to spin out of control. Growing up, trying to figure out where your heart is pulling you and trying to find out what career you want to follow is enough stress, not mentioning the funny bits added, the book will have many people laughing, I sure did.

I adored the clever with and humor in the book, I was laughing out loud a lot and it was really charming, full of hot chocolate, coffee (this book made me crave it all the time) and I really liked the cuisine of Vikings that this book was full of. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes light but still rich and colorful stories.

Also reviewed on my blog, the Vintage Bookworm.

Coffeehouse Angel was a pretty good read, but didn't make it to my favorite's list. Something really bugged me about this novel, and I can't really figure out what it was. It took me a little while to get into it, but by the end I was reading through it pretty fast and when the last chapter came, I wanted to know more.

Even though Katrina was the main character, she wasn't my favorite. She just didn't feel very developed as a character to me. I liked her family and friends, though. I really liked how Elizabeth was unique and seemed to dress kind of funky and was artistic.

Mr. Darling made me really mad! He frustrated me so bad with all the things he did. He was just so... evil! Makes me mad just thinking about him again. He seemed so heartless. His daughter wasn't as bad as Katrina thought, though.

The writing itself was pretty good. It really makes me want to read more from Selfors.

I love the fictional small town she created, based off the small town of Poulsobo, Washington. It really has me interested in Scandinavian customs. She has a pretty good bit of Scandinavian customs in the book, and you can tell she put a lot of research into it.

Overall, it was a pretty fast, cute, coming of age read. I really liked the cover, too. I love the heart at the top of the coffee. And boy do I love coffee in general!

Have you ever read a book that once you're finished you loved it so much that you couldn't express it in words? Well, that's how I feel right now. And, believe or not, I hate coffee. But I couldn't get enough of this novel! Ir was as sweet as drinking liquid sugar.

Katrina was very real for me. I understand trying to find your talent, your "thing", and seeing everyone else around you find it so easily. I also loved Katrina and Vincent's friendship. It explored some really tough issues that guy and girl friends have to face that most authors would try to overcome by making the two characters fall in love. But Selfors really thought about the trials and triumphs of a guy-girl friendship.

And Malcolm. How could you not love him? He was funny (I LOVED that he wore a kilt, and that everyone called it a skirt) and caring, and human. Even an angel has flaws and Malcom's were so very human and I loved that. I also appreciated that the novel wasn't based around Katrina's love life. There was real depth to this novel. There were plot twists that I absolutely didn't see coming but made the story so much more enjoyable!

If I liked coffee, this would be that comforting cup I had every morning when I woke up. This novel is a perfect feel-good story that I'm definitely going to re-read on a snowy evening curled up with a blanket. This novel was written and told beautifully and it makes me want to find an angel of my own.

If Lifetime network were to go into book publishing, this would be the genre that would sell like hotcakes.

I liked this book for all the right reasons, it is light, fluffy, sticky-sweet, and has just enough substance to be satisfying.

Written for teens, it pegs that market very well, and while not being hardcore "chick-lit", it does a great job of soaking it all in and courting to that style of readers.

But I am a guy! What would I be doing reading a book like this?! Well, sometimes I dont like to read all about swords, magic, spies, intrigue, and business self-help stuff. Sometime we just want something that is nice, happy, easy to read...kind of like that cinnamon roll that you know you shouldnt eat but cant help it anyway.

Coffeehouse Angel is the perfect empty-calorie book, one that is well written, easy to follow, and hits all the right notes. Its a guilty pleasure of mine...what can I say? I liked it, and am sure that many more people will too.

It has a nice plot, characters that you can imagine (Katrina makes me picture that blone girl that lives in the same building as Peter Parker in the Spider-Man movies) and a nice conclusion that makes sense, that fits perfectly, and that can be seen a mile away. But thats what makes this book a good read. You know whats going to happen, but getting there is the fun part.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to hide the copy from my wife, she is sure to see it and then want to talk about our feelings.... :)

Katrina works in her grandmother's coffee house. Katrina finds a homeless man in their alley and feeds him day old pastries and coffee. The man is really Malcom, a messenger angel who spends the rest of the book trying to give her her heart's desire. In the meantime, their rival "Java Heaven" (think Starbucks) is attracting their customers. Her best friend begins dating the owner of Java Heaven's daughter, and thus Katrina gets angry at him. Katrina finds herself worried about having lost her best friend, the struggling coffee shop, and dealing with her love/hate of Malcom.

This is a page turner, but the suspense never made me worry. It was a delight to read.

Side note: I didn't read the other novel by Suzanne Selfours.

My Thoughts: I just finished The Espressologist a few days ago so I was a little hesitate to start another novel based around coffee but I did anyway. I enjoyed Coffeehouse Angel a little less than The Espressologist but it was still a great read. We are introduced to Katrina who works in her grandmother's coffee shop. Really, its hers too because she lives with her grandmother. Her parents were killed in a tragic car accident when she was young. She has a boy best friend and her life is anything but ordinary. She takes the trash out one day and there lays a homeless guy in the alley. She brings him day old food and coffee because she feels sorry for him. Well, his name is Malcolm and he is technically an angel. He starts coming around to give Katrina's her hearts desire because she did a good deed by helping him with a little bean. Of course, the first two beans end up going to other people because Katrina brushes him off. Of course, the coffee shop is also having problems staying a float. I really liked this one but I wasn't in love with it. I wanted to get to know Malcolm more and I just felt for him being such an important part of the story we didn't get to spend much time with him. Katrina was a good heroine though, she was smart, sassy, and stood up for what she believed in.

Overall: Honestly, I enjoyed this quite a bit more than I thought I would. At first glance, I thought it was going to be mainly fluff and nothing else and it did surprise me a bit. There are serious issues all throughout the novel. For example, her grandmother having health problems. Never take someone for granted. I also really liked the way things ended.

Cover: Like it a lot. I like the colors and it all fits together perfectly.

What I'd Give It:
4/5 cupcakes

Taken from my personal Blog Princess Bookie

Title: Coffeehouse Angel
Author: Suzanne Selfors
Grade: A-
Ideal Audience: Girls, 12-16

Summary: Katrina's grandmother's coffee shop has been struggling ever since another coffee house- much more modern and organic than their modest Nordic one- moved next door. When Katrina is tidying up early in the morning, she comes across a man, seemingly homeless, lying in a back alley. Initially frightened by his appearance, Katrina eventually works up the courage and compassion to bring him a breakfast.

Little did Katrina know that the man, Malcolm, would come looking for her, claiming to be an angel (a "messenger") and insisting on granting her her heart's desire as thanks. Disbelieving and eager to be rid of Malcolm, Katrina dismissively wishes for fortune and then, when that doesn't work and Malcolm finds her again, fame.

However, when fortune goes to her best friend Vincent and fame lands on her cat, Katrina is left with only one more chance to make her wish. With a developing crush on Malcolm, confused feelings about Vincent, and the disaster that is the finances of her grandmother's coffee house, how can Katrina be expected to know what her heart's desire is? And how can she fix this mess that her life has become?

My thoughts: Coffeehouse Angel was much different from what I expected, but it still pleasantly surprised me. The part that I thought was especially well done was Katrina's insecurity of her talents, or lack thereof. She begins the novel believing that she is a failure at everything, but ends up finding something special for herself, something she is good at.

This is a great, fun book for teenage girls.