COFFEEHOUSE ANGEL by Suzanne Selfors

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne Selfors • contains 276 pages • published 21. July 2009 by Walker Childrens • classified as Holiday, Paranormal, Romantic Comedy, Young Adult • obtained through Bought • read as eBook • shelve on Goodreads
• shelve on The StoryGraph

Synopsis:

When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother's coffee shop, she leaves him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans, and some pastries to tide him over, never expecting this random act of kindness to turn her life upside down. The adorable vagrant, Malcolm, is actually a guardian angel on a break between missions, and now he won't leave until he can reward Katrina's selflessness by fulfilling her deepest desire. Fame and fortune seem like the obvious requests, but after two botched wishes, Malcolm knows Katrina is hiding something from him. But how can she tell him the truth, when her heart's desire has become Malcolm himself?

Finally a holiday read that I enjoyed cozying up with! Coffeehouse Angel is a delightful book about friendship, romance, hope and a little bit of mystery. Set in a little quaint town beset with Norwegian traditions, it captures the warmth of winter. Yes, oxymoronic but true. As low as temperatures might drop, there’s always something that can warm the heart, which Suzanne Selfors did wonderfully well with her book.

Best of all, no love triangles, and no pining after the best friend. Katrina even breaks the fourth wall to assure the reader of that fact:

“Don’t worry, this is not one of those ‘I’m in love with my best friend’ stories.

‘Cause I wasn’t.”

This holds true to their friendship since childhood and something that made me glad. There aren’t enough books out there that portray the dynamics of male-female friendships that are entirely platonic.

Since this is a rather short book though, I don’t think the plot is as developed as it could have been. Nonetheless, there are pockets that allow the story to breathe, so that none of the events override each other. The sequence is believable. Also, despite running the risk of becoming incredibly cheesy, Selfors managed to tone it down and add realism to the mysticism surrounding the premise.

All in all, Coffehouse Angel is a light read perfect for the holidays that is bound to make readers feel fuzzy inside. If not from the story itself, then at least from the coffee cravings that are likely to arise. Either way, cheesy romances generally make me cringe, and cringe I did not at this book.