The oddest thing has happened.

An envelope appeared in my apartment. I say appeared because I don’t remember bringing it in with the mail. I’m not sure I’d have noticed it at all except it drifted off the counter and landed at my feet while I was doing the dishes. It was like a pair of invisible hands lifted it up and placed it there.

Strange, right?

But it gets stranger.

Inside the envelope was a typed want-ad for a job as a caretaker for an old man and his she-devil cat, along with instructions to apply for the position the next morning at a coffee shop in Driftwood, Alabama. At the top of the letter was a hand-written note to me, telling me I’d be happy there.

I have no idea who sent the letter. The note isn’t signed. The envelope has no return address. The postmark is rubbed off. The only thing that stands out with the envelope at all is the monarch butterfly stamp.

As woo-woo as it sounds, I can’t quite shake the feeling that my ex-boyfriend, who passed away a month ago, somehow had a hand in sending this letter to me. He was always telling me I was too protected in my cocoon and constantly urged me to spread my wings.

Because of health issues, I’ve led a mostly solitary life. Too afraid to venture far. Too afraid, period. My apartment here in Cincinnati is my comfort zone. My safety zone.

Since my ex has been gone, I’ve been feeling adrift. And there’s something about this note that feels like a lifeline. That if I just grab hold, then maybe what the note says will be true. That I’ll be happy in Driftwood.

Which is why I’m on my way to Alabama, a thirteen hour drive, ready to make a big change.

Ready to fly.

At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities
Genre: Magical Realism
Release: August 2023
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

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

When Ava Harrison receives a letter containing an unusual job listing one month after the sudden death of her ex-boyfriend, she thinks she’s being haunted. The listing—a job as a live-in caretaker for a peculiar old man and his cranky cat in Driftwood, Alabama—is the perfect chance to start a new life. A normal life. Ava has always been too fearful to even travel, so no one’s more surprised than she is when she throws caution to the wind and drives to the distant beachside town.

On the surface, Maggie Mae Brightwell is a bundle of energy as she runs Magpie’s, Driftwood’s coffee and curiosity shop, where there’s magic to be found in pairing the old with the new. But lurking under her cheerful exterior is a painful truth—keeping busy is the best way to distract herself from the lingering loss of her mama and her worries about her aging father. No one knows better than she does that you can’t pour from an empty cup, but holding on to the past is the only thing keeping the hope alive that her mama will return home one day.

Ava and Maggie soon find they’re kindred spirits, as they’re both haunted—not by spirits, but by regret. 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.

About the author
USA Today bestselling author Heather Webber is the author of more than thirty novels including Midnight at the Blackbird Café and In the Middle of Hickory Lane. She loves to read, drink too much coffee and tea, birdwatch, crochet, and bake. She currently lives near Cincinnati, Ohio, and is hard at work on her next book.

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