Heather Webber

I was really enjoying this series up until this book, which was painful to get through. I did a combination of reading and listening, and either way I alternated between boredom and annoyance, and really struggled to get to the end (very tempted many times to just abandon it altogether). I have no plans to continue reading this series because I have completely lost interest in what happens to the main character.

Two main problems for me:

1) This is a book about Nick and Darcy and their family show more plans, NOT a book about a mystery. It's not like I didn't expect that to happen between them. But, it is just SO aggressive in this book that I was taken aback yet also bored out of my mind. It doesn't feel natural or make sense, and the mystery, which was obviously orchestrated solely to allow all of these seriously giant leaps to happen, takes a backseat altogether. I would go so far as to say that, if I didn't know that there are at least two more books in this series, I would think it's about to come to an end because suddenly everything seems to be wrapping up in this book.

After seemingly never sleeping together for practically the whole year of their relationship, this whole book is about whether Nick and Darcy will move in together, how Darcy now stays over (but though she still never leaves anything there and brings a bag with her it is oddly okay now for Mimi to see her spending the night and lots of other weirdly territorial circumstances about belongings and who can leave what where and how to compromise and on and on), then for some reason it gets over-complicated with Darcy (predictably) getting her own house and moving out of AND inheriting As You Wish, and what will she and Nick do with this extra house (he will obviously move in with her because he is perfect!), lots of gooey talk about when they'll start the family that she and Nick will inevitably have (even though it is surround with lots of ridiculous worrying from Darcy about whether Nick will want the same things as her--please, it's so disingenuous and it becomes irritating! Nick is perfect and only ever wants what Darcy wants), and let's not forget practically being slapped in the face with who the Elder is. I don't understand what the rush is and why all of this is happening so quickly after, like, nothing happening about anything for almost a year.

2) This is a book that goes beyond "cozy" and straight into nauseating. There are only so many perfect descriptions of scenery, so many perfect qualities of Nick, so many perfectly quirky friends, and so many perfect everythings that I can read about before I just want to throw the book across the room. Too sappy. Too saccharine. Too lovey-dovey. Too perfect. Too unnatural.

Edit: I also forgot to mention that another reason I had to stop reading these is because I couldn't read another line about Nick "dragging a hand down his face." He had always done this, even in the early books, but then it was just maybe a couple times in the book. In these last two books, particularly this one, he seemed to do it at least once whenever Darcy interacted with him (and in these later books they interact quite often). I get that the characters need quirks, but seriously at one point Nick was "dragging a hand down his face" whenever Darcy said anything and I couldn't get past how annoying, constant, distracting, and overly dramatic it was, like it was the only mannerism he possessed to indicate distress or weariness. show less

I have two big problems with this book. The first is genre - if it had been presented to me as a wholesome romance with a touch of magic, I wouldn't have been disappointed with the way it handled its fantasy elements. But I read it expecting a fantasy novel, and it is not that. It's basically a Hallmark movie in book form. Nothing wrong if that's what you're looking for, but that's not my cup of tea. (To be fair, it would be a pretty good Hallmark movie, one that I'd be happy to watch over show more Christmas as something inoffensive for me and my parents.)

The second is setting. This book is set in an evidently all or mostly white town in Alabama. The only character of color in the book is a traveler from outside, who is literally a magical negro, and who has dedicated 20 years of her life to serving as a waitress when she could literally be flying across the countryside, because she feels bad about . . . getting hit by a car?

So that's a mess. And honestly, I might not have thought too deeply about race in this book if not for the fact that one character mentions having been a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy. This is an offhand reference, and never brought up again, but wtf. I'm supposed to like this character? And so that made me think about why a town in the south might be inhabited almost entirely by white people, and what kind of structure undergirds this seemingly sweet and wholesome romance. It took away a lot of the pleasure of what would have otherwise been a light read for me. YMMV. show less

Fun. It didn't catch me right away - the first couple of chapters are setup and a little confusing, though reasonably well-presented (not _too_ much infodump), and it took me a while to decide I liked Lucy. The situation is interesting - the two variants on psychic power, and the very clear lesson (by the end of the book) why the family have kept it a secret. The instant attraction is romance-normal (so only a little annoying), and the steps beyond that have better reasons. Sean's a neat show more person, and I'm glad we do eventually find out what's up with him physically (and a clever pun, even if it is mostly to avoid saying what she doesn't want to deal with yet). And Lucy's 'commitment issues' are rather neat too - this isn't your standard 'all wrapped up by the end of the book' story. Which I find fun - my worst problem with most romances is that they're too shallow, giving the characters little time to know one another before they end up in bed and acknowledged in love - this one has nice twists. Max made me cry - her reaction to being able to help was great. Her reaction to Aiden saying 'I've dealt with people like you' was odd - if it were me, I'd want to know who else was like me. But I suppose she's lived all her life with her family - she hasn't felt alone with her power, only with the specifics. As I said, it took a while to catch me, but I really enjoyed the story (and the twist - twists - at the end), and definitely want to read more Lucy Valentine stories. There's a preview for the second one at the end of the book - another predictable romance plot, but neatly set up by events in this book - realistic, not author's fiat. I like. show less

Some books just make you smile when you read them. They have a charm and a heart to them that makes reading them a pleasure. Heather Webber's Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe is one of these books. It makes you feel good and feel good about others too.

Anna Kate Callow has never been to small town Wicklow, Alabama before even though her mother grew up there and her grandmother lived there Anna Kate's whole life. She's in town for her beloved Granny Zee's funeral and to close up and sell the show more cafe she ran. But it turns out that she can't leave town that fast and get back to her plans to attend medical school. The terms of Granny Zee's will dictate that she has to stay in Wicklow for sixty days. And so despite her late mother's warning about going there, that is where she'll be for the next two months, whether she really wants to or not. As Anna Kate settles into the town, she reopens the cafe, weathers the curiosity about this granddaughter who the townsfolk have never met, tries to recreate the famous magical blackbird pies her grandmother made, and gets invested in the lives of several of the people around her. She, and several of the other characters, are all a little bit damaged and looking toward their futures uncertainly in this novel of second chances and starting over.

This novel combines some of my very favorite things: small towns, cooking, complicated family relationships, learning personal history, and endearing characters. While this list might make the book sound twee, it was anything but. (And frankly, even if it had been, so what?!) Anna Kate's mother fled Wicklow pregnant and under a cloud of suspicion after the car accident that killed Anna Kate's young father. The tragedy shaped many lives and Anna Kate's appearance has stirred up never resolved feelings. While all of this swirls through the plot thread dealing with her personal life, there's a light and enchanting bit of magical realism threading through the story as well. Granny Zee's blackbird pies allow people to dream of their lost loved ones but Anna Kate doesn't know the complete recipe for them, something she wants and needs to discover for herself and for the townspeople who wrap themselves around her heart. But how much time should people spend in the past, in their memories, especially when the past can contain happiness and pain, and potentially keep someone from living in the present? Anna Kate is not the only one who needs to consider this question.

Webber has written a completely charming and whimsical novel filled with secrets and gentle magic. The characters are sympathetic and well drawn. The mystery of the strange behaviour of the blackbirds behind the cafe is lightly done through the clever use of an outside newspaper reporter's questions to townspeople. Most of the novel is told in the first person with narration switching between Anna Kate and Natalie, a young widow with a child whose connection to Anna Kate is revealed as their friendship grows. There is guilt and forgiveness, the definition of family, healing and moving forward, community and love and a little romance all packed into this lovely look at how the human heart is filled. show less