The Coffee Corner
by Amy Clipston
Book 3 in the Amish Marketplace series
Rating: 4/5
I was lucky enough to receive a free ARC of the audiobook of this story and it did not disappoint! I am a fan of Amy Clipston and she is very good at writing sweet, yet authentic, stories of romance set in the Amish community. This story can be read standalone since I have not read the other books in this series but now I need to. LOL.
Bethany Gingerich has a thriving business as the coffee and donut stand at the Amish market. She and her cousins have successful booths but everything is changing since her cousins are getting married one by one. Bethany feels overlooked as a potential mate but finds her eye drawn to the new-in-town, Micah Zook, who is helping with his grandfather’s custom furniture shop. Micah has his own sad past, but he’s determined to do what he loves and that’s helping his grandfather continue his business. He finds a sense of peace when he grabs his Saturday morning coffee and donut from Bethany’s booth and can’t wait to try her newest flavored coffee. Antics and miscommunications ensue on this couple’s journey to love.
I thought this story was very sweet but the only problem I had may have been caused by the narrator of the audiobook than the actual heroine as written. I found Bethany’s character to be so confusing and frustrating at times. She’d go from competent businesswoman to insecure teenager to naive friend and back again. I’m not sure if that was more because of the narrator’s interpretation, but I found Bethany’s character very unlikeable. (This is incredibly strange for me as a reader since I almost always give the MC the benefit of the doubt). I tried really hard to sympathize with her character and her internal struggles but she came out more annoying than anything else. As a single woman, I definitely share some of her struggles and insecurities, but I felt her immaturity was a little over the top. However, the story itself was great and I really liked Micah’s character. I really loved all the interesting coffee flavors Bethany came up with – they sounded great (even to a non-coffee drinker). The family aspects of this story were very strong, and the faith aspect was also woven throughout the story in a meaningful way.
Audiobook: The narrator was okay. She was good but I didn’t think her German pronunciation was very good. Her interpretation of Bethany seemed whiny to me, which is frustrating when I’m trying to root for the MC. The production was well done and flowed well.
Highly recommend if you enjoy Amish romances with some humor and spunk.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No positive review was expected and no compensation received.
