Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel (Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, 1)

4.5

Perfect casual read! The characters are diverse and the writing is thoughtful. Definitely can see the author being able to build on the story in later books.

Down a small alleyway in the heart of Tokyo, there’s an underground café that’s been serving carefully brewed coffee for over a hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers its customers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time. The rules, however, are far from simple: you must sit in one particular seat, and you can’t venture outside the café, nor can you change the present. And, most important, you only have the time it takes to drink a hot cup of coffee—or risk getting stuck forever. Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of traveling to another time: a heartbroken lover looking for closure, a nurse with a mysterious letter from her husband, a waitress hoping to say one last goodbye and a mother whose child she may never get the chance to know. Heartwarming, wistful and delightfully quirky, Before the Coffee Gets Cold explores the intersecting lives of four women who come together in one extraordinary café, where the service may not be quick, but the opportunities are endless.

A coffee shop with the opportunity of time travel is a great concept for this book with strict rules on the travel to keep the intentions innocent and avoid abuse. Although we never find the history of how this opportunity came to be, the four stories still carry sweet emotions and drive the storyline. I don't know if it's a series I would continue with but I did enjoy this book.

Very sweet and thought provoking gentle read.