Kait Nolan, $0.99, ISBN 978-1310867521
Contemporary Romance, 2014
So, the main characters here are fans of Kevin Hearne. Okay, I won’t judge, as somebody needs to love somebody or else there will be many unhappy people in this world. Besides, I need to point this out or else people will think I’m being too soft on this story.
Once Upon a Coffee is a short story, and it’s about people meeting for the first time and experiencing that chemistry between them. American grad student in Oxford, Dillon Lange, needs a place to study and some caffeine, and with no parking spot in sight around his vicinity, he makes a 45-minute drive to a sleepy town called Wishful for that kick he needs so badly.
Avery Cahill is here to meet a date she was paired with through a dating app. His date has no profile photo, but he did say he is a grad student, and we all know we can believe everything people say online. Naturally, she assumes that Dillon is her date.
Now, there is an art to a short story that is obviously distinct from that of a full-length story. The author needs to entertain and tell a story that feels complete and cohesive while practicing judicious economy when it comes to the use of words. Some authors make things worse for themselves by trying to introduce back stories of sequel baits as well, with the result becoming a mess of words that doesn’t have any clear message aside from telling readers to buy some sequel baits’ stories.
Kait Nolan does everything right here, though. She sticks to the plot, takes time to work in the gradual build-up of chemistry through conversations and small little actions—no instant rush to the chapel or, thank god, no instant mate bond of the shifter kind—just what is happening at the present.
The conversations between Dillon and Avery are just the right balance of cheesy and quaint, cute and cringe-inducing, and sickening and sweet. It’s kind of like what people will say when they like one another and feel rather awkward and self-conscious about it, I feel, and I can relate to that feeling. Also, Dillon feels pretty real as a grad student, while Avery is a likable kind of chatty and quirky without making me cringe too hard.
Hence, the story feels right, ends on a right note, and is just right.
Once Upon a Coffee won’t be the fix for people looking for a whole romance from courtship to wedding, but it presents a very charming scene of two people that are right for one another meeting for the first time and feeling that spark kindling between them. Romance is about big as well as little moments, and Kait Nolan has presented a most lovely kind of little moment here. I like it! I think I’ll need to look into other titles in this series.
