Tagline: Nikki liked the coffee messages Ethan set to her...but would he ever ask her out?
Observations: Well now. I happen to be a barista with ten years experience, so the coffee shop details were particularly interesting to me. (The photo used in the magazine isn't true latte art. It looks like someone shook cinnamon onto the drink using a template.)
I liked, but didn't love, this story. I think I've seen this plot before: a character is stood up for a blind date at a dining establishment, and the owner or employee notices and commiserates, and they end up together. In fact, I kept thinking I'd actually read this story before.
My gripes...
There were more exclamation points than I like. (Sometimes if you add too many exclamation points to a man's conversation, it makes him seem a little silly, maybe even effeminate.) I counted nine and if it had been my story, I don't think any of them needed to be there. If in doubt, leave it out.
It's not "coffee art," it's "latte art." You can't make art in a cup of coffee because there's no foam. And you don't usually see words because the art is created by pouring the foam and sometimes using a tool like a toothpick to add detail. But this is not something your average coffee drinker would know.
I felt frustrated by the convenient interruptions by Ethan's somewhat incompetent employees and then his vacation on top of that...but I liked the ending a lot. It had that cheery optimism and was very believable.
Photo credit: Kenny Louie via Flickr Creative Commons
8 comments:
Kate, I thought this was another cute WW story. It didn't bother me that his employees interrupted him. I guess I just thought that was the norm. LOL
It was a cute story. I agree it does seem similar to other stories. The coffee shop and blind date that doesn't show up story are common. I didn't think too much about the employees constantly interrupting. I guess it seemed like a realistic way for them to be interrupted. I can see how you would see the story in a different way having worked so many years in a coffee shop.
I don't remember seeing a published story where someone is stood up on a blind date in a coffee shop and ends up dating the owner -- but I did write one. Minus the fancy latte, since I don't drink coffee and didn't think I could fake it. Unfortunately, Johnene rejected mine a year ago!
Kate, I'm glad you took out that first comment. Some people really have their golden crust, don't they?
I liked Rosemary Hayes' coffee story. There was a sparkle to the dialog, especially in the first column. I didn't know why he had to be away (kinda broke up the flow of the story), but all's well that ends well. Will we ever know why there are exclamation points jumping around all over the place? There were a lot of yellers there, it seems.
I've ordered my magazine subscription a month ago. When should an issue show up? I missed this story…sold out at the grocery store, and then the Celebrate summer issue was all I found.
Bonny D
Hi, Bonny! Give me your email and I'll send you a photo of the story. In my experience with magazines, sometimes the subscriptions take a long time to start coming and sometimes they start by sending me an issue that is already off the stands, which usually irritates me. :)
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