Leaving the Comfort Cafe

by Dawn DeAnna Wilson

Blythe Shelley got a 1600 on her SAT and a full scholarship to Cornell University.

But she never went. Instead, she took a job as a waitress at the Comfort Cafe in Conyers, North Carolina...

Austin Parker wanted to follow his college crush to New York City, but a slumping economy prompted him to take a job as town manager of Conyers, where his master's degree was no match for the well-oiled machine of "good ol' boy" Southern politics.

Austin went to the Comfort Cafe to sample its famous raspberry pie, but he got much more than dessert---he got a dose of Blythe, who brings a splash of color into his gray-flannel world.

Austin is determined to discover why Blythe gave up her Ivy League ambitions.

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction, Contemporary, Ebooks, Contemporary Romance

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Originally from Weaverville, a small town near Asheville, NC, she wrote her first story when she was five and her first poem
was published when she was in 8th grade. In 1986, the publication of her short story in Prism, a magazine for young authors, led to an appearance on "CBS Morning News."
Wilson earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studied creative writing under authors Doris Betts and Bland Simpson. She earned her master's
degree in English with a concentration in creative writing from
East Carolina University.
Her first novel, "Saint Jude," was listed in "The Big Book of Teen Reading Lists: 100 Great, Ready-to-Use Book Lists for Educators, Librarians, Parents, and Teens" by Nancy Keane.
She resides in Eastern North Carolina.

Reviews

[Teeliles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely book, beautifully written with unforgettable characters.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was beautifully written and often surprised with vivid imagery and great wisdom spoken from the lips or minds of the characters. In general, it was a lovely story with a relatively unique and interesting plot-line. It is an interesting mix of quirky, small-town relationships and deeper family ties, the process of forgiveness, growing and falling in love.

"In the South, Tradition never dies, You can choke it and poison it and cuss at it all you like - but it never really dies." (location 158)

"You said even rejection was a celebration because it was just the universe's way of telling me it was one place where I didn't belong, a way of honing me in on the right path, even though I may know nothing about it at the time." (location 526)

"Don't think you're better than anyone else, ever, just because of what you do. What we do is just seconds to pass the time and buy the bread. Nothing more." (location 1735)

"Well you need to use the fancy soaps, wear fancy underwear, dance naked in your living room when no one's looking - ah hell, dance naked in your living room when people are looking. We wonder why God doesn't make our dreams come true, and God wonders why we never use the fancy soaps. You think He's going to give us something special when we don't know how to use what we've got?" (location 2052)

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pick-me-up story about living life and finding happiness in the every day. At first I was a bit unsure of the story because the characters were hard to relate to. Austin was whiny and Blythe was over-the-top eccentric and the rest of the characters were simply unbelievable. But over time the story seemed to relax into an entertaining read.

I really loved Austin’s comic book based on the town people. It was a fun geek outlet that lent Austin depth, while serving to make the characters seem less unbelievable. When they are taken to comic book extremes, their every day behaviour seems more real and ordinary, even if it isn’t really.

Overall, this was a fun story that is sure to make you smile a few times. It was a little and entertaining read and made for an enjoyable reading experience.

[Nola Arganbright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!

I love the quirky characters, the town, the setting, everything! The story took me back to my childhood when we read feel good stories and looked for the "moral of the story". It will be a keeper for me and I plan to read it over and over!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think category romance with a dash of wacky and you have this light and sweet romance, which is refreshingly free of mush and delightfully full of audacity. While it could use an overall edit for typos and what seem to be some incorrect autocorrect changes (d@mn you, autocorrect!), the depth of the characters was fantastic--I was sorry to finish reading because I'd become attached to them all; they walked right off the pages to tell me their story. The atmosphere was lighthearted and homey, cozy, very welcoming, the kind of town you envision when you think "small-town country." Wilson meted out Blythe's mystery in just the right portions, and relationships were developed--and dismantled--very subtly.

I'm only sorry I can't see Austin's drawings--the sight of a curvaceous, bodacious, snake-wrangling, orange-haired superwoman must be awesome indeed. I'm sorry to leave this review in such technical terms; I come at it from a writer's perspective, and I'm really loath to leave behind any spoilers.

[Hanako · Rating 1 out of 5]

honestly...had a really hard time getting through this one. only finished because i always hear that voice saying "maybe it'll get better..." it seemed like every line in the book was trying to be some great turn of phrase. i just wanted to have a sentence without a metaphor. i felt like it was close in a few places to being something better, but then ended up falling flat. i wanted the whimsy of his comic book world but the descriptions were so overwrought it bogged the story down. i didn't really care about the characters and Austin (the main character) drove me a bit crazy. overall, really would not recommend. though at least it was free.

[Kara Prem · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute easy to read book set it a quirky small Southern town (are there anything but quirky small towns?) The main character Austin pulls an absolutely douche move about 3/4 way through the book, and I had a very hard time giving the 3 stars because of it. I wanted to reach through the book and smack him. I loved the character of Blythe the apparently flighty waitress with an ever changing past. There is potential in the book, the ending was a bit rushed, and as I said, Austin was a douche.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an awesome read! Super fun story line and lots of colorful characters with personalities that take hold of you and don't let go. Sometimes we must learn to be content with where we are in life, even though it's not the most exciting all the time. You never know where it will take you, and you may just find that you are right where you are supposed to be all along~ Don't pass this one up, I was lucky enough to pick this up for FREE on pixelofink.com.

[Needlefingers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe it's because I come from a quirky area myself, but I enjoyed the book. If anything, I wished it would have been longer. The ending felt very rushed, and I would have liked to savor it more.

I found the characters likable and the antics entertaining. Yes, there are some errors in it, so if that sort of thing bothers you, be forewarned. It didn't distract me from the story.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book with a really good message. I thought the story was great and the interplay between Blythe and Austin was especially compelling and witty. I also liked this book because it was set in North Carolina.

Nothing really wrong with this book and I would recommend it to others, it just wasn't the perfect book for me. I will, however, look for more books by this author.

[Carolyn Teague]

Very light, mostly amusing book. I read it in an afternoon. Story of young, new city manager that moves to a small town in NC and the residents he encounters. If you are looking for light, well constructed fare this is a good choice.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

started out a bit slow but then picked up nicely. cute little story about finding yourself forgiving and grace. Blythe is the bright spot throughout the book. quirky but honest and truly brilliant...fun character. ending was quick.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a free ereader. I wasn't fond of the main female character. There didn't seem like there was a strong connection between her and the main character. The story was choppy in sections and the ereader had several typos.

[Lindsay Ewing · Rating 2 out of 5]

Different, but cute and quirky. It was a bit slow to start but picked up nicely half way through. Worth the free download for a car ride or flight or vacation.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was somewhat predictable. I can believe the characters acted the way they did because people are just stupid. It's a quick read and the ending is worth it.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not much to say, this book just wasn't for me.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay

Okay for a quick read on a rainy, lazy day but I came across several typos which drives me crazy!

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read. Cute characters with some quirky.

[Ellen (more books, please) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet book.
A coming-of-age tale times two.

The main characters, really, were not so likeable, not necessarily people you would seek to be friends with. One was too needy and one was just too not interesting.

But they grew in the story, you learned of them in the story, and in the end, you could see yourself sitting down with them for a meal or two and thoroughly enjoying their company.


It was beautifully written in spots, evocative of places and feelings. But there were just some issues I had with understanding some things that were going on.

The story starts and focuses on Austin. His relationship with a woman named Kerry comes to the fore. Well, I thought his relationship with Kerry was a romantic situation, boyfriend-girlfriend going their separate ways on divergent career paths. Austin is quite hurt that Kerry did not ask him to go to NYC with her to realize her dreams. Then later in the story is becomes obvious that they were just friends, former neighbors. So why would Kerry ask someone from down the hall to move with her, to uproot their life.

There are other similar issues throughout the book where I made assumptions based on the "facts" given and then I found out my "facts" were nothing at all. Yeah, that was on me, but it seemed almost too disingenuous at times.

And there were editing/content issues. I would just like to say that for now and ever more the words are "all right." There is not a word "alright." It is not like "all together" and "altogether." It is two words, always two words. Yeah, I know, pet peeves will kill us all. And then "it's" is a contraction of "it is." It is not a possessive. All it the curse of the apostrophe that can also show possessive, but, again, "its" is now and forever more possessive.

[Sherri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out a bit weird with the main character being caught in a superhero world. I wasn't sure that I would even keep reading. However the introduction of Blythe, the antagonist provided humor and color to what otherwise, may have been a boring read.

The ending seemed rushed and quite frankly, I felt the epilogue was kind of pointless with the tie-in being forced. But overall, the plot and characters were interesting and it was a quick read.

[Jayme Langhorst · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was choppy and a little flat. I wished the characters had been more developed, b/c I think it would have made the entire story line easier to read. I would not recommend this book. There were some pretty obvious typos, but b/c I downloaded it to my Kindle I overlooked that. I've run into the same issue w/ other Kindle books, so I'm assuming they were typos that just didn't translate to the Kindle edition as originally intended.

[Kathleen Crowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very likeable characters--story line could use a little tightening up. Would liked to have heard more about Blythe's reunion with her nephew and brother. The town hall meeting at the very end was silly. It reminded me of "The Accidental Tourist" and I can definitely see why DDW is compared to Anne Tyler--that is a nice compliment!

[Gloria Leyba · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a while to read this book because it dragged at times and I had to to really be in the right mood to read it. It also had quite a bit of misspelled words and grammatical errors. Overall the story itself was cute but a little shallow for me. I think two stars is a little low but three is a little too high.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sarah This book was only okay. It was interesting to have a "chick lit"-esque book written from the man's perspective, but the characters still felt pretty flat. Also, there were many errors (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) that were pretty distracting. But it was free from Amazon for kindle, so I guess it was worth the price. :-)

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a light and easy romance, but thought the characters could have been developed more. The plot didn't really have much point as well, the end seemed rushed, the epilogue was pointless, and there was no closure.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out with some excellent descriptive writing, I quickly became interested in the characters, but about half way through the plot was so predictable. Maybe an easy beach read, (but do people really lay on the beach and read?)

[Ellen Ramey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An off beat, utterly charming story of learning who you are and living joyfully. I wish it had gone a bit farther, but at the same time, the ending fit perfectly in its own way. Highly Recommended:)

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good story with a happy ending, but the characters seemed under-developed. There was a lot left unexplained about Blythe.
This is one that I started, then set down for awhile. It took me a bit to get into it, but it was worth finishing.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky characters and very easy to read...just an enjoyable book.

[Gayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book. Blythe adds the spunk to a nice little story. Very light, romantic comedy.