The Time Hop Coffee Shop – Phaedra Patrick

Published By: Aria
Pages: 352
Released On: 29/09/2025

Welcome to the Time Hop Coffee Shop, where wishes can come true . . .

Greta Perks was once the shining star of the iconic Maple Gold coffee commercials, the quintessential TV wife and mom. Now, fame has faded, her marriage is on the rocks, her teenage daughter has become distant, and Greta’s once-glittering career feels like a distant memory.

So when Greta stumbles upon a mysterious coffee shop, serving a magical brew, she wishes for the perfect life in those past Maple Gold commercials. Next thing she knows, Greta wakes in the idyllic, make-believe town of Mapleville, where the sun always shines and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and second chances fill the air. Given the opportunity to live the life she dreamed, Greta is determined to rewrite her own script. But can life ever be like a coffee commercial? And what will happen when Greta has to choose – between perfection and real life, with no turning back?

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Aria for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I’m used to reading stories like this written by authors from Japan or Korea, and I love them, so I thought it would be interesting to see a Western perspective.

I liked the comparison between the dysfunctional but normal family, with the ‘perfect’ ideal of what a family should be like.

Sadly it didn’t really live up to my expectations. I really wanted to love it but I didn’t. I liked it but it was missing something that I just couldn’t put my finger on. I wasn’t comfortable reading it, something kept scratching my brain but I couldn’t settle on what it was.

It’s quite sickly sweet. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it does work in this context because everything is sickly sweet and perfect, but I didn’t find it pleasant to read.

I liked the first quarter of it and I liked the ending, but I felt it was a bit repetitive and flat in the middle. It just didn’t grab me and I felt my attention wandering and wanting to skip bits.

I have not read any of her other books but I have heard some good stuff so I won’t completely write her off here. But this just didn’t live up to my expectations sadly, and I admit I rushed through the second half just to see how it ended because I wasn’t enjoying the middle part of the book.