Spilled Coffee

by J.B. Chicoine

Benjamin Hughes is on a mission. He has just bought back the New Hampshire lake cottage his family lost eighteen summers ago, in 1969, just before he turned fourteen—just before his life blew apart.

Still reeling from a broken engagement, Ben has committed himself to relive that momentous summer for the next twenty-four hours.

Every summer as a boy, Ben has gawked at the pretty redhead Amelia, granddaughter to the richest man on the lake, Doc Burns—owner of a Cessna floatplane and the Whispering Narrows estate. During the summer of ’69, Ben not only sneaks around with Amelia, but he learns how to fly with Doc, and meets an eclectic cast of characters that will change him forever. The best summer of Ben’s life turns out to be the worst as the Burns’ family dysfunction collides with his own family’s skeletons.

Genres: Fiction

349 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 4, 2013

About the author

J. B. Chicoine was born on Long Island, New York, and grew up in Amityville during the 1960s and 70s. She has lived in New Hampshire, Kansas City and Michigan. She enjoys setting her stories in New England.

She has been writing stories since she was a girl, but didn't complete a novel until she was nearly thirty. Since then, she has completed four more novels; UNCHARTED: Story for a Shipwright, SPILLED COFFEE, PORTRAIT OF A GIRL RUNNING and its sequel PORTRAIT OF A PROTEGE.

J. B. Chicoine's novels are character driven, (though she does love a plot twist). As a watercolor artist, people are one of her favorite subjects. She says that developing a character is so much like painting a portrait--adding layers as she goes--creating depth.

She also enjoys designing covers and binding her novels. She blogs about her painting and writing, and also has a Website--www.JBChicoine.com. When she's not writing or painting, she enjoys volunteer work, baking crusty breads and working of various projects with her husband. Please feel free to contact her--she loves interacting with her readers.

Reviews

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new and unique novel, on how to tame the ghosts of your dark past, by J.B.Chicoine, Spilled Coffee.

Read this review on:
http://thewordbite.wordpress.com/2014...

First of all many thanks to the author, J.B.Chicoine, for providing me with an e-copy of her book in exchange for honest reviews.

This novel is about, a man named Benjamin, recently got his heart broken, buying his family lake cabin at New Hampshire, thus reliving his dark past. It's once again summer of '69 for Benjamin, running after his first love, Amelia, who's a granddaughter to a rich man, DocBurns. But both Ben's family and Amelia's family don't have a good past track record, hence these two families collide ultimately resulting in Benjamin to break his heart.

The narration of the whole story is amazing, the best part being the details of all Ben's past events were not spilled out at one-go, it was more like peeling the layers of an onion, slowly and one-by-one, and this is what makes the book more addictive, an unputdownable. There are loads of characters and events which makes the book more wonderful. And not to mention the style of the author's writing, it's easy and more like keeping the readers always on the loop, not letting us predict the climax, which makes the book more of a thrilling kind.

So guys, if you want to visit New Hampshire, because I bet while reading this you'll be definitely transported to New Hampshire, grab this book and find out that we cannot closed the chapters of our dark past, we definitely need to find a way to deal with them, and welcome them in our present.

[Dlmrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Amy Jo Houghton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so relaxing to read,it's so easy to fall into and immediately know who these characters are and be drawn to them. It was easy to follow the storyline, and so you could really start to understand where the development of each one was going and you cared about what happened to them.
Even though there were some flashbacks, they were meticulously placed, and it wasn't a constant back and forth that confuses the reader. I have read many books in the past that do just that and it's jarring and too hard to keep straight what's going on, not spilled coffee....because it's more of a memory that is unfolding as each chapter moves the timeline along.

it makes you feel like you know that time period and you can picture yourself right along with the events in the book,even if you never lived through the 60's or 70's.

it's definitely right up there with my favorite books from this author.

[Turk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story! I read it twice. It was like a time jump to when I was a young teen. The emotional intensity of the young character Benjamin is spot on, in my opinion. The world of 14 year old Benjamin's perceptions versus his realities is sensitive and thought provoking.

Chicoine addresses a universal theme—making peace with one's past—while transitioning realistically from the uncomfortable rhythm of Ben's adult life to his memories of the pivotal summer that changed his life. While Chicoine tackles some disturbing issues, she balances it with optimism and manages to evoke happy memories of childhood. Great reading!

[Janel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! I really liked how the story progressed with Ben's memory being set off by the smallest detail. The ending was predictable, but what the characters went through could never have been guessed from the beginning. I also really like that it was set in the 60s, I have not read a lot of books from that time period.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 if I could. I liked the premise and overall storyline, but the writing style itself didn't quite do it for me.

[Brenda Diederich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not sure how to give a half star, but I would place this book at 3 1/2 stars as opposed to the four I gave it. I enjoyed the past/present chapter chronology, the story itself and the way the protagonist was portrayed. Living in NH, on a lake, I could most definitely identify with the summer experience described by Chicoine. Though I was able to guess most of the ending, there was one surprise I did not expect, which had to do with a character's parent. My only complaint is there were a number of grammar errors with respect to a few spelling mistakes but particularly with respect to comma splices. They distracted me from the writing

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was clunky, repetitive and boring.

[Anne Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought J.B. Chicoine’s debut novel UNCHARTED: Story for a Shipwright was amazing, but I think Spilled Coffee is even better.

With a trip down memory lane to the late 60’s, Ben (the main character) has come back to the New Hampshire lake cabin his family used to vacation at and the memories of the summer that broke his heart, as well as his family.

Chicoine’s writing is superbly crafted, and more times than not, I was surprised when I looked up from my reading to find I was not in New Hampshire at all, but in my living room. Her descriptions of time and place are mind altering, in that I dare you not to think you’re in New Hampshire either.

A coming of age story, linking memories to present day, Chicoine weaves a tale of such intricacy, that I couldn’t put this book down. I stayed up long into the night to finish it, wondering how the end would turn out.

With a few plot twists that I never saw coming, Chicoine’s characters are rich and well developed, so much so, I thought of them as real people. Her prose is beautiful and lush and sweeps you into the story so quickly, you forget you’re actually reading a book.

With all the trappings of the 60’s – from Woodstock to hippies to the first lunar landing, Spilled Coffee is just the thing for an aging boomer like me. If I could give this 10 stars I would.