Meredith Katz

Clara Gutierrez is an AI repair technician and a wanderer. Her childhood with her migrant worker family has left her uncomfortable with lingering for too long, so she moves from place to place across retro-futuristic America. Sal is a fully autonomous robot. Older than the law declaring her kind illegal due to ethical concerns, she is at best out of place in society and at worst vilified. She continues to run the tea shop previously owned by her long-dead master, lost in memories of the past, struggling to fulfill her master's dream for the shop while slowly breaking down. They meet by chance, but as they begin to spend time together, they both start to wrestle with the concept of moving on... A F/F retro-future sci-fi asexual romance. A story about artificial intelligence and real kindness, about love, and the feeling of watching steam rising softly from a teacup on a bright and quiet morning.

The Cybernetic Tea Shop

Cathy Trình

it's warm and sweet, like a good cup of tea. Loved every line.

Clara Gutierrez is a highly-skilled technician specializing in the popular 'Raise' AI companions. Her childhood in a migrant worker family has left her uncomfortable with lingering in any one place, so she sticks around just long enough to replenish her funds before she moves on, her only constant companion Joanie, a fierce, energetic Raise hummingbird.Sal is a fully autonomous robot, the creation of which was declared illegal ages earlier due to ethical concerns. She is older than the law, however, at best out of place in society and at worst hated. Her old master is long dead, but she continues to run the tea shop her master had owned, lost in memories of the past, slowly breaking down, and aiming to fulfill her master's dream for the shop.When Clara stops by Sal's shop for lunch, she doesn't expect to find a real robot there, let alone one who might need her help. But as they begin to spend time together and learn more about each other, they both start to wrestle with the concept of moving on...

Lucia Correa

5 STARS.

Wow. I loved this story. I'm going to steal a few adjectives from other reviewers. Because they said it first and sums up most of the feels I have for this story.
Lovely, Lovely Story -@Michelle
Sweet and gentle story - @Joc
Grabbed my heart - @Corrie
thoughtful and quiet, seeming to take up more space than the pages it occupied - @Danika

I'm always amazed when writers can write short stories (or in this case a short novella) that are concise but not spare. As the book summary states - there is Clara, a very skilled robotics technician and her constant companion, Joanie, a robotic hummingbird that Clara re-programmed to have more emotional range but just short of being sentient. Clara is a nomad. She rarely stays in a place longer than a year. With her skills, she is able to find well paying jobs wherever she lands. Then finally there is Sal. Sal is a sentient, autonomous AI robot. She is rare, as few sentient AIs are left after creation of them was decided to be unethical. She runs a tea shop that was owned by her deceased master and she has been running it alone for almost 300 years. Warning: as others have said, you will fall in love with Sal. How can you not fall in love with someone who loves as deeply as Sal?

Hurry up and finish the current book you are reading or put it down for an hour or so and read this lovely novella.

Super fast read. So sweet. So cozy. Slice-of-life tea shop love story with Ace MCs. I adore this book and am so glad I finally picked it up!

Emma

Megan Cooper

What an odd little novella - Clara is an AI technician who meets Sal, a robot who runs a tea shop in Seattle. I started this one with no expectations and found it to be an interesting read that gave me a bit to think about. Katz's prose sucked me in and the way she rolled the story out kept me mesmerized with where she was going. A quiet and thought provoking novella that I'm really glad that I stumbled upon.

The Cybernetic Tea Shop

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