Review: "Latte Daze" by Erynn Mangum

Title: Latte Daze
Author: Erynn Mangum
Publisher: NavPress, 2010

This post is a review of a Christian fiction book, and is also slightly personal; just a warning!

Maya Davis is back in this second book in her trilogy, this time as maid of honor for her good friend and roommate, Jen. And now that Maya is dating Jack, her best friend in the world, she's got much more on her mind than just what coffee roast to serve at Cool Beans, the coffee shop where she works. Jack's left the shop to work in a zoo, Jen is getting married, and on the heels of all this, her brother and sister-in-law announce their pregnancy. Maya's life is changing rapidly, and she doesn't like change. Can she trust God to get her through this, and trust He knows what He's doing?

Again, this is a Christian fiction book, which I'm finding I'm really enjoying at this point of my life. I love that Maya is 24, my own age; it's hard to find books with characters in their early to mid-20s. It's nice to read about someone going through the same points in their life as I am.

This book not only is really fun to read, and a story on the lighter side, it also challenged me in my own life. I'm going to be completely honest in this review, and I know not many of my readers are Christian, but I'm finding myself becoming a stronger Christian when I read about other Christian's journeys and their quests to better serve God. It makes me want to work harder, and realize I should be working harder to be a better person and a better Christian.

I do want to call foul on a couple of things, though. Jen's wedding planning happened WAY too easily. I know what it's like to plan a wedding, and it seems way too lucky for Jen to be able to find her wedding dress on the first day after being engaged. Everything fell into place surreally easily and felt fake. But whatever! Maybe it is that easy for some people. They are lucky.

I also felt it was really weird how Jack and Maya never really kissed in this book, despite the fact they've been dating for months. MONTHS.

I'm also annoyed that this is pitched as a book for teens. Teens are not in the place in life Maya and Jen are in, and I'm not sure they'll be able to easily connect to the story or characters as a whole. I'm sure a few would, but I think it's hard to bill this as an adult title since the characters are so young and the story is so tame.

I'm really enjoying Maya's story and am invested in her and her family and friends at this point, so I will most certainly be finishing up this trilogy when I get the chance.

Disclosure: I bought this from bn.com as an e-book.