Review #7: Match Point by Erynn Mangum

Match Point by Erynn Mangum

Description: Book 3 in the Lauren Holbrook series, chick lit Christian, YA

Publishing Details: Tyndale House Publishers 5/8/2008

Pages: 366

Related Reviews: Miss Match (Book 1), Rematch (Book 2)

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Cover review: I like this cover. It’s simply and quirky but ties in with the story once you read it which I really like.

Synopsis

“I have now been a bridesmaid three times: first at my sister Laney’s wedding, next at my good friend Ruby’s wedding, and now here.  According to the old saying, I will now never be a bride. Pity.” 

Everyone – and I mean everyone – is getting married, but apparently Lauren Holbrook missed the memo.  She’s perfectly okay with that, of course, but that won’t stop her persistent friends from pestering her and longtime boyfriend Ryan to tie the knot already.  The pressure is killing them – and is frankly, kind of awkward – when suddenly they think of the perfect plan to get everyone off their backs… they’ll pretend to break up.

It starts to backfire, though, when Lauren starts to realize just how much she hates losing Ryan (even if it’s just pretend) and leaves her questioning whether or not she’s finally fallen in love.

Pros & Cons

Oh, Lauren Holbrook, we meet again.  If you’ve been following the saga that is my reviews of these books, you’ll know that I’m acting exactly like Lauren: I think I’m in love but… who the heck really knows?

We might as well get the cons out of the way.  All of the issues I had with the first two books (but only really started to notice in the second book) were present in this book as well, not that I wasn’t expecting that.  However, they didn’t seem to appear quite as often, which was nice.  I also had a few new issues, though.  My first issue was that the relationships progress so fast in this book.  It mainly happened in the first two books, but I realized it at the beginning of the books when they were talking about everyone who was married.  In the second book, Lauren will be spying on one of her friends getting proposed to, and then all of a sudden you realize, Wait… didn’t they get together two chapters ago? That’s not an exaggeration.  It’s slightly ridiculous.

My second issue is how awkward Lauren is in this book.  Like… ridiculously awkward.  I got second-hand embarrassment every other chapter and not in a relatable way.  The way she responded to certain things seemed ridiculous and completely unrealistic… and this is coming from a person who definitely has had more than her own fair share of awkwardness.

However, I still can’t help but love these books.  When it comes down to it, I’m reading a book to be entertained, and by no stretch of the imagination are these books not entertaining.  I laughed out loud at a couple of scenes and the plot never slows down.  The life of Lauren that we follow in this book is one crazy adventure, and I enjoy every second of it while I’m reading.

Final Thoughts

These books are not overly mind-blowing, and they won’t change your life.  They won’t bring you to tears or prompt you to start an Instagram account dedicated to the Lauren Holbrook fandom. But – despite their flaws – they are super fun reads that I would definitely recommend when it comes down to it.  Yes, I got annoyed during the book, but it wasn’t mad annoyed.  It was like the feeling when your best friend says something really stupid and you’re just kind of upset and you feel like screaming I know you can do better!  You know that feeling?

I wouldn’t necessarily say that this is a book that you need to have in your library (although I may consider rereading them in the future, so I’m glad I have them), but if you’re in the mood for a rainy day, easy read, these are the books for you.

4/5