this is a great book...very interesting and funny

I enjoyed reading this book. After reading some of the comments by other readers, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Lindsay is a flawed heroine, over accommodating and seemingly afraid to make the tough decisions - but this is true of many of us. Do we like her? We want to because she's sweet and good intentioned, but her choices leave us shaking our heads at times. Another reader commented that she needs to be slapped. I remember several Candace Bushnell books where the protagonist was much less likable and very manipulative - does this make this book bad? Bridget Jones is also flawed. I think we see ourselves in Lindsay, not that we're proud of it, but we can identify (and sometimes uncomfortably so).

As to the writing style, I also noticed that some of the segments did not flow quite as well. I think it improved by the middle section and was an easier read from there on. I liked her use of journal and email blocks which is similar to what Sophie Kinsella uses as a way of injecting humor and perspective.

Here is also where I widely differ from the previous reviewer: much of the chick lit I have read blithely ignores typical literary tools and just runs like a conversation. Run-on sentences, sentence fragments, etc. are par for the course. If you use a more standardized storytelling, the impact is lessened in my opinion.

This may not be the next great American (er, Canadian!) classic, but it's a fun enough read for me.

so i just finished reading the book men are like mocha lattes. This book is about a canadian girl who moves to new zealand for school. The book itself is pretty good, I think it is really well written and I really enjoyed the style of writing as well. It was kind of written like the protaganists journal which kept it pretty interesting. The story follows our protagonist through a bunch of crazy antics of her life and being 30 and single. There are some really good characters that are introdcuced in the story as well as some very funny situtations that the main character finds herself in. The book made me laugh out loud a few times and i also really liked the way the book would jump for present to past sometimes. The writer also refers to alot of popular tv shows, movies and celebraties that everyone can relate too. I also like how the main character is canadian and it is easy to relate to her if you've ever been to another country and know what its like to be international. The only problem i had with the book was that some of the chapters tended to drag on a bit and there were a few things that the writer tendds to go on and on about and they could have been cut short. But other than that, I really enjoyed the book and the story, I recomend this book to anyone who is looking for a very light, refreshing, funny read.
i wanted to try to cut this short only because i didn't want to give too much away, i hope this is ok and informative :)

I’ll start off by saying I did not like this book. I wanted to like this book because the excerpt was about being a chocoholic, and I am a chocoholic. I don’t even think I love men as much as I LOVE chocolate (except my husband. I’d give up chocolate for him.)

But it’s hard to write about why you don’t like a book without ruining the book. So I’ll say, there are NO SPOILERS here. I won’t ruin the book in this review. But I might taint your opinion of it.

Problem #1: the cover. Don’t judge a book by its cover they say. But if you’ve studied graphic art or art in general, as I have, you would immediately notice the amateurish design of the cover of this book. Pink, fine. Heels, cute. Curlz font in over 40pt? Puh-lease!

Problem #2:This book wants to be as funny as Bridget Jones. It wants to be as in-touch as Jennifer Weiner. It’s not. The narration switches from emails, to diary entries, to regular fictional prose – and it does not do so seamlessly. It jumps around oddly. And the font is tiny. These 2 things made the book physically hard to read.

Problem #3: I was kind of hoping the book would be funny anecdotes and tales from the author’s own experiences with men. It wasn’t. It’s an actual fiction novel with a plot. The part you are supposed to like best about fiction, I think, is the protagonist – the main character. You want to take their side and see them through better and worse. But this main character needed to be slapped. She needed a close girlfriend to say, “You put yourself in these situations, and you can only blame yourself. Grow ‘a pair’ or stop whining.” She’s the kind of female I don’t like, smart-brained but weak-minded. If you haven’t figured out by age 29 that your life is a result of choices, and poor choices often lead to unhappiness, then you won't be happy as a teacher, lawyer, wife – or many of the other things this lead female wants to be.

Problem #4: So she makes these bad choices, and suddenly there’s a BIG choice you aren’t even quite ready for her to make yet, and the book skips over all the details. It has 2 sentences about this choice, and then moves on to the consequences the next day. And as a reader I said, “Wait, what just happened? You’re not gonna tell me how/why this happened?!”

Problem #5: Misc Long Quotes. Did someone tell the author to add 10 pages to the book and she did so by throwing in quotes from other sources? Songs, articles, talk shows – get your verbatim quotes here! Even movie plot outlines… very odd.

Problem #6: The book ends with a Glossary of Kiwi expressions, because the story takes place in New Zealand. But many of the phrases are expressions we would use and don’t belong here without talking down to the reader. And this section is full of justification and typographical errors. It made my college-English-degree eyes hurt.

Just finished reading this book last night. Men Are Like Mocha Lattes by Lisa Summers follows Canadian abroad Lindsay Breyer has she completes a year at a teaching college in New Zealand.

I found the book a light and easy read, although like the previous reviewer below me, I had a little trouble getting into it at first. This was due to the format which is more diary/train of thought than narrative.

The characters were well-written. Lindsay is a flawed heroine: she's sweet, smart and well meaning but gullible and easily taken advantage of. Drew, Lindsay's romantic interest in the book, is selfish and manipulative. What I like best about Summers's writing is that she doesn't feel the need to spell it out for you; she trusts that her readers are smart enough to figure out what Lindsay's doing wrong: hopefully seeing a little bit of themselves in the character and learning/growing from it. (Okay, maybe not that far but I can see it happening...) I found myself so wrapped up in the characters that sometimes, I found myself angry at Drew for being a jerk or angry at Lindsay for letting him do it. (I guess I definitely see myself in Lindsay)

I also found the obvious comparisons between New Zealand and Canada amusing, especially in the face of powerhouse countries like Australia and The United States. I found myself chuckling as I recognized certain situations, like where the Kiwis kept calling Lindsay "American" because it's "the same thing". (I'm sure I'm guilty of thinking the same thing of Kiwis and Auzzies.) I wish Summers wrote more about this and her culture shock of going to a foreign country.

Overall, I found the book amusing and fun; definitely worth while picking up. However, I do wish we got to learn more about New Zealand. I did find the glossary in the back funny and worthwhile reading all the entries.

I just finished reading Men are Like Mocha Lattes this weekend. It took me a bit to get into it with the format of writing at the beginning of the book with the subheadings but once I got used to it, it was a really fun read. The very accommodating Lindsay reminds me a lot of myself and I really enjoyed watching how she progressed throughout the book. I would definitely recommend this book and I look forward to the next book by Lisa Summers. :o)

This is a really fun book. I got it from the author, Lisa Summers and had a really hard time putting it down. It follows the protagonist, Lindsay, on her quest to find Mr. Right. Lindsay suffers from a problem many of us have of being too nice/accommodating and it leads her into a lot of situations where she is taken advantage of by those around her. I found her very relatable to myself in my single years!

What I most enjoyed about this book was the tone. Lisa Summers' style is sharp and witty. It reminds me of Sophie Kinsella in her Shoppaholic series. Not because she shops excessively but because of the predicaments she finds herself in and her inner dialogue/diary entries, which are quite amusing. Sarcastic labels of various characters like "The Best Thing That Ever Happened" and "Mr. Not Good-Looking At All" are well timed and I found myself laughing out loud at points. It is light and funny and you will feel good reading it.

It is based on Lisa's own life, which is probably why it rings so true. I highly recommend this book and look forward to the next one!