Match Point

Lauren Holbrook #3

by Erynn Mangum

Matchmaker Lauren Holbrook is happy after putting together four successful couples. That is, until the tables are turned and she’s on the receiving end of the matchmaking! Lauren and her boyfriend, Ryan, devise a plan to make it look as if they’ve broken up so people will get off their backs about marriage. No problem, right? That is, of course, until Lauren realizes she’s in love.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary, Christian Romance

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 8, 2008

About the author

I love to read, love to write and am very blessed to be a wife and mama of two precious boys and a beautiful little girl. My latest books are The Broken Branch and Mind the Gap! Look for the Lauren Holbrook series (Miss Match, ReMatch, Match Point, Match Made and Bake Me A Match), the Maya Davis series (Cool Beans, Latte Daze and Double Shot) Sketchy Behavior, and the Paige Alder series (Paige Torn, Paige Rewritten and Paige Turned) and the Carrington Springs series (Katie in Waiting, Once Upon Eliza and Happily Ever Ashten) in paperback and ebook format, along with lots of ebook novellas. :) To learn more, visit me on Instagram @ErynnMangum.

Reviews

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've noticed when I love a book my review is short and when I don't like it (or its sent to me by review) my review is super organized.

My Review for this book:
Just. read. this. trilogy. pls, it's so amazing I can't even, aiejdjndjejsnajkqnsjsndjrjrbrjjrbrjejejwnejjejrjrnrhhekjsjs.

You know it's a good book when u want to Re read it as soon as u finish it.

[Valerie (Val's Vicinity) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laurie and Ryan have been casually dating for over a year, and all the while Laurie has constantly been practicing her hobby of unwanted matchmaking on her friends and acquaintances. But she's in for a big surprise when her friends start giving her a taste of her own medicine!

I found it quite humorous that Laurie's friends turned her matchmaking habit around on her, and Ryan's plan to get "revenge" on the matchmakers was amazingly fun...however, sadly I felt that some of the magic between Laurie and Ryan was lost once everyone started pushing them together. Yes, it's obvious that they make a great couple... but I really liked the slow and steady pace their relationship was built on. Many parts of the plot were quite fun, but ultimately I think I would've preferred to see Laurie and Ryan find their own way, instead of everyone trying to speed up their relationship.

Something that really stood out to me, that I really loved, was how Laurie tends to freeze up when she finds herself in a romantic situation. She is always so happy when her friends are in mushy situations, but when it happens to her, she just about panics. I loved that! It's so "real" and down-to-earth. It certainly doesn't fit into the standard mold for novel romances, but then again, Laurie is anything but normal...which is why she is so awesome as a character.

Despite my small nitpicking in a few places on Match Point, I still say Erynn Mangum is the ultimate queen of Christian Chick-Lit, hands down. No one can match her off-the-wall banter and quirky, yet realistic characters. This is the end of the Lauren Holbrook series, but I am anxiously awaiting her next book release!

My Rating: 4.5 stars

[Sarah L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
I am OBSESSED. That was so cute, and so funny. Oh my word! 🤣 Laurie is so funny, Ryan is so sweet, and they go so well together. The wedding was so cute, and so funny about her bouquet…😂💐🎤

5 stars, all the way. So happy with this! Thanks, Erynn Mangum. 😃😃

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 4 out of 5]

About this book:

“Lauren Holbrook, matchmaker extraordinaire, takes credit for four successful couples now. With her dad happily married and life settling down around her, Lauren feels quite content. That is, until the tables are turned and she’s on the receiving end of the matchmaking!
Lauren and her boyfriend, Ryan, devise a plan to make it look as if they’ve broken up so people will get off their backs about marriage. No problem, right? That’s of course until Lauren realizes she’s in love.”


Series: Book #3 in the “Lauren Holbrook” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here and #2 Here!


Spiritual Content- Scriptures are referenced, read, quoted, mentioned, & talked about; Prayers, Talking to God, & Thanking Him; Going to Bible study & Bible reading; Talks about God & Scriptures; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, Bible studies, Bibles, pastors, sermons, & hymns; Mentions of those in the Bible; Mentions of Christians; A couple mentions of salvation; A couple mentions of blessings.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dang’, a ‘drat’, a ‘duh’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘shoot’, two forms of ‘darn’, two ‘dumb’s, two ‘heck’s, two ‘holy cow’s, two ‘rats’s, four forms of ‘stupid’, seven ‘shut up’s, eight ‘sheesh’s, and ten ‘oh my gosh’s; Lots of sass & sarcasm; Eye rolling; Mentions of (somewhat teasing) ways to murder someone; Mentions of lies & lying; A few mentions of being drugged; A couple mentions of mass murder; A couple mentions of homicidal tendencies; A mention of war; A mention of a terrorist; A mention of feeling hungover;
*Note: Many mentions of movies, fictional characters, actors, & singers; A few mentions of Starbucks.


Sexual Content- a palm kiss, a chin kiss, seven cheek kisses, six forehead/head kisses, six not-detailed kisses, and five barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); a ‘sexy’, a ‘trampy’, and four ‘babe’s; Many mentions of dates, dating, boyfriends, & girlfriends; Mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of flirting; A (teasing) mention of a guy being interested in dating another guy (he’s not interested at all, Laurie was teasing him); A mention of a date rape drug; A mention of a sordid affair (that did not happen); A mention of a husband leaving his wife for a garbage woman; A mention of jealousy; A mention of a wolf whistle; Love, being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A few mentions of short miniskirts; A couple mentions of abs & muscles; A couple mentions of low-cut dresses; A mention of a bra strap; A mention of a woman wearing not much more than a bra; A mention of a celebrity’s cleavage; A mention of a bust line; A mention of a bikini; A mention of estrogen; A mention of everyone seeing everything during childbirth.

-Lauren Holbrook, age 24
1st person P.O.V. of Lauren
366 pages

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Pre Teens- One Star
New Teens- Two Stars
Early High School Teens- Three Stars
Older High School Teens- Four Stars
My personal Rating- Four Stars
I think I enjoyed this book a little more than the second, but not quite as much as the first during this little rereading spree of this lovely series. Laurie truthfully is a hilarious character and I just love how she thinks through different things. I’m so excited to finally read the rest of this series now! :)


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard from a friend that this series was really disappointing. So, the whole time I was reading this last book, I was thinking "Oh my goodness, it must be that Laurie Holbrook doesn't get married at all."

I was happy to find that my worst fears didn't happen at all. Despite warnings from my sweet friend that this series wasn't so great, I really, REALLY LIKED THIS SERIES!!!

Hehe! Maybe it's just because I'm over twenty (unlike my little friend) and there were a lot of older girl, still not married, I love chocolate and coffee and chick-flick's kinds of conversations going on throughout the books which you would kind of only get if you are a girl over the age of twenty and still single. I can also see how some might be disappointed that Laurie and Brandon didn't get together. (I gave up on that idea in book two and after that, I started to really like Ryan. I think Brandon was too much like a brother.)

I was enchanted with Laurie's character. She was funny, outgoing, and had a really bad sweet tooth. I loved watching her grow in her faith.

The one and only problem that I had was how long she spent lieing to her friends and family and pretending to date Ryan. It was a bit deceptive. I mean, I understood her reasons and all. And I loved that after a while, out of that fake relationship, God formed something real and meaningful. But I still didn't really like that it had started out with lies. Even if she and Ryan were really good friends.

Overall, I LOVED this series. It's going on my book wish list. If you are look for fun and entertainment with a little bit of faith and romance thrown in, then these books are for you!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

ZAH! This one was my favorite in the series. So cute. So much SQUEE! I kind of want to get married now. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I want to marry a construction worker who wears flannel. Yep. So much swoon. So much squee. this book turned me into a lunatic. I guess that's what you get when you read 3 chick lit books in 3 days.

This series had some unrealistic elements - just things working out so perfectly well for everyone - but I didn't really care. It was a fun series. A good escape from reality. And I liked the Bible verse/study interludes. Good grounding in faith without being very preachy. But, if you aren't a Christian you might find it preachy and random.

Also, her family seemed so fun. I was jealous.

Ready to plan my wedding now :P But not really. I'm sure I'll go back to being miss independent after a couple days of chick lit detox. Or maybe I should just go balls to the walls and read pride and prejudice now. There were so many references in this book I think it might be about time to check that off my list!

[Amanda Hogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO SO CUTE!!!! how I adore ryannnnn 😭 I have probably 10+ pictures of moments in this book I loved !!!

[Jill Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review by Gigi Hoffman

Matchpoint, the third and final book in the Lauren Holbrook Novel series by Erynn Mangum, is a satisfactory ending to the series.

Laurie’s matchmaking skills have paid off—four of the couples she’s matched are now married, and it’s just time before another couple gets engaged. With all her friends married and her singles’ Bible study basically the couples’ Bible study now, there’s no one left to matchmake. What’s a girl supposed to do?

While Laurie is trying to find others to play Cupid with, the friends she’s matched turn on her, and play matchmaker with her and her boyfriend, Ryan. Laurie’s not sure how she feels about that. One matchmaker is enough, and she’s already got that role filled. To get away from the constant discussions and pressuring toward marriage, Laurie and Ryan pull a fake break-up. It’s a great plan until Laurie realizes one very important thing—she’s in love.

This book wraps up everything in the series. Some parts seem to drag a little, but it’s got the same fun parts like the previous novels—coffee, chocolate, and chick-flick quotes. If you’ve read the previous two books, the third one is a must.

[Andye.Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Match, Rematch, and Match Point follow the life of twenty-thee year old, Laurie Holbrook, a coffee addict and chocoholic. Laurie has found her calling, and it's matchmaking. Although she is content to stay single and live with her dad forever, she devises complex schemes, including using brownies and blind dates, to match up everyone else she knows. After setting up her sister, best friend, singles pastor, coffee shop owner, and a few others Laurie realizes that her family members might have learned a few tricks of the trade from her and she’s their target.

This is by far my favorite Christian author, and one of my favorite authors in general. I love her writing style, and how she writes about Christianity without trying to (for lack of a better word) “preach” to you. These books are hilarious, and easy to relate to. Although Laurie (the main character) is twenty-three, it wasn’t weird at all reading about someone so much older than I am, it just seemed normal. But if you haven’t see The Princess Bride, and Pride and Prejudice I would recommend watching them before reading these books because they are referenced a lot!

http://ReadingTeen.blogspot.com/

[Katryna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book in the Lauren Holbrook trilogy and it ends as perfectly as a book/trilogy can. Lauren has been matching people since book one and now those people want to match her. She's not sure if she loves the guy they want her to marry though. Lauren looks to her friends, God, and even strangers to help her with this dilemma.

The journey with Lauren, also known as the Lauren Holbrook series, was amazing. All three books kept me on my toes and laughing out loud. I was sad to see the series come to an end, but I couldn't have imagined a better ending.

I highly recommend this ENTIRE series to everyone. Even if you don't read Christian fiction, this book is light and funny and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole tone seemed to change in this book. Laurie let everyone plan her life. I kept waiting for her to stand up and say "No! Laurie is not the kinda girl who lets others run her life. Ryan and I can figure stuff out on our own, thank you very much." I am also still sad that she didn't get with Brandon.

This book ended up really dragging at the end. Yes, there were still moments when my sides hurt from laughing so much. but this was my least favorite book of the series.

[Michele Townliand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good ending to the trilogy. I see the author has continued with more books in the Lauren series but I will stop here.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

First off, I am not rating this in terms of how well it follows the story of Emma, because if I were doing that, I would have given this one star. I was really annoyed that she chose Ryan instead of the Mr Knightly character, Brandon. I’m an Austen purist, so I wanted her to end up with Brandon from the moment he was introduced, and second of all, I thought she had better chemistry with Brandon. He wasn’t afraid to call her out on things, whereas Ryan was never able to. Also, Laurie didn’t seem comfortable with Ryan. She was constantly nervous around him, even after they had been dating for 2 years. You’d think after that much time, she wouldn’t be afraid to be herself. She also seemed almost wistful when thinking about Brandon married to her best friend too. Ryan didn’t seem that comfortable with Laurie either - it took him almost 2 years to say I love you to her!

I was not happy with the “mismatch” that Laurie made with Florence and the totally unrealistic Cousin Dave. What was the point of that? Just to show that Laurie was not perfect at matchmaking? If so, too little, too late. It didn’t add anything to the plot, and I actually liked Florence, who seemed to be the only character NOT fawning all over Laurie. After the botched match, Florence just disappeared from the story, which I thought was a shame because almost all the characters had virtually identical personalities, and she was different, so she stood out to me.

Also, the portrayal of buying a house was NOT REMOTELY realistic. Laurie and Ryan saw the house (which conveniently happened to be 5 minutes away from all their family and friends), and somehow closed on it like a week later. Um, it is A LOT more complicated than that to buy a house. Not to mention, where did they get the money for the down payment? Laurie never wanted to work more than part time - and even made her boss hire someone else so she could work less hours! She’s 24 years old and only works part time, so buying a house didn’t really seem like a feasible option for them.

I did round up to 3 because Laurie did seem a little more mature in this one. Now if she could just get a full time job and cook her own food, she might be almost independent! I am curious about books 4 and 5, where Laurie is not the narrator, so I will probably check those out soon.

Overall, these first three books were decent, but not my favorites by Erynn. She’s still great though!

[Kysa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy, contented sigh! 😊
Perfection.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Review reposted from my blog at http://www.forwardsandbookwords.wordp... **
“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.

[Mirah W · Rating 2 out of 5]

A predictable conclusion to the series. I'm glad that Laurie decided to be honest with herself in this final installment but did it really warrant an intervention from her friends? What's wrong with taking your time in finding a mspouse? Just because everyone else is getting married doesn't mean a single person in the friend group has to do it, too. I was a little annoyed by that aspect of it. And thank goodness there were some couples who weren't immediately having children (which most couples were)...there's no rule that couples have to have children immediately in order (or at all) to "cement" their marriage. And I totally did not see the purpose of the Florence matchmaking subplot...it was weak and made Laurie seem careless in her attempt to match people she really didn't know at all. In spite of what I didn't like there was some good humor in this. Overall, a less than average, I'd say...I'm only giving it 2 stars.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute romantic book, but not one of my favorites. It's a little unbelievable to think that there's this tiny town with all cute, eligible, strong Christian 20-somethings who want nothing more than to get married. Apparently they all earn terrific incomes without ever having thought of college (the main character works part-time as a photographer while not going to school but seems to have no problem going on plenty of shopping sprees).

So, while it's cute and I loved the Christian orientation that one doesn't find too often, I was honestly kind of bored by it. Kind of like eating meringue cookies that are sweet but not satisfying.

[Kelly RAley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was slightly more painful than the other two. The dialogue was stilted and I found myself skimming. We have all lived wedding planning and I have no need to plan the minutia of someone else's wedding. I found this one too obvious with none of the tension of the first book. Also, the author didn't really make us feel the chemistry very well between the couple. Lastly, the author has obviously never bought a home or she would know you can't close on a house within days of bidding on it. Overall it was a C- for me.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the first two books were slightly better than this one. While reading this one I realized how young the author was because of obvious things that she must not have experience with (closing on a house almost immediately is not realistic - and it happened more than once in the series). The book was okay but I did get confused about why Lauren didn't realize Ryan was her boyfriend - they had the discussion about that in book 2. This was a quick read series which is why I stuck with it, but not one I would recommend.

[Bre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Halee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just keeps getting better!!!

[Ali M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love is only real in this universe

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book so far... I love laurie :)

[Chelsea Pennington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay yesss. This is the third (and I think final? Though maybe another one was released much later) in the series about Laurie Holbrook, and it gets back closer to the first book that I adore so much. This one focuses much more on Laurie and Ryan's relationship than the other two, and less on Laurie's matchmaking hobby. It's so fun and relatable to see Laurie debating with herself (and her meddling friends and sisters) about even though she likes Ryan, does she love him in a way that she wants to marry him? Everything about this book is squeal-worthy and I love it. Although, it is nearly 15 years old and written from a conservative Christan perspective, so I almost spit out my coffee when the stepmom is like "You're twenty-four! It's ridiculous you're not married yet!!" like CHILL WOMAN IT'S OKAY. But there are side characters who *gasp* wait until their 30s or 40s to get married that the main character admires so it balances out those perspectives.

[Cindy Davis- Cindy's Book Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Match Point is the third book in the Lauren Holbrook series and I will reiterate that they should be read in order.

One of the things I love about this series is that there is not a lot of drama in the relationships. Laurie is dramatic and a yeller, but honestly, that just makes her more real to me. Especially since I know some people in their early twenties that are just like that!

I am so sad to see this series end. I will miss Laurie and her friends, her coffee addiction, and off the wall humor. I enjoyed the nods to The Princess Bride, but not having read Pride and Prejudice, I missed those (noted from other reviews).

While not a perfect book, or series, I really enjoyed and recommend the whole series. They are sweet and clean, not too deep, filled with humor.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️ 3.8 ⭐️⭐️

I rounded up. It was remarkably better than the first two. You can see Laurie's development a little throughout the book which is refreshing!! She's not just this matchmaking coffee obsessed spaz but someone I can relate to - her panic and confusion surrounding her own love story... it made me laugh and remember the days before I said I love you to my spouse. I also liked that it was very different from the other two. We got to see new places and it wasnt just her going to work, coming home, eating at vizzinis or mersons, reading the bible, trying to set people up. It was nice for a change to read new experiences.

[Geneva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my second series by Ms. Mangum and I enjoyed it just as much! I love the way her characters are so funny, quirky, and addicted to coffee and chocolate! The main character Lauren has quite the original personality and is obsessed with matchmaking. She is beloved even though she drives everyone around her crazy. She is great at making everyone else's match, but is hopeless at recognizing her own. Woven through each story are scriptures of encouragement and faith. Great, sweet read!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is sweet. And still hilarious.

I am so not a matchmaker (I’m even clueless as to who likes who!) but I can see myself reacting to falling in love just like Lauren did.

It’s kind of fun that this book takes place a little over a year later. I also like the presence of the babies. Little kids in books make everything great.

[Loren Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!

[Lauren Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ for the nostalgia