The Espressologist by Kristina Springer

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux

Publish Date: October 2009

Source: Library

What's your drink of choice? Is it a small pumpkin spice latte? Then you're lots of fun and a bit sassy. Or a medium americano? You must prefer simplicity in life. Or perhaps it's a decaf soy sugar-free hazelnut caffe latte? Some might call you a yuppie.
Seventeen-year-old barista Jane Turner has this theory that you can tell a lot about a person by their regular coffee drink. She scribbles it all down in a notebook and calls it Espressology. So it's not a totally crazy idea when Jane starts hooking up some of her friends based on their drink orders. Like her best friend, Em, a medium hot chocolate, and Cam, a toffee nut latte. But when her boss, Derek, gets wind of Jane's Espressology, he makes it an in-store holiday promotion, promising customers their perfect matches for the price of their favorite coffee. Things are going better than Derek could ever have hoped, so why is Jane so freaked out? Does it have anything to do with Em dating Cam? She's the one who set them up ! She should be happy for them, right?

The Espressologist was a super cute, caffeine-fueled read. I loved the idea behind the story and it turned out to be everything I'd hoped for.

The romance was actually a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, not as the story went on, but at the beginning, I thought Jane was going to end up with every guy who walked through the door. It was nice to be proved wrong for once in my romance predictions. Usually I can peg the guy as soon as he enters the story.

I rather liked Jane, but I didn't quite understand why she had to be a school-skipper. It was an okay personality point, but it just didn't really jive with me. I also enjoyed getting to meet her regulars and other customers. In my opinion, that would be one of the best parts of working coffee job like that. You could get to know regulars and build relationships and I really felt like the story let that shine.

My one gripe isn't with the story, but the writing. Contractions weren't used that often. All the characters and even the narration would switch back and forth between contractions and not. It's not really a major thing, but it really started to drive me nuts. I mean, most people don't go around talking without contractions.

Final Thoughts: This is an absolutely adorable read. It's quick and fun, and really, who can turn down a book all about coffee? The Espressologist is a must read for any lover of coffee and/or romance.

Pages: 184

Series: No

Rating: 4 stars