Review and first chapter: Last Mango in Texas by Ray Blackston

My Review: I've heard of chick lit for guys....books generally written in first person from a young guy's point of view as he navigates life and relationships with lots of humor, but I've never really read any of it. I figured it was about time I did and I'm glad to have started with Last Mango in Texas.

Kyle Mango goes to Texas Tech and is pledging to a sorority when he meets Gretchen. Gretchen can instantly tell that he doesn't belong there and helps him to escape. He falls hard for her, but she's not really interested in anything serious. When Kyle graduates, he finds out that he's made a huge inheritance of an oil field. Meanwhile, Gretchen has discovered she hates everything big oil stands for and volunteers to go to Alaska and clean the birds affected by an oil spill.

Kyle pines for Gretchen but feels firmly committed to his new company. Can the two be reconciled?

I laughed while reading this book, and blew right through it. It's funny, and quirky with so much heart. The characters were full of life and not hard to imagine at all. I was a little surprised when the book, which I considered fairly lighthearted, took a more serious turn at the very end. In fact, I don't know if I'm just super emotional lately, but the ending was so perfect and made me a little teary.

This is a faith based book...but I don't think the faith is heavy handed, rather just a story about a guy trying to figure out what his purpose in life is. Therefore, the faith element fits in very naturally and realistically.

I loved it, and will definitely look for more books by Ray Blackston!

Rating: 4.25/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Like I said, this is technically Christian fiction, but not at all preachy.