TLC Book Tours: Life After Coffee by Virginia Franken

Title: Life After Coffee
Author: Virginia Franken 
Format: ARC
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publish Date: September 13, 2016
Source: TLC Book Tours

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Last week, high-powered coffee buyer Amy O’Hara was trekking through the Ethiopian cloud forest on the verge of a discovery that could save the coffee bean from extinction. This week, she’s unexpectedly fired. 

Suddenly Amy’s days are no longer filled with meetings and upscale tastings, but with put-together PTA moms, puke-ridden playdates and dirty dishes. Her husband has locked himself in the garage in order to write the Great American Screenplay, while both kids are steaming mad at her because she insists on dressing them like normal people and won’t give up sending them to school with healthy lunches. 

It’s becoming clear that Amy may just be the world’s most incompetent mother, and she’s beginning to wonder if the only thing she’s good for is bringing home the bacon. When salvation appears in the form of a movie mogul ex-boyfriend who wants to employ her husband and rekindle their relationship, Amy starts to find she’s sorely tempted. . . .

One thing is certain: whatever happens, she’s going to need a lot more caffeine."

My Two Cents:

After Amy suddenly loses her globe-hopping job as a coffee bean buyer, she finds herself home with her kids after five years. The adjustment for her is hard to say the least and she feels like she is constantly failing. Add to that, her husband thinks he has written the next great American screenplay and won't make any of the changes that Hollywood wants because he believes it's perfect. Amy also meets up with her old lover and dreams of what might have been in another life. 

Ah, the balance of life between working and being a mom. We all struggle with it. Even a year and some change after going back to work, I still feel like I'm constantly trying to find a balance. Amy has spent the past several years basically being an absentee mother as she jet-sets around the world for her job. She's in an even more precarious state with figuring out what is going on with her children because of it. While I didn't identify with some of her choices (Amy is an absolute mess in some parts of the book), I felt for her with trying to be a good mother. It's hard and we see how Amy comes to terms with that in her own way throughout the book. Her choices did lose me at some parts of the book and I definitely wanted to know more about her motivation. 

I loved some of the details in the books. I'm a coffee lover and the description of the beans and cupping them were divine. These sections also helped me understand Amy's drive and passion, which make for a great contrast when she is out of work and at home.

The author definitely has a way of writing dialogue. It felt real and definitely endeared some of the characters to me. This is a light read that puts the spotlight on the fight that so many women have between their self-identity and their identity as mothers, wives, and lovers.