Love, Inc. , by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

Before I start, I have a question. How do two people write a novel together? Do they sit there agonizing over every sentence together? Do they switch off between chapters? Does one do the thinking and the other the writing? How exactly do they do it?

Now that I got that out, I'm sure you are wondering what Love, Inc. is about. I definitely was wondering. This book was recommended to me by the same friend who recommended The Juliet Club so I expected a fun and sweet light romance and that was what I got. I was a little biased against it though because the main characters are 15 and sophomores and are getting themselves into way more than I did when I was that age. I thought they were like 17 until the main character spoke of a 16-year-old as being old. Then I was all like "oh". But, to be fair, if I blocked out their ages in my mind I did enjoy the book more.

I know-you're still waiting to find out more about this book and so I will finally give you a summary. Three girls meet in group therapy for kids whose parents are divorced and find out that they are all dating the same dude. Sydney dated him for over a year and knows him as Eric, his real name. Zahra, whose point of view the story is told from, dated him for a couple of weeks and knows him as Rico. Kali only went on a few dates with Rick but is upset because she really likes him (and this girl is picky). After getting revenge on Ericko the three girls team up and create a business around love. This includes a matchmaking service, mediation services, surveillance (if you think your loved one is cheating), and even a quiet revenge service. The girls each have a specialty in the business and it is quite funny to see them at work. Meanwhile, they connect and become best friends while dealing with family issues, getting over Ericko (I made that up by the way. At some point they just call him Eric.), and new boyfriends.

Zahra was a unique main character, not for her personality which was a typical 15-year-old girl mentality, but for her family and background. I don't want to give it away, but I'll just say that Zahra's parents come from two totally different places which is what ultimately makes their marriage go bad. I did like Sydney's and Kali's personalities though. Syd is an angry and angsty teen who is really soft inside and only acts tough to protect herself after being hurt and rejected by her parents and her boyfriend. Kali is a happy-go-lucky flirt who is all about the environment and the comic-relief character. The cast is joined by a bunch of other oddball/unoriginal characters such as the mean popular couple, the annoying yet hot brother, the adorable little sister, the zany grandparents, and the mid-life crisis dad. Sydney did have it the worst of any of the other characters. But you'll have to read it to find out why.

4 stars. It started off with a 3.5 but had some fun twists so got upgraded.