LOLA CARLYLE'S 12-STEP ROMANCE

A spoiled celebu-spawn fakes addiction to worm her way into rehab and follow her crush, but she finds that it isn’t as she expected (gasp!).

Full of sass and witty banter, Lola Carlyle, daughter of an esteemed (though largely absent) father and a soap-opera-star (and hypercritical) mother, hasn’t a clue how she’s to spend her last summer before she turns 18. However, when she learns from her best frenemy, Sydney, who is in rehab, that her crush—the handsome actor Wade Miller—is a patient there, Lola is determined to get herself admitted. Once she concocts a lie passably large enough, she is indeed admitted. Instead of the spalike environment she envisioned, Lola quickly discovers that rehab—and keeping up her pretense—is harder than she thought. To add another wrinkle, Lola's mentor, Adam, is annoyingly cute and seems to be taking a special interest in her. Playing this premise—Lola’s faking alcoholism to satisfy a schoolgirl crush—for laughs is more than a bit disconcerting, as is the blossoming relationship between mentor and (supposed) patient. The presumed love triangle, which should buoy this frothy fare, plummets when Lola makes a clear choice long before the conclusion. While some of the love scenes do have some sizzle, ultimately, there just isn’t enough spark to save this.

A marginal beach read only for die-hard chick-lit fans who can overlook its multiple stumbles.