CUPID'S MATCH

Fated love fails to ignite.

On the surface, 17-year-old Lila seems like a normal girl: She spends time with her best friend, Charlie, and her boyfriend, James, in the quaint, inexplicably romance-oriented Southern California town of Forever Falls. Ever since the death of her mother, Lila and her father have been unable to heal their broken hearts. The letter Lila receives from the Cupids Matchmaking Service is unexpected. It turns out Lila has been matched with Cupid—the original cupid—and that’s not allowed, per company policy and Cal, the cupid assigned to prevent the match from happening. But when Cupid—coincidentally Cal’s brother—makes an appearance in Forever Falls, Lila has to try and resist him—which should be easy since Cal is a better match for Lila, according to her definition of love, than Cupid. For the story to work, the match between Lila and Cupid has to happen even though this match would bring about disaster. One twist will be obvious to readers with a knowledge of mythology and fails to add any tension to the lackluster, ponderous plot. Meanwhile, Lila is perpetually kept in the dark by Cal, Cupid, and others. Lila and most characters are assumed white; Charlie has dark skin.

The inevitability of destined love makes this book inevitably disappointing.