LOVE, INC.

Following her parents’ separation, Zahra is forced into group therapy, where she meets Kali and Syd. The three girls quickly find that fractured families are not all they have in common—it turns out that they are all dating the same guy. Despite their differences, they find they are all good at one thing: revenge. After trashing their boyfriend’s car and then his reputation, they decide to offer their services to others. The specialty at Love, Inc., is initially payback, but the three jilted girls find they have a wider range of love-related services to offer. Genuinely endearing, narrator Zahra reacts authentically to betrayal, her parents’ separation and the confusion of assimilating her Pakistani and Scottish-American roots. Smart dialogue and a hip cast of characters keep the story engaging.  Unfortunately, the plot is too often bogged down by superfluous details that make the book read more like a visitor’s guide to Austin, Texas, than a fast-paced novel of romance and revenge. (Fiction. 12 & up)