Love, Inc. - Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

Love, Inc. – Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

Pages: 446

Publisher: Allison and Busby

Release Date: 26^th September 2011

Make up, break up, or take up with someone new...Love, Inc. does it all!

Zahara, Kali, and Syd would never have met if their parents’ marriages hadn’t fallen apart. But when the three girls collide in group counselling, they all discover they have something else in common: they’ve each been triple-timed by the same wicked charmer, Eric, aka Rico, Rick. Talk about eye-opening therapy. Now all three girls have one mission: to show that cheater the error of his ways.

Project Payback is such a success the girls soon have clients lining up for their consulting services. Is your boyfriend acting shady? Dying to know if your crush is into you? Need matchmaking expertise? Look no further than Love, Inc.

Love, Inc. is a sweet, funny and warm-hearted novel that I read in a matter of hours. So much fun.

Although the premise of this novel has many similarities to Suzanne Young’s The Naughty List, I thought it had much more depth and was executed in a far superior way.  The way they stumbled into the business of matchmaking and revenge was natural and made a good grounding for the friendship between Zahra, Syd and Kali. Each girl had a distinct personality and while they were very different, they complimented each other perfectly. Rather than the whole novel being told based around Zahra, I would have loved a split narration between the three girls. I think that would definitely have added to the awesome of Love, Inc.

There was a prominent theme in this novel that was completely unexpected and not something I have come across very often: the clash of Pakistani grandparents and an American teenager. The way they were both so unwilling to accept the others’ values and culture was rather shocking. It took arguments and stubborn outbursts from both parties throughout the novel for them to come together and find balance.

All long with the missions and hassles that came with running love, Inc., there was the underlying theme of the girls’ parents’ divorces. I was actually rather surprised at the resentment and incomprehension they felt towards their parents, except in Syd’s case, which was perfectly acceptable. It is a very difficult thing for a person to go through at any age, but I thought that at fifteen they’d be able to handle it with a little more maturity. However, they did come out the other end with more confidence, a support system and a better understanding of relationships that would change their views.

I really enjoyed Sandy Rideout and Yvonne Collins’ collaboration and I’ll definitely be looking out for more of them.

A big thank you to Allison and Busby for providing me with a review copy.

Sophie