Love? Maybe.

November 28, 2011
Hepler (The Cupcake Queen) pens an energetic Valentine’s Day tale for romantics and cynics alike. High school student Piper Paisley falls into the latter category—her birthday coincides with Valentine’s Day, but she dismisses the holiday as a “capitalist scam” and has bigger problems than a lack of a boyfriend. Between helping her busy mother care for her younger siblings, working for local confectioner Jan the Candy Man, competing on the swim team, and trying to keep up with schoolwork, she barely has time to breathe. After Piper’s friend Claire is dumped, their friend Jillian comes up with “The Plan,” which involves their getting dates by Valentine’s Day with help from a love potion. Gifts start showing up in Piper’s locker, and her longtime crush asks her out, but she remains skeptical, as well as oblivious to the person who’s been falling for her all along. While the story’s
romantic trajectories are fairly transparent and the story ends tidily, readers seeking a romance with sweet, salty, and spicy moments (not unlike Jan’s candies) should be entertained. Ages 12–up.

December 1, 2011
An emotionally constipated girl falls in love. Although she was born on Valentine's Day, Piper Paisley believes that "being hopeful is just a big setup for disappointment." Not that she doesn't come by her skepticism about love honestly. She's watched her mother's two marriages fall apart and felt the pain of losing both her father figures, men who she thought really cared about her. Because of this unconscious fear of rejection, Piper is the "queen of pushing people away," coming up with superficial Seinfeld-like reasons to rebuff any male who finds her attractive. But the people who love Piper aren't about to let her stay in her shell forever, and this emergence is the heart of the novel. Despite the its good intentions, the book lacks spice, and not much tension is generated in this earnest story of emotional awakening. Perhaps it's because the characters, though sometimes misguided, are essentially so well meaning that readers cannot ever doubt that the whole thing will end with a lesson learned and a group hug. The particular lesson, that while "hearts are delicate," they're also "amazingly resilient," is nevertheless valid, and while the story won't attract readers outside of a narrow demographic, girls in need of emotional comfort should find it satisfying. (Fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012

Gr 7 Up-Piper Paisley of Atlanta is going to turn another year older on Valentine's Day, and her friends are certain that she wants to find love, so they make a plan to each have a boyfriend for the special day. Piper is not so sure they're right, but she plays along and finds herself dating Ben Donovan, one of the most popular boys in school, but it doesn't seem right. What's even stranger is that Piper begins to receive Valentine gifts in her locker. Who is sending them? While this is a fun book about friendship and romance with a hint of mystery, the plot moves at a glacial pace. Readers may feel compelled to cut to the chase and read the ending before actually finishing the book.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton High School, Linden, MI

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2012
Grades 6-9 Valentine's Day brings out the romantics and the cynics alike, and Piper Paisley definitely falls into the latter category. She hasn't spoken to her father in two years, and her stepfather has moved on to another family, so it's no wonder that Piper is a skeptic when it comes to love. Her two best friends believe in romance, though, and they convince her to join them in concocting a love potion, all part of the Plan for each of them to have dates on Valentine's Day. With cute guys, gifts from a secret admirer, and V-Day (also Piper's birthday) rapidly approaching, it may be tough for Piper to avoid Cupid's arrow altogether. Despite some predictable story lines, teens will likely race through Hepler's (The Cupcake Queen, 2009) heartwarming, sweet-as-a-candy-heart novel and enjoy not only the characters' drama-filled love lives but also her realistic portrayal of imperfect friendships and families. The ending is satisfying, too: Love? Maybe turns out to be Love? Yes! after all. A great stepping-stone for fans of Lisa Greenwald.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)