Tweet Cute

Debut author Emma Lord juggles multiple tropes in this YA romance. Pepper and Jack don't like each other, but they don't realize they have been sharing their hopes and dreams in an anonymous school chat app that Jack just happens to have invented. Not only that - they also get intimately involved in a Twitter war between the burger chain that Pepper's parents manage and the local deli that Jack's parents own, and they make a bet on its outcome. Oh, and throw in the usual YA themes of parental pressure to achieve, love/hate relationships with siblings, divorce, school rivalries, etc.

It's to Lord's credit that the whole book doesn't come crashing down under the weight of all of these tropes, but she deftly keeps everything aloft with humor, insight, drama and of course romance. Despite all of the roadblocks, Pepper and Jack's relationship slowly develops from mistrust to friendship and finally something more. I thought the Twitter war was going to consist of two enemies lobbing bombs at each other but was pleasantly surprised to see that the teens establish ground rules and continue to grow closer, even as they are savaging each other's family businesses (for the most part).

It did bother me a bit that Jack had the upper hand in recognizing the majority of the secrets before Pepper but he never uses that knowledge in a cruel way. Bonus points for the fact that Jack's twin brother is gay and has a boyfriend, and he is also one of the most popular kids at their school. NBD!

I'm way, way past the YA age range but some books of the genre are so well written and constructed that they can appeal to someone like me who is approaching retirement. Ms. Lord delivered on the title whole-heartedly.