Triple Love Score

Containing slightly more substance than many mainstream romance novels, Granett's (Cars and Other Things That Get Around) contemporary romance set against the backdrop of an unnamed college town is both intriguing and disappointing. Miranda is a poet with little desire to create; she's happy teaching. Then a chance encounter with some spilled Scrabble tiles inspires her to create an Internet phenomenon known as the Blocked Poet, poetry in word sculpture. After this is established, Granett downplays Miranda's career and writing endeavors in favor of her yearnings for Scott, the one who got away (though he was never hers to begin with). Other love interests on both sides conspire to throw obstacles in the pair's path. With a decided Bridget Jones's Diary feel, the plot mires itself in Miranda's thoughts and tangled love life, approaching the point of alienating readers with ad nauseam repetitions of her love for Scott and occasional bouts of pseudo-intellectual navel-gazing. The fantasies of Miranda and Scott's courtship and her overnight internet fame are heady wish-fulfillment fare, but the execution rings hollow. (Sept.)