Love Bytes

Craft's @Cafe series opens its doors with a blatant potboiler. Six friends work and hang out at ""the hippest coffee shop in San Francisco""; the pals use the cafe's several computers to maintain a Web site (their various musings are interspersed on pages designed to resemble computer screens). Since one of the guys and one of the girls had a painful break-up, the six have made a pact not to date one another. But in less time than it takes to order up a latte, readers will realize that trouble is brewing. Jason and Blue (a female) are best buddies whose rapport is clearly headed for something more than platonic. Cafe owner Dylan (whose closest friend Sam is down in the dumps because his father is in prison for insider trading and his depressed mother won't leave her bedroom) likes Natalie. But Natalie only has eyes for sleazy Matthew (not one of the core group), who makes the moves on her best friend, Tanya. Feeling guilty, Tanya convinces a hunk named Major to be her ""decoy boyfriend"" at Matthew's party so that the host will decide to turn his attention to Natalie. But Matthew instead pairs up with Natalie's vacuous but gorgeous older sister. Hearts ""feel like a jackhammer,"" ""pound"" and ""leap"" before breaking ""into a million pieces."" For readers who fancy this frothy concoction, their cup of cappuccino can get a refill with the series' next installment, I'll Have What He's Having, scheduled for simultaneous release. Ages 12-up. (Nov.)