Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hallie Barrett made the classic mistake of dating a co-worker. The guy was also a mega-jerk and after their split, it actually had a huge impact on Hallie’s position at her job.
She’s been pulled from the online series she was producing and needs to come up with something new to present the execs, and quickly. Inspiration strikes after watching a late-night docuseries where she sees the most handsome man discussing Bigfoot theories.
Hayden Hargrove has made a name for himself with his podcast. He’s an expert on cryptids and was a guest on the show that caught Hallie’s attention.
She reaches out to him and pitches her ideas. He can’t help but be intrigued by the captivating blue-haired producer who has offered him a great opportunity. To her surprise, he accepts her offer to work with her on her new show.
Unfortunately, Hayden is used to podcasting and his solo on-screen performance isn’t great. Trying to make him more comfortable, Hallie jumps on camera too and it’s then when the magic happens.
Their chemistry is great and Hayden seems much more capable of making his points with someone there to banter off from. Thus, their on-screen relationship is born, but what’s gonna happen when the camera stops rolling?
This was really cute. I definitely got invested in Hallie, Hayden and their relationship. I loved the initial set-up for how they came into each other’s orbits, and appreciated that the author didn’t rely too heavily on miscommunication to keep the story progressing.
In fact, there really wasn’t any miscommunication between the love interests, which IMO was SOOOO refreshing to see.
A lot of the drama really stemmed from Hallie’s job and ex, trying to pick up the pieces and get her life back on track. Hayden also had some personal issues, mostly related to his parents. I thought the author did a great job introducing all these topics and seeing them through to their conclusions.
Overall, Love and Other Conspiracies was sort of nerdy, hella sweet and succeeded in keeping me fully engaged throughout. I loved the banter between Hallie and Hayden, but also the more serious moments, how supportive they were of one another.
Thank you to the publisher, Berkley, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was such a solid Romance debut. I can’t wait for more from this author!