A review by whenimreading
Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

adventurous funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book was right up my alley! Aliens, cryptids, conspiracies and ghosts, a sort of paranormal romance, just a few of my favorite things. A wonderful debut that appealed to my inner Millennial!

Hallie is definitely not on the conspiracy train, but when a work opportunity presents itself, she jumps at the chance to adapt The Out There podcast into a web series, featuring the swoony tattooed host, Hayden Hargrove. Hallie and Hayden get along great, she brings out his on screen charm and their budding relationship makes the show hugely popular with its audience. 

I enjoyed this plot quite a lot, it was a little bit silly but also had a lot of heart. Hallie was very relatable, dealing with the aftermath of a toxic relationship and learning to remove that person’s influence from her life. On the other hand, Hayden was now starting to let people in after taking care of his ailing father for many years. 

I loved the connection they had from the start and that they build this great friendship before starting to fall for each other. The writing was catchy and witty, Hallie really had some good lines and comebacks, but Hayden also saves the day a couple times! He was very sweet and smart, in that tortured hero kinda way. 

I have a small knowledge of the conspiracies mentioned and always loved X Files and Ghost Hunters/Adventures, so I was immensely entertained by all the alien and cryptid facts and jokes. It was a great time all around and I’m counting down to read Mallory’s next book!

Thank you to Berkley for the giveaway copy to review!