Love and Other Conspiracies
Love and Other Conspiracies makes many references to one of my favorite shows, The X-Files. Sadly, this book about a believer and a skeptic making a web series is no X-Files. It’s not terrible, but it is, alas, boring.
The story is told from the heroine Hallie’s point of view in first-person, present tense, henceforth referred to as FPPT. I may need to make a rule that I don’t review books written in FPPT anymore because it so often annoys me. My feeling about FPPT is that it can be a very effective tool when properly deployed but it is prone to over-use. For instance, in The Hunger Games series, FPPT gives us immediate access to the thought processes of characters who may otherwise be difficult to understand or identify with, and it underscores the immediacy and urgency and speed with which events are unfolding. In a slow paced book like Love and Other Conspiracies, FTTP frankly gives me a little too much insight into the mind of the main character, making her seem immature and self-obsessed. And the present-tense narration just underscores the fact that nothing is happening.
My personal rant aside, Hallie and Hayden are sweet, intelligent, kind people who communicate well and support one another unfailingly. This is lovely. The best parts of the book are little snippets of them interacting while filming their show, which I would absolutely watch. It’s very Buzzfeed Unsolved only with flirting, and I wish there were more of it. Although we only get Hallie’s point of view, we do see some background and character development from Hayden. Sometimes when there’s only one point-of-view character, the other character can be vastly underdeveloped, but Hayben does come across as a real person with a real life.
I’m a big fan of relationships that are drama free, but stories need some conflict to pull them along and the conflict in this book just was not compelling enough for me. The biggest conflict in the book involves Hallie’s co-worker and ex, Cade, who was and who remains emotionally abusive. Hallie’s recovery is very much one-step-forward, one-step-back. This is realistic and understandable, but it’s also very repetitive. Hallie is constantly afraid of what Cade might say to undermine her at work, but the comments from her other co-workers suggest that Cade does not have the upper hand here. We only see the blustery side of Cade, not the charming or manipulative sides that abusers can deploy with terrible effectiveness. So instead of seeming like a viable threat, Cade comes across as a one-note, obvious bully who is almost universally disliked.
This book was a cute story and I enjoyed the monster-hunting interludes. More of those interludes would have been lovely. As is, the book is too nice for its own good. I didn’t hate it – but I also didn’t care much about it. If you want a kind-hearted story that is gentle enough to fall asleep to, this might be your jam.
– Carrie S
The hardest thing for a paranormal conspiracy theorist and a web series producer to believe in is finding love in this swoony debut romantic comedy.
Hallie Barrett’s life has imploded after she’s dumped by her hotshot ex, who also happens to be her coworker and the star of the online series she was producing. Without a new show to present for the company competition, she’ll be out of a job. But inspiration can come from the strangest places . . . like the most handsome guy she’s ever seen passionately discussing Bigfoot on a late-night docuseries.
Hayden Hargrove made a name for himself as a cryptid expert on his hit podcast, and is intrigued by the plucky, blue-haired producer who offers him the opportunity to lead his own web show. When the production team sees that Hayden’s solo on-screen presence is bad enough to make a ghost blanch, Hallie jumps on camera too, hitting him (and his cryptids) with a healthy dose of skepticism—and enough chemistry to electrify their show to the top of the competition.
As Hayden and Hallie investigate the unknown, they unearth feelings for each other that shake their beliefs to the core. In their search for Mothman, aliens, and the truth, the most elusive discovery might just be learning to love again.
Contemporary Romance, Paranormal, Romance
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