Recent Reads | Love and Other Conspiracies and Hemlock House

Posted November 8, 2024 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

Recent Reads | Love and Other Conspiracies and Hemlock HouseLove and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe
Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Published by Penguin on August 20, 2024
Format: eBook (368 pages) • Source: Libby
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five-stars

AN INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

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.

I saw this book getting some love on Goodreads and decided to request it on a whim from the library. I really haven’t read a lot of romance this year and was hoping to find a win… and boy did this deliver! I absolutely loved this romance – A+, no notes.

Hallie is in need of a breakthrough show for her job at Skroll (basically like Buzzfeed I guess but heavy on video content) when she finds a random conspiracy show on TV and falls for the guest of the episode, Hayden. She learns of his successful podcast and immediately thinks he has something special. The two of them begin a show where he discusses conspiracy theories and hunts cryptids. She’s the skeptic and he’s the believer, and their banter on the show quickly turns into something more.

I absolutely loved the tension and chemistry in this book. Hayden honestly set the bar high for other romance heroes. He was thoughtful, caring, and sweet at every single turn. Hallie had a horrible previous relationship with her ex that still works at Skroll, so there was a lot of heaviness and gaslighting in this book. It was hard to read and I prefer my romances super fluffy, but the swooniess of everything else overpowered it. I was rooting for Hallie so hard.

I knew pretty early on that this was going to be a five-star read and it maintained that level of excellence throughout the entire story. It will certainly go down as one of my favorite books of the year!

Recent Reads | Love and Other Conspiracies and Hemlock HouseHemlock House by Katie Cotugno
Series: Liar's Beach #2
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Random House Children's Books on August 13, 2024
Also by this author: 99 Days, Fireworks, Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet, Top Ten, 9 Days and 9 Nights, Liar's Beach
Format: Audio/Physical (240 pages) • Source: Purchased, Spotify Audiobooks
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three-half-stars

Last summer there was a murder on Martha's Vineyard. Now a killer's on campus in Cambridge.

The follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Liar’s Beach.

More than a year after childhood friends Michael Linden and Holiday Poirot solved a headline-making murder on Martha’s Vineyard, Lindenis ready to start over as a freshman at Harvard—and, he hopes, to reunite with his old girlfriend, Greer. But just as things start to heat up between them, a friend is found dead in Greer’s dorm, Hemlock House.

The police believe the death is the result of an overdose, but Linden suspects there’s more to the story. The victim was wearing Greer’s clothes and sleeping in Greer’s bed when she died . . . and Greer has a long list of enemies. It makes Linden wonder: Was this a case of mistaken identity? Was someone trying to kill Greer? Is she in danger? Is he?

Nearly everyone on campus has something to hide—and some mysteries are better left buried. . . .

There was something about LIARS BEACH that worked for me, but I completely understand the low ratings. Hell, I didn’t even rate it that high either. I liked HEMLOCK HOUSE more for some reason – Cotugno hit a bit of a stride.

Linden has started at Harvard and Holiday is nearby in college as well. Linden and his ex-girlfriend Greer start spending time together again when her roommate is found dead, likely from an overdose… or was it? Naturally, Linden and Holiday are back on the case, sleuthing to figure out if there’s something more sinister going on.

The book is super short so there’s really not much to report on. I think Cotugno does a good job of making her books Agatha Christie-esque – the first in this series was inspired by one of Christie’s books but I’m not sure if this was. I predicted the whodunnit element but not the entire mystery – didn’t totally affect my enjoyment but I still wish it was a bit more surprising.

Despite not loving these, this is a series I’d continue if they were to keep coming out. I could see it being like Hercule Poirot or Nancy Drew and just continuing on for a long time (kind of like TRULY DEVIOUS, though I love those).

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