Love, Hate & Clickbait

By: Liz Bowery

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK SELECTED BY BUZZFEED & THE NERD DAILY

"Quick-paced, sharp, and thoroughly entertaining. I couldn’t put it down!”—Helen Hoang

Shake some hands. Kiss some coworkers.

Cutthroat political consultant Thom Morgan is thriving, working on the governor of California’s presidential campaign. If only he didn’t have to deal with Clay Parker, the infuriatingly smug data analyst who gets under Thom’s skin like it’s his job. In the midst of one of their heated and very public arguments, a journalist snaps a photo, but the image makes it look like they’re kissing. As if that weren’t already worst-nightmare territory, the photo goes viral—and in a bid to secure the liberal vote, the governor asks them to lean into it. Hard.

Thom knows all about damage control—he practically invented it. Ever the professional, he’ll grin and bear this challenge as he does all others. But as the loyal staffers push the boundaries of “giving the people what they want,” the animosity between them blooms into something deeper and far more dangerous: desire. Soon their fake relationship is hurtling toward something very real, which could derail the campaign and cost them both their jobs…and their hearts.

©2022 Liz Bowery (P)2022 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Great story!

Even though the characters were flawed, it was a sweet love story at heart. Loved it!

Great, just, great

It starts off in a place that will have you confused and maybe uninterested. Give it a chance. You won’t regret it.

Great read!

It’s hard to find romance novels written for gay men, that aren’t full of pornographic sex scenes.
That isn’t what I read these stories for. This book has sex scenes that are pertinent to the storyline and hot without being excessively graphic. This will definitely garner a second listen. I hope there’s a follow up-id love to continue watching them learn and grow together. Great story, great narrator

Great narration, good story

This book comes with an acceptable story line, albeit a little far fetched. Regardless, it was a nice read. Narration was great!

Fun enemies to lovers story

This story was a joy to read, the narrator is easy to follow and I just adore the characters. the main character is kind of a jerk but thanks to the story allowing us a glimpse into his mind it makes him kind of relatable at times and bearable. I adore the love interest's golden retriever energy. Overall very amusing and I would recommend.

As advertised, a love story about terrible people. And it’s perfect.

I don’t care how flimsy the circumstances of the “fake relationship” trope in this book are. I can’t get enough. I have listened to it like 4 times. It’s just so good, the book is amazing, as is the narration in equal measure. It’s embarrassing how much I can’t get enough of it. I love the character growth of the blatantly shitty people. This one checks all my boxes.

Heartfelt Story

I never thought that this book would feel so real. It wasn’t your typical romance novel. It felt like I was living amongst the characters and knew them all well. I also found myself as Tom sometimes and then Clay. It’s a wonderful audio and I highly recommend it. It does have sex scenes so beware of youthful ears. But as an adult, you find yourself remembering the moments you had at the beginning of a beautiful relationship. This story awakens you. Sit back and listen. You won’t regret it. I hope a sequel follows.

I enjoyed it, disappointed at the end.

Spoiler alert!

I was really invested in this story. I enjoyed the banter between the main characters, Clay is easy to like, and Thom grows on you. I rooted for these two from the get-go. Then, when Lenny demands they get married, it all changed for me. This seemed a little far-fetched to me and it really put the breaks on their relationship. I am happy they get their happy ending, it was just a little anticlimactic for me. Like Clay, I wanted Thom to be the knight in shining armor. Unfortunately, even with his character growth, this isn't whobThom is. Logically, it makes sense. I'm just bummed I didn't get my fairytale ending. I would happily read a sequel, and the narrator was great.

Outstanding character development

At the beginning, I want sure where this story was going to go. I didn't really like either main character and felt slightly disconnected. However. the character development was magnificent. By the end of the book, I had shed some tears and was totally invested in the characters and story. There was no enemies to lovers instalove, no ugly duckling metamorphosis into swan, and no change of inherent behavior. It was about character development, and acceptance of flaws as part of the whole and how that made each person who they were. Absolutely loved it.

Better then reviews led me to believe

If you like a good enemies to lovers story this is for you. I was originally dissuaded from reading this because of a few bad reviews but finally I gave it a shot and I regret nothing! The story is really cute and I actually think it takes a good writer to make characters both genuinely dislikable and genuinely likable and seem like the same person.

It’s the perfect story of an A-moral sociopath and a golden retriever puppy that fall in love. And grow into normal human beings along the way.