The Love Interest is definitely a different book. I really liked the concept of the spy game but I think I most enjoyed the relationship that develops between the main characters.

So the plot itself of The Love Interest was really interesting. I loved the way that a typical love triangle was used as a weapon in a way. I think that’s what I enjoyed the most. This secret organization spots someone that is destined for great things. In order to spy on them they find them an ideal mate. That way this person can report back their secrets because information is money. It’s also a way to control. In order to do this they send in a Bad and Nice. Which fit the typical personas you would see in YA novel love triangle. The kind boy next-door and the guy on the motorcycle that is mean to you but loves you. The agency itself had some flaws for me, it seemed too easy at times.

Caden’s character is a little stiff. I think it’s because he is going against who he really is. Like someone putting on clothes that don’t fit them right, so they walk around awkward and uncomfortable. There is also a part of him that is accepting of who he is. He knows he’s sliding into this fake persona because he needs to in order to survive. I had a sadness for her from the beginning. I want him to be free to be who he is.

Dylan is actually a little more complicated. I really liked him, he was easy to fall for. I think though as the story progresses you see a little different side of him. Although he seems very open and free. He still his hiding part of himself, even from himself.

Juliet the prodigy scientist is just a nice girl. Confident in her skills and has no need to show them off. She is kind of an ideal girl. Even though she becomes the odd one out.

I loved the way Caden finds himself through the his relationship with Dylan. I don’t mean Dylan was steering him but it was kind of an awakening for Caden who was just going through the motions of life before. I loved the time they spent together and even though there are heartbreaking things about it. I really found myself rooting for them.

I enjoyed The Love Interest. I really like Caden and Dylan’s story. Even though some parts of the agency fell flat for me I did really like the concept behind it.

When I started this book I thought it was a parody of dystopian fiction, and maybe it is, but the unbelievable story of "love interests" is rendered poignant and somehow works because of the parallel of the MC discovering his sexuality and becoming more comfortable with it. An enjoyable read.

Hello happy readers! I hope you all have a good weekend planned. I hope to finish Everything, Everything today and hopefully see the movie this week so I can share all my thought about it with you. So far I'm loving the book. But today I'm going to discuss my thoughts and feels on a new release, The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich, a new kind of story that I had been anticipating. The Love Interest came out this week May 16th. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

Rating: 4 Stars

There is a secret organization that creates spies, Love Interests, that get close to people who are important or have power so they can get all their secrets. They typically come in two forms: Nice, boy next door type, or Bad, dark and brooding, giving the target options to ensure they pick one. Nice Caden and Bad Dylan are picked for Juliet and after some modifications are ready to try and win her heart and their lives. Because this is the first time they get to go out into the world but though they are well trained and motivated, the one not chosen dies, being in the world they find unexpected complications, feelings that could jeopardize their lives.

So this book was really interesting. It takes some of the things in other books or even shows that make us swoon over the romance/characters and turns them around. Lots of cultural references and the like as well as fun times about set pieces and scripted lines and the like. It had a really great story happening through it. I liked the idea of seeing a romance, one I admit I would have been rooting for had the story been from say Juliet's POV, and seeing the base logistics of it as a job rather than a romance. Seriously this is interesting and something I've never read before so high cheers for that. We follow Caden who has been raised in this life, training for this chance to make his chosen fall for him and live his life as a spy. He doesn't really consider himself Nice, he just knew that was what he'd be picked as and learned to play into it and struggles with how he has “not nice” thoughts and reactions at times. He also realizes he is gay. Not super ideal when you’re trying to win the girl.

The whole concept of a basically raising spies is always appealing but to raise them to be turned into the perfect match for someone is just insane. Pitting a Nice and a Bad against one another gives new depth to a “love triangle” for sure. I really liked the double life he was living and how it had different concepts of things and the book really intrigued me and flew by as I read it. It was so different but at the same time familiar and I loved how it balanced those lines and made me think about so many other books all at once.

Overall I really liked this book and would highly recommend it and the only drawback for me was the ending. It wasn’t a bad ending by any means I enjoyed how things happened and the like it was more that the first part of the book was a quick read but it wasn’t rushed and the end felt a bit rushed. Like once you hit around 80% it just hits warp speed. Again it’s not bad just I kind of wish things had been taken a bit slower and given the same care and depth as the rest of the book. Like there is a lot of action happening and part of me appreciates the book keeping up the adrenaline and it matching the mood of the scene I also want more. It’s the end and I don’t want it to feel rushed, especially with some of the revelations that happen. I’m just needy like that.

I enjoyed the book and I’m glad I read it. It is a stand-alone which is also nice. I would recommend it to anyone as there is something that pretty much anyone can get behind and enjoy.

Until next time…

4.5 Stars

'The Love Interest' is a fantastic new addition to the young adult contemporary genre, and is one fans will definitely want to pick up. I'm not usually a big reader of YA contemporary, but I was immediately intrigued by the description of this one. I'm so glad I gave it a shot, because it far exceeded any hopes I had. I personally wouldn't categorize this as just a contemporary novel - there's so much more to it than that. Every aspect of the story was very well done, from the characters to the plot itself. I'll break it down into the specifics of what I really enjoyed:

Characters: The two main characters, Caden and Dylan, were both well rounded and complex. Each had distinct personalities and traits that made them realistic and easy for me to connect with early on. They were each brave, strong, smart, and determined - but they also had flaws like everyone else. I liked getting to know each of them separately as well as watching their relationship grow and change throughout the story. Add in the fact that they are "diverse" characters - and that just makes it even more distinct and fresh.

Plot: Very detailed and intricate - especially the whole concept of the LIC and what they are meant to do once assigned. I loved learning as much as I could about the LIC, what they were up to, what exactly was going on, and all of the other things involved. There's was a plethora of fascinating information, and the author did a fantastic job of getting every single detail just right. I could've read about the LIC and this strange world the author created for much longer - it would've been perfect for a series because of the sheer amount of information and intrigue.

Writing Style: One of the most important things for me is the writing style an author chooses to use. Thankfully, the author chose to write this story in the first person perspective - which was a great fit, in my opinion. We get to really connect on a deep level with the narrator and see what happens through their eyes. I love getting to know them on a such a personal note. It makes the novel all the more exciting and real, and it allows me to slip inside the narrator's mind and world. The style is always a big deal for me, and I'm so glad the author decided to go with the first person POV. It can make or break a book for me - and this was such a huge win for this novel.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book - much more than I thought I would. I highly recommend it for fans of YA contemporary, romance, science fiction, dystopia, and readers looking for something fresh and new.

It took me the longest time to be able to write more than “SCREAMING” and “JUST GO PREORDER IT AND YOU CAN THANK ME LATER” for this review. (Really though, you can thank me later.) Now that I’m somewhat able to articulate my thoughts on it, hopefully I won’t revert to screaming mid-review… I can’t promise anything though.

Most of the characters are described clearly enough that I was able to picture them, but I had a little trouble visalising the two characters of color beyond the small details given. The personalities were developed pretty well though, to the point where I felt like I understand all the characters, even if I didn’t like them. And I found myself disliking a couple of them a LOT.

The world probably could have had a bit more building to allow us to better see the LIC, or Love Interest Compound, a bit better. However, given that the entire story is told from Caden’s perspective, many things were understandably left out because he wouldn’t have known them. The bits of the world that were built up are done so in an immersive way, giving each of the senses a grasp of the setting without getting info-dumpy about it.

The story and the idea behind it are what truly shine about this novel. It takes a couple basic tropes, makes mockery of them, and then smashes them to pieces before putting the story back together as it sees fit. The LIC is basically an academy where kids are turned into teenage tropes–the guy next door, the motorcycle riding bad boy, the cute flirty cheerleader, etc.–before being sent out into the world as well-placed spies.

These spies are sent out in twos to compete for their placement via obtaining the interest of the person to be spied upon. Enter the forced love triangle! However, things go a bit awry in The Love Interest because instead of going all out in courting their target, we get what I’ve decided to call an inverted love triangle where the two pursuing parties instead decide to pursue each other.

Really though there’s more than the inverted love triangle, which I’ve decided is my new favourite trope. We also get action, suspense, awesome technology, friendship, and less than ideal parental relationships. It was so fun reading this book beginning to end and only one part that had me frustrated (as I’m sure was intended by Cale Dietrich). I can’t wait for you all to read this brilliant ownvoices novel so I can watch you scream and flail about like I have been since I finished it last week.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Welcome to my stop on The Love Interest Blog Tour! Read on for my review of this wonderful book + a chance to win a finished copy!

review

Isn’t it always the best feeling when a book lives up to the epic promise of its premise? I mean, two guys competing to become the lifelong love interest to a girl who is sure to grow up to be someone important, all in order to sell her secrets to a centuries-old hidden organization? Sign me up! And, friends, I’m happy to report that The Love Interest definitely delivered on that front.

Upon starting the book, I was a bit thrown by the dystopian feel of the story. I expected it to be a contemporary about a spy organization, but there are lots more sci-fi elements to the story than I expected. However, though there are some sci-fi elements thrown in, it’s still set in our present-day world. I’m not usually a fan of sci-fi, but I still really enjoyed this book! The Love Interest is told through Caden’s first-person POV. He’s finally leaving the Love Interest Coalition and going out into the real world… to compete to the death with another guy to become a future inventor, Juliet’s, Love Interest. She can only choose one of them, and the loser will be incinerated (of course, Juliet will be clueless as to these sinister behind-the-scenes happenings). There are two different types of Love Interests: Nices and Bads. Caden is a Nice, while his competitor, Dyl, is a Bad. The entire situation is made all the more precarious when Dyl and Caden begin to develop romantic feelings for each other, instead of Juliet.

Overall, I thought the concept of The Love Interest felt wholly original. I can’t believe this is Cale Dietrich’s debut novel! I was so impressed by his storytelling. This book takes familiar tropes and exploits them in a witty way. I especially loved the discussion and portrayal of sexuality. This book truly examines the stifling effects of heteronormativity. It’s something I struggled with lots when I was coming to terms with my own queerness. Until a certain age, I never even considered that I could be anything other than straight– not because being queer was wrong in my circle (I have the most liberal friends and family you could imagine), but because society literally gives you no chance to consider yourself anything other than straight. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but hopefully, if you read the book, you’ll understand. 😉 I also liked the exploration of different forms of expression of masculinity (shown through the Nice vs. Bad dichotomy). Idk, I just thought this added commentary on identity and expression was woven so seamlessly into the story and was so refreshing to read about.

As for the romance, it was completely swoonworthy. Every interaction between Caden and Dyl was completely laden with sexual and/or romantic tension. I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop over the course of the competition. I also adored Juliet, Natalie, and Trevor. I kind of expected the three of them to be marginal side characters in the story, but they ended up being totally three-dimensional and important to the plot.

The only complaint I have about this book is that the ending felt a bit like a cliche dystopian ending, but given the originality of the story itself (and the epilogue, which I felt redeemed the ending), that didn’t take away very much from my enjoyment of the book. Also, can we just discuss how great it is that this book is a standalone and not book one in a series?! The Love Interest was brilliantly written, with a high-stakes plot that made the book difficult to put down. I think it’s an important addition to queer YA fiction. I absolutely loved it, and I highly recommend you pick it up!

Follow the rest of the stops on the blog tour: http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2017/04/tour-schedule-love-interest-by-cale.html

From the moment I first heard about the premise of the book, I got intrigued and I wanted to read it, even if love triangles are basically a hit or miss trope for me.

The Love Interest is a refreshing take, subtly satirical, on love triangles and other YA tropes. Reading every page of this book was worthwhile.

I adored the complexity and polarity of Caden and Dylan’s personalities. Both of them had the struggle of being a Love Interest. The premise was Caden is the nice guy, while Dylan is the bad guy, and they need to work and make Juliet fall in love with them. One will get chosen and the other one will die. Caden and Dylan’s characters were well-developed and I loved how there seemed to be layers in their personalities. Their dynamics work well too, and the chemistry… just wow!

Juliet was very interesting too. Basically, the set up was she’s been friends with Caden for a long time so there’s the possibility of a friends turned lovers which is my favorite trope. I loved her with Caden too! Her personality is strong and it’s one of the things I like about her character.

The only issue I had with the book was towards the end of the book, the writing felt really fast-paced and rushed. The book was action-packed, and I liked that, but during some scenes things were just happening here and there, which made it a little lacking in terms of story depth.

Overall, this book was a pretty solid debut. Cale Dietrich’s writing is very effective and entertaining. It’s a bit meta, which is refreshing, and I loved the pop culture references thrown casually in the book. It’s definitely a good read if you’re in the lookout for something action-packed, and swoonworthy. It’s a good mix of sci-fi/thriller and contemporary, y’all!

I can't deal with how frigging adorable this book was. My heart! It's blooming with love for these boys. 😍

I found this book super fun. It was fast paced, I immediately responded to the characters, and I was completely invested in their journeys - and I could absolutely not put it down. I NEEDED to know what was going to happen - NEEDED it like air!

I'll admit, sure, it wasn't a perfect book. It had flaws. The last 80 pages or so felt like a totally different book. The pacing jarred a bit and I did feel it was trying to tie up all the loose ends really quickly (really, if I'm being honest, I could've read another hundred more pages happily, if it meant it had a more satisfactory final act). And there was a certain point ****SPOILER**** when that thing happens to Trevor... and I felt like there wasn't enough breathing room to process that moment (and process my major feels). My other moment of hmm was Juliet's reaction to everything towards the end. It just didn't quite feel... entirely plausible. Now, that's just my opinion and maybe other people had no problem with it! I just felt like it would've benefitted with more of a simmering explosion of emotion...or some sort of stronger reaction - she just kind of accepts it. ALSO, to be honest, I maybe would've liked a bit more of getting into the world of the Love Interests - whether in the form of a longer book, or maybe a series to give me more to chew on, to feel the threat of the organisation a bit more - to really get the feeling of the high stakes. I know the stakes were high, and the major threats that were over their heads, but I also just never felt their feeling of being strongly threatened if that makes sense... and it kind of wrapped up...easily?

MAYBE I'M JUST SAYING ALL THIS BECAUSE I WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT CADEN AND DYL, THEY ARE OFFICIALLY UTTERLY ADORABLE.

BUT! That is just me really nitpicking stuff, because I seriously enjoyed this book. I seriously enjoyed swooning at Caden and Dyl, who are both impossibly adorable and I will love them forever. And I seriously enjoyed the ride. The contest, the late night drives, the roof chatting, the characterisation and getting into Caden's brain, and just...ugh the feels.

Caden is a love interest. What is a love interest you ask? You see throughout time the most important historical figure have had one thing in common: a love interest. Not just someone who they deemed their true love but someone who was created by a secret society and implanted into their lives. This person will likely change the world and their fake love who will be by their side and helping sell their secrets is known as a Love Interest. Caden doesn't have a family or a past but he does have all the skills to be the perfect "Nice Guy". When Caden is assigned to try to woo Julia he thinks he may finally find his perfect match. She's smart and kind and their pairing will finally give him freedom but then Caden meets Dil his Bad Boy love interest counterpart who has been assigned to compete for Julia's love. Caden knows that the winner gets to live happily ever after with Julia and the loser may lose their lives. He thinks he will do whatever it takes to win until he gets to know Dil and his feelings move from adversary to friend to maybe something more.

This was one of those book that as soon as I read the description of this book on Netgalley I knew I had to read it. I love all thing spy and secret society related and this one is chocked full of espionage and intrigue. Plus, I'm totally in love with the cover. I kind of want to get a oversized copy of the cover to frame and hang on my wall. So, I was all kinds of excited when hunkered down to dive into Dietrich world of spies and scandal and "The Love Interest" totally delivered...mostly. First things first, this was a great concept...a great concept that I haven't seen done a hundred times. I always give bonus points for originality because we need more original ideas and I applaud Dietrich for trying something different.

However, this book definitely had signs of first bookness. I felt the characters were a little unbalanced in the development. Caden was a great main character that I genuinely liked. He's trying to find his place in the world while coming to terms with his sexuality. Yes, the character is a spy but he is also a everyday teen with which many readers will relate. Another major plus for me was Caden's potential love interest, Julia, who was a great damsel not in distress. She was smart, and fiery, and did not get closes to the annoying 'woe is me". However, I didn't get any warm fuzzies for Caden's foil/love interest Dil. We should care about him, want our hero to be in love with him but I didn't feel like I got to know him well enough to care. He was just kind of there taking up page space without adding to the story. Even overlooking the Dil problem I still had a slight issues with some of the dialog which just didn't flow quite right or feel genuine. Plus, my new book pet peeve is American characters using very non-American slang which happens many time throughout Dietrich's 384 pages. Every time a certain character refered to a friend as "mate" it pulled me out of the story and made me cringe just a little.

Bottom line, "The Love Interest", is a unique story that uses creative ways to explore issues of alienation and sexuality with a likable and relatable main character. However, the cool concept doesn't make up for dialog issues and less interesting secondary characters. If you are looking for an LBGTQ book that is different than most in the genre I highly recommend "The Love Interest" however if you just want a quick espionage book you may need to keep looking.

Final rating: 3.5 out of 5

Full review can also be found on my blog LairOfBooks:
https://lairofbooksblog.wordpress.com...

PLOT

If you’re anything like me, after reading the Goodreads blurb for The Love Interest, you immediately got This Means War vibes. You know? the one with Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy? yea, that would be the one! & just like the rom-com, The Love Interest doesn’t take itself too seriously & this alone made it a fun read. This book is a satire of all those YA tropes we either love or hate. It’s self aware & as such, is chock full of laugh out loud moments that will leave you shaking your head. We first get introduced to the love interests Caden & Dylan while they’re in the facility that houses others like them while they get all of the necessary spy training. A spy is said to have been taken from their home (voluntary/involuntary is unknown) from childhood & sorted based on personality to either be a Bad or a Nice. Depending on which you were sorted under, you’d receive specific training & skill sets to ultimately be paired up with a person of importance in the outside world. Julia is a high school student who is set to have her pick of universities based on the fact that she is a GENIUS inventor. Targeted as a V.I.P. by the secret organization that deals with selling secrets for top dollar, Julia has no idea she’s about to be highly sought out. Caden is a Nice & Dylan is a Bad, both sent in to better the odds of Julia picking one of them as her love interest. These guys go out of their way to woe Julia in their own ways & will offer you non-stop entertainment. However, it’s not all fun & games for these guys who have the constant threat of death over their heads if they fail. Whoever Julia doesn’t choose will be put to death which only serves as motivation in the race to Julia’s heart. What happens when a Love Interest falls in love for someone other than their intended target? *GASP*

CHARACTERS

Told in first person point of view, we get Caden (the Nice) as our narrator. Caden is your cliche blonde guy with blue eyes and abs for days haha! I don’t want to give away too much but just know that the spy organization plays no games when it comes to perfecting their love interests. Caden will come off as self absorbed & I believe it’s purposely done. I love my YA books but if we’re being honest, we all know that Caden is a representation of what we see as the male lead interest. Now Dylan doesn’t fall short either lol he plays the broody bad boy, so dark & mysterious with his book of poetry & leather jacket. Then we have Julia who is a a genius inventor in high school who has that quiet beauty. She’s so focused on her inventions that dating isn’t at the forefront. By the end of this book, Julia was hands down my favorite of the characters but no spoilers here lol. We get two other supporting characters, Natalie & Trevor who also attend the same high school and are in a relationship. They also happen to be best friends with Julia & so we get to see them join in on the battle of the Nice vs. Bad. These characters are over the top versions of what we see in the YA genre & I enjoyed the satirical take. I’ve seen other reviews critique the one-dimensional characters which is true…but I don’t think the author set out to have us connect with these extremely tropey characters. If you’re looking for characters you can connect with, this isn’t the book for you. This is the book you pick up if you’ve read tons of YA, love it to death but can still poke fun at the many tropes we often see in our beloved books.

WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTS

This is Cale Dietrich’s debut album & I love that it was so much fun to read. I took it for what it presented itself to be…a parody of all the YA tropes you can possibly find in the YA genre lol. I laughed so hard reading this book, an overall good time. Those who have been with my blog for a while now know how much I love YA & that I read/review tons of it. I also love good humor and The Love Interest provided a few hours of comedy. I docked it a star simply because it wrapped up too quickly in the end. I recommend this one for all those looking for some light hearted fun & a plot that will keep you guessing the outcome ;)

The Love Interest is out today (links to buy can be found at the very top), have any of you awesome bookworms picked up a copy? if you’ve already read it, what are some of your thoughts?

*HUGE thanks to Macmillan, Netgalley, and Cale Dietrich for the eGalley of The Love Interest in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book was a little different from what I was expecting. I knew that both of our main characters were spies, but I still kind of expected this book to be a cute contemporary-ish romance where (basically) everyone finds love in the end. That is not this book. There’s a much bigger conspiracy/fighting the bad corporation aspect that was surprising to me. The plot was pretty slow at the beginning, but then moved a lot quicker after about two-thirds of the way through. However, I felt that there were some plot holes/really unrealistic things (even given the world that they were in). Like, a bunch of celebrities are supposedly in relationships with Love Interests, but celebrities always date other celebrities? And their relationships don’t usually last forever so…what gives? I just don’t understand how Love Interests could realistically be infiltrating our world, that’s all.

I thought the characters were just alright. Caden wasn’t super likable and I didn’t find Dylan super likable either. It was honestly just hard to really get to know the two main characters as they were basically putting on an act the whole time. I thought the fact that they had trainers in their heads the whole time was pretty weird as well. And Caden’s trainer was always like, “Sorry I’m late/missed that, I was on a date”. Cut to me scratching my head and wondering why the heck that detail was necessary. Caden’s relationship with his “parents” also seemed unnecessary. I didn’t see how that added anything to the story or to Caden’s development. I don’t even think they really helped us to learn more about the big bad company. They were just kind of…there.

I will say, that I thought this book did a great job poking some fun at the “bad boy vs guy next door competing for a below-the-radar girl’s heart” trope. There were some classic scenes especially when it came to Dylan: broody bad boy reads poetry, sexy bad boy at the school dance, hardcore bad boy rides a motorcycle, etc. It really reminded me of certain other books and made those things kind of laughable–in a good way. It’s so hard for me to say anything else without spoilers, but without giving anything away, I thought that the way sexuality was represented in this book was a little…manipulative? It seemed like it came into play when it was convenient. Perhaps I just didn’t get it, though?

Overall, I thought this book was pretty good. It was a refreshing take on some common tropes and I really enjoyed that part of it. Other aspects of the book fell flat, but they weren’t necessarily deal-breakers. I think this author has a bright future in YA ahead of him.

Overall Rating: 3
Language: Moderate
Violence: Heavy
Smoking/Drinking: Mild
Sexual Content: Moderate

Note: I received this book free from the author/blog tour in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

To say The Love Interest was a disturbing read would be an understatement. While it was nowhere near a The Hunger Games replica, it had a similar feel to it, and I had nightmares after reading that series. What I loved most about this book was Dylan and how he was so damn candid from the very beginning, latching onto the boy he’d been pitted against because he knew Caden was the only person who truly knew how he felt. It took so much courage to be open with Caden, and I loved Dylan for that. Parts of this ‘game’ would change him for sure, but right up until the end, he was going to stay who he was at his core. It was heartbreaking from the very beginning, and I loved the evolution of Dylan and Caden’s relationship. I also loved that Caden thought about Juliet’s feelings and how, by being targeted for a ‘Love Interest,’ would never have a chance at a real relationship. I also appreciated Juliet’s parents. There were some humorous moments with them, and they really were the only light part of this very somber story. There were a few surprises along the way, and oddly, though I saw one of them coming, I was still shocked. I think one of the most disturbing parts of this book for me were the ‘coaches.’ It was almost as if Dylan and Caden were pieces on a chessboard. Their feelings didn’t matter at all, and their coaches never even entertained the idea that maybe Caden or Dylan did something simply because they were compassionate and not because they were playing a part. I would have rated this book higher if it hadn’t been for the ending. I think it was a bit drawn out and not as entertaining as it could have been, but I loved every single moment up until things started to fall apart for Dylan and Caden. They were wonderful characters, and I was rooting for them throughout the entire story!
I was surprised at how quick of a read this book was. Time just seemed to fly by while I was reading; it was so well paced. Overall, I thought The Love Interest was a wonderful read, and I’d recommend it despite the lackluster ending. The events leading up to it outweigh the end for me.

The Love Interest is a pretty readable blend of contemporary and science fiction for YA audiences, but I am not entirely sure that it's good. I had fun reading it at times, but the problems are not negligible and build throughout the nearly four hundred pages. Engaging as it sometimes could be to watch surgically-perfected Caden and Dylan battle murderous robots (literally) and each other (metaphorically), it has to be to noted that the worldbuilding is slim and what is there is nonsensical (how do the people at LIC know what a teen girl/boy is attracted to? Or that they will be geniuses or presidents or Olympic athletes? Or even what gender(s) they are attracted to? Why is hetero the only focus when more and more youth are identifying as LGBTQIA?) or even self-contradictory (Caden says he had no name before the assignment to Juliet but while at LIC he mentions other guys with names like Robert etc?). This is the barely-there-details science fiction kind of story that requires a healthy suspension of disbelief to finish.

Outside of the less than substantial worldbuilding shown for this scifi story, I wanted more depth and emotion from the characters themselves. The basic premise makes it easy to set up star-crossed romances between the various characters, so I was sad to see that Juliet, Caden, and Dylan are all rather broadly and bluntly-drawn. They each felt like the trope they were supposed to be subverting; instead of really being the protagonist of his own story, Caden often felt like a side character. Juliet and Natalie were good additions, as was Trevor, but they too needed more definition and dimension. And while I wanted more from him personally, [it's pretty obvious that Caden is gay and I appreciated that it wasn't a bait-and-switch situation. There's some sneakiness to the relationship but the main romance - the REAL romance, since it's not on order of death -- is between two teen guys.]

There is some inventiveness to the overall plot and The Love Interest is driven far more by its action and suspense than by its characters. I am pretty sure most teens are smart enough to see through this and predict not only the twist but the outcome. I liked Caden enough - especially when he wants to stand up for himself and point out that his sexuality is not a plot point for another person - but he's milquetoast. Dylan is burnt milquetoast. Juliet has little on-page time that's not devoted to how she feels about the boys -- so she makes even less of an impression. The Love Interest had an interesting premise and refreshingly diverse romance but never quite met the potential for its plot or its characters.

I was expecting an action-packed spy thriller.
I was expecting life and death situations.
I was expecting sappy romance.
I was NOT expecting the author taking all of these things, putting them into a blender, mashing them to bits, and constructing them as a masterfully humorous tale that feels like it's poking fun at the YA genre while simultaneously paying homage. In a good way.
So we have the bad boy and the good boy characters pursuing the intelligent, attractive female. But the bad boy and the good boy are really just abandoned kids trained in the arts of seduction and espionage. They are only vying for this girl because a spy is needed to be by her side day and night. To complicate things, our bad boy and good boy also develop feelings for someone other than the mark.
The book rapidly switches from jaunty romance to action craziness. Since I'm way more into action, this made the book even better for me. But I will say, I did enjoy the romance also. The characters were likable and sometimes felt a little underdeveloped. I am hoping this means there will be future books in a series featuring these characters and fleshing them out. There's plenty left to explore in the world Dietrich has built in The Love Interest.
I think it would be a good fit for fans of Kristin Orlando's "You Don't Know My Name" and ready for a David Levithan-esque twist.

I have been excited for this book for a really long time. In fact, The Love Interest made my most anticipated book releasing in May list - if you read the synopsis, I'M SO SURE you'd want to read it to.

Two boys, one Nice and one Bad are vying for the attention of the same girl. Except, they're trained spies, the one who loses will die AND that the two boys are falling for each other? YES PLEASE.

Truth be told, this book wasn't ALL I expected it to be - it fell a little flat at times, the last quarter of the book had some WILD AND CRAZILY UNBELIEVABLE plans, and I so STUCK about whether I like this book or not.

I LOVED THE PLOT. It took on some stereotypes, over exaggerated them a little so you could see it and also added in an LGBT romance that I loved. I loved the fact that this played with the Good Boy and Bad Boy stereotype, and that the girl was supposed to choose. I love that they portrayed that not everyone is all good and all bad.

Apart from the fact that this book had a GREAT PLOT, and one HUGE TWIST THAT I LOVED AND DID NOT SEE COMING, it was pretty dull.
One of my biggest disappoints is that this was told only from the Nice Boy, Caden's POV, and not both of them. I felt like the book could have been more if it was told by both boys.

While I liked Caden and Dyl, I didn't love them. Their relationship was SO MUCH LUST and the fact that there was this BASIC HUMAN INSTINCT to not let someone die and NOTHING ELSE. There was no real chemistry - they went on drives, they showed off their six pack abs, they were gorgeous humans and that's it. THEY WERE IN LUST, NOT LOVE.

They might have been in like, but I HATED THAT THEY USED THE WORD LOVE. Also, the two of them pouted. A LOT. WHAT EVEN?

Another person I didn't understand was Juliet. I don't know WHAT I expected from her, but she was so... normal for a company to invest in. Sure, there were two scenes where she seemed like a mad scientist but other than saying 'Oh these *insert cool tech here* gloves that I made* and somehow reverse engineering a signal, she did NOTHING. IN FACT, SHE DIDN'T EVEN USE THE WORD REVERSE ENGINEERING. She didn't come across as a genius. She barely came across as a human - being the stiff and "I've decided to forgive you" (like forgiveness is a statement not a feeling.)

And the last 30% felt... unplanned. Their plan was over the top and not really a plan at all.

I guess I wish the book was A LOT more, but I still ABSOLUTELY LOVED the basic plot of the book. I do recommend it - it's definitely worth it to read once!

I have so many feelings about this book, its a tragedy that I have to wait for it to come out so I can talk with my friends about it! It's got all the warm and fuzzy feelings I love in my YA and I already feel like it's going to be a book I return to again and again!

I enjoyed this read. It was quick,cute and adventurous all at the same time. The book was pretty much what I expected from it's description, so really not to many surprises or suspense. I think it's a good read for those into LGBT+ stories. The spy type story isn't something I've seen to often in that genre. Overall I think it was a good story, and it will be added to my library.

NO SPOILERS

The Love Interest is a book that has been on my mind for months because its concept is completely original and it sounded so much fun, so I already knew which book I had to pick up in May.
And I read it as planned. However, my feedback isn't the one I thought I would have.

And before anything, let me tell you this: I liked The Love Interest. It was an overall good book that worked around this fantastic idea that there's an organization that locks people away - so they can work to be the best physical version of themselves - and then assigns them to become close with important people, or even their loved ones, and share the secrets that they gather. It's like they're spies. And at this point, everything's good, but the book complicates things.

So, first let's talk about what I liked more about The Love Interest.

The organization itself was an incredible and well-done concept. The author came up with an original and complex idea of an organization that profits from secrets that are shared though relationships that were manipulated from the very beginning.

The LGBT romance between the main characters - Caden and Dylan - was another amazing quality, not only because of the diversity aspect, but also because they're both spies who are trying to make a girl fall in love with one of them, so the perspective of them falling in love with each other instead sounds so much fun! Regarding Caden and Dylan's relationship, I really liked them together - until I stopped enjoying the story, because nothing made sense anymore.

So, what happen? There's a point in the book where the story changes its direction completely and goes off into something that - for me at least - doesn't make a lot of sense with what the author wrote in the first half of the book. And I don't think that that sudden shift worked well for the book itself.

There was something else that I also didn't liked: after the sudden shift, the story takes off at an incredible speed. Everything happens so fast, and what should have taken longer is actually what happens in a couple of chapters. That didn't work for me, since it made the climax seem unrealistic.

So, briefly The Love Interest could have been an easy 5 stars book, if it hadn't shift completely from the plot and if it hadn't finished the story prematurely.

WITH SPOILERS

I don't have much to talk about the first half of this book, so let's talk about what made a 5 stars into a 3 stars book, shall we?

Caden's - and every other character that suddenly knew about the mission - idea of taking down the entire organization and releasing hundreds or even thousand of boys into the streets was so premature. First, there was no world building before this! Nothing prepared us to even the idea of the characters doing that. And secondly, was I the only person who felt that their plan and 'assault' was too easy? Five teenagers decide to take down a well-organized organization, they get in, kill a bunch of people, one of them dies - still not over that! - and then they are out, that's it: the organization is over. (WHAT?)
So, suddenly this book became a dystopian cliche. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared to be disappointed.

And what happened to all of the boys that were released? And what about the organization? They freed one establishment, but there were more establishments in different countries, what about those?
So many questions and an incongruous climax left me so frustrated!

The last chapter also annoyed me a bit. It's 5 years after the 'organization take-down (not really, but okay!)' and it doesn't even clarifies us regarding Caden and Dylan's (did they change their names after the take-down??) relationship, or what happened to all of the other characters... There was no relevant information in that chapter, so its existence is also questionable.

Overall, The Love Interest was a bit of a disappointment. Sure, the first half of the book was great, but I can't give 5 stars to a book that wasn't great until the very end. Not only that, a book that shifted completely from its main focus and just decided to change even its genre, from YA Contemporary to Dytopian!
I was so sure I would love this book, and even if I had good moments with it, the ending ruined my overall experience.

This book was pretty much un-putdownable for me. If that’s even a word. This is how contemporaries always work for me. I’m sucked into the story and I have to see how it all ends. I read this book in like two days, I was so engrossed in the plot. That’s always a good thing to see in books, it pulling you in and keeping you along for the ride.

What I liked about this book was the characters. They were all so real and had such great and well developed voices. I loved all of them and almost wished I had a POV for the whole gang of them. Especially a Dylan point of view!! I would have LOVED to see inside his head. Even Juliet’s – she was so smart and extremely interesting.

This was one of those light and easy reads that can get you out of a slump. I’d been having a lot of trouble trying to get into books but when I received this e-arc, I dove right in and pretty much didn’t stop until I finished. I have no doubt in my mind that this book will do the same to any readers. It’s just so good, and keeps you interested and anxious for what will happen next.

I have to admit this book had me on edge a lot. I was so frustrated with the weird love triangle that was going. I wanted both of the boys to win because I didn’t want either of them to die. It also brought me quite the emotional pain, so don’t go into this book thinking it’s all fluff. The author really knows how to make a reader frustrated, let me tell you!

My only negative thoughts, and some criticism on the book is how it all ended. The book had great pacing, in my opinion, up until the very end. Things went downhill and concluded so fast that I didn’t really have time to understand what was going on and get a chance to think over what was happening. So if anything, I wish the ending was dragged out a bit more. I feel like more time to defeat the bad guys and come to an epic conclusion would have been beneficial to the story. Perhaps that will be fixed in the final copy, as I did read an e-arc. Maybe even extending the novel to a sequel could have changed things.

I actually really would look forward to a sequel in this world, because I thought it was really interesting, the whole spy agency. I want them to continue to fight The Love Interest corporation. I want to see more of Juliet and her brilliant inventions, more of the boys and their complicated love. After the epilogue, though, it seems like the story came to a close. Overall though, I did adore this story. It didn’t disappoint as an anticipated novel of this year. I just wish there had been more!

**Live 5/12**

I knew as soon as I read the synopsis for The Love Interest it was a book I had to read. I think we all figured out what “feelings that are outside of their training. Feelings that could kill them both” was alluding to, and that concept in this setting was enough make me obsess about this book, despite it sounding like it has a Love Triangle. (I hate Love Triangles.)

I did have one complaint about the story, before we get into all the good stuff. I would have loved to read more one on one scenes between Dyl and Caden. Caden’s pursual of Juliet seemed to take precedence, which makes sense since the story isn’t really about Caden’s being gay. It was more about how he’d get past his programming, or his need to win as a Love Interest, because winning meant surviving. Falling in love with your rival was not the way to win. That concept made Juliet a very important part of the story, with a role equal to Dyl. I just wished, since they were what I was excited about, we’d gotten more sweet moments between Dyl and Caden and less between Caden and Juliet. It made the love story feel rushed, and then it made the ending feel rushed. That’s it, my only complaint. Not too bad, right?

There was so much good going on! For instance, I loved fluid concept of Nice and Bad. One of the things I wondered, before I started reading, was if Caden and Dyl would be stereotypical good guy and bad boy. It would have been fine, in a satirical way (which is what I imagined). What we got was more of the idea that real people aren’t Nice or Bad. They’re usually a little of both. Caden could be mean, and had to hide it his whole life. And Dyl, he was actually really sweet. It flipped my perspective, what I’d been expecting, in a really great way.

I also loved all of the pop culture references Cale Dietrich threw in. I’ve heard including relevant pop culture references dates your book and isn’t a great idea for the long term, but all I know is every single time I read one I would chuckle or smile. Probably also because the references were all things I recognized. They made me feel included, and they made Caden easy to relate to.

Finally, Dyl and Caden themselves, their friendship was definitely my favorite part of the story. I loved that even though the game was to manipulate and lie, they wanted to be honest with each other. They had nobody else to be honest with. That made everything so much sweeter and softer. My love for what was developing between them is exactly why I wanted so much more. I wanted to revel in their romance.

If this is Cale Dietrich’s debut book, I definitely can’t wait to read what he writes next. His maiden voyage was already as good as I’d expected, and I have a feeling he’s capable of even more.