Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy meets boy. One of them has to die.

😩

You’re all incredibly beautiful young men and you should relish the chance to show everyone how handsome you are.

Ok so it's a little more complicated than that. Imagine Alias meets The Bachelorette, where two boys are tasked to make a girl fall in love with himself and the loser gets a one way ticket out of this world. Yikes. All for the name of spying and political gains. Add a little complication in that the boys are more interested in each other than they are the girl...And maybe more than living.

I loved this book. The way Cale created the characters and made you fall in love with them as they fell in love with each other. You're watching and you're wondering how it's going to end with such high stakes. You're hoping for some loophole. You know it doesn't work that way.

Part of the charm of this book is how Cale pokes fun at tropes and crushes them at the same time. The Love Interest manages to create an original story from tales as old as time.

Do the nice boys always finish last? Guess you'll have to read and see.

The way Cale wove pop culture and music into the story made this fangirl's heart sing.

2.5 stars

I liked the premise and the romance, but unfortunately I wasn't very into the execution of everything. The world-building lacked a lot, I didn't quite like the characters or connected to them. Overall it kind of felt like it didn't know whether it wanted to take itself seriously or if it wanted to be a satire. So. Not for me, but I did like the romance.

A fast paced, entertaining romp that plays heavily on some worn-out YA tropes, reimagining them in a new and fresh light. The Love Interest has a likable cast of characters--though occasionally they feel constrained by the tropes they're subverting or upholding and it makes them feel rather flimsy--and a fun romance.

I'm a bit disappointed. Just a little. This book wasn't terrible by any means, but there were some things that I wanted to happen or I just wanted more of, and it sucks, because I wanted to give it five shiny stars, but then I wouldn't really be honest with myself! But let's actually get on to the review!

First up, the stuff I loved! The characters were absolutely brilliant and all three-dimensional and wonderful. We have our main character, Dylan, who was so funny and I just loved being in his head and hearing all his thoughts. He's basically assigned to be a Nice, but he doesn't really consider himself that way (which I definitely feel because I don't think I'm a nice person, but maybe other people feel differently). We also have Caden, the boy that Dylan's competing against, who's supposed to be a Bad, BUT IS SUCH A SWEETHEART OH MY GOD. I wanted to hug him so hard. Then there's Juliet, the girl they're fighting over, who is super smart and wants to be a scientist when she grows up and literally has MADE HER OWN INVENTIONS AND WEAPONS because why not? I didn't expect to care about her so much, but it was so wonderful to see such a smart girl at the helm of a book! We also have Natalie and Trevor, who dressed up as Hazel Grace and Gus from TFIOS, so they immediately win everything in my books.

The world was also so, so creative! I just loved the way this book continually addressed cliches and the whole background of how everything worked and why it was done was just so well done. Also, in my opinion, this book definitely didn't suffer from any horrible info-dumps; the world was continually built on as the book went on, and it was just so nice to learn more about the inner workings of the world and the mini details.

Also, this book was hilarious. I'm not one to laugh too much while reading books - funnily enough, the most times I laugh are while watching Youtube videos; go figure - but this one was just so funny and natural while doing it; there was no sort of forced humor. Dylan is just a naturally hilarious character, and the fact that it's so clever at making fun of YA tropes I'm sure we're all tired of is what makes it so great.

Now on to the things I didn't love so much. I know this might be hard to believe for some of you guys who've been around here for a while, but...I actually wanted more romance. Yep, I said it; I wanted more of a romance in a YA non-contemporary book. I mean, was this a kissing book? Duh, of course it was (and the kissing was amazing, by the way). BUT, I just wanted WAY more of it. This is more of a slow-burn romance - and I'm a huge fan of that sweet, sweet slow-burn - so I thought a lot of it was more focused on the bonding and the friendship and not the actual romance. But, then again, romance is completely subjective for every reader, so it might be different for you!

Also, I felt like the ending moved way too fast. I had the same sort of complaint with Gone Without a Trace, which was also a thriller - a domestic thriller instead of a spy thriller, though - but Part 1 and 2 of The Love Interest were a bit slower-paced and had more of a contemporary feel, I'd say, and then Part 3 comes along, and it turns into more of a dystopian/spy thriller, and without a smooth transition between the two, the change of pacing and such was quite jarring for me. A lot of stuff happens and a lot of things are revealed and it just has such a different feel than a large majority of the book that, to me, it felt a bit all over the place.

But, the book did make up for itself a little bit just for the simple fact that the epilogue was TO DIE FOR. Excuse me while I casually drown in all the feels it gave me and flail all over the damn place.

Overall, though this one didn't live up to my expectations, this is totally a subjective viewpoint, and you might think differently. I would actually still recommend this book to anyone who wants to read it because it was definitely entertaining!

When I first requested this book from Netgalley I was expecting a YA version of
"This Means War". But I was extremely pleased to be wrong.

The Love Interest is essentially a satire of every love triangle YA trope, and it is gloriously aware of that. It also subverts the love triangle in that, our narrator, who is the "Nice Boy" of the love triangle, falls for the "Bad Boy" rather than the girl whose affections they are meant to be competing for.

The romance was impossibly cute. It's well executed, and doesn't feel campy. I thought its pacing was good - definitely didn't feel like instalove. Caden is an adorably awkward, out-of-his-depth narrator, who constantly feel for Dylan's seduction tactics intended - theoretically - for Juliet. I loved the friendships in the book as well.

The pacing of the book is fast, but well balanced - it stays exciting without getting ahead of itself. The setting remains contemporary, and the romance is of heavy focus, but the book also plays heavily on action tropes and contrived scenes common in YA fiction.

It had its flaws of course, sometimes it felt too caught up in the tropes/satire. Sometimes I got frustrated that, despite everything, Juliet still often felt at times like a plot device, the lack of ability to communicate feelings for most of the book (which plagues most YA) was still present, etc.

But towards the end, there was this whole "Dylan's isn't gay" thing going on that has Caden equivocating on whether he loved Dyl or Juliet and the whole thing was utterly unnecessary, not really used to further the plot, it was just annoying to add drama to an already rushed end.

But over all, I LOVED it. I definitely recommend it.

Overall, I found this to be a nit embarrassing. None of the characters really acted like teens and they'd have these loooong paragraphs with their feelings and whatnot, and honestly, most of it was sort of embarrassing to read.

What an interesting take on the spy novel! This is the story of Caden and Dylan (Dyl) who have been recruited as Love Interests. Their primary job is to be a perfect match for a woman who the organization feels will have important information in the future to sell (spy games). Told from Caden's perspective as he is given his first assignment, the reader watches him realize that things might not always go the way they are expected to go. When he meets Dylan there is an immediate connection. The problem is they are competing as a "nice" and "bad" for the same girl, and the loser will be killed. The premise was interesting but what made this is a great story was the relationship between Caden and Dyl. So many YA novels miss the mark on their attempt to write a believed romantic story between two boys, but this book does it. I believed in them and I was rooting for them. The last 25% of the book surprised me in the choices that the author made for the story to go, but I really enjoyed it. I look forward to more from this author!

You guys remember the This Means War movie? With Chris Pine and Tom Hardy fighting over Reese Witherspoon only to realize they're in love with each other and live happily ever after? No? Not quite like that ending, well this book is exactly like that ending. Except it's so much more—more intricate, more intense, much darker, much different.

The Love Interest is a book we all didn't know we wanted, much less needed. I love the plot to it, how you never know quiet how we got there, to this point, to this plot. I'll admit that I've read a lot of the LGBTQ+ specifically the gay YA releases of 2017 and I'm a bit disappointed because the main couple, the main pairing gets together until the very end. Like if I wanted that I would stick with telenovelas. Despite that I enjoyed it, and I can't wait for everyone to enjoy it!

This was a really fun, fast read! I loved the concept, and by the end, I really enjoyed all of the characters! I wish the LIC organization had been fleshed out a little bit more, but besides that, my only "issues" have to do with the occasionally odd transitions and the fact that all the characters use one another's names constantly in dialogue, a pet peeve of mine. But those are really small things in the scope of all there is to love here! The story went to some places that surprised me near the end, and I liked that! It did wrap up a bit quickly, but I admire the fact that the author didn't try to drag this into a trilogy or anything like that. I think 'The Love Interest' would be a great film, and I think it'll be an enjoyable read for anyone who is wanting a fast, cute, meta gay read with an original premise. Its strengths are ironically all of the cliches! While this isn't an absolute favorite of mine, I do feel like I need to reread it at some point, which is something rare for me! I also would definitely recommend it to anyone with my same reading tastes! It's a good time! 4.2/5 stars from me!

This book was just not for me. I was intrigued by the concept of love interests but once the guys were out in the real world it was too much. I was not engaged in the story and did not finish the book

This book sounded absolutely amazing, the concept had me from the very beginning. There was one issue that I had was that it seemed a little rushed. This was one of the most engaging books I read this year, I was really impressed with this book. I highly recommend this book, It's a mx of contemporary and Science Fiction and it just was perfect. Where has this book been all of my life?

A fun twist on typical tropes. This book is enjoyable and features a gay relationship, which is such a positive thing for YA these days.

If you've ever found yourself falling in love with someone who seems a little too perfect, consider the possibility you've been matched with a Love Interest.

Love Interests are young men and women who are trained in the art of seduction at a secret compound, the LIC. It's all very hush-hush, including how they obtain the children they train in the first place. Boys are divided into Nices and Bads. When the LIC obtains a high profile female target, they send in one of each to act out a perfectly choreographed YA contemporary love triangle. The winner gets the girl, and the opportunity to live out his life in the real world, as long as he continues to spy on her and share all her secrets with the LIC. The loser gets incinerated.

Juliet is a teenage science prodigy. The LIC sends in a Nice, Caleb, and a Bad, Dyl, to compete for her affections. Each boy gets a backstory crafted to tug at Juliet's heartstrings, and a coach to help him woo her. Caden thinks the incinerator sounds unpleasant, and is determined to win the competition... even though it means he'll never get to be his true self... even though he starts to develop feelings for Dyl instead. But then falling in love with your competitor in the spy business is tricky. Caden can't trust whether Dyl has genuine feelings for him; it could all be part of the game.

I loved the first 3/4 of this book. I was rooting for Caden and Dyl and started to ship their romance. The last section of the book, however, took a turn from poking fun at YA romance tropes and dived into "teenagers take on the system." It was difficult to suspend the belief necessary. The more I read, the more I became convinced Juliet got a bum deal. She almost seems like a plot device to push Caden and Dyl together, rather than a real character. There's also a twist near the very end that ruined the book for me a bit. It's a major revelation that changes so much about the story, but it's quickly brushed aside. Not a fan of how that was handled. All in all, this is a fun book that's worth the read.

https://magical-reads.blogspot.com/2017/04/review-love-interest.html

I loved this book. I loved the use of tropes, I love the reference to ya books as a reason for these tropes. I loved the action, the romance and the beautiful relationships that came out of this book. Basically I really love this book.

This book was just too crazy for me, but I have a feeling that the right reader is going to LOVE it. I'm just not that right reader. Too much of the story just made absolutely no sense (like what is really the purpose of the secret organization that creates the Love Interests? Who really cares to spy on teenagers, even brilliant genius scientist ones), and the characters weren't engaging enough for me to stop caring about the crazy plot holes.

I think the cover and the blurb are both misleading, probably intentionally so, but I think that's going to lead to some disappointed readers (and perhaps turn off some readers who may potentially really enjoy this). Anyone hoping for some love triangle with two hot guys trying to win the girl are going to be sadly disappointed when the big twist is revealed.

I think the main thing that didn't work for me was the central romantic relationship of the book. Neither character was engaging to me, so their romance didn't feel really well-developed.

The Love Interest was a book that had an interesting concept: literally take a bunch of cliches and throw them together and see how it turns out. Which worked in this sense.
This story is about a Good Guy and a Bad Guy competing for the same girl - they are literally remade for her, to look like a supermodel and be exactly her type. Which is cool. But the LIC, the corporation that does this, has a flaw in that they have the "love interests" meet before any transformations happen, and they become... friends.
More than friends. It turns out that Caden has some romantic feelings for Dylan.
The whole plot of this book took have gone completely wrong, but it didn't. There were some flaws for me, such as Juliet being considered as important for experimenting with science, and the whole concept that "if I'm not chosen, I'm dead."
They convince these characters that if they aren't chosen by the Love Interest in the end, they will be incinerated.
This review is kind of everywhere, but the book was enjoyable, despite being riddled with cliches and some hard-to-believe characters.

The best part of the book was the gay guys. I really loved watching that story unfold and the guy slowly starting to realize that he's gay and understand what his feelings mean. Loved that!

The stuff I didn't quite like...

Juliet was boring. Caden has feelings for someone else, but given that he's supposed to be going after Juliet, she's still quite a big character. But she was pretty cardboard. I think I expected more from her because she was supposed to be this hugely intelligent person and I just thought she'd be more... interesting?

The world building was kind of thin. There's this huge concept of a secret spy organization, but the most we get is:

- We've existed for thousands of years, accept it.
- Nobody knows we exist but we've infiltrated everywhere, accept it.
- We target teenagers.

I guess some of it was just hard to buy. For example, I'm all for a good teenager-in-love romance. I know that kind of high school romance can happen, does happen, and can turn into a forever thing. But let's face it, more often than not, that probably isn't the case in real life. It does happen, but probably not most of the time. And yet this huge spy agency builds its business on making teenagers fall in love, betting that it will be forever love... IDK, it just kind of had me constantly questioning how logical it was.

And then there's the whole good/bad stereotype thing. I started out liking the idea but it got kind of cheesy. I looked at some other reviews that suggested the book was supposed to be poking fun at some YA tropes rather than being serious? But how is that something you even know? Maybe I'm being obtuse but I feel like I couldn't tell the difference. And it came back around to that realistic/world building factor: it seemed so silly that this huge spy organization built its whole thing on the idea that there are two types of exaggerated people: bad and nice.

Maybe there were parts of this book I just didn't "get" right. Maybe I took parts of it too seriously. I don't know.

In short: I LOVED reading about Caden discovering who he was, falling for Dylan, and seeing that relationship develop. Love love love.

The spy agency part? Kind of disappointing.

Favourite quotes:

"I guess I thought I was straight just because everyone treated me like I was, and no one ever gave me a chance to think otherwise."

"Like, by liking guys, I automatically take on that role in her life. That I'm suddenly a supporting character in her story rather than the hero of my own."

It pains me to give this book such a low rating because the concept really is spectacular and there is clearly a TON of potential here. The low rating stems from the writing itself - it feels very, very forced and the dialogue/inner monologues not only feel repetitive, but also way too cheesy (There were moments I couldn't help but roll my eyes). This really stalled the narrative and I actually ended up skimming the last 1/4 of the book because I was so distracted by the dialogue. That said, I fully appreciate the premise and idea of this one and despite the cheesy dialogue, I do think the author did a wonderful job with the LGBTQ aspect of the storytelling and some of the more thematic elements such as body image / perfection / idea of good vs. bad / etc.

Review will be published to http://novelinkblog.com on May 8, 2017

The Love Interest was a book that I was super excited for and when I got approved for an e-ARC on Netgalley, I may have jumped up and down a little. I immediately started reading it once it downloaded to my kindle because there was no way that I could wait.

The Love Interest has such an unique and intriguing premise, I mean, a YA book about spies? Yes, please! I think that was what caught my eye with this book. That, and the fact that the love interest are on both side of the spectrum, a Nice and a Bad. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book, watching both boys try to win the heart of Juliet all the while knowing in the back of their mind what happens if they lose.

I also really enjoyed the other romantic aspect of this book, I don't want to say any more because of spoilers, especially since I was spoiled on this aspect due to a Goodreads review that wasn't hid. But I definitely felt the chemistry with these two specific characters and I think this relationship was my favorite in the book.

This book also delivers on the feels. There are so many things that happen that I wish would've worked out differently, once again, I'm being vague due to spoilers, but oh my gosh, certain things broke my heart. The characters and their relationships were definitely my favorite part of this book.

Overall, The Love Interest is a book that I can see a lot of people falling in love with.