With a synopsis that had enemies-to-lovers, I knew I had to pick up Love, Comment, and Subscribe. I was very excited to read it! The novel follows two former best friends Lily Wang and Tobin Bui who both have their perspective YouTube channels and have lived separate lives since high school. Lilly is a Beauty YouTuber who is starting to grow her following but she’s having trouble getting the sponsors/viewership that it would take for her to create a makeup business. Meanwhile, Tobin is known for his creative prank and gaming videos. He has a mask a large following and his agents are trying to get him away from doing youtube and focus on more TV and movie content.

Lily and Tobin connect again when they decided to collaborate with each other’s channels trying to help stir their creative block, change up their videos, and gain new audiences. The collab between the two gets off to a rocky start. The videos inspire them to be more creative to try new things and be bolder with the YouTube content that they’ve been putting out so far. We also see the opposition of support systems that Tobin and Lily have. Lilly’s parents support her YouTube career fully and while Tobin’s parents’ things act as if it’s just a phase and that he can’t make money long term being a video creator.

Not only is the witty banter really cute but I really enjoyed the video collaborations they come up with. Tobin bounces out Lily’s goofy side and Lily helps Tobin come by down to earth whenever he feels a bit frantic. I like the commentary about content creation and all work that goes behind making these forms of media content. I also enjoy the fact that you know even though these people in this story get these deals from sponsors they have to question if it’s actually beneficial or not.

This is a novel where the characters show a lot of growth. It made me laugh out loud and smile at the humorous bits. I love the romance aspects and it does deliver on the steamy bits too. A great mashup of frenemies and enemies-to-lovers!

Note: This review contains NO spoilers

A first for me reading a Cathy Yardley book. LOVE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE did not disappoint. A sweet New Adult romantic comedy. Yes, the humor, the drama, the entertaining banter, the obvious chemistry among the characters, and (of course) the developing romance made this an entertaining and charming read. The love/hate friendship/relationship between Lilly and Tobin was adorable; the chemistry was not difficult to disguise. I found myself smirking, laughing, smiling, and tearing up through their story.

Revolving around a contemporary setting made this story relatable and realistic on some level or another to current contemporary social culture and relationships/friendships. Although I am not very well versed on social media culture, LOVE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE touches on the behind-the-scenes of such... I can only guess. I am no expert, but this delightful story delves in the complexities of relationships in today's social media world.

In the end, LOVE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE has that HEA (happily ever after) that's fitting for today's modern times...in particular, Lilly and Tobin's story. I absolutely enjoyed reading this touching and captivating romcom. I am definitely looking forward to the next story in this Ponto Beach Reunion series.

Reviewer: Jasmine

Genre/Tropes: Contemporary, RomCom
STEAM LEVEL: 🔥🔥
🅁🄰🅃🄸🄽🄶: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I tried to like this one but honestly, I felt like this was a bit heavy on PC/Cancel Culture. Add in the fact that I was in it for the romance and instead I found a social-media obsessed central conflict and very little believable romance, and I can say that while I didn’t hate the book, it was just okay.

I get it. We all have our own opinions about things but this book had every issue from trans representation, pronouns, bad white men…I mean whew. I read non-fiction to escape. I don’t need that stuff in my books.

I’m not saying any more because this is a me thing but it’s a BIG me thing. The FMC was whiny and self-absorbed. The MMC was fake and childish. I already roll my eyes at most “influencers” IRL, so I wasn’t sure what to expect here but I found myself doing the same thing. I also love smut. I also love YA. This was somewhere in between and a bit awkward. But the writing is good, so credit is due.

𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠.

Lily and Tobin are so cute and the story was so much fun to read. They're both opposites but similar at the same time. The banter and back and forth balances out the rest of the story and I found myself unable to put this down.

An adorable romcom with a friend's to lovers plot. Sure they may not have been the best of friends but they do work oh so well together.
I love that it started with high school and showed that no matter how hard you try you may not be able to be an IT girl. But dang if you can't do it later on in life.
The banter was honestly the best part of the book. A great romcom for this day and age.

3.5-star read!

Lily Wang and Tobin Bui have been friends since grade schools. But their personalities are so opposite that Tobin always seems to annoy Lily and drive her mad. She's a perfectionist, uptight, always following rules and schedules, whereas Tobin is usually all over the place, hyper, and impulsive. They're now both successful YouTubers/influencers: Lily runs her EverLily beauty channel, and Tobin runs his GoofyBui channel with game playthroughs and other fun setup videos. As both are facing creative blocks for new and original contents for their channels, they decided to collaborate, despite their differences and past history, to help boost their stats.

It's interesting to learn about the world of social media influencers (I now know they do have their agents and talent managers etc.) and how much work it takes to set themselves apart and expand their brands. However, I felt like at times both Lily and Tobin still behave like they were still in high school, even though they're now both 28. I got frustrated during the first half of the book, Lily acts in her stuck up way, and Tobin is just silly. It did get better toward the end, and I liked Tobin a lot more for making a decision that is necessary for his own well being despite everyone objecting it or not sympathizing with him (including Lily). It took Lily all the way to the end to realize how her behaviors have hurt her close friends and Tobin, and I just wasn't a big fan of hers.

Overall, it's a fun and quick read with lots of interesting plot ideas and the world building with Nerd Herd group of friends is good. I'm excited to see what will come next for another couple in the group.

*Special thanks to the author for gifting me this book in exchange for my honest review.*

Back in high school, Lily and Tobin were part of the "Nerd Herd," a group of crazy smart kids who were mostly happy to be friends, if maybe a tiny bit competitive. Only mostly, because Lily was definitely NOT ok with being part of the herd--she had visions of hanging out with the popular kids and felt that the herd was only there because no one else would have them. Fast forward several years and Lily is a make up and style tutorial YouTuber on the verge of fame and Tobin is out and out famous on the site, known for his crazy pranks and funny game commentary. It is suggested that they team up, and that cross promotion could be what will send both of them to the top of of the pack. Working together, Lily and Tobin reconnect with the herd, sort through some of their hurt feelings from the past, and are able to empathize with each other given the incredible stress that comes with both of their jobs. Oh yeah, and they might accidentally start to like each other.

This was my first Cathy Yardley book, but it definitely won't be my last. I'll admit to being one of those Gen Xers who roll my eyes at 20 somethings who are YouTube famous but this book made me gain new respect for them. The never settling and not being able to just enjoy life any more (or that's how I read it) makes the entire thing sound exhausting. I had no idea how much actual WORK was involved. I also enjoyed the idea of the second chance with a high school crush--who among us (even happily married) doesn't wonder even once in a while about someone from school? I loved how different Lily and Tobin were (and how differently their respective families treated their careers) and how those differences were really strengths that they were able to combine to make the most of their posts. LCS is the first in the Ponto Beach Reunion series and I can't wait to read the stories of other members of the herd. Available October 1, 2021.

Thank you to Netgalley and Montlake for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love, Comment, Subscribe was such a cute book featuring two characters who are influencers. In this case, Lily is a beauty vlogger while Tobin is a Youtube gamer! I have always had a strong love for influencers in books~ I don't know, it looks so much fun, and I love seeing them use all the social media in their daily lives. I love seeing in this book that being a youtuber (and also a blogger and other social media job) is waaaaay harder than people think because yup the planning, the imagination, the creativity, the burnout, the collabs - it's a lot of work and Cathy Yardley illustrates it perfectly.

♡ Frenemies to lovers
♡ They've known each other since kids and they never got along
♡ Now they have to collab in some videos and they get closer
♡ Snuggling!!!
♡ There are balls tightening in this book *eye emoji*

I would say this is a slow burn but it's so beautiful. I love the organic nature of how the relationship develops ~ it's so soft and adorable! And when they finally kiss it's like everything is right in the world and you, as well as the characters, have been waiting for it impatiently lmao. And then it turns hot and oh boy it's so great. ♡ This book was so much fun!

Lily is a beauty Youtuber. She is doing pretty good for herself, but she needs to get her stats up to get a company to pick up her makeup line. When here agent suggest she collaborate with another Youtuber she realizes getting her stats up will need to take some work and popularity. The hard work part is easy, she has been working hard her whole life. But the popularity.....well that one is going to take a miracle.

Tobin has been doing humor his whole life. But he is in a slump. Trying to top the last hot viral video he has released. He has the support of fans and his friends, but it feels like that is just not enough. Imagine his surprise though when Lily contacts him out of the blue wanting to collaborate. She was the determined one of the Nerd Herd in high school. It seems nothing has changed there. With loads of doubt and a push from his agent he embarks on a journey that he is positive will end with her killing him.

This book was a huge surprise. When I picked it up and started reading it I was skeptical. It started off a tad slow. I almost put it down, but then I got past the first two chapters and it slapped me in the face. I could not put it down. It was a extremely well written story of overcoming low self esteem.

This book touches on many subjects that help readers relate to life. And life is not pretty. It is hard and everyone is supposed to have this image. An image that if you don't have it, then you are not in the popular crowd. It touches on how all people are special and if given the chance to really know them you will love them.

Overall this was a beautiful and very entertaining story. It is filled with love, pain and struggles. The characters are unique and interesting. I love Tobin and his personality. He is a real fun loving guy who seems to live life to the fullest. Lily is a beautiful girl and her struggles are heart breaking. Her desire to be popular could cost her everything.

This creates a world for a series, with many stories intertwined into the main story. I really enjoyed all the characters in the Nerd Herd. I would love to see more from them. I especially hope that Emily and Vinh get a book. Their story seems very intriguing and heart breaking.

Looking forward to more....

I loved this! It's incredibly cute.

Maybe my favorite thing about this was the in-depth look at what the influencer life can entail if you'll be pursuing it as a full-time career. The algorithm, the constant struggle to produce new content, growing subscriber count, keeping the subscribers you have - all the not-so-sexy parts of being online-famous were explored with depth here and it helped to bring Lily and Tobin together. They really understood each other, and despite being enemies of a kind, they both had something real to gain from their cooperation, which you don't always find in enemies-to-lovers books.

On top of that, the whole thing was just so sweet! It was a slow burn for sure, but time was spent building the relationship and when they finally got together there was a real sense of a payoff for previous setup.

Can't wait to read more from Cathy Yardley.

I connected to this book on a lot of levels.  I loved both characters and empathized with them, but more than anything I loved how they brought their unique brands together to collaborate and create something that both of their audiences could enjoy. Uniquely brilliant!

Lily and Tobin are both influencers on YouTube. While what they vlog about are completely different things, Tobin is more of a gamer and unique commentator on random events and Lily is into beauty and fashion, how in the world could these two worlds ever combine to form a partnership in a collaboration? Especially when they can hardly stand to be in the same room together for a few minutes. It's actually that premise that pulls their viewers in and makes the clicks and comments roll out. Fiery chemistry that began long ago when they used to banter back in high school. Would they kill each other or make out like mad?

The entire concept pulled me because honestly, I had to know that answer just like their viewers. I seriously wanted to know what these two were going to do to entertain two entirely different vlogging audiences and also if Lily and Tobin were going to take things further. There was no creativity left behind because what these two came up with was pure brilliance!! Every moment between Lily and Tobin was fantastic.

Not only were these two vloggers a unique collaboration, but it also ended up changing the trajectory of both of their lives. Is there love involved...it wouldn't be a romance if somebody didn't fall, right? But, more than that, these two completed the other more than they ever thought possible.

When they should have ended up killing each other, they end up...well not. It's sweet and funny and all things fun that I love in a great book. I'll definitely be picking up another Cathy Yardley book again.

Cathy Yardley weaves a story of frenemies from high school who help each other on their respective YouTube channels and it leads to more. Love, Comment, Subscribe looks at the lure of popularity and mental health issues amidst a love story. Enjoyable on many levels, and first in a series. For fans of Alisha Rai, Helen Hoang, and Suzanne Park.

I went into this book almost completely blind. I had read one book of Cathy Yardley’s previously, and loved it. I knew I was going to get a well written story, with characters that I would love.

As a book reviewer and blogger, I found so many parallels about how utterly hard it can be on social media sites, to constantly be original and try and increase numbers. This author did an excellent job of portraying that.

I am so glad that the author included mental health as part of this book, and the need to take a break.

Lily and Tobin definitely have the enemies to lovers trope going for them, but that underlying attraction peeked out right from the start, and it hooked me right away. I was able to relate to both characters, each in their own way.

Since this one book already has a series title, I’m beyond excited to see where the next book will take us, and which side characters (which were amazing), will be featured!

This was an absolutely delightful read from start to finish. The premise was fresh, the writing was great, and the enemies to lovers plot starring two former* high-school nerds and their larger friend-family was spot-on.

*You never stop being a nerd. You just graduate.

Highly recommended!

Lily Wang and Tobin Hui went to High School together 10 years ago, but they weren’t exactly friends…or enemies either one. Frenemy is definitely the better term to describe what they were to each other. We open the book with a brief scene in high school and Lily ditching her Nerd Herd friends to try to sit with the popular group in the cafeteria but icily getting brushed off and taking it pretty brutally. Then it flashes forward to present day and Lily is a decently successful beauty YouTuber with a fierce drive, and surprise,, surprise, Tobin is a huge gamer YouTuber as well.

The two wind up collaborating on videos to try to get Lily’s subscriber count up and hijinx ensue. I think what was messing with my perception of this book the entire time is that this is a world I am unfamiliar with so I kept reading them as much younger than they were. Their 10-year high school reunion was coming up – they’re 28, but their concerns with subscriber count and content kept reading to me as such a YA concern. This was definitely a ME thing and not the book since I’m not a YouTube watcher at all. One thing I thought the author did a wonderful job with though was to develop and show the business side of YouTube content creators. Both MCs have agents and are expected to post content and have to meet certain deadlines. Both have expectations and a lot of weight on their shoulders that they have to worry about – and this is nothing that I’ve ever thought of before.

Tobin, in particular, has had to deal with his parents not supporting him from the beginning. They do not get that this is a job for him and that it actually pays his bills. The conversations he had with his parents felt incredibly realistic to me and are very familiar to anyone who have wanted to go against what is the norm for their families. I loved his character arc throughout the story with both his family and his agents.

His arc is completely different from Lily’s and I thought that Yardley did a really good job of showing this world and how it can impact the creators. Lily is obsessed with being perfect, sticking to her schedule, and getting ahead. The collab between Tobin and Lily brings such a balance to them both and I loved seeing Tobin eventually get a bit more focused and Lily get a tad more spontaneous over the course of the book.

However, what I didn’t love as much was Lily’s obsession with the popular people from high school. I understood that at 18, but I didn’t quite get that at 28 she still felt the same way about those people. With the high school reunion coming up, her old friends talk about how she wanted to get into the popular crowd and Lily doesn’t see how she wanted to leave the Nerd Herd behind. This was one of the reasons part of the young feeling kept sticking with me, more so than the YouTube portion.

So I love the romance part, completely believed in their HEA – particularly loved the resolution actually – but wish that Lily had a bit more personal development.

3.75 stars

This was my first book by Cathy Yardley so I went in not knowing what to expect. I will say that I enjoyed her writing, especially how she went to about bringing Lily and Tobin together in a believable way. These two were more like acquaintances from high school who didn't keep in touch and while they didn't hate each other, they weren't what you would call close so it was a treat for me to see them form a connection.

I do admit that there is a lot of info regarding what it takes to be a popular media influencer (stats, inner workings, etc) and at times it was a bit overwhelming to read, but thankfully both Lily and Tobin were great characters to get to know and being an influencer played a key role in who they were so I powered through.Ultimately, I enjoyed watching them overcome their struggles and coming together to achieve their goal.

All in all, a surprising entertaining read with a diverse cast of characters that will surely keep you engaged and invested in the overall story.

I was so excited about this childhood frienemies-to-lovers, band of misfits story, but it missed the mark for me. The writing was a little simplistic and the characters needed a little more development. The introduction of the "Nerd Herd" seemed like an attempt to build up to the Ponto Beach Reunion series, but the characters were just glossed over and felt like a bunch of faceless names thrown at us. I personally thought the romance wasn't as convincing as it could've been.

One thing I did appreciate was the look into influencer culture and the impact expectations can have on content creators.

I didn’t know how much I needed this book until I opened it and couldn’t put it down until it was done or at least until one of my kids needed something from me.
The chemistry between Lily and Tobin is off the charts. The way they are friends but not really and definitely not enemies but just the spark that grows between these two is outstanding. I just adore Cathy Yardley and her writing and I just am so glad I got to read this and cannot wait to read more.

I was already interested in this book because of the summary, but then I read that the hero was half-Vietnamese. I’m always interested in reading about more Vietnamese characters in romance, so I was even more excited to read this book because of that. Love, Comment, Subscribe follows a sweet romance as well as examines the endless grind of being a content creator.

Once high school frenemies, Lily and Tobin are now relatively big YouTubers, Lily a beauty vlogger and Tobin a miscellaneous jokester. When an opportunity arises for them to collaborate, they reluctantly set aside their high school animosity to expand their subscriber counts. They quickly realize that the two of them have more chemistry than they previously thought, as they grow closer with every video.

I really liked the protagonists! Lily is organized and ambitious, while Tobin is more willing to go with the flow. They have to reconcile their different posting approaches while collaborating. This felt realistic when you think about the way Youtubers have different posting schedules and video types.

Despite their differences, their chemistry is clear; I enjoyed reading their scenes together. Lily and Tobin were in the same friend group in high school but were always bickering. Even now, they bicker but I liked how they had those same experiences and memories to build on.

What I found really interesting about this book was how it details how exhausting yet fulfilling it is to be a content creator. You have to work constantly to come up with ideas, then set up your idea, then actually carry them out. In their case, they have to edit the videos and post and promote them. It’s an endless cycle, and I liked how this book handled burnout and recovering from it.

Representation-wise, Lily is Taiwanese-American and Tobin is is half-Vietnamese and half-white. He has ADHD, which I think is well-handled in the story.

Love, Comment, Subscribe was a fun read. I think this book is the first in a series, and if the next book is about the couple I think it’s about, I’m very excited to read it. If you’re looking for a frenemies-to-lovers romance about content creators, I think you should definitely check Love, Comment, Subscribe out!