Welcome to Litsy!

Charming and ruthless political consultant Thom works for the governor of California, who is making a bid for the presidency. She‘s a truly awful woman who makes a public homophobic gaffe and through a ludicrous plan, decides Thom should have a social media romance to divert attention. Is it objectionable that straight presenting Thom is faking gay or refreshing to show sexual fluidity? The political theater was appalling but fun to read.

Enemies to lovers is my fave trope. I loved the premise and set up for this but the execution wasn‘t great. I wasn‘t really sold on why they were enemies or on them developing into a real relationship. Thom was objectively a horrid person who uses people and the story didn‘t really sell me on why Clay was different for him. Very meh. #romance

I enjoyed this but I can tell it's because I was in the right mood for it; on another day it might well have driven me nuts. I'm generally down for an enemies-to-lovers, fake dating romance & this definitely had its cute moments while the characters adapted to their situation. Since I was feeling generous the little hints of sympathy for these guys were enough for me but usually I'd need to love to at least one of them as it was neither of them ⬇️

#bookspinbingo for August. My selections for 15-20 will be mood reads. Hope the rest go better than my first read of the month. @TheAromaofBooks

I really wanted to love this. I had high hopes. But I hated both MCs. I hated the premise and I hated how they treated one another. It‘s a no for me.

It's fairly formulaic most of the way through, but not everything played out the way that I‘d expected. Not every plot point is resolved, and a few of the beats you‘d expect it to hit are given a miss. It‘s surprising, but not jarring. Pick it up if you‘re a politics nerd (like me!) with a penchant for steamy office romances and slightly ridiculous schemes. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/love-hate-clickbait-liz-bowery/

DNF‘d this book bc although I love fake dating, in the beginning one of the MC‘s identifies as straight and openly says they will fake it for the sake of their job, while the other MC is gay. idc if he eventually comes out, it‘s not cool to perpetuate a straight man faking gay or a gay man “turning” another man gay. probs would have loved this plot if he was just bi or closeted but this was an immediate no.

I love both fake dating and enemies to lovers but at 9% in I encountered an issue I‘m just not here for. See comments for spoilers.

I know I DNF‘d early, but no one is likable either.

Just started this one so no thoughts yet. @ShyBookOwl #FirstLineFridays

A fun M/M rom-com. While working on a presidential campaign, a political consultant and a tech analyst cause a social media scandal jeopardizing their client's chances. To save face, the pair enter into a fake relationship under the guise of a positive LGBT agenda but end up catching feelings for real. For fans who enjoy the enemies to lovers trope.