Love, Hate & Clickbait
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK SELECTED BY BUZZFEED & THE NERD DAILY
"Quick-paced, sharp, and thoroughly entertaining. I couldn’t put it down!”—Helen Hoang
Shake some hands. Kiss some coworkers.
Cutthroat political consultant Thom Morgan is thriving, working on the governor of California’s presidential campaign. If only he didn’t have to deal with Clay Parker, the infuriatingly smug data analyst who gets under Thom’s skin like it’s his job. In the midst of one of their heated and very public arguments, a journalist snaps a photo, but the image makes it look like they’re kissing. As if that weren’t already worst-nightmare territory, the photo goes viral—and in a bid to secure the liberal vote, the governor asks them to lean into it. Hard.
Thom knows all about damage control—he practically invented it. Ever the professional, he’ll grin and bear this challenge as he does all others. But as the loyal staffers push the boundaries of “giving the people what they want,” the animosity between them blooms into something deeper and far more dangerous: desire. Soon their fake relationship is hurtling toward something very real, which could derail the campaign and cost them both their jobs…and their hearts.
LGBTQIA | Romance
Publication Date: 26 Apr 2022
-
Praise for Love, Hate, & Clickbait:
“Quick-paced, sharp, and thoroughly entertaining. I couldn’t put it down!”—Helen Hoang, New York Times bestselling author
-
"One of my favorite reads this year. Love, Hate & Clickbait is a steamy and satisfying romp on politics, public life, and our private hearts."—Jean Meltzer, author of The Matzah Ball
-
“Bowery keeps the romance light and engaging… With political intrigue, social media virality, fake dating, and an enemies-to-lovers romance…it’s a charming, breezy rom-com.”—Publishers Weekly
My Review:
4 Stars:
📖Book: Love, Hate, Clickbait
⭐️Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✍🏼Author: Liz Bowery
📚Genre: Romance | LGBTQIA+
🗏 Pages: 325 – Medium-pace (short chapters)
💌Tropes: Enemies to lovers, Fakes Dating, Political, Flawed characters, Opposites Attract
⚠️TW: Toxic people, Homophobia, Misogyny
Love, Hate, & Clickbait is if The West Wing and The Kardashians show got together and had an arrogant political baby. This book surprised me as I found the characters to be EXTREMELY unlikeable at the start. Thom is overly pretentious and into himself; Clay comes across as someone who is ignorant and should know better. It took a couple of chapters before I was rooting for these two to get over themselves already. Liz did a fantastic job bringing to life one of the most ridiculous political (steamy) romances that I'd cringe at if it happened in real life. Thom is a political consultant working on the California governor's Presidential campaign. He is the type of guy who controls everything and everyone. Clay is the governor's camping's data analyst—the kind of guy who is brilliant but doesn't have much common sense. The only person Thom can't stand is Clay, so they are caught in a misleading photo during a heated argument that forces them to fake a date or causes a scandal. One big problem... THOM IS STRAIGHT. Sexuality is fluid, and the representation written in Love, Hate, & Clickbait makes this a four-star read. Suppose you want to add more queer books to your shelf. This is one you should check out.
I will be thinking about this for a long time.
Interview with Liz Bowery:
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
LIZ: Yes, that was it! Apparently, though, I also said I wanted to be a writer when I was a very little kid, so it seems like the idea was there for a while. But sometimes, y’know, we don’t see very obvious things about ourselves until someone we love points it out.
Are you a plotter or pantser or a mix of both?
LIZ: I’m a major plotter! I like plotting because it lets me pretend I’m not actually writing – I just keep describing the plot to myself in ever-increasing detail until oops, the book is done. I do occasionally freewrite, though – if a scene isn’t working, or what I’d planned isn’t inspiring me, I’ll just pants my way through it, and that usually works.
What inspired you to write a political romance with flawed characters?
LIZ: I love romances between flawed characters. A romance between nice people seems too easy – of course they’d fall in love, they’re great! When characters are flawed, though, it’s like two puzzle pieces fitting together – it’s not just that these two people are perfect, it’s that they’re perfect for each other. I love couples where it’s like, christ, the only person on the planet who could *tolerate* you is this guy, and vice versa. Those are my cinnamon rolls.
As for politics, I’ve always loved political fiction – I probably rewatch The West Wing once every five years or so. And it seemed like the perfect setting for a fake dating romance, given that politics is all about narrative versus reality. Given what’s going on in the world though (ugh), I wanted to write a political universe where the politicians and issues were bad, but not hideous. That felt like the right amount of escapism; not a world where politics is amazing (because that felt too unrealistic) – just one where the politicians are *only* a little corrupt.
What is your favorite scene from Love, Hate, & Clickbait?
LIZ: If I had to pick, I’d say the one where Thom’s brother has a kid and Clay offers to go with him to visit his family. They’re right on the cusp of having this real relationship – the kind of relationship where Clay understands how alienated Thom would feel going back, and could help him through it – and they’re just resisting because they’re giant idiots. Wow I love them so much ❤️
What do you hope to see with queer novels in the future?
LIZ: Just more of them! I want to manifest this tweet: https://twitter.com/kagariis/status/1156116530725183488
PRINT LENGTH PAGES
AVERAGE REVIEW RATING
PAPERBACK COST
E-BOOK COST
AUTHOR
Liz Bowery writes love stories about terrible people. Her interests include politics, cheese, and game nights with friends. Exactly no one in her life was surprised to learn she had written a romance novel.
By day she is an attorney, and by night, after her son is asleep, and after otherwise procrastinating for as long as humanly possible, she sometimes writes. Love, Hate & Clickbait is her debut novel.
PUBLISHER
Delacorte Press was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte, Jr., and first published pulp magazines, detective stories and articles about the movies before it too became a full-service house, publishing original works of fiction in all formats. It is an imprint of Penguin Random House
Let's Get Started!
Subscribed to my notebook!
Love, Hate & Clickbait
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK SELECTED BY BUZZFEED & THE NERD DAILY
"Quick-paced, sharp, and thoroughly entertaining. I couldn’t put it down!”—Helen Hoang
Shake some hands. Kiss some coworkers.
Cutthroat political consultant Thom Morgan is thriving, working on the governor of California’s presidential campaign. If only he didn’t have to deal with Clay Parker, the infuriatingly smug data analyst who gets under Thom’s skin like it’s his job. In the midst of one of their heated and very public arguments, a journalist snaps a photo, but the image makes it look like they’re kissing. As if that weren’t already worst-nightmare territory, the photo goes viral—and in a bid to secure the liberal vote, the governor asks them to lean into it. Hard.
Thom knows all about damage control—he practically invented it. Ever the professional, he’ll grin and bear this challenge as he does all others. But as the loyal staffers push the boundaries of “giving the people what they want,” the animosity between them blooms into something deeper and far more dangerous: desire. Soon their fake relationship is hurtling toward something very real, which could derail the campaign and cost them both their jobs…and their hearts.
LGBTQIA | Romance
Publication Date: 26 Apr 2022
-
Praise for Love, Hate, & Clickbait:
“Quick-paced, sharp, and thoroughly entertaining. I couldn’t put it down!”—Helen Hoang, New York Times bestselling author
-
"One of my favorite reads this year. Love, Hate & Clickbait is a steamy and satisfying romp on politics, public life, and our private hearts."—Jean Meltzer, author of The Matzah Ball
-
“Bowery keeps the romance light and engaging… With political intrigue, social media virality, fake dating, and an enemies-to-lovers romance…it’s a charming, breezy rom-com.”—Publishers Weekly
My Review:
4 Stars:
📖Book: Love, Hate, Clickbait
⭐️Rating: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
✍🏼Author: Liz Bowery
📚Genre: Romance | LGBTQIA+
🗏 Pages: 325 – Medium-pace (short chapters)
💌Tropes: Enemies to lovers, Fakes Dating, Political, Flawed characters, Opposites Attract
⚠️TW: Toxic people, Homophobia, Misogyny
Love, Hate, & Clickbait is if The West Wing and The Kardashians show got together and had an arrogant political baby. This book surprised me as I found the characters to be EXTREMELY unlikeable at the start. Thom is overly pretentious and into himself; Clay comes across as someone who is ignorant and should know better. It took a couple of chapters before I was rooting for these two to get over themselves already. Liz did a fantastic job bringing to life one of the most ridiculous political (steamy) romances that I'd cringe at if it happened in real life. Thom is a political consultant working on the California governor's Presidential campaign. He is the type of guy who controls everything and everyone. Clay is the governor's camping's data analyst—the kind of guy who is brilliant but doesn't have much common sense. The only person Thom can't stand is Clay, so they are caught in a misleading photo during a heated argument that forces them to fake a date or causes a scandal. One big problem... THOM IS STRAIGHT. Sexuality is fluid, and the representation written in Love, Hate, & Clickbait makes this a four-star read. Suppose you want to add more queer books to your shelf. This is one you should check out.
I will be thinking about this for a long time.
Interview with Liz Bowery:
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
LIZ: Yes, that was it! Apparently, though, I also said I wanted to be a writer when I was a very little kid, so it seems like the idea was there for a while. But sometimes, y’know, we don’t see very obvious things about ourselves until someone we love points it out.
Are you a plotter or pantser or a mix of both?
LIZ: I’m a major plotter! I like plotting because it lets me pretend I’m not actually writing – I just keep describing the plot to myself in ever-increasing detail until oops, the book is done. I do occasionally freewrite, though – if a scene isn’t working, or what I’d planned isn’t inspiring me, I’ll just pants my way through it, and that usually works.
What inspired you to write a political romance with flawed characters?
LIZ: I love romances between flawed characters. A romance between nice people seems too easy – of course they’d fall in love, they’re great! When characters are flawed, though, it’s like two puzzle pieces fitting together – it’s not just that these two people are perfect, it’s that they’re perfect for each other. I love couples where it’s like, christ, the only person on the planet who could *tolerate* you is this guy, and vice versa. Those are my cinnamon rolls.
As for politics, I’ve always loved political fiction – I probably rewatch The West Wing once every five years or so. And it seemed like the perfect setting for a fake dating romance, given that politics is all about narrative versus reality. Given what’s going on in the world though (ugh), I wanted to write a political universe where the politicians and issues were bad, but not hideous. That felt like the right amount of escapism; not a world where politics is amazing (because that felt too unrealistic) – just one where the politicians are *only* a little corrupt.
What is your favorite scene from Love, Hate, & Clickbait?
LIZ: If I had to pick, I’d say the one where Thom’s brother has a kid and Clay offers to go with him to visit his family. They’re right on the cusp of having this real relationship – the kind of relationship where Clay understands how alienated Thom would feel going back, and could help him through it – and they’re just resisting because they’re giant idiots. Wow I love them so much ❤️
What do you hope to see with queer novels in the future?
LIZ: Just more of them! I want to manifest this tweet: https://twitter.com/kagariis/status/1156116530725183488
PRINT LENGTH PAGES
AVERAGE REVIEW RATING
PAPERBACK COST
E-BOOK COST
AUTHOR
Liz Bowery writes love stories about terrible people. Her interests include politics, cheese, and game nights with friends. Exactly no one in her life was surprised to learn she had written a romance novel.
By day she is an attorney, and by night, after her son is asleep, and after otherwise procrastinating for as long as humanly possible, she sometimes writes. Love, Hate & Clickbait is her debut novel.
PUBLISHER
Mira Books is a book publishing imprint of Harlequin Enterprises that focuses on mainstream fiction. It was launched in 1994
Let's Get Started!
Subscribed to my notebook!
