Published by Berkley
Aug 20, 2024 | 368 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780593640081
About the Book
The hardest thing for a paranormal conspiracy theorist and a web series producer to believe in is finding love in this swoony debut romantic comedy.
Hallie Barrett's life has imploded after she's dumped by her hotshot ex, who also happens to be her coworker and the star of the online series she was producing. Without a new show to present for the company competition, she’ll be out of a job. But inspiration can come from the strangest places . . . like the most handsome guy she’s ever seen passionately discussing Bigfoot on a late-night docuseries.
Hayden Hargrove made a name for himself as a cryptid expert on his hit podcast, and is intrigued by the plucky, blue-haired producer who offers him the opportunity to lead his own web show. When the production team sees that Hayden’s solo on-screen presence is bad enough to make a ghost blanch, Hallie jumps on camera too, hitting him (and his cryptids) with a healthy dose of skepticism—and enough chemistry to electrify their show to the top of the competition.
As Hayden and Hallie investigate the unknown, they unearth feelings for each other that shake their beliefs to the core. In their search for Mothman, aliens, and the truth, the most elusive discovery might just be learning to love again.
Excerpted from Love and Other
Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe Copyright © 2024 by Mallory Marlowe.
Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this
excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the
publisher.
I
bumble out of Chloe’s office in a haze, my brain operating like a too fast
hamster wheel. I hadn’t even thought over accepting Chloe’s offer. I just did
it. Now, I have to follow through.
The
Brain-Hamster has been flung off the wheel by the time I return to my desk. I
sink behind my monitor.
“You
good?” Nora asks. She flashes me a thumbs up, then a thumbs down.
I
provide her with a so-so. “I’m good, but I need a show idea.”
That’s
when I realize I didn’t grab my pen from the floor in Chloe’s office. Dammit. I
liked that pen.
“A
show idea?” she yelps. “Really?”
“Yes.
By Friday—”
Nora
immediately deflates. “Well… shit.”
“I’ll
figure it out,” I say, but I am not convinced. I don’t know where to start.
“You
know what we should do?”
“What?”
“We
should get high and watch Agent Cody
Banks. Frankie Muniz really brings out my creativity.”
We
do get high and watch Agent Cody Banks. A few hours and a half
a bottle of five-dollar wine later, when Nora has gone to bed, I am deep in
internet hell.
I
listened to podcasts, I watched vlogs, I hunted Instagram for charismatic
influencers. I only broke for our brief movie. I feel like I’ve consumed every
bit of media under the sun; yet, I still haven’t made a dent in my ever-growing
list of TV show recommendations.
I
slurp a chopstick full of noodles into my mouth as the alcohol hits me
suddenly. The clock on my computer flashes two a.m. I’ll feel this in the
morning, though I don’t have time for a hangover. I slip my headphones out of
my ears and notice the TV in front of me has descended into late night madness.
I’m an hour away from the impending infomercials for discreet adult diapers.
I
zero in on the screen as the show returns from a commercial break.
Cosmic Conspiracies.
Yep,
I’ve hit the middle-of-the-night trash TV. Animated planets whirl across the
screen and large-headed aliens bobble forward like unsteady bowling pins.
“Reports
of apelike creatures have been reported on nearly every continent on Earth,”
says an overdramatic narrator. “From the Himalayan Yeti to the Florida Skunk
Ape, and most famous of all beasts — Bigfoot — cultures across the world tell
stories of something they can’t explain lurking in the woods…”
Oh, Jesus.
“In
ancient drawings, you’ll find large, hairy creatures intermingled with humans.”
The show cuts to a portly British man. “If you look at the footprints, they
aren’t so different from ours. Could we be closer to Bigfoot than we think? Could
Bigfoot even be an extraterrestrial from another planet?”
“What
the fuck,” I mutter into my ramen. Yet, at the same time, I suddenly understand
how people religiously watch shows like this. I feel no urge to change the
channel. Bigfoot is not real, and neither are aliens, but I have to know how they’re going to
justify this.
Then
a man far too hot to be offering any
opinion on Bigfoot appears on screen. He’s young, probably late twenties with
shaggy, dark hair falling in front of his face, a sharp, stubble-coated
jawline, and a square pair of black glasses. His bright green eyes are ablaze
with excitement and an analytical seriousness that can’t be feigned.
“When
we think about Bigfoot,” he begins, in the smoothest, sexiest voice I’ve ever
heard. It’s a clear baritone, simultaneously soothing and commanding. The man
is full of dramatic hand gestures to help him paint a picture. “We think about
a flesh and blood creature not so different from ourselves. When we think of
aliens, we think of Greys or little green men. Those are vastly different
visuals. But the idea that Bigfoot could have come from somewhere else, or that
he’s not native to this world, raises the question. If we share genetic links
with Bigfoot as we do apes, what does that make us?”
Noodles drop out of my mouth. I choke on a bean sprout. The most handsome man I’ve ever seen has just publicly proposed that Bigfoot is an alien and that, de facto, we were aliens as well. And I am fucking enthralled. I rewind the clip to the man’s name and title on screen.
Hayden
Hargrove
Host,
The Out There
About the Author
MALLORY MARLOWE is an author and video game writer living in Los Angeles, California. She’s been seriously right-brained since childhood, and her love of telling stories began with highly elaborate plots for her Barbie dolls and taking elementary school writing projects too seriously. She studied Writing for Film and Television at Emerson College. When she isn’t writing, she’s likely reading, stuck in LA traffic, or has fallen down a weird internet rabbit hole. Love and Other Conspiracies is her debut novel. Learn more online at www.mallorymarlowe.com.
credit Mallory’s author photo to Maria Millage 2023
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