Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley Pages: 336
Published by Montlake on October 1, 2021
Series: Ponto Beach Reunion #1
Genres: adult, contemporary, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Source: eARC from Author
From award-winning author Cathy Yardley comes Love, Comment, Subscribe, a fun, feisty romance about high school frenemies turned unlikely collaborators.
Back in high school, Lily Wang wanted to be popular, but she considered herself lucky to be part of a tight group of oddballs and honors students called the Nerd Herd. Now, at twenty-eight, she feels like she’s finally on the cusp of succeeding as a beauty influencer—if she can hit five million subscribers, brands will take notice and she could get her own makeup line.
Fellow Nerd Herd alum Tobin Bui has had a lot of success as a YouTube gamer. But the road to online stardom has been rocky. First, he disappointed his parents by dropping out of college, and now, after years of pranks, skits, and playthroughs, he’s struggling to come up with new content to satisfy his ever-growing fan base. His agents say he needs cross-audience appeal, a new twist.
When Nerd Herd frenemy Lily approaches Tobin about teaming up to do a video to bolster her brand and reinvigorate his, he agrees. But when their first collab video goes viral, their relationship heats up too. With the whole internet watching, will these two former misfits finally realize they’re perfect together?
Love, Comment, Subscribe is the first book in the sexy rom com series, Ponto Beach Reunion, by Cathy Yardley. I love Cathy’s books! They are always a good time- fun, sweet and romantic. And I love that this book featuring influencers. I am always fascinated by social media portrayals in books and youtubers, beauty gurus, etc showing up in my fiction. I get a real kick out of it. I love the idea of checking in on a high school class several years later, so I know I am going to love this series.
In Love, Comment, Subscribe we meet our main characters Lily and Tobin, who were both part of the Nerd Herd in high school (same here). Now they are both youtube influencers- Tobin in gaming and Lily in the beauty sphere. I really enjoyed seeing a behind the scenes if you will of the influencer arena, because I found it totally relatable- all of the work that goes on behind the scenes, the planning, the brainstorming, the insecurity that your content might be a total flop, the burnout and discouragement when you don’t feel seen, and the very real tolls it can take mentally and physically on you. I think Cathy Yardley did a fantastic job addressing all of that, and she does it with a wonderful rom com woven throughout. Love, Comment, Subscribe was a delight to read!
Tobin and Lily have excellent chemistry and I was rooting for them hardcore! If you are a fan of romantic comedies and you love influencer “drama”, then look no further than Love, Comment, Subscribe. I loved this book!
She looked at him, and it really seemed like he wasn’t, so she kept going. “I just…they were all so good looking. They always had stories about these parties and glamping trips where they’d get drunk and get wild, and they were having sex, and it was so damned exclusive, even though there wasn’t anything specific, you know? It wasn’t like they were a country club or something. You just…you fit in, or you didn’t.”
Mikki paused for a second. “I’m guessing it didn’t go well,” he said finally when she didn’t automatically continue.
“It went about as well as expected,” she said, even as memories swamped her.
Vanessa’s judging, puzzled expression. “So…did you, um, want something?”
Lily felt her stomach knot, even after all these years.
“Anyway,” she said brightly, “we did what we set out to do.”
“Was there any doubt?” Mikki said, clinking his beer bottle against her glass. “You, my dear, are an absolute beast, and I think there’s nothing you can’t get if you set your mind to it.”
She smiled back at him. Being a YouTuber might seem frivolous, but she knew better than anyone it was a business, one that took hard work and dedication, one you had to take seriously.
No one took success more seriously than she did.
About Cathy Yardley
I love J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts, Jim Butcher, J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter, Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, Stephen King, Jennifer Crusie, Marian Keyes, J.K. Rowling, and a slew of other authors.
I have been known to stay up all night to finish a new novel. I don’t so much read as devour.
I am an out of the closet foodie.
People who follow me on Facebook can attest: I am a foodie-blog whore. Love Smitten Kitchen. Adore Pioneer Woman Cooks. Bake my own bread on a weekly basis (because the recipe is so frickin’ easy, a chimp could do it — and it tastes phenomenal. I am a walking infomercial for this bread. ) Total Top Chef freak.
I am a geekgirl.
I love the San Diego Comic-con, or “The Con” as they call it.
I was part of the SCA — The Society for Creative Anachronism — and briefly sponsored my own mini army. I learned to speak some Japanese from anime.
I have a near encyclopedic knowledge of character actors and obscure movies. I have been called to settle bar bets.
I have a more-flirtatious-than-appropriate relationship with Excel spreadsheets. When I used to work at a day job, if I wore lipstick they assumed I was going on an interview. To this day, an entire marketing department lives in fear of my memory.
I love being an author.
Love writing. Love promoting. Love everything about it. And I love hearing from readers. Email me, anytime, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
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