LOVE AT FIRST SIGHTING by Mallory Marlowe
Publication Date: August 12, 2025
Genre: Romantic Comedy
A chance at love might not be out of this world in this astronomically charming romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of Love and Other Conspiracies.
Los Angeles social media influencer El Martin seems to have a picture-perfect life. But what El wants more than anything is to find something real to make her heart race in a way it hasn’t in years. She doesn’t expect that feeling to come from capturing footage of an unidentified flying . . . thing, much less from the charming Man in Black who keeps following her around.
Agent Carter Brody is trying his best to keep the Private Intelligence Sector afloat by dragging their hopelessly out-of-date office into this century, even though what he really wants to do is follow in his father’s footsteps by identifying and hiding extraterrestrial sightings. He gets his chance after being assigned to El’s case and is stopped in his tracks not only by her ingenuity and confidence but also by an unnerving coincidence—her sighting looks eerily like what Carter himself saw right before a family tragedy.
The deeper El and Carter fall into the mystery, the harder it is for them to ignore their growing chemistry as their own alien feelings become dangerously terrestrial.
~*~*~*~
I enjoyed this romantic comedy on several levels. The banter between El and Carter was entertaining and moved the romance along nicely. Normally I’m drawn to books that have a group dynamic that pushes the story and demonstrates the main character’s likeability. But I didn’t like anyone around these two, and neither did they. That was part of the story.
As the book blurb states, El was a popular online influencer that basically lived a plastic life. She knew it was empty but still played the game. Carter was a “Man in Black”, dealing with UFO sightings for the government. He had such low self-esteem brought on by those around him. But he knew deep inside that he had more to give. They were perfect for each other. Through circumstances, they joined up to solve a UFO mystery and managed to work to find themselves as well.
This is a sweet and sexy romance filled with humor, mystery, and danger. Yes, some parts were a bit cringeworthy…Private Intelligence Sector – P.I.S. ? Really? I was able to overlook that and enjoy the story. It had my pulse pumping and left me with a smile. BUT-I wanted more alien stuff.
*Review copy provided by Penguin Random House in exchange for an honest review.
~*~*~*~
El’s the kind of woman where, if I kiss her, I’m not going to want to stop.
Kindle | Paperback
~*~*~*~
Mallory Marlowe is an author and video game writer living in Los Angeles, CA. Seriously right-brained since childhood, 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 TV at Emerson College. When she isn’t writing, she’s likely reading, stuck in L.A. traffic, or fallen down a weird internet rabbit hole. Love and Other Conspiracies is her debut novel.
Reading in Pajamas 