Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe: Aliens, A-List Drama, and a Steamy Conspiracy

When influencer El Martin accidentally goes live during a UFO encounter, her followers flip out and her brand takes a nosedive. Enter Carter Brody, an agent with the Private Intelligence Sector whose past is tangled with a similar sighting and the mysterious death of his father. What begins as a wary, slightly hostile partnership—El wants her followers back, Carter wants answers—turns into full-on chemistry as they peel back layers of a government cover-up that reaches far deeper than either expected. Throw in car chases, B-list celebrity chaos, and a cast of roommates and agents who never stop talking, and you’ve got a rom-com that runs at conspiracy speed.

My Review

I grabbed this one for the pure fun factor and came away grinning. Mallory Marlowe nails the voice of a social-media world—El’s live-streaming panic and roommate drama feel absolutely of the moment—while giving Carter enough damaged, broody mystery to make the slow burn believable. The pacing is a bright, breathless sprint: one minute you’re laughing at a ridiculous influencer stunt, the next you’re clinging to the edge of your seat during a nighttime chase.

What I loved most was how the book balances ridiculousness with heart. The conspiracy plot actually matters because it ties to Carter’s past in a way that makes his vulnerability feel earned, and El’s arc from performative persona to someone who can be real in private is satisfying to watch. The banter sparkles—there are lines that made me laugh out loud—and the secondary characters add color without stealing the show. If you want a rom-com that’s equal parts popcorn action and steamy chemistry, this one hits the sweet spot.

Read this if you want to finish a book laughing one minute, breathless the next, and oddly ready to fact-check your own timeline.

You can get a copy of Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe on Amazon or Bookshop.

If this has you intrigued, read an excerpt from Love at First Sighting below.

Excerpt Preview

El

I peer over my shoulder and catch sight of a faint shimmer over the deep blues and sandy browns of the mountainside. I blink and wonder if it’s a trick of the light, but it can’t be. There’s something there. The backdrop ripples around it like a fun-house mirror as it inches closer to me.

I pick up my pace and begin to move quicker through the ravine to reach my car. I’m a sitting duck out here, and the inevitable murder podcast plays in my head.

Because it took so long to find Ms. Martin, her body had fully decomposed and a small family of rabbits had made a home in the tented sanctuary of her blue yoga pants.

I don’t get far before a blinding white light floods behind me. I panic for a split second before I run. Whatever this thing is, it might be after me.

It whirs faster as I dash away, stumbling over rocks and downed bramble as I try to remember my path back to the car. I pass the same No ass sign and trip over a shrub. A scrape bleeds through my poor Spinx yoga pants.

“Fuck,” I mutter, rubbing at the wound. I use my tripod to climb back to my feet, but my stalker is still breathing down my neck with its floodlights.

This is far from the fake problems I solve with my sponsorships, like greasy hair or a wine-stained shirt emergency. This is real. I mentally run down my contacts list, follower lists. Since I’m really in danger, who would come? Certainly not my roommates. Not Alaka-Sam. Maybe my random fans who’d ask me for an autograph midmurder. Then they’d claim I was rude for not paying enough attention to them as I bled out.

I genuinely don’t know if anyone would try to help me.

What I do know is that if these are my last moments, I’m sure as hell not going to go quietly.
I pull out my phone, flip the camera on myself, and go live.

“Hi, guys,” I start, squinting and still trying to focus on fleeing. “So, I was out shooting some really great Spinx content that should be coming in a few days, and I’m on my way back to the car, but there is something following me. I can’t see what it is, but it looks like a ship or something. I don’t know, but look, it’s just behind me.”

Excerpted from Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe Copyright © 2025 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.

Ready for More?

If you’re craving conspiracy, chemistry, and chaos in equal measure, grab your copy of Love at First Sighting and settle in. When you’ve finished, come back and tell me in the comments—were you Team Skeptic or Team Believer, and which scene made you gasp the loudest?

You can get a copy of Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe on Amazon or Bookshop.