The Love Interest

Gr 9 Up—Caden is a spy. He's spent most of his life so far in an underground facility being groomed physically and mentally to become a Love Interest for someone influential. Now he's finally been chosen. Caden's been pegged as a Nice, the nerdy-boy-next-door type with perfect abs and ocean blue eyes. His competition is Dylan, a dark-souled Bad who's the dreamiest boy Caden's ever seen. Each of them must pursue Juliet, a girl destined to be the next great scientific mind. Whoever wins will share Juliet's secrets with the Love Interest Compound, which will then sell them to the highest bidder. Whoever loses dies. Caden doesn't intend to lose—but no one prepared him for the way Dyl makes him feel. The narrative is told entirely from Caden's perspective, and it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate between what's actually going on and Caden's assumptions. This might be overlooked if the story had a lot less exposition. Still, fans of spy fiction and LGBTQ titles will find the novel worth reading.