Book Stats
Book 1 of Obsessively Yours
Format: ebook
Length: 400 pages
Chapters: 52
Narrator POV: First person narration; alternating from Izzy’s (FMC) and Cal’s (MMC) POV
Summary (With spoilers)
This review DOES contain spoilers from the book. If you’d prefer a review without spoilers, please check out this post instead!
This book follows Izzy, a store manager, and Cal, who is hired as the new head of security at the same store. Izzy has a super toxic and manipulative boyfriend, Evan, who has pushed Izzy into becoming self-conscious and willing to settle for less than she deserves. She’s gained 30 pounds over the past 3 years (big whoop, Evan) and instead of breaking up with her or loving her changes, Evan constantly belittles her and drops not-so-subtle hints about losing weight. He constantly gaslights her and makes her feel like no one else would ever want her, which is why she chooses to stay with him. She’s afraid she’ll leave him and end up alone and unwanted.
Cal’s ex-military and a loner who doesn’t get into relationships after his last one ended badly. While away on tour, his fiancé at the time cheated on him and left him. Cal and Izzy immediately have some tension and she tries to keep a little distance and maintain their professional relationship.
Izzy has a very open and blunt best friend, Amanda, who sets her up with an AI chat application that is essentially a fictional, perfect man. The AI boyfriend sends full responses to messages, texts good morning, etc. without expecting anything in return. The user of the app is able to create an ideal boyfriend, from their looks to their attitude. Izzy models her boyfriend after Cal, even naming him Caleb. But Cal, who excels at cyber security, intervenes and takes over the AI boyfriend role. I really loved this plot. I thought it was a fun, unique twist on the morally gray stalker/ protector boyfriend.
There’s a lot of tension between the two main characters, which was made more intense by the situation with the AI boyfriend. Cal was learning about Izzy – her likes and dislikes, what makes her tick, etc. And Izzy thinks she’s just venting to AI, sometimes about her feelings for Cal.
Amanda thinks Izzy should use her AI boyfriend for to send spicy messages and took it upon herself to get the conversation started. This part cracks me up because Izzy’s inner monologue was something along the lines of “It was so filthy, I’m surprised my phone didn’t catch on fire” or something similar. You may ask yourself, what was this wildly inappropriate text? It was in fact “Do you prefer soft, needy moans or the kind that sounds like I can’t take it anymore?” LMAO. That’s it. The whole text. I honestly expected way more, since Izzy kept building it up.
Anyway.
The manipulation from Evan gets worse. He surprises Izzy with dinner plans, which he never does. Turns out he was taking her to some weird, healthy food place run by a nutritionist, who Evan hired to work with Izzy to lose weight. Yeah, he’s a real jerk. In fact, Amanda describes him perfectly. She said, “He’s like the human equivalent of long COVID. Persistent, exhausting, and still somehow ruining lives years later.”
Plenty of tension and text messages later and we have Izzy and Cal’s first kiss. Though I wasn’t a fan. Izzy was still in a relationship with Evan and was now a cheater, which I felt just lowered her down closer to his level of crappy human. All they do is kiss at this point.
Things start spicing up. Izzy talks with Caleb about fantasies, they have phone smex (yes, the AI app has the option for calls and Cal used a voice modulator), and masturbation. The inner monologue of the main characters starts to focus more on the smut as well.
Between Izzy using the AI boyfriend as a free therapist and her interactions with Cal, she starts to see her worth again and learns to stand up for herself. She decides to break up with Evan. Unfortunately, Evan did not agree with the break up and instead tried to force himself on her. He physically assaulted her and attempted to do more, but Cal got there just in time. He takes care of her afterward and the two grow even closer.
Izzy takes a week off work to recover and once she goes back, it’s pure chaos. There were unexpected VIP guests all complaining and causing distractions. While Cal is dealing with one situation, Izzy is kidnapped. Luckily, the kidnappers didn’t search Izzy for her phone and Cal is able to track her. Amanda joins in on the rescue because she’s apparently some secret sleeper agent or something who carries a gun in her purse and has perfect aim. Honestly, this felt ridiculous and made me roll my eyes. But okay.
Evan was behind the kidnapping and we learn about his little theft ring operation that Cal was hired to deal with. Evan planned on forcing Izzy to help, but she suddenly had a backbone and fought back. Cal and Amanda show up, there’s a fight, and ta-da, Izzy is rescued! This part all happens very quickly.
Izzy asks Cal how he found her and he admits to tracking her phone. At this point, she admits she apparently knew he was Caleb, but she’s just okay with it? For whatever reason, she isn’t mad about being stalked, lied to, or tricked. This didn’t make sense to me, considering she dealt with so much lying and manipulation from Evan for years.
There are some interesting twists and intense situations, so be sure to check your trigger warnings. There are several. Off the top of my head, there’s body shaming, a manipulative boyfriend, stalking, alcohol use, and cheating. But that is definitely not a complete list.
All in all, this book was decent. It started off strong, but didn’t keep that same momentum going until the end. I found some situations too illogical or ridiculous to add value to the story, but I think the plot was strong and the writing (aside from the text messages) was well done.
Review
Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
My favorite things about Love Me Stalk Me:
- The AI boyfriend/ cyber security plot
- The names of some of the chapters made me laugh – I definitely enjoyed those.
- Izzy learning to stand her ground and speak up for herself. It’s always to nice to have a character learn to embrace and accept themself.
- The tension between main characters.
- Amanda. Because we all need that one crazy friend.
- Cal, who is obsessed and super in love with Izzy and feels like she’s the most perfect specimen who can do no wrong. He has this wonderful inner monologue the first time she drives him and it’s my favorite part of the whole book:
“She starts the engine, pulls out of the apartment complex, and within ten seconds, I realize something. She actually does have a flaw. And that flaw is driving. Holy shit. I grip the grab handle, trying to look unbothered, but internally I am questioning every single one of my life choices that led me to this moment.“
My least favorite things about Love Me Stalk Me:
- The plot gave way to the smut. About halfway through, it seemed like that’s all the main characters thought about and wanted to do. I’m never a fan of the smut taking over the story.
- The texts exchanged between Izzy and her AI boyfriend, Caleb. They weren’t cute or flirty, just awkward and immature.
- The twist with Amanda at the end of the story. It didn’t feel like it flowed well or made any sense. It just seemed like a random thing to throw into the story so it would be easy to write a sequel, probably starring her.
- I was also not a fan of how Izzy apparently put two and two together, figuring out Cal was her AI boyfriend, but she just didn’t care? It felt unrealistic. After being manipulated by her ex and lied to for years, she was fine with another guy doing something similar? Nope, that doesn’t make a bit of sense to me.
Reason for the ratings:
I was immediately intrigued by the premise of this story and I was pulled in from the beginning. I thought the story started off strong, with a unique idea. Unfortunately, I felt that about halfway through, the plot quit being the main focus and instead shifted toward the smut and intimate interactions between the main characters. I didn’t enjoy the texts exchanged between Izzy and her AI boyfriend – they weren’t cute or flirty in my opinion, just awkward. I didn’t like the twist with Amanda at the end of the story or how Izzy just accepted everything Cal did.
Due to those reasons, I felt that while this book was a decent read, it wasn’t a favorite. I am interested in seeing what else this author has to offer, though. I think I really enjoy the way her mind works.
I gave 3 chili peppers, due to there being several intimate scenes and dirty text messages exchanged between characters. There’s phone sex, masturbation, and constant dirty thoughts. All this contributed toward the 3 chili rating.
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