Love Me Stalk Me
Obsessively Yours #1
Laura Bishop
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: Dec. 2, 2025
Genre: Romance
Rating:
When overworked department store manager Izzy Russo downloads an AI boyfriend app to fill the emotional void left by her inattentive real one, she thinks she’s just venting to a harmless chatbot named “Caleb.” In reality, she’s been pouring her deepest, dirtiest fantasies into the ears of Callahan Knight—her store’s brooding new head of security.
Because Cal? He’s been listening. The moment he saw Izzy, he knew she was his. Did he hack her phone? Absolutely. But who could blame him? A woman like Izzy deserves to be cherished by someone who truly knows her worth—and he’ll do anything to be that man.
So when Izzy finally sees her boyfriend for who he really is, and the danger she’s unknowingly been caught up in, Cal is ready to protect her, no matter the cost. Even if it means revealing the truth.
She might not have meant to build the perfect man. But he’s here now. And he’s never letting her go.
My thoughts…
This was so interestingly written that it was hard NOT to like Cal. Even though you know that he immediately hacks into her phone and for all intents and purposes, stalks her. He finds out that she just installed a simulator boyfriend app, and decides to override the system so that her interactions go to HIS phone and not to the app. So that he can pretend to be the AI she’s talking to. Now, that could have just been it, but, oh no. He continues to put cameras up at her house, AND listens into her private conversations both via cameras AND her cellphone itself. He tracks her whereabouts at every turn, and is ALWAYS away of where she is, and who she is with.
So, that should raise every single red flag there is to known to mankind. However, aside from it being an insane breach on her privacy, he’s weirdly protective of her and seeks to build up her confidence… not just creep on her. He uses the app as a way to better understand her and her struggles, and helps her find self confidence and strength while pretending to be an AI boyfriend. So, he’s there for her mentally and helping her grow as a person. Then, he’s there in person to better protect her from any threats to her person. So, the fact that he used this stalking as a way to give her the tools to be more secure and strong mentally, really gave his stalking a twist.
I will be honest, I thought this would be a creepy stalker romance that would have me side-eyeing the guy the entire time… but something about this just worked. Now, I’m not condoning what he did because we can all agree that it was wrong. But the fact that I have a “but” is indicative to the author’s writing ability to make someone who is supposed to turn you off, and make you see them as something more. Or, maybe I’m just messed up in the head and need to see a shrink… that could be it, too.
If you’re looking for a romance that has a morally grey character, a lot of steamy texting, and a romance that will have you both weirded out and intrigued at the same time, then give this book a read.
