Spies, Lies, and Allies: A Love Story
Series: None
Author: Lisa Brown Roberts
Published May 1st 2018 by Entangled: Teen
Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N| Kobo | iBooks

Goodreads Synopsis
Summers are supposed to be fun, right? Not mine. I’ve got a job at my dad’s company, which is sponsoring a college scholarship competition. I just found out that, in addition to my job assisting the competing interns, I’m supposed to vote for the winner. Totally not what I signed up for.

There’s a crazy guy running the competition like it’s an episode of Survivor. Then there’s Carlos, who is, well, very distracting –– in a good way. But I can’t even think about him that way because Crazy Guy says any fraternizing on the job means instant disqualification for the intern involved.

As if that’s not enough, an anonymous weirdo with insider intel is trying to sabotage my dad’s company on social media…and I’m afraid it’s working.

Much as I’d love to quit, I can’t. Kristoffs Never Quit is our family motto. I just hope there’s more than one survivor by the end of this summer.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Like with all the other Entangled books I’ve read before, this one did not disappoint, and was a really fun contemporary story. In Spies, Lies, and Allies, Laurel is desperate to spend more time with her workaholic father, and the only way she can do, is by begging to be allowed to join the internships taking place at his company, Emergent Enterprises. When he finally relents, she finds herself playing assistant to the 5 interns, 4 of which are in it to win a full ride to a college of their choice. As their assistant, and the daughter of their boss, she is there as both a friend, but also a spy to help the company decide just who deserves the coveted prize. As she spends more time with them, she realises she can’t be in charge of their lives, especially as she grows closer and closer to them all, particularly Carlos.

First of all, I loved all the main-ish characters in the book. Laurel was a such a nerd, especially when it comes to Star Wars, and I loved all the different references that were woven into the story. From the first page, Laurel was someone I could really relate to, and though she wasn’t perfect, and could be judgemental at times, she was human, and realised her own flaws. The other interns all had their own stories, and though I was apprehensive about a few in the beginning, I grew to love them all by the end. Firstly we have Jason, who Laurel goes to school with, and has had a crush on him for ages - even though he always gets her name wrong. Next there’s Ashley, who Laurel first thought was a ‘barbie’ type character, but was actually really caring and intelligent, and had to overcome the stereotypes due to her appearance. Another intern was Elijah, who, just like Laurel, was a massive nerd, and became her closest ally and friend in the story, because they just get each other. One who really got on my nerves in the beginning was Trish, the daughter of Mr Mantoni (who works at the company, and is in charge of the intern programme). At first, Trish was extremely abrasive, and took offense at just about everything, but as you learnt more about her, you realised why she had such an air about her, and I grew to love her. Finally, there’s Carlos, whose family own a restaurant, and he’s in the programme to gain some knowledge to help the restaurant flourish. Laurel immediately has an attraction to him, but there’s a major rule against any sort of workplace romance.

I loved the plot of the story, as it really revolved around getting to know the characters, but also learning about Mr Kristoff's company. There's also a lot of intrigue, and a bit of a mystery that takes place, with the intern gang - who've sort of designated themselves as a new Breakfast Club - working together to find out who's trolling the company online, as well as vying for the coveted scholarship. 

The romance between Laurel and Carlos was really sweet, and though it was extremely slow burn, the tension and chemistry jumped off the page. Because of the rule against fraternisation, lest Carlos be thrown out of the scholarship competition, they couldn't really do anything until the internship was over with. When it did end, though - and I loved the ending of the internship and the competition - the sparks were too much to contain, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

If you're after a cute contemporary read for the summer, and want one that has a wide variety of cast, and extremely enjoyable plot, then Spies, Lies, and Allies is a book for you.