⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Bold, Timely Story with a Lot to Say

More Than Clickbait by Phillipa Young is a sharp, insightful dive into the highs and lows of internet fame, activism, and the blurred lines between truth and performance. The protagonist is flawed but compelling, and Young’s writing nails the voice of a generation navigating likes, outrage, and identity in real time.

What I loved most was how the book didn’t shy away from the messiness of online culture—it made me think while still keeping me hooked with drama, heart, and humor. The story felt very now, without trying too hard to be trendy.

I’m giving it 4 stars only because a few plot points felt slightly rushed or predictable, especially toward the end.

Highly recommend—it’s more than a catchy title!

I am gonna first start by saying I am glad that I read Book #1 in the series first, yes this book can be a stand-alone but not really at the same time. If you try to read it without starting with Book #1 you will lose out so much on the plot, the setting, the POVs, the characters and the whole thing I feel.
I am very glad I didn't do that because I was thinking about it at first. The author does put in a summary at the beginning of this book to share some tidbits of information from book 1, I thought this was a great idea.

Now onto this review..... I liked this book a lot better than the first one and I think it has to do with already knowing so much about the characters and the ship they are on. It was so much fun to see what else was going on and with other characters added to it.

Main Love Characters in this book: Gemma and Tom; Tom we know from the first book and now enters Gemma who we find out is related to an important character that we met in Book 1. We still see more of the story from the characters in Book 1. This book is mainly in Tom's POV. Emma is a complex character with a lot going on in her life and in her head, she brings an interesting and fun character to this book and we also see more of Tom his backstory and him getting into his emotions again but a bit differently than in the first book.
I read this book pretty fast, it kept my interest and was well-written. I loved the characters.

This book is a lot more steamy and has a different type of love triangle going on. It seems a bit strange at first but then you will understand it.
Can't really tell you much about it because I don't want to ruin the book for you.

I really liked this book and thought it was a great book for a series. I wonder if there will be another book added in.... hmmm

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC copy!

For those that love all the drama that the reality show Below Deck and all it's spinoff shows has to offer, Philippa Young gives us that and so much more in her More Than "" (Below Deck) series.

As book two in the series we had some familiar faces in this fun and steamy follow up to More Than Shipmates. I would definitely recommend reading the other first, so you can get an understanding of some of the characters and relationships.

If you enjoy books with forced proximity, workplace romance, hidden identity and dual PV then this book is for you! Would totally recommend taking this on holiday or if you just want to escape for a few hours.

As someone who didn't read the first book, I didn't feel lost. I did struggle with the writing style. I felt that it was very juvenile for a book involving adults. I was able to push through and felt the story itself was fast paced, which helped.

Thank you to NetGalley and Philippa Young for the ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
This was a wild story and I was not fully ready for it. I enjoyed the cruise ship staff concept and the dating show gone wrong plot. This is overall a fun and cute story!

DNFed at 23%

I just couldn't put myself though this book again. it was so long the first time and I just con't do the messy back and forth again.

This book is straight-up fire - the chemistry between these two jumps right off the page! There's that delicious instant attraction, but it's also got those tender moments that tug at your heartstrings. Love how they're basically forced to deal with each other, and watching him fall hard while she's already been quietly crushing on him? Classic.

What really hits home is how damn real it feels. It doesn't shy away from the tough stuff - mental health struggles, the whole social media circus we all deal with, and how damn hard it can be to actually let yourself be loved.

The intimate scenes? Fantastic journey of sexual discovery that feels genuinely healing. It's refreshingly sex-positive without any of that judgmental nonsense. Honestly, I couldn't put it down - one of the most satisfying reads I've had in ages.

ARC REVIEW

📚: More Than Clickbait (Below Deck #2)
✒️: Philippa Young

★★★★☆ (4/5)
🌶🌶🌶🔺️ (3.5/5)

This book was such a roller coaster but I fun way. I think it is really important to read book 1 before in order to realise the growth some of these characters have had.

I really liked how the book wasn't exactly following a plotloline still had a very consistent backstory that provided a super fun storyline throughout the book.

I honestly went into this book thinking it was gonna be some light palette cleanser but holy was I wrong firstly i love how they include heavier topics in the book and make them normal, some of this stuff happen to actual people and many books ignore it so it definitely felt more realistic, secondly lord the spice was spicing i was not expecting it ngl.

The character dynamics were alright nothing extraordinary but I was very pleasing and as always the writing style in this book was delicious to say at least.

Safe to say i am very excited for any other book hopefully being added to this series. GIVE US JACK PLEASE.

I loved the first one of this series and this one was just as good. The characters were amazing and I absolutely loved seeing the characters from the first book again in this one. Gemma and Tom had such great chemistry as well. Tom with this fun loving happy go lucky way of life and Gemma whom is withdrawn with her secrets. Together they messed so well and it was great to see Tom get his HEA after everything that happened in the first book. The storyline in this one was also really interesting, it was fun trying to unravel who Gemma actually was and what she did with all of her secrets. In terms of spice, there was actually more in this one than the first book so it’s around 3/5 for spice. Overall, I loved this one, it was an awesome continuation from the first book and it’s a 5/5 read for me. I’d recommend it to anyone.

A really enjoyable, spicy workplace Rom-Com. The MMC was hilarious (makes sense considering he’s a comedian) and I loved the banter between him and the FMC. I also enjoyed the cruise ship setting as I’ve never read another book that takes place on one before.

as someone who hasn't read the first book in this series, i didn't feel lost and i really enjoyed it! i loved tom and gemma's relationship and how they evolved throughout the book!
i liked that it hadas 2 povs, but it was too obvious that there was one more present that the other... it felt like we couldn't get into gemma's head bc we never got to be IN it. overall this was a fun and easy read, and i recommend it if you want to read in one sitting a cute romance book!
however, there was some things that made me a little disappointed such as tom's friendship with eliza's and how it disappeared at the end?? all of a sudden??? i loved their friendship, their banter, but i'm sad that we didn't get this anymore...

as for jack, i LOVED his character and how good of a friend he was, cannot wait to read about him :)

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for providing me this arc in exchange of an honest review.

More than Clickbait by Phillipa Young gave me total Below Deck vibes in the best way. Messy drama? Check. High-stakes influencer chaos? Check. A slow-burn romance that had me kicking my feet? Absolutely. If you love reality TV-level tea with some actual heart behind it, this one’s a must-read.

More Than Clickbait was a fun sequel, as much of a sexy romp as its predecessor. I lived vicariously through these twenty something crew members and they are certainly living! The best friend's sister trope is always fun to read and the spice was great.. I liked the perspectives on social media and reality TV illuminated by the characters. Overall a fun read that I'd recommend to fans of the first book.

After reading the previous book in the series I was excited to read this. The book follows Tom who is a comedian and Gemma who is a gym instructor on a cruise ship. The book explores the power of social media and reality tv. A very enjoyable read.

First of all, i loved that the author included a short 'blurb' of hat happened in book one because although it says you can read 'More than Clickbait' as standalone, it was a nice touch to get to know the plot of the first book!




I've 'heard' (ore more like 'read') that the first book in this series was much better, but i haven't read it, so i cannot confirm if it is true.

I really enjoyed this book even as a standalone, it was a nice change to see more of MMC POVS thand FMC (which is rare), because we all know i care about mans opinions only when they are male POVs in romance books (it is a joke).

I will definitely check the first book in the series out, because now i am curious!

I haven’t read the first book in this series and it’s probably why I didn’t ‘click’ as much as I probably could have with this book, BUT brother’s best friend is always my fave. It was a really fun read that got me out of a reading slump but I do feel like the ending was a little rushed.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Brothers best friend is one of my favorite tropes! It just feels so forbidden. I did make the mistake of reading this as a standalone rather than reading the first book prior, so that’s totally on me and my fault and is prob why I didn’t click as much with the book as I hoped BUT I thought the spice was great and I loved how it took place on a cruise that was so unique to anything I’ve read. I definitely plan to go back and read the first book as well!

Such a cute cover. Love any romcom that involves reality TV—idk why. This is book #2 in the series but it works as a standalone.

DNF @ 24%. I am just not feeling "More than Clickbait" by Philippa Young. I have started and stopped this book several times, and I just cannot get over the immature-sounding writing. It's jarring and disjointed at times, like things are being started but don't feel important in the grand scheme of things, if that makes sense. The overall story is fine, but something, some spark, is missing for me, a connection to get and keep me engaged. These characters read much younger than they are supposed to be on the page. I might give this another try in the future, but as of right now, I am going to put it out to pasture.

Thank you to NetGalley, Philippa Young, and Summer Stars Publishing for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.