Bad Date Audiobook By Ellery Lloyd cover art

Bad Date

A Short Story

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Bad Date

By: Ellery Lloyd
Narrated by: Kitty Kelly, Billie Fulford-Brown, Will M. Watt
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An online flirtation between two apparent strangers takes a deliciously wicked turn in a twisty short story about love, obsession, and deadly deceptions by the author of The Club.

Fay Roper is a divorced single mom and a globally famous actress. She’s also unlucky in love. Maybe because the last thing Fay wants in a man is yet another superfan. But somehow, every time she has a boyfriend who isn’t a stalker, he abruptly disappears from her life. With the help of her best friend and right-hand woman, Poppy, Fay decides to change the game and join an exclusive new dating app under a false identity. A subscriber named Oliver takes the bait. But Oliver likes to play games too. And only one of them can win.

©2025 by Ellery Lloyd Ltd. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Anthologies & Short Stories Crime Thrillers Domestic Thrillers Family Life Genre Fiction Psychological Short Stories Thriller & Suspense Divorce
All stars
Most relevant
I liked the story itself. Everyone with their own agenda appealed to me. I do think the pacing was off. The swearing is disappointing.

Good storyline

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Spoilers ahead!

Bad Date by Ellery Lloyd taps right into the worst nightmare of anyone in the spotlight: being stalked. It happens way more often than we realize—and even outside the fame bubble, people barely respect personal boundaries. So imagine being Fay Roper, a well-known actress and podcast host, who seems to attract stalkers, creeps, and obsessed fans like clockwork… all while just trying to date and find real love.

Her son is the only steady man in her life, and Poppy—her best friend and co-host—is always at her side. But after one disaster after another (seriously, her romantic luck is terrible), Fay decides to try an online dating site. And honestly? That already feels like a horror story these days. Between stalkers, over-invested fans, and men she starts to fall for mysteriously ending up dead, something is clearly very wrong. So Fay and Poppy team up to get to the bottom of it.

Fay goes undercover on the dating app and meets Oliver… but does Oliver have his own agenda?

It’s a great short thriller, though like many short stories, I felt myself wanting more—more details, more depth, more time to let the suspense stretch. It keeps you hooked, but it also leaves you wishing for just a bit more development.

Spoiler thought: Honestly—WTF, Fay. How are you not getting your son some help? You can’t isolate a kid from the world and expect them to grow up without issues. Even Poppy points this out. And kids are ALWAYS smarter than adults give them credit for… which this story proves.

Overall, a good, fast read. I’d rate it a solid 3.5–4 stars.

Bad Date

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The story line was interesting, about framing a stalker/groomer but the set up was not my favorite. The podcast beginning and end I don’t feel worked well with the set up and conclusion.

Quick short story

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This story was a big old mess. MMC was a lame rip off of Joe from the You series that the author tried to make seem more dangerous but just came across as a doofus. Do not recommend.

Story wasn’t what it purports to be

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I can tell this author would do amazing at a longer book. The narrators were amazing!

Super fast and wanted more

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