Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
My review
So far I've loved everything that Ali Hazelwood has to offer, and this new book was no different!
Elsie was a beautifully complex character, with a steely determination under her insecure exterior. I loved the idea of her secondary career being a part of her personality choices and self-protection. She stood out from the other STEM female leads from Hazelwood's other books because she was acting on a personal vendetta from page one of the book. I also enjoyed how her family drama gave her an extra dynamic that made me seem so much more relatable and real.
Jack was a very likeable male lead. I got the impression that there was more to his story than met the eye from the off, and I was thrilled to be proved right. The author did a perfect job of balancing his past transgressions with his underlying motivation so that Elsie's opinion of him was both understandable and obviously wrong. His whole story was about how he encouraged Elsie to be herself and it was wonderful to read.
Their chemistry was palapable, with the banter and slow-burn enemies-to-lovers transition feeling incredibly well-paced and easy to read. It felt like they bought out the best in each other without even really trying, which was delightful.
Coming in a close second to the relationship between Elsie and Jack as my favourite in the book was the relationship between Elsie and her room-mate and best friend, Cece. It was friendship goals from start to finish. I also really enjoyed George's contribution to the story.
Great read, spicy, supportive and charming.
Book blurb
The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.
Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job.
Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
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You can buy the book here now. It was published by Little Brown Books.
For more on the author, you can head over to her website, follow her on Instagram, or check out her Goodreads page.