Love, Theoretically
Books | Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
4.4
(370)
Ali Hazelwood
"The reigning queen of STEM romance."—The Washington PostAn Indie Next and Library Reads Pick!Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain. 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 arrogant 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 he’s the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing 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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Author
Ali Hazelwood
Pages
400
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2023-06-13
ISBN
0593336860 9780593336861
Community ReviewsSee all
"Loved the Love Hypothesis so so much. Then was pretty disappointed in Love on the Brain. So happy that I gave this a try!! Full recovery from book two. The characters were wonderful, rich, flawed and their relationship built beautifully. My only negative was the repeated depiction (across her books) that scientists have a weird relationship with sex. As in, they either don't have it, or have too much of it, and are incredibly awkward. In my experience, as a scientist myself, there's a much more full spectrum and people are just people. "
"Amazing. So swoon worthy, funny, spicy, smart, and enjoyable. I really connected with Elsie as a people pleaser trying to find her true self and I also really admired her smartness and strength. Speaking of smartness and strength, there is Jack and he is just amazing (especially with his great wardrobe of Henleys). I love how their relationship blossomed and the prioritization of honesty. Honestly, I think blonde haired male main characters are on the rise; I am starting to get a soft spot for them. Also, the Adam and Olive cameo was literally perfect as they are perfect and I wish I could hug them. Also, I noticed that there was a mention of Bee and I think WhatWouldMarieCurieDo as well and that made my heart warm. I know pretty much nothing about academia or higher level science but I always feel a little bit smarter after these books. Ali Hazelwood, you are amazing."
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Nicky Ewers
"4.5 ⭐️ I really enjoyed this book. Elsie is such a relatable character and Jack is everything you’d want in a book boyfriend. I swoon for the “he falls first” trope and it’s even better when she’s faking dating his brother when he first meets her. I love how Jack challenges Elsie to get in touch with her authentic self. A lot of times I find the incident that tears the couple apart at the end to feel super contrived but this actually felt organic and I loved the resolution, demonstrated some great character growth."
"Adorably consuming of a romance. Ali does it again!<br/><br/>This book is for all the people pleasers out there. <br/><br/>Elsie gets through life by lying about how she really feels in order to avoid confrontation and be on good terms with everyone she meets.<br/><br/>When she gets the opportunity to interview for the job of her dreams, she meets her professional arch nemesis, Jack. Their love hate relationship opens her eyes to figuring out how to be honest with herself.<br/><br/>This book has:<br/><br/>Academic politics ✔️<br/>Enemies to lovers✔️<br/>Spicy scenes ✔️<br/>Adorable heart melting romance✔️<br/>"
"Ughh I love this book! 4.7/5 for me! It was so enjoyable to read and definitely a step up to Love Hypothesis level glory. I loved the relationship, fast pace, and real struggles conveyed in this romance book. Anyone out there would enjoy this, especially since the enemies/rivals to lovers, forced proximity, opposites, and plot-twists were amazing 💕 "