Love, Theoretically
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4.4 • 1.7K Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
"The reigning queen of STEM romance."—The Washington Post
An 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?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Get swept up in this nerdy enemies-to-lovers tale from the queen of STEM romance. Elsie is a brilliant theoretical physicist, but adjunct teaching doesn’t pay much so she takes on a side gig pretending to be her clients’ girlfriend. But things get complicated when Elsie applies for a job at MIT…and the decision lies in the hands of the brooding and charismatic Jack, the brother of one of her clients. Best-selling author Ali Hazelwood absolutely nails her heroine’s quirks and insecurities. If you like your romantic banter with a smart—and smart-ass—sense of humor, don’t pass up Love, Theoretically.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Hazelwood (Loathe to Love You) delivers a decidedly quirky and thoroughly charming tale. The fake dating trope gets a techy update via Faux, an app connecting clients with pretend partners for hire, through which Boston adjunct professor Elsie Hannaway finds side gigs while she searches for a better-paying job in theoretical physics. While interviewing for her dream job at MIT, Elsie's worlds collide: her favorite fake-dating client's brother, whom she knew as Jack Smith, is actually Dr. Jonathan Smith-Turner, a legendary young physicist whose views are at odds with Elsie's. The ensuing STEM-themed enemies-to-lovers romance is simply a delight, though it's complicated by the fact that Jack believes Elsie is his brother's girlfriend. Meanwhile, sunshiny Elsie's imposter syndrome rings true as she navigates the cutthroat world of academia ("STEM academia is 98 percent politics and 1 percent science") and learns that her mentor and idol has feet of clay. Geeky science jokes, humorous student emails, and expertly delivered snarky banter enhance the narrative. Readers will cheer for Jack and Elsie and their bumpy road to happily ever after.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic!
I don’t know the best words to say other than phenomenal. This book had me laughing like a mad woman. It felt real in a way. Like I could see parts of myself in Elsie. The flow of the writing keeps you tied in. I never wanted to put it down. I’ve read other books from this author and I’ve honestly loved them. But this one.. she definitely outside her self!
AHHH!
Beautiful. That’s the way I describe this book. Maybe the only way to describe this book. This will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride, as you feel the emotions- anger, happiness, sadness, and confusion- when you have to do a quick look up on physic words you have never heard In your life. But all together, as the story unfolds it all makes sense, and the ending is just so satisfying, definitely 10/10! With this being said, I am such a fan, and can’t WAIT to read more of this authors work.
Good Timeline and Slower Pace
The romantic build up was a much slower pace and the NSFW scenes didn’t take up much of the book but tbh I liked that! It was a gradual build and the story was nice and I really enjoyed the tiny plot twist that was included! Adam & Olive are introduced in the book which was nice to hear what happened between the two of them later. I hope the new release also brings up past characters from Love on the Brain.