Title: Love, Theoretically
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Genre: Romance
Expected on: June, 13, 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Source: digital
Pages: 368
Synopsis:
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 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?
My thoughts
(Spoiler free)
I feel like Love, Theoretically has made me a card-carrying member of the Ali Hazelwood fan club. I loved her two previous novels, but this one solidified what I adore about her writing and her romances. And while it’s impossible for me to pick a favorite, I feel like this one may be the one that’s the most all-round success. There was never a point in the book when I felt pulled out of the story, and that’s how I know a book has consumed me.
In my life I have experienced regret, embarrassment, maybe even a touch of agony. But nothing, absolutely nothing prepared me for the ignominy of finding myself in a bathroom stall, pressed against the arrogant older brother of the guy I’ve been pretending to date for the past six months.
Ali Hazelwood; Love, Theoretically
Love, Theoretically is hard for me to review because I think readers should go into it as blindly as I did. I barely even read the synopsis before I dove right in. If you’ve read and loved any of the author’s other books, you should love this one, as well, and that’s all the information you really need. Her signature humor and compelling storytelling are both present.
BUT if you insist on knowing more, then please keep reading.
I love how complicated Hazelwood’s characters always are. They have meaningful backstories and traits that always surprise me. In Love, Theoretically, Elsie and Jack have complicated relationships with their families. And Elsie’s biggest complication is that she is a people-pleaser. She changes herself, even discrediting her wants and desires for those of others. It’s something she’s been doing for years, even with her closest friends and family. And it was a character trait that hit close to home for me at times, but I loved watching Elsie find her truth. With Jack’s help, of course.
I always believe in the chemistry between Hazelwood’s characters. They make sense together, and I’m usually rooting for both leads equally. I’m not sure, but I feel like this one was even more of a slow-burn than her other novels. I didn’t mind at all. It was deliciously excruciating waiting for these two to finally come together.
And let’s not forget her side characters. They can hold their own. Sometimes they even deserve their own books. Especially Elsie’s quirky best friend and Jack’s brother. And sometimes they already have their own books. Yes, Olive and Adam from The Love Hypothesis make a special appearance in this one!
I think this is Hazelwood’s most science-y book yet. Pretty much everything science-related that was mentioned went over my head. Way over my head. But I didn’t mind at all. I’d like to think I learned a few things, but probably not. I’ve never been able to retain much math or science information. My brain was made only for words.
It’s hard for me to know if I loved this book because of the story or the many, many Twilight references. And while I am (mostly) joking, when Twilight was first mentioned, I had a moment of panic. Is the author about to make fun of Twilight, and therefore all its fans?! Nope! Elsie loves Twilight, and I had so much fun with all the references. I feel seen. Thank you, Ali Hazelwood!
Love, Theoretically is Hazelwood’s best yet, and that’s saying a lot since I’ve adored all her books. But this one had something even extra-special. This one lands solidly on my ‘books to reread’ stack!
Keep reading for some random minor spoiler-y thoughts:
I’ve seen others complain that Hazelwood can only write male lead characters that are tall, dark, and handsome. Not to mention extremely fit and well-endowed. Well, Jack, at least, is blonde. But seriously, it’s not a complaint for me—I don’t mind if she has a type—but I would love to see her write an average size and average built man. And woman! Her female leads are always ultra tiny compared to the men. Do it just for kicks, Ali! Let’s see what happens. (And maybe she’s already done this in her novellas. I haven’t read them yet.) One thing I would never want her to change is how wonderfully supportive her male leads always are of their female leads—in and out of the bedroom. It’s refreshing to read about a man who is patient, putting the woman’s needs before his own, asking permission, never jumping to his own conclusions. Let’s keep making this the norm in romance (and real life)!
Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.
(All quotes are taken from the advance copy and are subject to change in final print.)
My Rating:
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Levels inspired by The Well-Read Librarian from Sourcebooks
About the Author
A Song For A Book
Love, Theoretically is a book that deserves the best playlist. So far I haven’t found an author-inspired one, and sadly, I don’t have the time right now to make one. But I’ve started one to add to, and hopefully I’ll come back and update this post. For now, I’ve chosen to highlight Fearless Soul’s cover of “Fix You”. The original version by Coldplay is one of my favorite songs, and the lyrics just seemed to fit perfectly for Elsie and Jack.
When you try your best, but you don’t succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can’t replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you…
Have you read Love, Theoretically? Or did you add it to your tbr? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
Happy to hear you loved it!
Yes! So very good!
Happy that this is another winner by Ali Hazleton. I have the anthology of her steminista stories to read this week.
Oooh, I’m wanting to read the novellas soon. I’ll be excited to hear what you think!
I loved your review. I’m so excited to get to this and I’m so happy that you enjoyed it.
Thank you! I’ll be excited to hear what you think!
I haven’t read any of Hazelwood’s work, but I can say that I would get annoyed pretty quickly about the constantly-tiny female MCs. I’m a taller than average woman, and so it’s always nice to me when I can read books about women who are the same height (or taller than) the guys they date. I get so sick of the ultra-petite-girl trope.
That said, the plots and characters in these books sound like a lot of fun! I’ll just have to ignore the constant height discrepancies between her male and female MC’s. 😉
I hear ya! Yeah, I’m short and my husband is tall, so that’s probably why it hasn’t bothered me too much. I can understand writing what you’re comfortable with, but at some point you have to branch out. 😃 I do think they’re worth the read, though!
Yay! Glad you loved this one. I did, too.
Yay! I thought it was her best written one, yet!
Same!