Love, Theoretically
"The reigning queen of STEM romance."âThe 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, sheâs 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, itâs a pretty sweet gigâuntil 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 mentorâs career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And heâs 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 butâŠthose long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when sheâs with him? Will falling into an experimentalistâs orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
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, sheâs 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, itâs a pretty sweet gigâuntil 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 mentorâs career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And heâs 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 butâŠthose long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when sheâs with him? Will falling into an experimentalistâs orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
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Community Reviews
âSomewhere along the way your wires got crossed. Your brain decided that you're not worth people's time and effort, and that if you ask for anything, they won't just say no, they'll also leave youâŠThat's not how love works, Elsie. But don't worry for now. I'll show you."
I enjoyed the comedy of this book first, then the romance. Even with all the science lingo and academia talk it was an excellent read as usual.
Love, Theoretically â Review
Considering how much I adored The Love Hypothesis, I had high hopes for another Ali Hazelwood STEM romance. While I did fly through this one, it just didnât hit quite the same. Love, Theoretically leans edgierâwith more foul language, crude sexual humor, and a heavier dose of smutâand I found myself not connecting with it as much as Iâd hoped.
The central theme here is the miscommunication tropeânot my favorite, admittedlyâbut I think it was handled relatively well. The conflict wasnât unnecessarily dragged out, which I appreciated, and it gave the story space to focus on the growing relationship between the main characters. Watching them fall in love was genuinely sweet. đ„°â€ïž
(Note: While I personally struggle with the moral implications behind the miscommunication trope, I recognize thatâs based on my own beliefs and isnât an issue for everyone.)
As a people-pleaser myself, I found Elsie somewhat relatable, and I loved that Jack just wanted the real version of her. Being accepted for who you truly areâflaws and allâmakes for a solid foundation in any love story, and this book delivered on that front. Iâve experienced this in my own life, and itâs such a humbling, beautiful thing to be loved simply for being yourself. đ„čâ€ïž
I also want to highlight the chronic illness representationâElsie lives with diabetes. This was a meaningful and relatable detail for me. Itâs so important that authors continue to represent chronic conditions. Books like this give voice to those who often feel invisible, and thatâs a gift.
Overallâdid I enjoy the book?
It was okay. It held my interest, and I connected with the characters enough to want to see it through. But would I pick it up again as a comfort read? Probably not. Iâll save that spot for The Love Hypothesis, which still stands as my favorite Hazelwood book so far. đ«¶
I plan to explore more of her earlier works, since I resonate more with her original writing style than with some of her recent releases.
âïžâïžâïžđ« â 3.5 stars
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QOTD: Have you read any Ali Hazelwood books? If so, which one is your favorite?
This book was, above all, a fun read.
Ali Hazelwood is respectful to both the pains and pleasures of academia, reigniting my longing for my own academic past. Despite Hazelwoodâs (and romance writers at large) propensity for unrealistically speedy and deep devotion, she continues to create characters that feel more based in reality, then characters based in prose.
Love, Theoretically includes a brief discussion/mention of the aro/ace spectrum I was delighted to find in a straight contemporary romance novel.
Ali Hazelwood is respectful to both the pains and pleasures of academia, reigniting my longing for my own academic past. Despite Hazelwoodâs (and romance writers at large) propensity for unrealistically speedy and deep devotion, she continues to create characters that feel more based in reality, then characters based in prose.
Love, Theoretically includes a brief discussion/mention of the aro/ace spectrum I was delighted to find in a straight contemporary romance novel.
Overall, I thought this love story was cute. I love an enemies to lovers theme. There were some parts of the story that were hard to read like all of the scientific terms there were times when I would skip entire paragraphs because the words made no sense to me. There were some cringe parts like the word the author used instead of âiPhoneâ, even though she used âMacBookâ.
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