one word-horrible. Do waste your time, I did.Adults who act like children. Book supposed to be rom-com but is not. just awful, nothing redeeming.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

Really not for me at all. It sounded so good, but it ended up nearly being a DNF - the only reason it wasn't was because I hate not finishing, and I was vaguely intrigued to see if it got worse. It did.

I didn't feel the writing was that good, the characters were flat, the plot was truly bizarre and the pacing was terrible - some areas were super rushed and others were dragged out to a point that I wanted to rip my hair out. Do yourself a favour, save some time, and move on to something better.

#TheLoveSolution #NetGalley

This is a story of 2 sisters living very different lives, but being there for each other. I liked the set up of this book, and feel that it started so well. I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, this was not the story for me. I'm sure there are plenty of people who will like this one - interesting people and jobs, co-workers to partners will they won't they trope, a cheater confrontation, some mix ups and heart breaks....

Typically, I'm here for all those things, but the storyline was problematic for me. The sisters relationship started really well, but went to a weird, manipulative place with one of them holding their relationship hostage if the other didn't make a monstrous ethical/moral (and illegal) choice. Gross.

The Molly/Ewan relationship started really cute, and again got weird-- with him being moody and withdrawn, for no clear reason. Then when she has to confess her HUGE fuck up, he just kinda goes with it after he initially is angry. Then another twist (the wife) to keep them apart, but is quickly resolved without matching any of the setup. Every reference to his wife prior to her showing up in person leads us to understand she is not coming back to him- she left him, complained to him that he never had time for her... Like, why are you back? Makes no sense.

I did like Liam in this book. Just a normal, rational person who was always honest and up front. I love that he was an unabashed man who stepped out of his comfort zone and took no disparaging for making a tiara. All any other character did was comment on how old he is... But he was the only real adult in this book.

This book was unfortunately not for me.

I was intrigued by the description of the synopsis but the characters fell a bit flat for me.

I think that it would also be helpful to not categorize this book as a romance. It is definitely women's fiction with romantic themes but structurally it's not a romance.

This was a supposed to be a lovely, contemporary, romantic novel. It had a couple of hilarious moments and I actually laughed out loud one time - that doesn't happen very often. It had three ships, a basic setting and two female protagonists I didn't really care for all that much (one I liked slightly better than the other). It was an easy read and I finished it pretty quickly. So why did I only give it 2 stars?

Mostly because of Sarah (one of the two protagonists). I didn't get her. I didn't understand why she made certain choices, why she was so hell-bent on getting back together with her ex boyfriend (a massive tosser in my opinion) and WHY did she keep *that* secret for him for so long. If she'd told him sooner, she'd never had to put her sister in that awkward position and she'd had discovered that she definitely didn't want to be back with him a few chapters into the story. I get it, the author had her keep her mouth shut for plot reasons. But it's a pretty weak reason if you ask me.

The other reason is the whole Love Bug storyline. I thought it was actually pretty interesting and inventive. I liked Molly & Ewan as colleagues and of course, I wanted them to hook up eventually from the get-go. I definitely liked their chemistry better than that of Sarah & Niall or Sarah & Liam. I actually enjoyed Molly's chapters more, if I'm being entirely honest. But what I don't get is why any self respecting scientist whose working on a top secret project would share any details with her sister - no matter how close they are. Even her co-workers at the lab have no idea what she and Ewan are working on but she tells her sister? And she actually considers giving the bug to her sister? I don't understand. I don't contemplate. I just - I don't think that's right, not even in a romantic feel-good novel.

Plus, the pacing was a bit off at times. Some events the author described in its entirety, other events she skipped all together. For instance - Niall getting upset and angry and storming off to confront Liam in his office. I would've liked to see that, to read about it. But it was skipped and we only hear about what happened when Sarah and Liam discuss it briefly in his office.

Overall it was an okay book, a quick and easy read and if your expectations aren't too high you will probably enjoy this. There were certain bits I liked, even though there were some aspects that really bothered me. It's not the best romantic novel I've read over the years, but it certainly isn't the worst either. It's just... okay. Somewhere in the middle, I guess.

Unfortunately, The Love Solution was a bit of a drag for me. In a couple of senses of the word. It took what felt like forever to get through, and the plot was a bummer.

Like other reviewers have mentioned, this book would be more successful if it focused on one main character rather than two. And again, I have to agree with other reviewers that Molly is the much more likable, compelling character. Her story alone could have been a whole book. Sarah simultaneously had no personality and was also the worst. Why not be like the rest of us and binge on bad food and make bad hookup decisions after a breakup? Don't completely disregard common ethics and put your supposedly dear, dear sister in a really bad position! The science-focused parts of the story were quite troubling, and I think the Love Bug debacle could have still played out well without compromising anyone's ethics.

I couldn't understand decisions that either of these sisters made, and reading about them was a bit torturous. I'm not a fan of scenes in books that don't serve the plot as a whole and it felt like there was a lot of those. The pacing of this book was completely wonky. There are moments we hear about after the fact, and scenes that are short with little explanation when they deserve a lot! This goes back to having two main protagonists when there should have been one. It wasn't until more than halfway through the book that the main plot point in the blurb even gets brought up, not to mention acted upon. And from there the story was a whirlwind. If the first 50% was condensed and the last 50% expanded upon in certain scenes, the story would have been much more successful.

There was too much going on in this book. The stories would have been better served if they had been divided into two books, and even then they could have been pared down further. As it is, it's a back and forth between the romantic lives of two sisters with all the strangeness each of their lives: a tiara-making business, a love potion-bug-something scientific but implausible, back and forth with a cheating and unapologetic ex. It was too much to want to keep up with.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*received an ARC for an honest review* Honestly, I didn’t love this one. I liked the concept, but the deeper I got into the story it just didn’t work for me. The chemistry between Molly and her beau was not really there. The other sister had a better storyline but still didn’t hit the mark. On top of that it was long and at times boring.

All I wanted was for this to be a light-hearted, quick summer read. That’s not asking a lot. And while the blurb definitely excited me, the book unfortunately didn’t meet any of the required criteria. About halfway in I debated DNFing but I pulled myself through. Not that I would have missed much if I hadn’t.

My first and main problem with the book is that it’s advertised as romance and that there is zero chemistry. The book is written in dual POV switching between orphan sisters Molly and Sarah and thus it contains not one but TWO developing romances; in some ways even a third. Yet I didn’t care. I can forgive a lot in chicklit books. As long as the romance is compelling there is a lot I can turn a blind eye to. But if not even that is compelling… it makes for a very boring read.

Sarah was in no way relatable (she made no sense at all) and even Molly was only slightly likable. They were very flat and superficial, as was every other character. The love interests were more or less interchangeable and apart from some stereotypical traits they had no personality or even a life. Molly and Sarah made choices I couldn’t possibly understand or stand behind and could sometimes only be explained as plot convenience. And too often there was drama for the sole purpose of DRAMA. So many things were exaggerated and could have been avoided if only people communicated.

The plot was … weird. It focused on the wrong parts of the story in my opinion and was often more tell than show. Some parts were awfully rushed while others that didn’t matter at all were given too much attention. But even then it was often just plain wrong or utterly unbelievable. This book is supposed to show empowered women but fails miserably. At some point it almost told me to feel sorry for people cheating on their partner, like boo-hoo they have it bad too.

And then there’s the ‘love solution’ plot. Molly and her boss Ewan are working on some top-secret artificial hormone that is nicknamed the ‘love bug’. It’s some sort of chemical combination that will make people fall for each other. It’s dubious in itself but the way it was used in the story was so awfully wrong I couldn’t get over it. Also, despite it being top-of-the-art and not even disclosed to other members of the company, Molly tells her sister all about it. How does that make sense? But none of that as bad as using it to make your cheating fuck of an ex-boyfriend take you back.

The writing itself was below average. The dialogue was off. I can’t quite pinpoint what didn’t work exactly but reading it felt like watching a bad soap opera; everything obvious and melodramatic. Except for the word “shagging” probably. Never have I seen the verb “shag” used this often before. I was this close to turning the book into a drinking game.

The only good thing I can give you is that the cover of the book is really cute. When I looked at it I could see myself fall in love with these characters. But a cover is not the book, you still have to open it up and take a look. ‘Cause under the cover you discover that the king may be a croo- Yeah fine, no more Mary Poppins but I guess this tells just how much I didn’t care. The book was boring and sort of problematic. Would not recommend. Moving on to better things.

A good story about sisters Sarah and Molly, best friends as well as sisters. Their fight to succeed and find true love. Really enjoyed it, although did find the science stuff a little strange at times. Well worth a read.

Sisterhood was the main plot in this book and for that, I'm extremely happy. I loved reading a story with a bit of a different storyline in which it was not just romance and happiness. Molly and Sarah are very close but live extremely different lives. Throughout this book, the sisters try to find love and also learn what makes each one of them unique. If you want a different love story, this is the one for you!!

*ARC courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I want to express a thank you to the valued author, the publisher who took a chance on the author, and Netgalley for providing a copy.*

Let’s be real, haven’t we all dreamed of this? Something we could take, or spray, or do, and be guaranteed that the one we like, will like us in return? A love solution of sorts? If only, right?

The story
Sisters Sarah and Molly are close, but they couldn’t be more different. Sarah runs a craft business and is obsessed with all things shiny and glam, whilst Molly is much more at home in her white coat and goggles, working in a science lab.

When Molly is put onto a new assignment, she’s over the moon. It’s a high-profile, top secret project – and she has a handsome new boss to ogle at when she’s not bending over a petri dish…

But when Sarah finds herself on the painful end of a disastrous break-up, no amount of Ben & Jerry’s or trashy rom-coms can cheer her up. She wants to take a more drastic approach to dealing with her heartbreak, and one that only her sister – and perhaps a sprinkle of science – can help with . . .

Will Sarah find love where she least expects it, or is it really all in the chemistry?

The opinion
Honestly, I enjoyed this book in many ways. First of all, within the first chapter, it starts off with a turn that I did not see coming. Like, at all. Then there’s this major jump cut to the presence. And as a reader, you basically know nothing about anything that happened between “major event A” and “major event B”.

One of my favourite things about this entire book, was probably just how the author then gradually revealed the effect of this “major event A” on both sisters. I mean, there’s a certain type of trauma that you don’t really ever get over, I think. But the way this surfaced throughout the surface in different ways and forms? That was really well done.

Surprisingly, the one thing I liked least was the way the “Love Solution” was used throughout the story. I mean, after all, that’s basically what made me choose this book to begin with. However, the actual process of having to use it, and everything related to that? It was explained in such a realistic way that I didn’t want it to be used. I mean, I was way too scared for Molly’s job!

Well, that, and the fact that a certain mix up is never explained. One of the characters mentions it doesn’t really matter anymore, how it happened – however: I beg to differ. It does matter, because now I have all these complot theories in my head and I don’t know what to do about them!

The rating: 3/5
All in all, this really was an enjoyable read. It has a fun mixture of romance, drama, and science, with just enough “wth??” mixed in to stay entertaining. If, like me, you consider yourself to be a bit of a science aficionado? And you love a heaping portion of romance on the side? I’d definitely recommend this book for you!

-Saar

This was a touching story of two sisters who lost their parents too young. They are very different but still quite close and they both are facing challenges in their love lives. I enjoyed the parts of the story about each sister’s romantic challenges. There is an additional plot twist as Sarah, the older sister, who is pregnant but who caught her boyfriend cheating on her, requests her younger sister’s help to win back her boyfriend. Her sister, Molly, is working on a science project to manipulate the hormones of a person to make him or her fall in love. It’s all rather ridiculous and I thought that this plotline weakened what was a strong novel with dueling romance plotlines. I just couldn’t suspend disbelief on the whole idea of a “love bug” that worked somewhat like Cupid’s arrows. I would have preferred Sarah to work through her own romantic questions without this science experiment overlaid on top of her relationship with her former boyfriend.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

This was a cute, quick read revolving around 2 sisters and told from alternating viewpoints between them. I thought this would be more about lab work and less about tandem biking and tiara making, so I was a little surprised when the plot revolved around that quite a bit.

I found The Love Solution to be a humorous and light-hearted summer read. Sarah and Molly are two sisters who have each others backs through the trial and tribulations of love. I enjoyed following their growth as they dealt with challenging real-life situations. However, I thought some of the story was too contrived (especially regarding Sarah and her "secret"), and could have been resolved sooner. I think this would be a nice beach or plane read!

This was a fresh read for me.

I'm glad that I'm trying to venture on the new adult genre as well and this book speaks maturity and adulthood on a high level.

Basically, the story revolved on our two main characters, Sarah and Molly, the through-thick-or-thin sisters who managed to stick together through all life obstacles even after their parents left them early due to car accident.

The story focused on their life as adults who are trying their best to make a mark on their own ways, Sarah with her passion on tiara-making and jewelries, and Molly with her adept fondness with scientific researches.

Also, what would adult life be without a ton of romantic sprinkles. So we have Niall, long-time boyfriend of Sarah, and Ewan, Molly's laboratory boss whom she have a huge crush on. Anyways, as they continue to trudge the busy roads of life, Molly and Sarah began to experience hardships that tested both their personal and romantic relationships. But in the end, the story broke the general fairy tale endings which is happy ending by stating the fact that sometimes it's better to have new beginnings than to end a story with someone.

RATING: 3.5 stars

This book was really cute! It didn't blow my mind but I really enjoyed the read and look forward to Ashley Croft's work in the future.

The plot was a tad contrived. I enjoyed the Molly/Ewan storyline until the very end. However, the Sarah/Niall/Liam storyline was grating and after awhile I skipped those chapters.

Sisters make extremely poor choices when it comes to love yet somehow it all works out in the end. I thought this book was just okay. It alternates between the two sisters, Sarah and Molly, and they're each dealing with relationships that aren't very stable. Sarah, the oldest sister, was not very likable and seemed rather pathetic when it came to Niall, her cheating boyfriend. She also put her sister in a very tight spot when she asked for her help regarding her love situation. Molly was a little more stable, and was definitely a better character, but she was very wishy-washy and made really stupid decisions. Molly is also in love with her boss who at first doesn't seem to want to give her the time of day but then miraculously he changes his mind a few pages later. Sarah also meets a new man who wants her but I can't figure out why because we get very little interaction between them on the page. A lot seems to happen off the page and we're just told about it. Why is this man so interested in Sarah, a woman a decade younger than him he just met who is carrying another man's child and seems extremely immature? I'm sure it happens but it doesn't seem very plausible. The scientific experiment Molly and her boss, Ewan, were working on also seemed a bit farfetched and the unexpected love triangle at the end was completely unnecessary. Overall, I didn't dislike this book but I didn't love it. It was a fast read and parts of it, such as the bike race, were entertaining but the romances and the sisters' behavior were just too much for me to really get into this book. I believe it will find an audience with some readers, though. 3 stars.