I specifically chose this title hoping for a woman in STEM story, but the science aspect of it takes an insane backseat to the romance.

Story flow is a little haphazard. You'll get introduced to something in one scene, but you won't get an explanation for what it is or why until a few pages later.
(The knick knacks Seraphina puts on her desk for example).
It felt less like an attempt to avoid obvious exposition and more like the author forgot.
Similarly, details are constantly repeated from chapter to chapter.

I expected there to be a lot more difficulty in the main heroine communicating with others. She completely bombs her interview because she can't think on her feet anymore, but later is able to answer questions about herself just fine because the plot calls for it.
The dialogue is incredibly unnatural, even for characters without brain injuries- cringey is a great way to describe it.

Love scenes are graphic and detailed, this did not affect my rating but I like to include this information in my reviews.

Despite all my issues, I think this is a cute romance well suited for the intended audience(minus the STEM career issues). I'm just disappointed in the execution.

Also, say "fiery" one more time.

The irascible boss and the brilliant but damaged research assistant

Seraphina Ellis really wants this job as research assistant. She's perfect for it, with her double major in computer science and math. The only problem is that a little over six months ago she was in a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her intelligence is intact but she suffers from aphasia, not always being able to come up with the correct word she's searching for.

Dr. Milo Grant is the CEO and founder of Grant Innovations, a genius and a bad boy scientist. But he seems to understand and appreciate Seraphina.

I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it. I liked both main characters and I liked the way that Seraphina's TBI was described and handled.

I received this book from Books Go Social through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

This was such a cute read! I really loved the representation for people with brain injuries. The author did such a great job giving the reader insight as to the struggles that people with that disability have. I definitely recommend this book for those who loved The Kiss Quotient.
I did feel like there wasn’t enough of a dramatic hook in the storyline. There was no big wrongdoing or mistake that lead to a happily ever after. This caused the plot line to seem flat without much development. I did enjoy reading about Seraphina and Milo. I felt that they had some chemistry but it was definitely an insta-love plot with a hint of the grumpy-sunshine trope.

Wow I struggled with this one. So much didn’t make sense here! It was infuriating hearing Milo constantly call someone he just met Sweetheart. The “romance” felt rushed and weird. No real romance here. Seraphina calling her coworkers stinky and sad, just weird. I can’t recommend this to anyone.

Thank you NetGalley for providing this arc
this book was short and sweet I really enjoyed it .plot had so much potential ,heroine story and origin was new for me and I expected much more but unfortunetly author didn't deliver it .here are some critics that I have about the book:
1-in the first chapters all I read was about how pretty hero was ,kind of too much and boring
2- hero's personality was not portrait well enough. it was all about him saying how bad he is and then it suddenly changed like without any background he turned into some loving boy friend
3-the start of the relationship was too fast, again not enough backbone in the plot
4- when she meet his parents that behavior was so out of the character ,how some one with trouble in speaking suddenly starts like that? I didn't like the scene...
5-i felt the author just wanted to finish the book so fast and didn't pay attention to the details first 30 % was great but the middle not so much

my rating:3 stars
spice:1chilli

“Safety in Numbers” by Sophie Penhaligon follows two main characters - Seraphina and Milo. Their stories are told in alternating chapters. Seraphina has suffered a brain injury, but has decided to conceal that information from nearly everyone in her life. Milo is her boss - who becomes her lover.

I found the exploration of Seraphina’s aphasia (loss of word usage - aka difficulty finding the right word) an interesting angle. I also found her coping strategies interesting to read about and liked the idea of a flip-book for items at a grocery store, clothing store, or about the house. While it’s always a person’s right to tell or not tell others about any disabilities they have, I felt that because Seraphina knew her speaking was “off” and knew others were picking up on it, that mentioning something after a few meetings, no matter how uncomfortable, might have been appreciated by her co-workers and others in her life.

While the book was a quick read, I found some of the information repeated a number of times - twice mentioned were Seraphina’s desk items; Milo refers to himself as another term for donkey a number of times, his good looks were mentioned numerous times - and I’m not quite sure why all the repetition was necessary. I didn’t like the “mean girl” because, well, she seemed to be thrown in there to just cause tension. While this is a romance book - with a bit of a predictable plot - it was a fast read, but for me, this was an okay book.

I was not able to finish this book. I found some aspects really disturbing. Milo is by his own admission verbally abusive to his employees and it’s just chalked to his genius and his personality. Newsflash a smart a**hole is still an a**hole. Furthermore, the way he speaks/thinks about Seraphina is plain creepy and quite disturbing for 2021.

I also didn’t like the portrayal of Seraphina as the only smart and hardworking person in the company. Specially the way she speaks about other female employees. It feels like the author cannot envision supportive denial relationships. The most egregious is the character of Kendall, whose demeanor is described in a way that does match someone with her job. In fact, the way the characters refer to women in general is quite atrocious. And why are all the bosses/supervisors male?

Honestly, as feminist, I had to stop reading at 30%.

I enjoyed this cute stem based romance read. But do not let all the sweetness fool you! I appreciated how it touched based on a very specific disability and the main character's struggles to accept it and love herself and let others do the same despite of it.
After a terrible accident, that not only left her with a disability but pretty much alone in this world besides her medical team, Seraphina Ellis is trying to live her life again. After joining Grant enterprises and overcoming many challenges along the way, she encounters love and the support she needs in the rude, workaholic, but oh so handsome, Milo Grant, her new boss.
An uplifting and easy read, Safety in Numbers, teaches us how we can find love in the most unexpected times and places, even when we ourselves have already given up.

Fresh off my enjoyment of The Love Hypothesis, Safety in Numbers seemed like the next logical choice for a STEM based romance. Our heroine Seraphina was brimming with intelligence and had a gentle heart as big as her brain. This book had the nice gentle pace of a rowboat in comparison to the fast paced waverunner romances I’ve read this year. The full throttle books lacked character development and offered no friendship alongside the couple’s chemistry, thankfully Safety in Numbers delivered on both accounts. In addition to having a female thriving in the scientific field, she was also recovering from a brain injury that affected her speech. Penhaligon brought two underutilized romance categories to the forefront in a lovely combination bound to make you say “Eureka!”.

Seraphina and Milo's courtship was sweet as pie and I loved their progression from friendship to a serious relationship. They were so tender with each other and had very open communication. They constantly shared their feelings and it was such a welcome feature not often seen in modern romances. I can always appreciate a hero who is not ashamed to discuss his emotions with the heroine. The bar is pretty low for fictional men, but Milo cleared it with ease. While the couple did provide plenty of warm fuzzies, their more carnal moments weren't too shabby either. I'm happy to get a little sugar and spice to help balance my overall reading experience.

My only complaint was a slight dip in interest near the last quarter of the book. There was a scene where our heroine overheard some mean girl gossip in the bathroom and Seraphina ran out crying. It seemed very juvenile and out of place for an adult romance novel. Otherwise, this was a lovely unique book that I'm pleased to have read. All the ingredients were well researched and the author confirmed her hypothesis for a successful love story. Whether it's the amount of funds needed for scientific research or the amount of times you say "I love you", we can all indeed agree that there is safety in numbers.

"Why would I want normal when I can have extraordinary? You are incredible Seraphina; normal is for boring people."

I deeply enjoyed this story.
Full review to come.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

I really appreciated the attention to detail about the brain injury that Seraphina suffered and her journey through this book felt grounded in research. Some of the dialogue felt a little silted for my personal taste, but overall, I enjoyed this! A one-day read that's easy to get lost in. Milo has serious Tony Stark vibes, which was a bonus!

Unfortunately this was a dnf for me. The writing was very stilted and it felt like there was no real depth/ substance to either of the main characters despite the setting of the story in the world of STEM and heroine having a disability. (2 ⭐️)

Sweet book! It has a very interesting concept that is different. The couple was very cute. This book was along the lines of The Love Hypothesis and The Kiss Quotient.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read and review Safety in Numbers. I’m sharing my feedback voluntarily.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the synopsis of this book and that influenced how badly I wanted to read it and understand the premise more fully. I am coming to really love Sophie Penhaligon books. This one was no exception. It was clear and centered. The first chapter three chapters felt slow and a bit disconnected from the rest of the book’s style but it was an enticing read from there.

I appreciated examine my own bias and ableism through Seraphina’s storyline. I was challenged at times by the plot points around her disability and it was an important opportunity to check in with myself and expand my view. I felt that people treated her so tenderly and I didn’t understand the motives of that approach. Milo was a complex character and I enjoyed his evolution. He was a self described asshole but I didn’t really get that vibe from the plot points that centered him. He was extremely tender with Seraphina.

The writing and dialogue are strong and the resolution was sweet but not schmaltzy. It centered Seraphina and her own growth which I enjoyed a lot. I recommend this for a fast and heartfelt exploration of romance from the point of view of people who have had traumatic experiences and live with disabilities.

It was good! It read well, and flowed nicely. The characters were well written and i liked both Milo and Serephina. What lovely names as well. Unfortunately i found it super predictable, which i would like to see different in the future but i would love to read more of Sophie’s works in the future!! I felt that there could have been more development, let’s see more of Milo’s grumpiness before he becomes squishy. I liked it though :)

Safety in Numbers is a romance book with disability representation, the main character is a girl with aphasia after a car accident. She is ashamed of her disability and tries to hide it. The book was an easy romance read which was predictable at times.

Seraphina ends up being paid attention to by the CEO of the company she works at, then she starts working under him and predictably, it turns out he has some problems of his own. Since it's a romance, I believe this was just thrown in to make the characters have more things in common.

I was expecting a powerhouse girl who while ashamed at the start (which most people with disabilities can be) ends up embracing what happened and starts showing it to the world.
Seraphina kept saying over and over that no one would love her because of her disability. While I can understand she may worry, it doesn't need to be repeated several times.

I was hoping she would change her mindset to a positive and become an advocate, this did not happen however.

I was disappointed because I was excited to read this book, however it was something you didn't need to focus on and was an easy romance to read

I felt like I was reading two completely different sets of characters. Seraphina and Milo started out one way, then they both seemed to switch personalities completely. She was a shy, timid, mathematician recovering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI). He was a brash, loud, standoffish researcher. By the mid point, Seraphina was sarcastic, sexual, and very forward. While Milo was sappy and lovesick, almost kind. It was odd...

I also didn't love the way that the author portrayed Seraphina with her TBI... some of her struggles and day to day life seemed very accurate and showed just how difficult recovery could be - but on the other hand, I felt like she minimized her effects and made it seem like all it takes a little hard work and tough love and she can recover. Unfortunately, TBI's don't work that way.

There were some sweet moments and steamy bits, but I never felt the connection between the characters and it was a little too "instant love" for me. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Safety in Numbers was a quick read with a lot of potential. The characters were cute and the premise of an intelligent young woman battling with aphasia was something I have never seen in a Romance novel. However, the romance felt forced, and the characters weren't developed enough for me to really truly care about their relationship. At times I felt like Milo treated Seraphina as a child, which somewhat makes sense, but also made the romance awkward. The book wasn't my cup of tea, but if you're looking for a romance with a unique setup, this might be the right book for you.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶🌶.5

This is my first book from the author and i loved it! It’s giving me the love hypothesis vibe! This follows our main character Seraphina who had a traumatic accident leaving her with a language disorder called aphasia (difficulty in producing or comprehending spoken or written language). Trying to get back from work, she met Dr. Milo Grant, the boss who is very hot, a genius, a grumpy jerk and very much interested with her the first time they met in the elevator.

I loved the character development of Seraphina. She grew a lot throughout the story. Both of them had their own sufferings and i have seen how Seraphina worked it out. However, i would have loved the book even more if there are also scenes on Milo’s Character development.


Tropes:
* grumpy x sunshine trope
* The “i hate everyone but you”
* Workplace romance
* Boy falls first
* Fast paced romance

Thank you Book Galley for giving me an ARC!

Thank you Net-Galley for the chance to read this book. This book got my attention because I like STEM related romance books. This book was a loving easy read that was enjoyable. I wish the book was a little more in depth and focused on characters bettering themselves.