Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocual for lending me a virtual arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this book was a very light and easy read. If you want something upbeat and centered around romance, then this book is for you.

However I struggled with it being centered around a woman in the stem field. I felt that once Seraphina and Milo were together, we did not see any aspect of Seraphina’s career or outside life at all. I also have an issue where one of the romantic partners does not have solid relationships outside of the romantic relationship. Other relationships were mentioned, but you didn’t see them until the very ending. I felt that this book also relied on the catty women stereotype and that only certain types of women can be in stem.

I did have strong opinions on how the book approached Seraphina’s TBI, however I have not experienced or know of someone who has a TBI to speak from any solid ground, but I did feel like the book didn’t do it justice. That after the first 1/3 of the book, it was only used as a plot device and an after thought when it couldn’t serve the story.

Lastly, I felt it was lacking substance. After a certain point it felt like a hallmark movie, for lack of a better phrase. And while I live hallmark movies, I don’t appreciate them when I’m expecting a relatively strong and nuanced product. This book started off with so much potential, but quickly fell flat.

Seraphina Ellis has a brain injury from a car accident. She is still a brilliant MIT grad mathematician but everyday living is now a daily challenge. She relies on routines, reminder cards and avoiding stimulus like too much noise or people. She applies to be a research analyst, her dream job, with billionaire CEO and scientist Milo Grant. Grant has his own background that makes him demanding and a jerk. But he appreciates her beauty and her mind.

The story is told from alternating POVs and I was very intrigued by Seraphina. How she adapts to get through her days and how the brain injury impacts her. I was less excited by Milo. I like that he's accepting of her limits but pushes her to try new things. But I'm uncomfortable that he is her boss, filthy rich and has all the control. At times I thought how sweet and other times it felt too Machiavellian, she was just his pretty pet. The story could have used some friends or other people to interact with besides his cook and driver. I did like how the ending plays out. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the premise and the characters in the book, but I felt like the romance was too rushed. I enjoyed the disability representation and the chemistry between the two main characters but I wish there was more angst and pining. I would have liked the relationship to be more realistic with more problems.

Beautiful story! I loved the representation of disability in this title. So many disabilities are unseen and it was nice to see a character who "looked" normal represented and the angst that goes along with do-you-tell or do-you-not-tell about your situation. Seeing her routines was touching and seeing the evolution of her breaking those routines was uplifting. I cannot recommend this title enough!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

<b>PROS:</b>
- I love to see disability representation, especially TBI. To see a lot of what happens when cognitive decline happens made it feel more realistic.
- I enjoyed Seraphina and Milo’s relationship is based on communication which helps a lot and makes the breakup trope realistic when it happens.
- I loved that Milo immediately asked about accommodations is pretty awesome.

<b>CONS:</b>
- I wished she had more relationships outside of Milo. When first meeting Kendall, I thought that would be it, but that quickly turned into “I’m not like other girls.” There are a few people who do show up but not until the 3rd act. I wish the author had even a phone conversation or email or something to connect them better to the story.
- I have a chronic illness that makes a few things irritate me but that’s probably because of hindsight. Milo not caring about her past or challenges but he needs to! Her past is important to how she operates in the world and addresses her own ableism.

Overall, there were parts where the book was lacking. Everything happened really quickly despite the book takes place around six months or more (I think) from start to finish. I wanted more of an impact with Seraphina and Milo’s relationship that I just didn’t feel.

I was interested in this book from the blurb, but once I started to read it, I started losing interest. I was excited because the author had included mental disability and STEM. I might have had high expectations after reading other STEM/mental disability books, but it just didn't do it for me.

I did not want to DNF the book cause I wanted to see if it would get any better and give it a chance. Through the first few chapters, I was bored and almost DNFed. It took like three chapters to find out what was wrong with the FL. Like the whole time, I had "what's going on?" questions in my head while reading, and I feel like I shouldn't have those questions while reading a book. We still don't find out what exactly happened to her until towards the end of the book, which wasn't even worth the wait.

After finishing the book, all I could think was this should have been a lifetime movie. It would have been quicker to get through it. You have your grumpy scientist CEO and your damsel. Both with self-pity and find each other to "grow."

I really liked how tough Seraphina is. Standing on her own feet alone and trying to carry on a life all by herself after the accident was very challenging. Especially since it left major changes that she's attempting to accustom. I don't blame her for keeping from everyone her condition. Sometimes we conceal our flaws for everyone not take advantage of us and avoid pity from others. Yet some other times we have to let go the conception of being a burden and let others know the situation for them to adjust and consider about it.

On the other side, Milo's personality is so dreamily appealing. There's always an intriguing story behind a grumpy badass man.

This is the first time I read a book from the author and one thing I really worshipped is the writing style—easy and crystal clear. The dual point of views of the characters deliver fairness, both on their perspectives. The notion of both leads looking comforts that they got from each other was all but realistic.

I would like to thank the author, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for kindly providing a copy of this book.

#SafetyinNumbers #NetGalley #SophiePenhaligon #Arc BooksGoSocial

Are you a fan of the writing style of Sally Thorne? Christina Lauren? Mhairi McFarlane? Oh, what about Ali Hazelwood? If so, think carefully before picking up this book. The description screams 'The Hating Game' / 'Love Hypothesis', but the contents of the book are more 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. This is to say, if you like really meek female main characters and unnecessarily mean but 'not mean to you' male main characters, you'll probably enjoy this a lot more than I did.

I went into this novel really excited, high off of having finished the Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood a few weeks prior, and just wanting more nerdy love. Unfortunately, this book just didn't deliver for me. I struggled to connect to the narrative and the characters in general. This does switch perspectives between the two protagonists, giving you a little insight into each of their thoughts while interacting with each other, but it just didn't work the way I think the author intended it to. I struggled to empathize at all with either of the leads.

Anyways, romance novel readers beware. This would maybe be worth it as a mass market paperback you pick up at the grocery store, but nothing worth paying more than $5 for.

I hope that the author keeps writing nerdy romance and grows from this novel, so that we can have a whole romance subgenre focused on STEM novels.

I would like to thank the author and NetGalley for kindly providing a copy of this book to review.

This book was very good!! The writing is pretty descriptive and the main love interest is definitely the grumpy stereotype but I was really getting into it around 40% in.

I am not an expert in this area by any means but, I think it has a really good representation of a brain injury disability and what that is like on a day to day basis. This book covers some heavy themes well and I overall enjoyed reading this book.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Der Klappentext des Buches hörte sich spannend und außergewöhnlich an, da habe ich zugegriffen. Meine Erwartungen konnte die Geschichte aber nur zum Teil erfüllen.

Die ersten Kapitel haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Ich fand es spannend Seraphina kennenzulernen und zu erfahren, was in ihrem Leben passiert ist und wie sie mit den Folgen ihres Unfalls umgeht.

Mit dem Auftreten von Milo fingen meine Probleme mit dem Roman an. Beim ersten Aufeinandertreffen von Seraphina und ihm fand ich ihn absolut unausstehlich. Von diesem Eindruck konnte ich mich im Rest des Romans auch nie vollständig erholen.

Darauf aufbauend habe ich hier und da auch mit der Beziehung zwischen den beiden gehadert. Die Erklärung für Milos teils unfreundliche Verhalten anderen gegenüber war für mich übrigens nicht ganz überzeugend. Milo blieb mir bis zum Ende leicht unsympathisch.

Trotz dieser Probleme gab es im Buch immer wieder Passagen, die mir richtig gut gefallen haben und mich vor allem emotional berühren konnten. Mein Leseerlebnis war eine interessante Mischung aus Frust und Freude.

Rückblickend bin ich froh, dem Roman eine Chance gegeben zu haben, auch wenn einiges an Potential (Milo plus zu flache Nebencharaktere) nicht genutzt wurde. 🖤🖤🖤

Für wen?

Wenn euch der Klappentext anspricht, sucht nach einer Leseprobe, die idealerweise Milo enthält. Solltet ihr seinen Charakter interessant finden, könnte der Liebesroman einen Versuch wert sein.

A genuinely lovely book.

There is nothing particularly new here in terms of basic romantic storyline, but there are some great characters (although Milo felt a bit flat to me) and some heartwarming moments.

A very quick, easy read which hits all the right buttons.

This was my first Sophie Penhaligon book and I think it was a good one to start with. Overall the book is a cute romance about Seraphina's growth and recovery after an accident that changed her life completely, as well as Milo's growth. I think the storyline was good, but moved on a little too quickly for me. As a romance book it was a bit predictable, but there were many heartwarming moments that made me fall for Milo too. I did like that it brought to the attention traumatic brain injuries (TBI), but would have been interesting to see it explained a bit more throughly. Overall, I enjoyed reading the growth of both characters and loved all the cute and heartwarming moments between Seraphina and Milo.

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Seraphina suffered a traumatic brain injury, and while that could have derailed her life, she's pushing forward regardless. She's getting back to work as a mathematician, and joins a new company. There she meets Milo Grant, the billionaire CEO who she's completely attracted to.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: I had high hopes here. The story was unique and had some great potential. But it just fell so flat.

The writing was a bit pedestrian, with massive uses of exclamation points and phrases or words repeated over and over again. The characters themselves lacked dimension - there was so much more that could have been done with them. Particularly Milo - I wasn't attached, nor was I attracted to, his character.

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 2.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 3/5 🌶🌶🌶

Safety in Numbers is an uplifting, heartwarming romance between Seraphina, a brilliant but reserved mathematical genius suffering from a traumatic brain injury, and Milo, the glowering and gruff CEO mathematician she works for. After a chance encounter in the elevator makes Milo take notice, he then takes her on as his research assistant. Their comfort working with each other allows them to open themselves up to each other, sharing their traumatic pasts and healing each other’s wounds.

If you’re looking for a low angst, romance with a happily-ever-after ending and medium steam, this is the book for you!

When a tragic accident leaves mathematician Seraphina Ellis broken and despairing, she is convinced that she will live out the remainder of her life in lonely solitude. Determined to conceal her disability from her co-workers, she hides away in her desolate cubicle, crossing off the days of her life, unfulfilled and defeated.

A chance meeting with irascible but mesmerizing billionaire scientist and CEO Milo Grant provides her with the job of her dreams, and the chance of escape from cubicle land. But Grant is haunted by his own monsters and is increasingly interested in more than just her mathematical magic.

I like Seraphina a lot. Milo is surprisingly sweet, funny and understanding. Love both characters. I like their chemistry together. This isn't as light as your typical rom-com and has some depth to it. Enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an arc.

Writing this review has been difficult for me. I had such high expectations of this book. I would start off by saying that I have no experience or knowledge in regards to surviving a traumatic brain injury. I will go by whatever the author has mentioned in the book, I am sure she has done her due diligence in this regard.

What did I like?
- Talking about loss and disability. If I were to ignore the last half of the book and just concentrate on the first half, I could honestly say I did learn a lot. It humbled me.

What could've been better?
- The characters seemed one-sided. There was no depth to them, they lacked the basic attraction towards one another. No chemistry. They were together in my opinion because the author wanted them together.
-While the writing was good, the internal monologue, the tell and not show, ruined the experience for me. Things kept repeating, over and over again. It became a task to read through the book.
- The book kept jumping between weeks and months which didn't exactly add anything to the story. Almost 80% of the book is just the two MCs having internal conversations without any other character involved. Maybe I could let go of Seraphina's internal voice because of her injury but not Milo's.
- There were some parts where I just rolled my eyes. So highly unrealistic but predictable that made me cringe.

Overall, I wish this book had been written well. Seraphina's story seems to have been written in haste. She deserves more. Even though Milo seemed to have a rough past, it just left so many questions unanswered for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this opportunity.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. While it was definitely a cute, simple romance book, I struggled with an underlying plot point. Let me explain: Seraphina, a math genius basically, suffered a traumatic brain injury and is trying to find her new normal in live with aphasia (forgetting words). She does everything to hide her disability while trying to still do the type of work she loves. Here she meets Milo, tech genius, and *cue romance*.

While I know this is supposed to be a romance and I enjoyed the character together, I really disliked how quickly the romance progressed and how quickly Serphina recovered from setbacks in her healing throughout the story. It gave the impression of her needing a man to heal her, which is NOT the type of character I can relate too or want to relate too.

I wish I liked this story more. It had so much potential based on the short description, but I'm just disappointed.

I read this in one day! Only had breaks to eat. Sometimes when I read books fast, I may have a hard time connecting to the characters but this was not the case. I grew to care deeply for them. I could feel their emotions for each other of the page and I felt transported. I really loved this book and can’t wait to buy it physically when I comes out!

I know this book will appeal to a wide audience of readers, but it wasn't a great fit for me. I was promised a story centered around a nerdy mathematician and a hardworking scientist who slowly fall in love and learn to deal with their past trauma. Unfortunately, that wasn't the story I found myself reading.

We begin the first chapter in Seraphina's point of view. We learn she is a young woman suffering from aphasia, a condition involving severe brain damage, and that she has an extremely low level of confidence. Her disability makes it hard for her to speak and remember certain words, resulting in her landing a cubicle job. Then, after an awkward encounter with CEO Milo Grant in the elevator, she is offered a position as a research assistant. Unfortunately, the story went downhill from there.

One of the main reasons why I chose to read this book was because of the science elements. I thought the romance was going to be somewhat similar to "The Love Hypothesis" by Ali Hazelwood, and I was looking forward to seeing positive representation of people with disabilities in the STEM field. Unfortunately, it seemed like there were more sex scenes in this book than there were science ones. The sex scenes weren't particularly well written, either. This brings me to my next biggest complaint; the writing. The transitions were choppy, the descriptions were cringe-worthy, and the constant sexual comments were overbearing. If I had to read one more line about Seraphina's "perky ass" or Milo's "hard cock," I think I would have puked.

I don't think this is a bad book, and I liked that the author included a female character with a disability working in the field of STEM, but I don't think this story was ready for publication. Further refinements, both in plot and sentence structure, would have greatly enhanced the story. Reading "Saftey in Numbers" wasn't a horrible way to spend my evening, but it wasn't something I'd see myself repeating anytime in the foreseeable future.

I received an ARC of the book curtesy of the publisher and Netgalley; all opinions are my own.

I decided to read this book, because I saw that the main character had a brain injury which means she is disabled. As a disabled person myself, I'm always looking for more disability representation in books.

This book had me feeling a bit iffy from the beginning about how the disability rep was going to be handled. For example, the description of this book describes Seraphina (the one with the brain injury) as broken. I didn't like that, but I decided to give this book the benefit of the doubt and read it anyway.

This book was infuriating to read. The main character says and thinks things that are ableist so frequently that it's so uncomfortable for me, a disabled person, to read. Throughout the book it was clear that Seraphina was extremely ashamed of being disabled, which that's fine. A lot of disabled people have felt like that, especially when they first become disabled or when they first realize it. But I wanted this book to end up Seraphina being proud of herself and her disability, and that just didn't happen. She kept repeating over and over again how nobody would want to date her because she is disabled and I get that. I really do. But I wanted her to realize that thinking this is wrong at the end and she just didn't.

I made so many notes on the last 50 pages and pretty much all of them are me screaming and not in a good way. I'm not gonna describe all of my notes because I do not have the energy for that, but yeah I expected better from this book.