A fun read !

I love STEM novels and I had a good time reading this. When Tom and Liz meet, there's an instant attraction but when he gets to know that he's her assessor, he acts like a jackass. Years later, they are forced to spend time together. I thought this would only be in a STEM setting but I was glad that was not the case. There were many other plot developments not mentioned in the blurb and I really liked it!

A huge thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC of this book to read for free in exchange for a review!

If you're on the lookout for a women in science, workplace, enemies to lovers book then The Unbalanced Equation is the one for you! It has all of that, plus so much more that make this book a truly fabulous read.

Now to start, anyone who has read any of my blog posts knows that I'm an absolute WHORE for a split POV, especially in a romance novel, so when I saw that this book had split POV I was over the moon, it was like a dream come true. The feeling of which continued throughout the entire book.

The characters were the real stand out for me and having that split POV to see the story progress through both their eyes was just perfect.

Whilst we saw the book from Liz and Tom's perspective (who I definitely have a crush on now I've read it, both of them that is) and they were just two wonderfully written characters. Their interactions with each other and the supporting characters in the book were excellently done and cannot be faulted. Just reading the chapters through their POV made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, they were just such fabulous characters.

And the characters were only further supported by the plot, which oh my god WAS SO GOOD. I love a good enemies to lovers situation and whilst it was maybe one sided enemies to lovers it was still so worth the read.

The story itself was just the perfect mash up of different elements and each aspect of the plot worked together to create this story that had be snorting with laughter, gasping in shock and left me feeling warm and fuzzy inside. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say if you like women in science (and enjoyed The Love Hypothesis, this is a book for you!)

And oh my gosh, the setting! Set in Scotland the author just managed to make the entire setting seem so beautiful and it definitely aided my enjoyment of the book.

The majority of that came from the authors ability to write such wonderfully crafted sentences and paragraphs that left me wanting to be in Scotland with our main characters, living their lives and experiencing everything they did. It was just a really easy book to get drawn into and enjoy, and that is all down to the authors writing.

On the whole, The Unbalanced Equation is well worth the read and I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to do a reread in the future!

👩‍🔬The Unbalanced Equation by H. L. Macfarlane👨‍🔬

Tropes- Enemies to lovers, Age gap, Forced proximity, STEM workplace, HE FALLS FIRST

The book gave full The Love Hypothesis vibes but with both of them Forced to live under the same roof,the tension was so much more.
I found the book way too much slow & long for my liking.

Thank you NetGalley & H. L. Macfarlane for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
This romcom was heavy on the com and just ridiculous enough to be a roaring good time. I could not stop laughing and the banter was elite.
A few somewhat problematic plot points due to the focus on the MCs manipulation of each other, but it didn’t ruin the book for me. Miscommunication trope drove the narrative and got to be a bit much, the characters becoming frustrating, though this is acknowledged in a way in how the story resolved.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy. Loved the book. A perfect and fun enemy to lover read. Highly recommended.

This is an enemies to lovers romcom. I definitely appreciated the STEM aspect of the book and I liked the dialogue and the character development. I was initially unimpressed about the age difference and uneven power dynamic when the main characters first meet. Years pass before their romantic relationship fully develops and they are on more even footing so I admired that the author took the story this way. Overall a great read.

This was a perfect read for the day when I had to take care of my gastro-virused daughter. In between cleanups and rubbing her back I enjoyed reading this romance about a couple of animae geeks who also dabble in academia labs and science and love.

This story had an age gap, a professor/student relationship (not an inappropriate one based on the characters' actions), family obligations (their parents are going to GASP marry each other), miscommunication trope tossed in with years upon years of longing. The LONGING made this story.

I enjoyed the pacing of the book, however, at times I wished they had better communication with each other in order to avoid a lot of conflict, but alas, where's the fun in that? :)

I disagreed with one action Liz convinced Tom to make near the end of the story because I felt like it was his choice to make - alone.

This was a fun, British story with lots of open-door sizzling romance.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an e-copy of THE UNBALANCED EQUATION to review.

I rate THE UNBALANCED EQUATION four out of five stars.

Well, lets just start off by saying that if you haven't read this book already, you're really, really missing out. i loved the banter between characters, there was never a dull moment between them and i honestly wish they were real so we could be friends!! this did not feel like your conventional love story which i loved. if you enjoy a good (and i mean absolutely amazing) grumpy-sunshine trope, you will love this because Elizabeth (female lead) is quite the grumpy pants and Thomas (male lead) can be seen as, a definite flirt, but a ray of sunshine. how often are the women portrayed as the grumpy characters, loved that!
and yet again i have fallen for another fictional man written by a female author, standards are set.

the relationship between the main characters did feel a bit odd, because of their parents and it felt a bit toxic, but i grew to love them.

Another disappointing read.

Extremely predictable - no imagination needed at all and the main characters were not likeable. There were red flags everywhere from both parties. He literally manipulated her life to be with him and she used him and invaded his privacy.

Also, just blatantly saying in various formats that he was rich for no reason at all was not needed. He threw his wallet at her at one point like that was a chivalrous move. Nope. You just look like a dick.

Readers who loved "The Love Hypothesis" will instantly gravitate to this gem of a read. It starts with a simple meet cute between an upcoming Ph.D. student, Liz, and a professor, Tom at a college in Glasgow (bucket list trip!). There is an instant connection between these two over their love of science and anime, and their chemistry is off the charts. While they both feel this pull toward each other, neither one of them could foresee what happens next.

Due to circumstances beyond Tom's control, he becomes Liz's Ph.D. assessor, meaning hands off the student! He tries a not-so-great tactic to keep some distance between them, it doesn't really work. Any resentment is truly just the embers of desire getting hotter and hotter. Add in some hysterical family drama, fiercely protective friends, and some CRAZY AMOUNTS OF STEAM, and you have an absolute winner.

Go read and enjoy!

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc. Unfortunately I did not like this as much as I would have hoped, mainly because the character of Tom was just horrendous. He acts like a literal child even though is supposed to be 38 years old, too many red flags to name, manipulative , possessive etc. His reasons for being awful to Liz (He becomes her PHD assessor) are just bonkers and seems like an excuse to follow to enemies to lovers trope. The parents are total cliches and do not read like real characters at all. One thing I will say is I like the take of neither of them wanting marriage/ kids as its good to normalise that , but other than that it was a bit too dramatic and childish for me.

A STEM based enemies to lovers, similar in style to The Love Hypothesis. Plenty of spice and loved the Scottish links in the book.

"The Unbalanced Equation" by H.L. Macfarlane is an enemies to lovers Romance novel. This novel was rather straight forward and the supporting cast of characters/side stories was a good deal of fun. My biggest struggle with this novel was the 2 main characters Liz and Tom...they got on my nerves from nearly the very beginning and never really found their way off. I found it as if their entire story was deception and over dramatics and it was really hard to care about them. The issue with the main characters is unfortunate because the supporting characters were so great and I felt as if the story had potential but fell very short of what it could have achieved.

The Unbalanced Equation follows Liz as she starts a new job after her PhD, however the perfect job gets turned upside down when she has to share her workspace with her PhD supervisor, Tom, who made her life hell for 4 years.
Overall, this was a cute love story with a successful woman in STEM (which I love), good banter and some lovely characters (Daichi, I'm looking at you). However, Tom is incredibly toxic from the start. He knowingly made every bad decision rather than communicating honestly and openly. He took everything in Liz's life and turned it around to suit him and his agenda. For someone so smart, he's so dumb.
For this reason, it is not my favourite book but I did enjoy it in the end and the plot, and all the other characters, massively kept me going. I just couldn't help rooting for Liz to meet someone better.

After being a little unsure and tentative at the beginning, I ended up really liking this one! Some of the circumstances felt a little ridiculous but I love a trope so I didn't mind that much. Once I got into it, I literally could not put it down. The themes of complicated grief and forgiveness were very well tackled and I loved those elements of the story. I will definitely recommend this to my friends.

Tom and Liz first met at a social event and they hit it off. A spilled drink accident results in Liz disappearing before he manages to ask her out. Fast forward years later, we find out that Liz hates Tom as he has made her life miserable from the moment he was appointed to be her PhD assessor. She thinks she has finally broken free from his clutches and can spread her wings and fly away; away from him.

But fate has a different say. An accidental fire in his lab, throws them into working together once again; right on the same bench. And life has one more little throwball to cross their paths together. Can the fractured be repaired after all this time?
 
The story was engaging and structed well. The flow was smooth and not to detailed in scientisty biologyish talk, so for us non-genetic scientists speakers, we can read and be able to enjoy the story. The side characters added quite some flavor to the story; their parents and colleagues at the lab. It was really nice to see glimpses of people from their circles and their interactions with them in and outside the lab environment.
 
Personally, I liked Liz more than Tom. Enjoyed her intellectual ambition, quick wit, and sweetness. The chemistry between these two was off the charts. The banter and comebacks were great and it managed to stay strong throughout the story. I’m always a sucker for good banter in a story. I could have done with some of the miscommunications, but their interactions made up for it a bit … somehow. Additionally, it had it moments when it handled their grief. Sympathized with them both on their losses and the feelings residing due to so.
 
Okay, flipping to the other side of the coin. So the pace of this one took me a bit of time to get into it. Also, there were some irritating situations and some questionable immature decisions taken which kind of swayed me with this one. The parent matter as well had me pausing in a do-I-like-it-or-do-I-not moment. However nevertheless, it was a good fun book which I am glad I did have the chance to read.
 
Thank you to Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

Gahhhhhh! Super loved this book! These two are now part of my favourite couples forever! The chemistry they had ever since the beginning, the fact that they could both nerd-out to each other, and the bedroom scenes were sooooo hot I burned…ahhhhh, I love them! This book was really sweet too and, although Liz and Tom were smashing together, the plot really showed the ups and downs that they had in their relationship. I really liked how the book showed that life isn’t perfect and neither are relationships but it’s trying to get better and foster relationships that’s key. The flaws of both Liz and Tom were clear as daylight and it was nice that they weren’t downplayed or hidden, instead, they were accepted as a part of the person and both Liz and Tom did their best throughout their story to become better people. It was a great and fun romance, and the laughs/giggles and grins that came over me as I read it were too many to count! A romance worth picking up!

Ein richtig süßer, humorvoller Liebesroman. Ein typischer "Erz-Feinde" weden Liebespaar Setting. Die Geschichte erinnert ein bisschen an das letzte Buch von Ali Hazelwood.

The Unbalanced Equation | H. L. Macfarlane
A cheeky rivals/stepsiblings to lovers with a side of cozy winter academia.

Tomorrow won’t come soon enough for Dr. Elizabeth Maclean to get some distance from her grumpy PhD assessor, Dr Thomas Henderson. Unfortunately, the combination of unattended equipment destroying his lab, a surprise family engagement and an eviction notice means that coveted space is out of the question.

Some of my favorite tropes are represented – close proximity, enemies to lovers, and “I didn’t know you were THAT rich” with a sickeningly generous helping of off-the-charts chemistry. I loved watching sour turn sweet with flowers and gifts – and teetering on the edge of my seat to see if (or when) the would get caught in all of their sneaking around in plain sight!

I loved the wintery setting and characters who know what they want – a relatively quick read with ups and downs, hot and cold emotions and a happy ending with lovers you know were always meant to be.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this! Such a cute balance of cheesey romcom and fun!
The character development made me worry a little in the beginning but I love the having to work together but falling for each other trope and the fact it's a stem area ticked all of the boxes for me.
Fans of Ali Hazelwood will enjoy
4/5*