The book described Tom and Liz's work well. Tom character was very caring towards Liz. They are just perfect together because they share the same interests. In the book both of their characters just wants to settle down with a person and not marry and have children I like how they didn't change their mind about that until the end of the book

But the part where Tom's mom and Liz's dad are getting married and still both of them being together despite them being like step siblings made me uncomfortable.

Still over all this is a good book with great sm*t.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC copy!

This book gave me such Love Hypothesis and a bit of Set on You vibes.

After a lab fire, a horrible landlord and the surprise upcoming wedding of their parents, Elizabeth is forced to work and live with her hellish Phd assessor Tom. As she is now stuck with the man who made her life hell for four years is it possible his brutishness was not what it seemed?

I devoured this book in basically one sitting. I loved Elizabeth’s character, her intelligence and quick wit. The plot was quick moving and such an easy read. The banter was great and stayed strong throughout. I found it leaned a little heavily on miscommunication at times but the characters made up for for that at points. Tom could also be a little unnecessarily toxic but ultimately managed to stay on the overall positive for me.

I honestly enjoyed this book and would recommend it. It’s a fun, light read with great STEM characters.

Tropes
-forced proximity
-enemies to lovers
-miscommunication
-age gap

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
🌶 🌶 🌶 /5

I devoured this book in less than 24h, which best reflects how much I adored it. The premise was ridiculous in a good way and the characters were likable enough not to get too much annoyed at their multitude of unexplainably stupid choices. The reality of the sceniario the characters were put in was close to none, but hey we're not here for a non-fiction, only for a cute romance, and 'The Unbalanced Equation' delivered, what was promised.

This books was a very fun potential-interests-to-enemies-to-lovers story. The dialogue and banter between the characters was cute and showed their characters well. It was overall a pretty interesting academia themed romance. However, the beginning did have some moments that made me cringe, specifically some of Toms comments.

I really enjoyed this book. I love that so many STEM books have been coming out recently. I also love that Liz didn't end up pregnant or engaged at the end of the book, it was really refreshing to see. I loved the banter that Liz and Tom had and the fact that it continued throughout the entire relationship. I would definitely recommend this book to people who enjoyed 'The Love Hypothesis'. I liked the format of the book being a slow-ish burn.

My only complaints/criticism is that I wish the "80% conflict" was a little more drawn out. Also all of the text messages were like 2/3 times smaller than the rest of the text. That might just be an issue with my phone but I thought I would bring it up regardless. Tom's actions in the beginning had me cringing a bit and I wish that there was more confrontation from Liz and explanation from Tom about Tom's actions towards Liz while he was her professor. I wish we also saw more of his treatment towards her to understand her discontent with him even more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm glad it was my first ever arc!

oh my god. this book has given me soo many feels that i literally express in words.

Tom and Liz story is soo good, the angst, the spice, storyline - everything is a cheffs kiss!

I cannot wait for the pub date so we all can enjoy it together!

“A woman after my own heart.”


Doctor Thomas Henderson finds himself surprisingly getting attracted to a first year PhD student. Soon after their first meet , they found themselves in a small mimosa date and spent the day flirting(Well I like to call it a date). When Dr Henderson found out he unexpectedly had to be Elizabeth Maclean's assesser, he, in thought of having just a schoolboy crush on her started to avoid her with his life, breaking Liz's heart who was hoping to be asked out by him only to face each other 4 years later at the bar she had been working in and soon temporarily working together at his bestfriend's lab. But what happens when they find out they are actually going be be step siblings soon? And more to their misery, living together for some months along with their parents.



Although I got slightly confused at the very first page as I do not watch anime but I found myself really involved and eager to finish the book. And the best friend of the MC, "Daichi" has my whole heart. The only thing I didn't like was the decision Tom made to stay away from Liz and decided to just be a rude ass to her throughout her PhD like a stubborn child but that doesn't stop me from loving the book.



If you like enemies to lovers, age gaps, forced proximity,second chances (or third ;-)), anime (obviously) and have read "The Love Hypothesis" or "The Hating Game", read The Unbalanced Equation by H. L. Macfarlane right now!!!

This book is a light read with an interesting story rooted in a scientific environment which became a trendy motive after the release of The Love Hypothesis, however there are some issues with this book which make it only a 3 star read.
The story begins with forced proximity which is impacted by not just one event, but two, making is rather unrealistic. Both MCs act very immaturely throughout the book and in multiple places their conflicts would be resolved if they just communicated with each other. I also thought that the return of the ex-boyfriend was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the plot. I liked the banter between the MCs and it was nice to see that they both had good friends who supported them during tougher times. The storyline about the MCs parents getting married after connecting over loss of their spouses was heartwarming and added a nice dimension to the book. Overall, I recommend this romance novel to anyone who enjoys a good enemies-to-lovers story.

The Unbalanced Equation
⭐⭐/5

(Spoiler free review)

This book is a fun, quick and easy read. I found it really entertaining and enjoyed the overall plot and setting. This book has all the tropes that everyone loves and is also dual POV!!

That being said, I didn't like the main characters at all. I felt like they were very immature and manipulative, and their relationship had a lot of red flags. This is one of the reasons that I couldn’t give this book a high rating. I also felt like there were way too many coincidences which I found cringey and annoying to read at times

However, since i did enjoy the overall plot, I will definitely be reading more books by H. L. Macfarlane! You should definitely read this book if you liked The Love Hypothesis!

Happy reading!
~Kiswa🌷

It's giving academia, it's giving power play, it's giving one-time fling, it's giving unrequited love, and it gave me all the feels.
When Lizzie and Tom meet in a bar, they put the moves on. But it all comes undone the following day when Tom is appointed Lizzie's PhD assessor. Oh, brother! What could go wrong, right? Just talk to her, be nice, be professional, and don't be an ass. But Tom takes the alternative and Lizzie grows to hate him. But when they're thrown into the same lab to work together, and their parents drop a major bombshell on them (which will bring them closer whether they like it or not), it all starts to get a little complicated. And look, I don't blame either of them for anything either of them did (well... maybe except the shower thing, that was cruel but oh so delicious).

I cannot stop thinking about The Unbalanced Equation, it was so fun to read. It was a little bit of a rollercoaster, but when I got to the end everything was wrapped up nicely. It was the ending I hoped for. And it was executed perfectly. There is a solid storyline, with a lot of progression in a short of amount of time (I feel like I had whiplash for a second), but in the context of Lizzie and Tom's thoughts as events are unfolding, it all made sense. They were each justified.

All in all, this was fun, flirty, and just an all-around great time! Kudos to you H. L. Macfarlane!

“Okay, maybe I still thought Thomas Henderson was hot. Maybe I was still physically attracted to him. But I could easily keep that under wraps in favour of making his life a bloody nightmare”

“A woman after my own heart”

This book was so good !!!! A rom-com like I’ve never read before.
Fans of The Love Hypothesis are gonna love this intricate love story between a Molecular Genetics Professor and His PhD student now turned postgraduate !!!
Tom and Liz’s story had it all : forced proximity (due to their parents wanting to marry), an enemies to lovers relationship that you could feel from the very first banters they shared and such deep sexual attraction, you could feel the tension raising in the air every time they shared a room !!!!
I honestly loved every second of reading this book and the fact that, given my own field of studies at university, I could understand everything they were saying … it definitely was a plus !!!
Their discussion and the role they played in each other’s life was great and I loved that he was the first one to fall and fall hard for her !!!!
Plus the writing style was easy to go through, even for non-speaker of the genetic language!!!
I’m so glad I had the chance to read this book and I truly hope the author will share more of this sort of stories!!!!

“How was it that I’d gone from having a date with a guy I’d thought was great to getting trashed with my least-favourite-person-turned-house-mate-turned-future-step-brother?”

“Because I’m jealous of all the men who touched you without your permission”

“How was I supposed to give up on this woman? Twisted, confusing sexual games aside, she was making it fucking impossible”

It had a few cute moments, but most of the time they were both just immature. At some points, I hoped she wouldn't end up with him.

The biggest problem I had was with the whole parents getting married/turning into step-siblings thing. I almost stopped reading when I realized what was happening.

There were a few moments that I did enjoy, but I feel like I spent most of the book hoping I was close to done.

thanks netgalley for the arc <3

The cover and premise of this book offer a lot to be excited about with main characters in STEM dealing with an enemies-to-lovers dynamic, and while it was written well and had some anime references I truly loved, the overall story fell short for me. Within enemies-to-lovers, we need to understand the dynamic and why there is a hate or tension between the two individuals, but it cannot go so far that you find the love interest irredeemable. I found that to be the case here with Tom. Every time a past transgression could have been mended, the decisions by Tom towards Liz made me like him even less. Not even passing references to Jane Austen could have saved this one for me.

I wanted to give it a full-hearted attempt to see where the story was going and it my perspective would change by the end of the book, but ultimately the grievances I had within the first five chapters remained to the end. Still, I quite enjoyed being seen with anime references and I did enjoy some scenes, but overall this was not a story for me. Thank you NetGalley and Macfarlane Lantern Publishing for an advanced copy of this book!

I love good friends to lovers type story! The Unbalanced Equation was just that! So entertaining and kind of ridiculous in the best way. This was a page turner that I could not put this down!!! I liked that Tom and Liz's relationship was not predictable from the start. I am an absolute fan of books centered around scientist or doctors and it was evident that the author has a background in science, which I appreciate, since I am a doctor myself and a total nerd

Thank you to BooksGoSocial & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital arc

The Unbalanced Equation is a fun, fast paced, light hearted read that is sure to leave readers with a smile on their face. This novel is easy to fly through, making it a good weekend read. The tension between the main characters is driving the plot forward, making it hard to put down. The main male character, Tom, has a lot of depth, though some of it was left unexplored. Liz, the main female character, has a lot of spunk; it is hard not to love her. The characters have this constant push and pull. The banter between the two is quite funny. Tom is a rich man, but he isn't ever obnoxious with his wealth. Overall, the book is great for anyone who wants a light read about a cute romance. My only gripe is that the book is so quick that some parts don't have that much depth. Pick this up if you want warm, fuzzy feelings.

Wow what a read! The tension and anticipation had me on the edge of my seat. Filled with some of my favourite tropes of Enemies to lovers, roommates, age gap and to top it all of STEM!! The author has done an incredible job incorporating all of these tropes. If you were a fan of The love Hypothesis then I highly recommend you check this out when it comes out on September 15th!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book!
It was a great rom-com with exceptional banter and tropes (enemies to lovers, age gap, STEM workplace and he falls first) and also dual POV. I just gotta say, Tom was, well he’s an asshole if Ive ever read about one. He purposefully sabotages Liz and even though you can understand why he did it, it’s still so wrong on so many levels. Also they give speeches at their parents wedding and talk about each other which I didn’t really like.
Other than that I loved it wholeheartedly!

This book was not for me. I enjoyed certain aspects, but overall the toxic and controlling behavior by both main characters did me in. I found the male character's meddling in her life in order to trick her into getting closer to him gross and toxic. She very quickly forgave him. Overall, when the book ended I wasn't really rooting for them, which I want to do in romance. I hoped she saw the light and left. I did enjoy the college lab setting and reading about a career focused woman who does not want kids. In the end I just could not get over all the immature and toxic behaviors.

This book was a lot and not in a good way. If you strip down the book to its bare bones, it’s just the Love Hypothesis with dual point of view. The most infuriating part of this book was the dreaded miscommunication trope. It was so unnecessary. Tom should have just told her why he was hard on her during her PhD instead of lying and sabotaging her entire life. It was very petty, very toxic, and not very romantic at all. And don’t even get me started on the professing each other’s love during a wedding speech at not your wedding. It was cringe worthy and selfish. Only thing I did like was they stuck to their guns about marriage and babies to the very end .

The Unbalanced Equation was a swing and a miss for me. From the manipulation to the writing style, I had a lot of issues with this book.

After suffering four years of scrutiny from her Ph.D. assessor, Elizabeth Maclean believes she’s finally free of Dr. Thomas Henderson’s tyranny when she begins her postdoc. But when a fire goes off in Tom’s lab (stupid undergrads) he ends up working in the same lab as Liz. On the same bench, no less. For three whole months.

I have some gripes with this book, but before I get to them I want to start with the things I did like.
- The banter between Liz and Tom
- the steam and spice
- the secondary characters felt sufficiently fleshed out
- The discussions about grief felt realistic and were tastefully done
- I LOVE that there were content warnings at the beginning of this book!
- The pacing was well done
- There were enough nerdy references that it felt authentic to the characters but not so much that it felt overwhelming
- The epilogue was super cute and felt like a good way to wrap up their story

And now to the second portion of my review - the things I didn't love
- the prologue and first chapter made me not want to continue reading the book. Tom falls for Liz so quickly that it felt like insta-love, and then decides that the only way to maintain his professionalism would be to be rude to her for years. The stag do section feels like a lot of awkwardly inserted exposition. It took me a while to get past the first couple chapters and move into the meat of the story
- the writing style felt repetitive. There was one page in the prologue where "a woman after my own heart" was said twice in the same conversation, and it was later used a third time. I read about how Liz and Tom didn't want "marriage, kids, and a holiday in Tenerife" too many times to count. There were lots of parentheticals that I felt could have easily been built into the sentences instead of breaking them up. The descriptions of outfits and rooms were consistently too long. I feel like a lot could be cut to make the book flow better
- the actual relationship. It felt so toxic, especially because of the manipulation from both parties. I don't think any of their reasoning was reasonable, and it certainly didn't make the characters feel their ages
- the public gestures. This is a me thing and not an issue specifically with the book, but I really don't like public gestures. And at someone else's wedding? Double ick. Again, this is a personal preference, but it did take away from my enjoyment of the book
- The idea of two people getting together after their parents get engaged. I know they aren't related, but it still feels wrong to me
- Some of the sexual conversations felt like they were kink-bating a little bit. They kept talking about how they "liked it rough" or jokingly asking if they had kinks, and then the spice scenes were all pretty vanilla. This book isn't marketed as a kinky romance so that wasn't a surprise, but with how much Liz and Tom joked about kinks it felt a bit disingenuous to then have pretty basic open-door scenes.

All in all this book was fine, but not for me. I don't like reading about toxic relationships, and this relationship felt particularly toxic. 2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.