Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A big thank you to NetGalley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for sending me an e-arc to review!

[title will be released 13th June 2023]

After thoroughly enjoying both The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain, I was so excited to receive an arc copy of Love, Theoretically - and I must say it did not disappoint!

Undeniably her best novel to date, Hazelwood treats romance with a new psychological and academic energy that builds upon the beloved tropes of her first novels. Equally swoon-worthy love-interests, equally relatable protagonist, Hazelwood writes the perfect romance between academic rivals, theoretical and experimental physicists, Elsie and Jack.

With a nod to the fake-dating trope of her previous books, Hazelwood has undeniably developed a more refined use of plot, while maintaining her wonderfully sarcastic and witty flair. She acknowledges in her author's note that this is the most academically focused of her books, a quality which I thoroughly admired. As a member of the academic community myself, I find something enduringly compelling about romantic novels rooted in nerd culture, especially a male protagonist who is intellectually charismatic (not just good looking!), and appreciates the heroine for her mind. I especially love the way in which she tackles stereotypes of women in academia and institutional hierarchies more generally, balancing important messaging that allows her female readers to feel seen while not distracting from the romantic elements we all know and love.

This was a refreshing and equally sexy continuation of her earlier novels and definitely my favourite so far!

[To be posted on @hollyreadsnovels on Instagram on 3rd June]

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for an e-ARC copy. All thoughts are my own.

Love, Theoretically might just be my favourite read by Ali Hazelwood to date. Sure, I still had some minor issues with the lack of variety in the characters this author writes (please, I'd love the petite fmc/hulk-sized mmc to stop being a thing), but the storyline felt fresher than other books by this author.

I enjoyed the more politically charged environment Hazelwood created within the setting. Not only did the feud between physics theorists and experimentalists make sense, but the endless layers of how delicate relations can be between new and old participants in this world were utilised well. The feud didn't only fuel animosity between the two main characters, but through co-workers, friends and mentors, which I liked a great deal. Even if I have little understanding of STEM settings such as the one in this book, I felt like I could easily understand it, which is a credit to the way Hazelwood set this world up.

Elsie was a great female main protagonist. She had a lot of intrigue to her as a character, despite describing herself as medium in every way. I enjoyed the moments when she learned from her mistakes or showed her vulnerable side after so long masking her real personality behind her chronic people-pleasing tactics. The Elsie the reader meets at the start is a different Elsie than the one ending this book, which again is a feat to the author. This is character development done well, and something I found lacking a little in Hazelwood's previous reads. I also appreciated the representation of living with a medical condition such as Elsie does with her diabetes. It didn't overpower the storyline and was appropriately placed to offer more to her character and storyline.

Jack, equally, is fantastic, and I loved the way he challenged Elsie, didn't take her crap, but didn't wholly admonish her for it either. The level of respect and consent this man showed made me very aware of how single I am, haha. I found the contrast between both characters well-balanced. The fact that Elsie lies to almost everyone in some way to please them versus how much Jack dislikes liars and has strict boundaries, and yet they find themselves at a middle ground that really works, and had me constantly smiling and even expressing a few giddy moments as I read this.

The romance is very Hazelwood in style. The banter and tension are built well, and the spice is predictably handled as I have come to expect from this author. Putting aside my personal gripe for the approach to safe sex scenes by what is starting to feel like a great portion of mainstream romance authors, the intimate moments were tastefully done and well-placed for the progression of the story.

Unfortunately, I did find the last 20% or so of the book to lose some of its steam and subsequently wasn't as exciting as the rest was. This is the main reason for the .5 star drop in my rating, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys romance, especially ones that involve STEM in the plot.

I love Ali Hazelwood books and this one was also amazing! Elsie and Jack were such fun characters and I really enjoyed the banter between them. This book is similar to previous ones by Ali Hazelwood, women in academia, and I honestly love all of her books. Elsie is a theoretical physicist and currently an adjunct professor but is wanting to change jobs and that’s where the fun begins. My favourite part of this book was the cameo appearance from Adam and Olive. If you have enjoyed the previous books by Ali Hazelwood, read this book immediately you will not be disappointed.

This was classic Ali Hazelwood, with all the scientific drama thrown in.

I liked the mc, she was strong, despite her anxieties of working in a branch of physics that is frowned upon in academia. Her meet cute with the love interest was interesting, and kept me hooked. I liked the scientific jargon, although sometimes it does tend to get lost in translation, but nonetheless, this was a fun read.

I find the author's writing very easy to get through, and I sometimes think it does read quite similarly to her other works. I would love to see something different and unique from this author, where women in STEM are not finding love interests, but becoming the best they can be without a romance involved.

Overall, this book gave me butterflies, and I enjoyed the different themes discussed, as well as the tough family trauma the mc has to face!

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an e-arc!

Love Theoretically is the highly anticipated new romance by Ali Hazelwood. It follows Elsie, a professional fake girlfriend and Jack the brother of one of her clients - and of course in true Ali Hazelwood fashion, the pair don’t get on.

It wasn’t a bad romance but it was very similar to her other stuff and i’m starting to get. bit bored of the same formula every time. It would be nice to have something different from Hazelwood.

This book was also much more academic than her previous two and had a lot of references I didn’t understand and had to skip over, i’m sure those in STEM would enjoy the references but for the everyday reader it felt a bit alienating.

An easy read with loveable characters but I just wanted more.

Elsie, a theoretical physicist is trying to get by on her non-existent pay check whilst working as a adjunct professor. By day she’s grading papers and by night she’s playing fake girlfriend and embodying which ever version of herself fits best for her client. Queue Jack Smith, the grumpy experimental physicist and annoyingly attractive brother of her favourite client Greg. Jack also turns out to be the person who ruined Elsie’s mentors career and stands in the way of Elsie’s chance of academic success and her dream job at MIT. But will Elsie fall for the attractive and grumpy experimentalist physicist or will their rivalry prevent this.

My thoughts on this book was that I couldn’t put it down. I loved the academic rivalry throughout this book between Jack and Elsie and seeing their relationship gradually progress from enemies to lovers. I also loved the appearance of Olive and Adam in the book, seeing some of my favourite characters from the love hypothesis cross over in the stem universe. Another of my favourite STEM romances from Ali with this book!

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this before publication. Another romance set in the field of science, but this did at least feel a little different to the other Hazlewood offerings.
In a fairly standard enemies-to-lovers scenario, our two main characters are physicists coming from very different areas of specialism. One is desperate to progress into research and the other is, indirectly, responsible for the lack of progression for a mentor. Unfortunately, Jack is also the brother of the man Elsie is fake-dating so it is something of a shock for them to each learn the truth about the other.
The first part of the book is heavy on the interviewing process and the details of Elsie’s interest. This did make it a little slow to get going. As soon as we see them in their natural habitat it’s obvious they’ll get together, but it took a fair amount of time for misunderstandings to be cleared up.
The book as a whole showed the benefits of honesty in a relationship, and it was very much focused on the politics at play in this field. A lot of the strands introduced were left hanging/unresolved which I found more frustrating than I thought I would.

I absolutely loved this! I loved the relatability of struggling after graduating with working tirelessly in a role straight after finishing her degree and not having enough money for what is needed. The fact that a second job is in this story I think just emphasises this reality. All of Elsie's struggles really pulled on the heartstrings and I was desperate for her to get the job she was interviewing for! The complexity of the character really added to this story along with her quirky and funny personality!

Jack was a great male lead and I love what the two of them together especially with Jack enhancing all of the best bits of Elsie. The smut in this is HOT, and tbh I sort of wish there had been a bit more of it earlier in the story. Ali Hazelwood does an amazing job with the way she writes her stories not only with this element but the whole story. The style is brilliant and just addictive that you can't put the book down.

I think the only thing that felt me a little disappointed was the ending; it felt very abrupt and almost not the end. There was no resolution or closure to their story.

This book features
👩‍❤️‍👨Fake dating (not in the traditional way)
🌶️ Spice
🤣 Funny
🧬 STEM romance

So I have to say after reading all three Ali Hazelwood books that this is my favourite followed closely by the love hypothesis. I was hooked all the way through and I couldn’t stop reading even if I tried. I loved the sexual chemistry building between Bee and Jack and I’m glad there was the right amount of Spice in the pages.

The best thing I loved about this book was the cameo, I literally screamed when I got to it and it was the best surprise and I love how it’s linking the books.

I cannot seem to stop rereading scenes from this book 😩

I feel I should preface this by saying I understand any criticism towards this book as it contains elements of her previous books, again. The recycling of similar characters and traits is something I get the frustration with, but it’s something I’m personally at ease with. Her style worked for me with TLH (I haven’t read LOTB), and I love the extraordinarily predictable, a bit cheesy, and very romcom-y vibe. I also think this book had many differences from her previous works.

Because this book didn’t centre round fake dating like TLH, I think it allowed for a much deeper relationship between the two protagonists. There was the classically hilarious banter between them, but a lot of depth too and I loved the lack of miscommunication in this book. It existed, yes of course, but not excessively so which meant their intensely honest communication with each other was not fragmented.

I loved Adam, but … Jack is even better 🫣 He was searingly honest throughout the entire book, laying his feelings out on the table at every opportunity. There were no excessively over the top reactions, just calmness and giving Elsie the space to figure out her internal battles. He was completely comfortable with communicating his needs and thoughts, I loved his obsession with Elsie and making her as happy as possible, and he is my absolute favourite.

This book was very physics-fuelled, and I thoroughly digged the geekiness of it all. It was a LOT, but also fun to read about the more political side of physics and learn quite a lot from it (although no idea when I will ever be needing this information?). I love how Hazelwood incorporates the world of STEM so seamlessly.

Elsie had similar traits to previous protagonists, but with less naiveness. She acted rationally (generally), but just had a distorted world view depending on what she thought others wanted from her. She was relatable, and she had an extremely strong narrative voice.

Overall, I loved this very much!!

P.S. I thoroughly enjoyed the Olive and Adam cameo 🫶🏼

- Lara <3

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in return for my honest review!

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

I don't think anyone is shocked that I once again thoroughly enjoyed an Ali Hazelwood novel. I highly rated both The Love Hypothesis and Love On The Brain, so I was extremely excited for Love, Theoretically too. It was just what I needed: a fluffy, snuggly, easy to read romance with plenty of laughs, banter, science, strong female characters, dastardly men in academia (and not-so-dastardly men as well).

Elsie was a fun FMC; a chronic people-pleaser even to her own detriment, a struggling academic desperate for a change, a woman living with an illness, someone filled with a lot of self-doubt.

Jack was super dreamy, a BLOND (?!!?!), intelligent and self-deprecating, funny and respectful.

The two combined had chemistry from the very moment they're first on the page together.

The book lost it's momentum a bit towards the end, so that knocked off half a star on the overall rating, but my god if it wasn't a really fun read. I read Love. Theoretically with my friend who also got her hands on the ARC, which I think made it even more fun - we spread it out over six days but I reckon both of us could have easily finished it in one.

3.5

I have conflicted feelings but, for the most part, I really enjoyed this! A highlight I particularly enjoyed was that the aro/ace spectrum was brought up, finally, which has been implied but brushed over in Hazelwood’s previous books but was more explicitly said in this one. It was more brushed over than I would have liked, still, but I feel like we’re getting closer to it being mentioned loud and proud. As an asexual myself, I love to see the representation.

I also loved the focus on academia and all the ‘drama’ that goes on behind the scenes. Also, that part of this book was based on a real story. I love learning about academia and all that is going on, I had no idea any of it was happening.

The little shoutouts to previous books were so cute, too! It was so cool seeing the references, I love when books do that.

Jack and Elsie were really cute together, and very messy. I personally don’t mind too much if a relationship isn’t perfect, and it makes it a lot more interesting to read about. It was a bit rushed, though, especially towards the end. I think I wanted their romance to blossom although it being a whirlwind did fit in with the type of relationship that they have.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot, aside from some minor problems I had with it here and there.

What an awesome read. I am completely and utterly in love with how Ali Hazelwood writes. I love the whole women in stem trope, along with the brooding, enemies to lovers relationships we tend to get in her books.

Love Theoretically was fabulous! I really enjoyed this one. Probably just as much as the Love Hypothesis!

I can’t wait to see what see comes up with next!

i really enjoyed this new Ali Hazlewood book. The concept and the execution were very enjoyable and really kept me interested until the end. I still have an issue with how teeny tiny 3ft tall skinny and precious Ali's FMC are but she managed to make me forget about it in favour of the plot. This was going to be the book that makes or breaks Ali for me and consider me back on track and waiting for more!

In summary:
Slow building high tension romance
Hot and perplexing love interest, full of layers.
Lack of angst was appreciated 👍
Late sleepless nights - lots of them. Worthwhile.

~~~

Considering I stayed up until gone 3am to read this regularly, it's safe to say I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It took me a while to get into it at first, but found it's rhythm after the first third.

I think where I struggle slightly is when it gets into the nitty gritty of science academia??
I tend to zone out and find myself drifting a little, but it's only because I literally have no idea about the difference between theoretical or experimental physics and I'm not sure I'd fare any better if it was explained more lmao. I think compared to The Love Hypotheses (somehow I skipped on the second book, my bad), this one went in a lot heavier on the scientific content, and that's one of the reasons I couldn't rate this one higher. But I know that I'm not really the audience for stem related fiction, and that's okay.

If I'm honest, which is ironically an ongoing theme of this book, the one constant that kept me invested and coming back to read this was Jack - This sexy, mysteriously closed off yet cocky hunk of a man got me really good, and I found myself returning to it just because his character was captivatingly exciting to read about. I also have a weak spot for enemies to lovers (although I wouldn't say this falls under your typical "enemies" trope).

Overall I was thoroughly entertained (and the dialogue between the characters was *chefs kiss*). However idk why but felt like the ending fell slightly flat for me, maybe I expected more grand gestures or a bigger impact considering what happened on the home stretch towards the end of the novel.

If nothing else this story definitely ticks the boxes for a swoonworthy romance for the most part. I would have been happier if it leaned slightly more into the romance overall but you can't have it all. As for Ali Hazelwood, I look forward to seeing what she'll write next. I'm curious to know how she'll keep things interesting in future books from now on.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ali Hazelwood has swiftly become an auto-buy author for me since the love hypothesis! I have read all of her published books and novellas so far.

I think Love, Theoretically is my favourite book of hers so far. I cannot express how much I adored Elsie and Jack, they were so cute, funny and definitely had some sexy moments throughout 🔥.

Elsie struggled throughout this book being a “people pleaser”. She had a hard time saying no to friends, colleagues and even family. I think Jack was the perfect balance for her. He strived to put her needs above his own and encouraged her to go for what she wanted, even when he was supposedly her worst nemesis, politically and personally. Plus their dialogue and interactions were A++.

I also appreciate that this book dives deeper into science and politics, namely the rivalry between theoretical vs. experimental physics. It was interesting to learn about and resulting in some hilarious and heartfelt moments in the book (AKA rivals to lovers).

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of this book.

Ali Hazelwood does a good job of building in a few key elements to create a page turning story. The main characters, Jack and Elsie, flit between love and hate, the tensions get very steamy all amongst the setting of a STEM world of academia. The writing style is very conversational which is mostly fun, but can on occasion also get a bit random and frustrating. I think lots of people will like this book.

This was an enjoyable book. As with AH’s previous novels this story is set in the world STEM, but with a specific focus on academia and the drama and political machinations that surround that whole world. I will be honest the science of it all mostly goes over my head but I really enjoy Ali’s writing style and the characters she creates. I think of of Ali H’s three full length novels I connected to this one the most. Elsie and how she moulded/ adapted herself to be whatever she needed to be depending on her audience really resonated with me. Having someone finally “see” her and allow her to have that space to embrace who she was, what she wanted and the prioritising of her own needs was really wonderful. Plenty of emotional bumps along the way but I loved Elsie’s journey in this.

The romance with Jack was full of chemistry, heat, vulnerability and some really good open honest moments between the two of them. They both called each other out and made themselves better for it. I love an Hero who is all in with his leading lady and Jack did not disappoint. Enjoyable supporting characters as well in Cece, Greg, George and Hedgie 🦔 (aka the best frenemy ever). A solid 4.75 ⭐️ rounded up.

I loved this book! My favourite of Ali Hazelwood's books is still the Love Hypothesis, but I enjoyed Love Theoretically more than Love on the Brain.
The enemies to lovers trope is done so well in this book - there was so much tension and it was just such a fun, chaotic, and entertaining story! I love all the science - I am a STEM girlie so I know this may not be for everyone but I loved it so much. It was also really nice that Elsie was a type I diabetic.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for this eARC in return for my honest review.

Loved. I'm not a particularly science"y" person and so when I first read the Love Hypothesis, I liked it but skimmed over the science bits. I did the same with Love, Theoretically too but that's ok but I loooooooooooooved the story. It was a bit spicy and Jack was a little intense but it was cute and I'd recommend. 4 stars as I probably won't read again