'Love Theoretically' by Ali Hazelwood is another STEM-centric romance novel that combines all the lovely things that Hazelwood has become known for: A fully capable female lead who has a slightly messed up personal life; great friendships; a male lead focussed on their work and non-awkward yet consensual sexual encounters.

'Love Theoretically' features theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway. Stuck teaching a million different classes while her research sits abandoned while struggling to please everyone in her life, she finds she has no idea how to please her fake-boyfriend's older brother, Jack Smith. This is a minor annoyance until it turns out he's one of the people interviewing her for a job at MIT.

There is nothing here that distinguishes 'Love Theoretically' from Ali Hazelwood's other stories. If you found her other romance novels frustrating for whatever reason I'm sure you'll find this one frustrating too. However, for me I absolutely love her writing. The women are real nerds with real problems; the men are too-good-to-be-true in a romance novel way; the romance always builds in a very healthy way that makes me re-think everything I've ever read before.

I was very excited to be selected for an ARC copy for this book. It came at a time I really needed cheering up and had me turning pages until 12am. Thank you NetGalley for my review copy.

Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong when it comes to witty, romantic, well written (and spicy) rom-coms. I adored this book and her characters, and anyone who loves her previous books will as well!

Love theoretically

Gush Alert 🚨♥️

Love Theoretically was great! The storyline was captivating and I was fully invested in the journey of the main character, Elsie. Her character was relatable and I was able to reflect on my own experiences while reading her story. Jack's character was a highlight of the book, his unwavering obsession added an element of excitement and was executed in a way that was both intriguing and charming. I was left wanting more and eagerly anticipate Ali Hazelwood's future works. Overall, I highly recommend Love Theoretically to anyone looking for a page-turner with relatable characters and a thought-provoking storyline.

I have to say I am jazzed that I was able to read this gem of a story pre publication and feel super privileged.

Thank you so much!

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it lived up to my expectations! I love Ali Hazelwood's previous books and the focus on women in STEM and I enjoyed this one just as much.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Elsie and Jack - seeing it develop from enemies/rivals to lovers was really fun and cute! The fact that Jack saw Elsie for who she really is and helped her to be honest with herself and others was so sweet.

As someone working in academia, I also loved how much of this book focused on the academic environment. It felt like such a realistic portrayal of what it is like to work in academia, the job market, and the abuses of power that are present in the field.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC of 'Love, Theoretically' by Ali Hazelwood.

Everyone constantly states that all Ali Hazelwood books are the same but again, I'd disagree with this. 'Love, Theoretically' was a fabulous STEM romance. Much more science talks in this one, a male lead who was firm but not pushy, I loved it. The care Jack had for Elsie was huge, the fact he never once shamed her for having diabetes (according to peers with diabetes, loved ones do shame them which is absolutely disgusting and I'm very glad Jack wasn't that type of scum)

Elsie is most definitely my favourite Ali Hazelwood protagonist by far. She was raw, honest and just true to herself and I loved the whole book. Side note, Ali upped the sex scenes. Having sex to twilight? An odd combo but okay.

Once again, Hazelwood knows what she's doing. I always found her strong point was writing characters and she proves that in Love, Theoretically. Loved Jack and Elsie and all the supporting characters! (Minus one, who I won't name because of spoilers).

The reason it's not 5 stars is because it was a little too academic/science for me. That slowed the book down so I did start to lose a bit of interest around the first half of the book. It was a slow start, in my opinion, and it took me a while to get into the story.

But I stuck through it and the second half was amazing, the pacing was so much better. Elsie and Jack's relationship journey was great, I loved the trust, honesty and banter they had together.
Elsie was an interestung protagonist too, I love how much she developed and overcome and not forgetting the diabetes rep.

I can't review this without shouting about the cute Adam/Olive cameo :) nice to see them again and get an update on what they're up to! I noticed a mention of Bee in there too, which was lovely.

Hazelwood fans won't be disappointed. My favourite is still Love on the Brain but Love, Theoretically still ranks in the list of good, solid romance books.

I really enjoy Ali Hazelwood's books and "Love Theoretically" was no exception. I think her books get a bit of flack for using a similar formula but actually, for me. that's the appeal of them. I know I can really relax into my reading when I start one of her books. Knowing how things are going to go is not necessarily a flaw of writing and I do feel each book gives something a little different. "Love Theoretically" focused a lot on the systems and politics of academia and I enjoyed that personally. I do still have a slight preference for Love on the Brain but this was just as satisfying as the others. And of course THAT cameo was great, as well as all the Twilight talk

Loved this book, the romance was so cute and I loved the character development! Initially Elsie changing herself all the time to be who people want her to be and then meeting someone who doesn't need her to do that was beautiful to see. I loved it when Jack was telling Elsie what she wanted etc and she turned around and stood up to him! Super cute romance and loved the little cameo for Olive and Adam!!

🥼 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 🥼

“I like simple, straightforward romance stories with dramatic characters and improbably high stakes,”

Above is a quote from the female MC that I think perfectly sums up this book! It’s jam packed with all my favourite tropes too!
🔭 Enemies to lovers
🔭 He falls first
🔭 Third act miscommunication
🔭 Fake dating

I wanted to make sure I was going into February with a good romance book and this was definitely it for me. It follows Elsie, an adjunct teacher trying to make her way in the physics world by applying for a tenure position at MIT. Unfortunately for her one of the professors that will be leading the hiring process is none other than Jonathan “Jack” Turner-Smith, her long time nemesis and brother of the man she’s fake dating!

I enjoyed this book for what it was and that was a great mix of romance, some dramatics and good plot twists. There were plenty of laugh out loud funny quotes and some fantastic character development throughout. I also think Jack has a new place on the “best book boyfriends” list. We also get to see some of the characters from a previous book of Ali Hazelwood make an appearance which I thought was a lovely touch.

Thank you so much to @netgalley, @littlebrownbookgroup_uk and @alihazelwood for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love, Theoretically will be released on the 13th June 2023

We’ve all heard of the love hypothesis so it just made sense that I needed to read this book by Ali!

It didn’t disappoint, it has the same cheesy romance in there that we all secretly adore. A little cliche but I still loved it all the same. I do like an enemies to lovers storyline.

The characters are likeable enough, there’s a good back story and it builds up nicely.

Overall an easy, enjoyable read.

Another enjoyable Ali Hazelwood book although I found it very similar to her previous two. But she comes up with another group of strong characters, love that her female characters aren’t daft and simpering, shows that women are indeed a force to be reckoned with particularly in STEM work placements. I would recommend this, it’s well written, easy to read and get involved in and the characters are great. Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy

Another Ali Hazelwood STEM book
Another easy five star read!

I need to put it out there. I am not a science girl. English is more my speed so a lot of the jargon is lost on me but the fact mainstream romance has become such a smart, witty and heroine-led place makes me SO HAPPY.

Hilarious banter, perfectly-flawed characters and cheese (I kid you not) create the perfect blend of romantic comedy and academic allure!

Elsie and Jack were very human for book characters and I loved reading about them. Details like living with diabetes and the complexities of family dynamics really humanised the characters and added to the enjoyment of reading about them.

As always, I’m glad I’m not an academic because it feels like this cut-throat world would be a bit much to navigate for me and my stress levels haha.

Another amazing Ali instalment, another book that had me laughing and reading non-stop.

Love, Theoretically? You will love it, wholeheartedly.

Five stars.

OMG Ali Hazelwood you knocked it out of the park with this one!!! Honestly could not put it down and stayed up all night to finish this. And THAT CAMEO - we could dream but you delivered! Adored the character arcs, the twists, the chemistry and I honestly think this will help all the chronic people pleasers out there to take stock and start being honest with the people in their lives. 100% could not have asked for more.

I honestly think Love Theoretically has become my favourite Ali Hazelwood book. This book just hit harder for me and had me on an emotional rollercoaster! ⁣
⁣
I found Elsie to be such an amazing and relatable character who is trying to make it in life but is dealing with her own struggles. I was rooting for her throughout. Jack is also a fantastic character who was just so caring and so patient! I loved their dynamic and their chemistry! ⁣
⁣
I already want to reread this one. I just loved everything about this one and I love the women in STEM rep that Ali Hazelwood provides. I cannot wait for you all to read Elsie and Jack's story. ⁣
⁣
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A great new book from Ali Hazelwood. I read this book in one sitting and can only describe it as being a wonderful, happy read. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and that Ali writes about STEM women as they are so underrepresented in the literary world. A must read.

First at all thank you for the arc of this book.

Whenever Ali Hazelwood publishes a new book I know I’m going to read it and I know I will love it.
But it feels safe to say that between all her books this is definitely my favourite.

Elsie is a woman in stem. With all her insecurities and struggles that woman in her field have to overcome.
In addition to that she never says noto anyone and make sure that she is the perfect version of herself depending on whom is in front of her.
She’s never been truly herself with anyone but of course we have an exception: Jack

Jack is the first person that see what Elsie does and he’s the first person that wants and accepts her for the real her.
Jack has some heavy background which is the reason why sometimes he acts that way.
Their first “work meeting” is juts hilarious.

The best chapter was when ADAM and OLIVE showed up I was screaming 🥹🥹 my babies are happy together still and Adam is still The grumpiest person in the room😂

Those two together are something else.
This book was the cutest and hilarious. Like I couldn’t stop grinning.

I read the synopsis for this and thought ooh this sounds slightly different from the author's previous 2 books and immediately wanted to read it.

I do really like the author's writing style, it flows and there's humour and it's easy to follow. But... it felt almost the exact same as TLH and LOTB. I was just looking for a bit more variation this time, but - and this is just my personal opinion - the 2 love interests just felt like the same people from the first books with alternative appearances.

I liked TLH but really wasn't a huge fan of LOTB, so I was just hoping for a bit more.

Don't get me wrong, it was still enjoyable and a quick read but it felt as if I'd already read this story already.

3⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the review copy, provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Love Theoretically – Ali Hazelwood
I was super excited to get an ARC from Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group in return for an unbiased review. I read The Love Hypothesis in early 2022 and loved it, but wasn’t such a huge fan of Love on the Brain. Love, Theoretically fortunately falls somewhere in the middle.
The first thing to say, as always, is it’s great to have a strong female main character in STEM, we love to see it. I really enjoy Hazelwood’s scientific writing – personally, as a creative with a scientific husband, I find it easy for science stuff to go way over my head, and Hazelwood writes in a way that I can keep up with and certainly doesn’t make me feel inferior. I always like the pace of Hazelwood’s writing (although in Love, Theoretically I almost felt like the plot was complete halfway through, so I was pleasantly surprised by the rest of the story).
There were two downsides for me:
1. Love, Theoretically follows the same formula as The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain before it – scientist believes there’s a grudge between her and a man who is her senior, has a quirky sidekick/best friend. Forced proximity between her and the man she hates, who has no idea about this grudge, and it’s all a misunderstanding anyway. Some sauciness ensues, before a big argument (another misunderstanding), but all’s well that ends well.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy enemies-to-lovers and misunderstanding tropes, but it would be nice to read a book by Hazelwood that doesn’t follow the formula quite so closely. It makes the plot a little too easy to predict.
2. The spicy scenes. Now, we all love a bit of spice, but something in Love, Theoretically missed the mark for me. I can’t say too much while trying to avoid spoilers, but verged on annoying, seemingly for both me and Elsie. Also, some of the descriptions give me the ick, but that’s just me.

Overall, I find Hazelwood’s writing really enjoyable, and very quick reads. Bonus points for a nice little Olive and Adam (from The Love Hypothesis) cameo. Evidently the scientific world is smaller than we think! A four out of five for me.



(As requested, review won't be published on my blog/Goodreads until 13th June, but have provided the links to where it will be)

Oh wow, where to start. Ali Hazelwood knows what she is doing, queen of romance novels. The characters and story felt familiar with that hidden twist to them, some people might not enjoy this if they don’t love her others and this had the added spice I think A LOT of people have been begging for

I’m loving the chemistry and banter of Jack and Elsie! They are so cute!!!

There’s a section where this book hit me in the feels in a personal way!! 🥰

This has become a comfort read just like The Love Hypotheses did. We also get a cameo 🥰

I didn’t want the book to end! Jack is so adorable 🥰😍