Quick Summary:
🧪 STEM romance
♥️ Academic rivals to lovers
👫 Fleshed our characters
👯‍♀️ Strong friendship between women
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I think Ali has done a fantastic job of creating these two main characters, who have a lot of work to do on themselves, especially Elsie. Their path towards being better versions of themselves, while working through their own challenges around romantic relationships, was realistic and touching and relatable. I like how this wasn't your typical 'enemies to lovers' and that Elsie and Jack worked through that aspect of their relationship earlier on in their story. I enjoyed how Jack really took the time to get to know Elsie and develop that trust and intimacy. Elsie grew so much throughout the story and there's always something special about a character truly finding their true self and happiness in the process.
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It may sound similar to The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain, but it definitely stands out on its own. I especially loved the theoretical vs experimental physicist angle! Love, Theoretically is Ali's best book yet!

Thanks to #netgalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC of this book.

**This review, with a more detailed analysis of characters and themes, will be posted to Instagram and Goodreads closer to the release date, as requested by the publisher.

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for allowing me to read this eArc. To even be able to apply for this, let alone read it is a dream come true.

This… this is my favourite Ali Hazelwood book of all time. I love how witty she is when she writes, and the way that you can see exactly how the character thinks, I love it so much.

Although I do still think Jack Smith is one of the best main characters she has ever written, Jack was still not my favourite male MC - Adam still holds my heart.

Jack’s communication skills, and the way he treats Elsie, nothing can beat it. Their connection, and the way they learn to be with each other is amazing and tugs on my heart strings. The banter they also have with each other is something everyone would love.

Elsie was a very complex and beautifully written MC. I loved watching her journey and watching her grow into the person that she was supposed to be.

I don’t want to spoil it too much, so I won’t go on about it too much more. Just know the relationship in this book, and the journey they go to get there is absolutely amazing. Once you have picked this book up you will never want to put it down.

I absolutely LOVED and OBSESSED over The Love Hypothesis so when I was approved to read the ARC of ‘Love, Theoretically’ I was beyond excited. It did not disappoint in the slightest. I even think I might prefer this to The Love Hypothesis: it’s definitely a close one!
Elsie - what an amazing main character. As someone who sometimes struggles in social situations, to see a character grow into accepting themselves as they are, rather than try to please others and be what they want you to be, was so refreshing and written authentically. I adored reading about Jack and how their relationship together grew organically - it gives you all the feels. He is definitely going to be added to my list of best book boyfriends!

I know that Ali mentions at the end of the book that this book included more of the ‘academia’ side of things - I personally enjoyed this. It made the story feel more real and as someone who completed a science undergraduate degree, it brought all those memories back and who doesn’t love nostalgia?

And I’ll end by saying - that Olive and Adam cameo. Loved it.

I fell down the Ali Hazelwood rabbit hole once again.. who knew I needed another extra tall, muscly, enemies to lovers rom-com. This is the thing with Ali Hazelwood’s books they are the perfect guilty pleasure being easy to read, loveable characters with lots of growth and set within STEM. This one is all about Elsie who is a theoretical physicist working within a job she doesn’t like, which pays poorly and her constant struggle to please everyone. When she gets an interview for a job she would love, she discovers she will have to fight for that position and the reality of that fight hits when she sees who will be part of the interview team. .

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this in advance.

Love Theoretically is Ali Hazelwood’s third novel. It is told in first person from the POV of Elise Hannaway. The story follows Elise who is a fake girlfriend one day but an adjunct professor another day. Elsie’s fake lives are found out by Jack Smith. He is the broody older brother of Elsie’s favourite client and she can’t help feeling an attraction for him. There is a rivalry between them because Jack is an experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career. Elsie has a dream job but Jack sits on the hiring committee at MIT. Elsie and Jack can’t help falling into each other’s orbit. I can see this becoming another hit for Hazelwood. It is similar to her other books so if you are a big fan of those you will love this. It has great rep for women in STEM and Elsie has diabetes and this is mentioned quite a bit. The writing was easy to read and Elsie and Jack had chemistry. The sex scenes were very well done. It’s not a new favourite for me but I enjoyed it. I want to love Hazelwood’s books but in general I just don’t think they are for me. Some of the things that happened just felt a little silly/annoying to me and the name Jack Smith isn’t very inspired for a romance hero. I just didn’t connect with it as a favourite. I’m going to give this 3.5 stars rounded up to a 4. I did enjoy this and I do think people will love it

I really liked this book. A little bit more than Love on the Brain, a little bit less than The Love Hypothesis. I stayed up until 4am reading up to the middle of it. Enemies to lovers is my favourite trope and loved the banter between the characters. It didn't rely too heavily on the miscommunication trope this time, Jack was a lot more upfront about his feelings and his obsession with Elsie was cute. I enjoyed it, although the ending was a little lackluster for me. But I did like the Olive/Adam cameo.

Firstly, I am so excited that NetGalley approved me for an arc of this book. I didn't expect it when I requested. Definitely made my week!

Ahem, back to the review!

Straight away I got the feeling that this wasn't like Hazelwoods other works. It's better. It's as though she has truly found her style and is having more fun with it.

Love, Theoretically is hilarious from the first page, our protagonist, Elsie is a whirlwind, overthinker extraordinaire, who is not afraid to overshare. But in usual Hazelwood style, she is representing women of STEM, incredibly smart, especially in her chosen field.

I've heard grumbles about this being exactly the same tropes and style as Hazelwoods other novels, I do not share those sentiments. At all ever. For me, this is Ali Hazelwoods best novel. It is perfection.

This was the book I didn't know I needed. It is accepting and honest and raw. It has characters who have a personality trait of 'loves cheese' which I can connect with on a cellular level.
Writing that wraps you up and doesn't let go, perfectly spiced spicy scenes and the connection between Elsie and Jack is everything.

This is a must read.

A very funny and ultimately heartwarming enemies-to-lovers read set in the apparently intense world of physics academia! Had a great time.

Thanks Netgalley and Little Brown Books for the e-Arc for my honest review and opinions.

This is the second book I've read by Ali Hazelwood, the first one was Love Hypothesis, which I really enjoyed I brought it on my Kindle for 99p. Love Theoretically follows a similar formula to Love Hypothesis it's an rivals x lovers trope and fake dating. The book starts with Elise already in a compromising situation with the love interest Jack Smith-Turner, the story then rewinds and tells you how she got there and then moves forward. Elise was an interesting character as she was flawed but sassy, she has Type 1 Diabetes and is a struggling Academic, a long side her friend CeCe.
The story was fun to read but I did find that the MC was a bit whiny the story fell a little short for I wanted more interactions between Elise and CeCe, plus her mentor he didn't feel like he was overbearing and manipulative because Elise only had a few interactions with him in the story. Jack and Elise's attractions were popping but it took way too long for them to get together I felt the romance took second place to the STEM academia drama and that the author wanted the reader to focus more of the struggles of graduates and the outdated thinking of these male dominated careers.
If you like her first two books in the STEM academia verse you will enjoy this as well Olive and Adam do make an short brief appearance, I wanted more interactions with Greg and Jack plus Elise in her work environment i didn't feel like she was under that much pressure because the emails were borderline silly and Elise just plodded along with a mixture of drama and second guessing her feelings towards Jack and her Mentor.
I gave it four stars as it was a good read and I learnt a little bit more about physics academia and the challenges people face especially women in a male dominated field, plus it was interesting to read a character with a chronic illness but it didn't stop them from focusing on her ambitions it actually was one of the catalyst of making sure she worked harder.
Sizzling chemistry and fun to read.

Listen, I just love a romcom. If you liked Ali Hazelwood's other reads, you'll be very happy with her latest. A dash of physics humour, eclectic and protective friends, and a swoon-worthy book boyfriend combine to create a heartwarming story I couldn't put down.

The slow build of the characters was a highlight here, and it was great to see representation from the aro/ace community too. A big fan of Celeste, and now I want a book about her and Kirk (pretty please?). The plot felt a bit disjointed in places, but I think that may be in part to the layout being slightly mixed up on Kindle in certain spots, and I'm sure the final version won't have any of this.

I’ve loved all this authors books and this one was fantastic! Thanks to the publisher for the copy. What an adorable book! The author has a great gift for characterisation - nuanced, interesting, believable people but created with a charming lightness of touch. Thanks to a great author we have warmth, wisdom and emotional intelligence, lots of romance, this book was a huge pleasure to read!

Elsie Hannaway earned her doctorate in theoretical physics a year ago and is going through the drudgery of an adjunct professor who teaches class after class. The pay is poor and the benefits are almost nonexistent. Since her university days, she's taken on a side gig of fake dating through an application called Faux and that's the only way she has managed to stay afloat. She has one repeat dater, Greg, who she's gotten to know rather well over many months. She's met his family and is most bothered by Greg's older brother, Jack, who seems to constantly be finding fault with her. When she applies and gets through several hoops of a position at MIT, she appears for the interview and meets her arch-nemesis, Jonathan Smith-Turner, who wrote a piece damning theoretical physicists years ago and causing havoc for many in the field, including her mentor. But the real shock in this meeting is that the arch-nemesis is also Greg's brother Jack, who thought the girl his brother was dating was a librarian (due to her faking a few details of her personal life for safety reasons).

This is the first book I've read by Ali Hazelwood and I mostly enjoyed it. I do like reading books about women in the STEM fields and this one did have quite a few good points. Both Elsie and Jack have a few issues in their tanks that make them behave in ways that don't benefit them. Elsie is called out regularly by Jack, who seems to be the only one to see through the charades she plays with just about everyone she meets. Jack's issues aren't quite so obvious until we get further into the story. I do like the way they work through these issues and in Elsie's case, it's recognised that everything can't be fixed by the end of the book. Both characters are good but flawed ones and there's a lot of room for development which I feel is delivered here. There are some really enjoyable side characters like Cece, Elsie's roommate and Millicent, grandma to Jack. You kind of want to read more about them too. There's also the politics that abound in academia and I think there are some good points to be made.

On a less positive note, I'm not sure how valid the physics-related aspects of the books are. Early on in the story, I feel like Elsie is all about throwing out random physics-related topics and hoping it all fits together in a way that works for the story. This seems to settle down further into the story and I am sort of able to put that thought aside and just concentrate on the character development of both Elsie and Jack. With regards to the politics in academia, I do find there's an awful lot of concentration on on the negative aspects, particularly in regard to the treatment of women. I would like to think that some areas have improved to some degree but sometimes it feels like everything is still in the dark ages for women. I guess I'd like there to be a bit more improvement, at least in some areas to show that women have it better than they did. I'd like to think a place like Harvard isn't still completely filled with misogynistic and sexist academics, which seems to be implied here.

In any case, I enjoyed this book a lot and managed to read it in a couple of days. I recommend this to readers who like good character development, romances and positive representation of women and men in the STEM fiields. I give this 3.5 stars overall. Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for giving me an advanced reader copy. I have provided this review voluntarily.

It looked simple at first: rivals to lovers in academia. But in truth, it’s SO MUCH more than that. It’s a rivalry between two different sides of the physics battlefield, and the main characters stood on each side of it. It’s about self acceptance and setting boundaries. It’s about compromise.

Elsie is a people-pleaser, always putting everyone first before herself, constantly shifting her personality to be liked. She doesn't care about her needs as long as people like her. She could read people like an open book, but not with Jack. NO matter how hard she observed, she couldn’t crack him, and it made her anxious.

On the other hand… Jack got a lot to unpack from his past, and it made his guard always up. Together, they were a mess, but they’re slowly trying to navigate their situationship amid academia drama. It’s kinda slow-burn for a “romance book” level, but it fits the story perfectly. Their dynamics were nice, and so were their developments. Elsie is a “mirrorball” to “Bejeweled” personified (iykyk) and I’m so proud of her. And Jack, even though I don’t really like his mediocre name, his personality was anything but mediocre. I think Elsie-Jack is my fav couple in Hazelwoodverse(?) so far. God, I love them.

I felt like this book was specifically written for me. There’s a lot of trivial things I love. Adam-Olive's cameo and Bee’s presence just outside the pages were fun to read. And as someone who loved physics above all subjects in high school, this book made me feel nostalgic. Ah, good times🥲...

If I see someone saying that this book is The Love Hypothesis 3.0 (like many who've said that Love on the Brain is TLH 2.0 even though it’s clearly NOT NEARLY THE SAME) I’m just gonna assume that they hate science. End of discussion.

Ali, I hope you keep getting better at writing. I rarely enjoy adult romance but after loving Love on the Brain and Love, Theoretically, I decided that I will read every book you write.

Wow! I have loved all of Ali Hazelwood’s books but this is definitely my favourite so far. Could not put it down, totally invested in the characters. The romance was handled PERFECTLY. I laughed, I cried, I swooned. Properly funny, breathlessly romantic, absolutely five stars.

I just finished reading ‘Love on the brain’ which I gave 5 stars. I was so excited to be approved for this arc! Can I just say, wow. Ali Hazelwood does enemy to lovers so well. Her female characters are always so relatable, being the perfect blend of down to earth and badass. I immediately fall in love with her love interests. Elsie and Jack were the perfect pairing and I loved where the story went. Also I have no science background and know nothing about it. How have these books made me so interested in the subject?!

I adore Ali Hazelwood's books, but this fell short for me. I felt disconnected from the characters and even though the communication was good between the two, I didn't love their story. It's still a good romance novel, but I don't feel that it lives up to the hype of Hazelwood's previous work. I'll come back to it in time, and try again.

This is a great story and one that surprised me. I haven’t read this author before and was a little hesitant as there was so much hype about the other stories that I nearly avoided this one, I am so glad that I picked this up. It surprised me at every turn and made me smile, I loved the science talk, and even the academia talk. Elsie is someone who you would love to help, you want her to do well, once you understand where she is coming from and why she is so many people, you cant help but care for her. Jack is a complex one as he is great, but he has that history… This is a great story and one you need to read, even if it’s just for Hedgie. I do plan on going back and trying the others as if they are half as good as this one I will love them just as much.

I rather enjoyed this quirky romance. The content revolving around physics, the subject that brings our protagonists together, wasn’t particularly difficult to wrap my head around, but it did well to create a very unique romance. Elsie’s character, despite her great intellect and success, came across rather childlike? It made the relationship with Jack seem somewhat strange, but I still enjoyed it

My first ever Ali Hazelwood book and I was completely blown away 🥵

Elsie is a theoretical physicist who also does fake dating on the side, but when she meets her fake boyfriend’s brother she instantly hates him but couldn’t be more attracted to him.

Elsie and Jack’s relationship is a slow burning romance but oh my god it’s incredible. Ali really knows how to write the perfect man. He’ll call you sweetheart and give you sweet kisses but also knows his way around the bedroom🥵

The steam is in this book was definitely next level, I had to put the book down a few times!

Thank you to little brown books and Ali Hazelwood for letting me this amazing book.

I didn't think going in I'd come to this conclusion, but I think 'Love, Theoretically', might just be the best book Ali Hazelwood has written so far.
It's certainly the book I connected with the most.
Without going too much into plot spoilers, the characters in this latest STEMinist romcom felt so undeniably real. Elsie was so, so beautifully written, and a real testament to Hazelwood's writing style. She felt unique, and her problems and inner monologue were just written so well, so heartbreakingly realistically.
Jack, too, was I think written specifically to break me. After I hit the fifty percent mark I read pretty much the entirety of the rest of the novel in one sitting, and a lot of that has to do with Jack. He's a perfectly written love interest--beautiful, charming, respectful, smitten. And yet, also, indescribably real. He's by no means perfect--he's flawed, and he grows as a character throughout the novel. He matures, and it's so, so lovely to see.
The rep in this novel is also something I feel like I have to mention, because it was so well written and yet unexpected. The inclusion of aro/ace spec characters was a lovely addition, and it's yet another reason to pick up this book.
This is everything I think I could want in a romance novel, and I applaud Ali Hazelwood for exceeding my expectations yet again. I cannot wait for this book to be out in the world to be enjoyed.

(The biggest thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for this eARC!)