What is Love by Jen Comfort

This has made many readers happy but for me it wasn’t a good match. The book description and cover drew me in but as I started to read the first chapter, I found myself being pushed away from rather than drawn to the characters. Teddy seemed anxious and a bit of a stuffed shirt and Maxine seemed nasty, mean, and perhaps a bit of a tease. I read a few more chapters and did not become engaged so read the end and found a happy ending was in store for them but wondered how they got there so read a few chapters in the middle before giving up entirely. I wish the couple a happily ever after and the author success. Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC. This is my honest review. (2-3 Stars)

I was excited to dive into What is Love by Jen Comfort. The premise of trivia rivals falling in love had me hooked from the start. Unfortunately, the book itself didn’t live up to my expectations.

From the get-go, I struggled with the writing style. It just wasn’t my style and, in my opinion, it dragged on and on, making it difficult for me to stay engaged.

Additionally, I didn't connect with the characters. They didn’t resonate with me, which made it hard to care about their journey or the developing romance.

Ultimately, I did not finish the book. While the premise was promising, the execution fell flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for providing an ARC of this book. Despite my experience, I’m sure other readers might find it more enjoyable.

IT’S A JEOPARDY THEMED ROMCOM. OMG. I absolutely loved this book. Thank you to the author for sending an arc, even though I didn’t get a chance to read it before the book came out. I had so much fun reading this. I cannot find a single thing to critique, I just loved it so much. The characters were fantastic, the banter was great, and the book was so delightfully nerdy. Absolutely an auto-buy author… if you aren’t reading her books, you’re missing out.

Representation for ADHD is so necessary because it really can look so different for different people. Maxine spends a lot of this book talking about how studying for her is not what most academics want it to look like and there's a whole scene in this book about mind mapping. (Great scene.) Anyway, the whole time I was reading this book like, wow, I'm so lucky that my school experiences didn't look like this. I'm not sure if it's my perfectionist anxious girlie tendencies or what, but I really did spend so much of this book thinking about how the ADHD characteristics most obvious in me are wildly different than Maxine's. Anyway, I love reading books with representation for neurospicy brains and if you share that interest, What is Love? is a great option for you to pick up.

Essentially this book is about Maxine and Teddy who are rivals on a show that is NOT Jeopardy (even though it basically is) (but it's actually called Answers) and yet, are going to team up to help one another because they want to beat this guy who actually has the most wins ever on the show. Both of them want to win, but for different reasons (money related) and I found myself wanting them both to win and for both of them to be happy. The good news is that they fall in love along the way because of course they do. This book has some really quality spicy scenes that I really appreciated. I would definitely recommend it!

This was a great book. I connected with the characters. I felt engrossed with the plot. I would read another book by this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed "What Is Love?" by Jen Comfort!
I think that anyone who watches or has watched Jeopardy! at any point in their life and enjoyed it, AND who also likes a rom com book will be delighted with this book.

There's lots of humour, lovable and quirky characters, rivalry, emotional moments, banter, and so much more.
I'm aware that the author spoke with people who competed on Jeopardy to get an idea of what it's like behind the scenes and I loved how the book took us into that world, both on set and in the preparation leading up to a show appearance with all the studying that goes into it.

This book was a definite winner for me and the ending was a sheer delight!

Maxine not have had a brilliant school career due to her ADHD but she knows her trivia! When Maxine ends up being a contestant on the game show Answers! she meets Teddy who is an uptight scholar and so their feud begins. Each one winning and losing against each other throughout various tournaments. When both Maxine and Teddy are asked to come and play a championship game against other renowned winners they decide it may work in their favor to work and train together in order to become better players. But the more time Maxine and Teddy spend together training they can’t deny their attraction and growing feelings for each other. Will the game and one particular contestant get in the way? Or will Maxine and Teddy win both on and off the show?

This was a fun read!

I tried to get started on this book a couple of times. For me personally, I just had a hard time getting through it because I didn’t get as connected to the characters.

Thanks #NetGalley for the advanced copy of #WhatisLove by Jen Comfort in exchange for an honest review.

This book! I seriously can't say enough great things about this book! Read it! You will fall in love with Max and Teddy! This is going to be a contender for my best read of the year! What are you waiting for? Go out and READ IT NOW!

5 STARS!!

I absolutely loved "What is Love?" by Jen Comfort! The trivia. The rivalry. The scandal. The wanting. The knowledge. The bickering. The bantering. The spice! Maxine and Teddy... these two dopes are my new favorite main characters! I seriously loved them both so, so much. They are endlessly relatable, equal parts flawed and lovable, and their connection sizzles and scorches. I laughed the entire way through this book. Comfort's writing is flawlessly evocative. I also adored the ADHD representation where Maxine's character was concerned. Teddy is such a sweetheart. The subplot about his parents made me cry. Actually, much of this book made me cry. It just felt so authentic and so real, the characters lived-in and special. I rooted for their love, I rooted for them to overcome their differences, I rooted for everyone and everything about this book. It is SPECTACULAR, an absolute must-read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Jen Comfort, and Montlake for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

What Is Love? 💕

Listen, if Jen Comfort writes it, I’m going to read it. 💅🏼

Comfort has a gift for making her characters relatable, interesting, and absolutely hilarious! Seriously, if you want a well balanced romcom, Comfort is the author for you. While tackling heavy topics, like being neurodiverse in a world made for neurotypicals, or coming from a background that isn’t the socially excepted “norm,” Comfort still manages to bring humor and heart to her characters’ stories!!

Maxine and Teddy are both record holding champions of the hit trivia show, Answers! When they’re brought together after an explosive first meeting for a champion of champions Answers! game, they decide to team up to defeat all time champion, Hercules McKnight (he’s a troll 🤢).

The forced proximity and trivia rounds get their engines revving and they can’t help but fall for each other! 🥰

Teddy is such a starchy hero! I love him! A starchy, rule-following hero is my kryptonite, friends!! And Maxine! Loved the ADHD rep. Maxine is a tornado, a hurricane, an absolute whirlwind of chaos, with a heart of gold and the mind of a horny 12 year old. I love her. 🙏 Comfort’s heroines are always so amazing, sarcastic, flirty, hot, and just everything I love! Same goes for her heroes too! And Teddy and Maxine together? 😮‍💨 Yes, please! 🙌🔥🥵

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary arc. All opinions are my own.

I REALLY wanted to love this story, but something fell flat. I loved the idea of the game show and them being rivals, but it felt on the edge of insta-love, which is just not my thing. The characters lacked depth, especially in their relationship. It was still a fun and spicy read, but not my cup of tea.

Fairly quick read, lots of steam, no 3rd act breakup...but something was a little lacking for me. While this was rivals to lovers (a favourite trope of mine), it was also pretty much insta-love (not a fan) and I never fully understood how Maxine and Teddy figured that they were in love with each other. Lust, sure! But while there is lots of trivia, teaching, sex of all kinds, and smack-talking each other, there aren't really many (any?) actual conversations between the two of them that brought their relationship deeper.

Some of the side characters were lightly interesting but most were quite shallowly described; this was very much Max and Teddy's world and everyone else was just sketched in. All that said, it was still an enjoyable experience and I would read more by Jen Comfort.

Thanks to Netgalley for the e-ARC!

Holy smokes! Hot, nerdy, witty banter packages in a rivals to lovers jeopardy game-show premise!! Steamy open door romance!! Jen Comfort was a new to me author, and I will absolutely now be creating her own trophy self as I acquire her backlist books. She has become my new standard for neurodiverse romance joy! I hate that I slept on this author for so long!

Rating: 4.5 stars

CW: aging parent suffering from memory decline; death of a parent (off-page); addiction (gambling)

When I saw that Jen Comfort was writing a contemporary romance centered around a Jeopardy! like game show, I was immediately like SIGN ME UP. I love Jeopardy! and I love trivia. I was even on a local access trivia game show in high school because this stuff is my jam. And then when I saw this book was rivals-to-lovers, I was like DOUBLE SIGN ME UP. Plus, it also has SEXY GEOGRAPHY LESSONS, so truly, what is there not to love?

Jen Comfort is the queen of contemporary rom-com books - and they’re truly rom-coms as there is humor in these books! I love how witty and funny her writing is. I seriously laughed out loud at one point over a terrible Yukon pun. It was so bad, it was good. The situations her characters get into are so unexpected, sometimes even bonkers, but somehow it also feels like totally something that would happen to them and not that weird in the context of the story.

If you love a starchy main male character, you’ll love Theodore Ferguson the Third, aka Teddy. He’s the starchiest of starchy men. He’s an Oxford-educated professor of geography who takes trivia very seriously. But he’s also the biggest teddy bear inside - so soft and sweet. He’s terrible at taking risks and does everything by the book - so of course Maxine throws his world upside down and takes him by surprise

Maxine is the complete opposite of Teddy in every way, shape, and form. She’s a bit reckless and adventurous - she’s not afraid to take risks and speak her mind. Some people may describe her as “quirky,” but I loved that she was not afraid to be herself and fully embraced all aspects of her personality. Maxine has ADHD, and I think Comfort did a fantastic job with the portrayal (Comfort herself has ADHD so she gets it). Maxine’s ADHD is integral to her character and one of the motivating forces behind her success on Answers! as she wanted to prove that you don’t have to be neurotypical or have a prestigious education to be considered smart.

These two really don’t seem like a match on paper, but the chemistry is there from the jump and it just works. Their personalities are designed to clash, but I loved that they didn’t start off as adversaries immediately. You get a hint of what their relationship could have been - if Maxine didn’t end his win streak on Answers!, the second longest in the show’s history. I loved how Comfort incorporated the game show rivalry into the romance. There is so much unaddressed sexual tension from their first meeting that really comes to a head as they spend time coaching each other to address each other’s Answers! weaknesses.

I also enjoyed how the romance developed during their coaching sessions. And these coaching sessions are totally not what you’d expect since some lessons involve jumping out of airplanes and others focus on building mind palaces. But I felt like it gave Maxine and Teddy a chance to get to know the other’s strengths and weaknesses and embrace all of them without judgment. I loved how during the coaching, we got to see Teddy be one of the few people who really “gets” Maxine. He doesn’t try to fit her into a regular mold. He would make changes to his routine or teaching strategies to accommodate what works best for her. He doesn’t give up on her, and that’s something Maxine really values. It was so sweet and led to a really nice intimacy within their relationship.

Now, this romance may be sweet, but it’s also incredibly HOT. The amazing chemistry between Maxine and Teddy definitely translated into some very sexy scenes. And I think this is the horniest book Jen Comfort has written, and I’m here for it. Seriously, who knew geography could be so sexy? I was literally fanning myself after that lesson - and I read a lot of romance so it has to be very sexy for me to feel the need to fan myself. Also, who knew sky-diving could lead to some very sexy times under a parachute?

The book's pacing was spot-on. The big Answers! tournament of champions brought plenty of additional tension to the story, especially when Maxine and Teddy become united against a common enemy - Hercules McKnight, the longest-reigning champ of Answers! who is also sleaze-tastic. I loved how Comfort seamlessly balanced the game show tournament with the romance and character progression. The plot threw a few fun curveballs at the end (which felt like a classic Jen Comfort move), but I really enjoyed it led to some big drama (but not big relationship drama!). Honestly, this whole story was just so fun. I was just as invested in Answers! tournament as I was the romance and I felt so torn as I wanted both Teddy and Maxine to win the game. But Comfort wraps up the book perfectly and I was left with a big dopey grin on my face at the end.

If you’re looking for an incredibly fun, yet very sexy contemporary rom-com, look no further than What is Love? This book was a pure delight from beginning to end with fantastic characters and a really sweet romance, plus some fun bonkers situations along the way. After loving Midnight Duet, Comfort is quickly becoming one of my go-to contemporary romance authors when I’m looking for pure escapism in my romances and I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you to Montlake/Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts, ideas. and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is a fun story about a self educated woman named Maxine and an Oxford professor named Teddy who compete against each other on a Jeopardy type trivia game show. When one of the all time great players comes back to play, Maxine and Teddy join forces to fill in the blanks in their knowledge. When it looks like something might be fishy with the ex champ, they work together to find out what’s going on.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Jen Comfort is now an auto-buy author for me. Maxine and Teddy's rivalry is top-tier, as is the relateable way that they both bring out the others competitive nature. I learnt SO MUCH from this book also, and as an ADHD learner like Maxine, because I learnt it in a fun and fascinating way I'll likely retain it! Maxine as a character hit close to home for me and I loved that representation. Teddy's character development was so genuine and soft, I really loved how I discovered more about him as Maxine did too... It made for a deliciously tender read, while still bringing all the steamy spicy good times of a Jen Comfort romance novel. Highly, highly recommend!

Jen Comfort’s WHAT IS LOVE? is everything you could want and more in your romance. Give me rivals-to-lovers and forced proximity and neurodivergent rep and allllll the nerdy talk!!! Not only did I have the absolute best time reading this, but I got to learn along the way… and in a fun way!?! I feel like Maxine would be a big fan. I loved the development of Maxine and Teddy’s relationship. There was so much care and comfort and intentionality - it was beautiful to watch their story progress in a way that felt real and natural. Now, off I got to tell all my friends to read this, so we can geek out about it together!!

Jen Comfort is one of my all-time favorite authors, ever since Midnight Duet. She has such an absurd and fun sense of humor that you don’t often see in romance. Her latest book was delightful!

Thought this sounded like a cute and fun concept but I didn’t feel the chemistry between Maxine and Teddy.