An Indie Next and Library Reads Pick!
Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain.
The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.
Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he’s the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job.
Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
An Indie Next and Library Reads Pick!
Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain.
The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.
Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he’s the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job.
Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
Reviews-
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Starred review from April 3, 2023
Bestseller Hazelwood (Loathe to Love You) delivers a decidedly quirky and thoroughly charming tale. The fake dating trope gets a techy update via Faux, an app connecting clients with pretend partners for hire, through which Boston adjunct professor Elsie Hannaway finds side gigs while she searches for a better-paying job in theoretical physics. While interviewing for her dream job at MIT, Elsie’s worlds collide: her favorite fake-dating client’s brother, whom she knew as Jack Smith, is actually Dr. Jonathan Smith-Turner, a legendary young physicist whose views are at odds with Elsie’s. The ensuing STEM-themed enemies-to-lovers romance is simply a delight, though it’s complicated by the fact that Jack believes Elsie is his brother’s girlfriend. Meanwhile, sunshiny Elsie’s imposter syndrome rings true as she navigates the cutthroat world of academia (“STEM academia is 98 percent politics and 1 percent science”) and learns that her mentor and idol has feet of clay. Geeky science jokes, humorous student emails, and expertly delivered snarky banter enhance the narrative. Readers will cheer for Jack and Elsie and their bumpy road to happily ever after. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. -
Starred review from May 1, 2023
Adjunct professor and theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway is tired of barely surviving. Physics is all she ever wanted to do, but she's spending so much time teaching, commuting, grading, and answering student emails that she can't work on her research. In order to pay her bills (including for the insulin that keeps her alive), she moonlights as a fake girlfriend. It's an easy job--until she meets Jack Smith, a repeat client's hot and annoying older brother. Elsie can read anyone and reflect back a person they'll like. But she can't read Jack, and he seems to hate her on sight. When she learns that Jack is an experimental physicist and on the hiring committee for a job that would actually pay her a living wage, with health insurance, she's terrified that he'll blow her cover. Elsie is prepared to fight for the job she wants, but she isn't ready for the fact that Jack seems to like the real Elsie or that she might actually like him too. VERDICT This banter-filled opposites-attract romance from Hazelwood (Loathe To Love You) is upbeat and realistic, with instant chemistry between the protagonists and an intricate plot. Highly recommended.--Heather Miller Cover
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Starred review from April 15, 2023
The reigning queen of STEMinist rom-coms returns with a tale set in the cutthroat world of elite academia full of delightful humor, realistic emotions, and the messy search for self-acceptance. Theoretical physicist (and chronic people pleaser) Elsie Hannaway's career could shift dramatically, from barely making ends meet as an adjunct to potentially joining the physics department at MIT as a tenured professor. There's only one person in her way. Experimental physicist Jack Smith-Turner has had a bit of a crush on Elsie since they first met at a family gathering, and is surprised to discover she's a candidate at MIT. He knows the hiring process is rigged and not in Elsie's favor. Jack is infamous for publishing a paper that nearly destroyed the reputation of Elsie's mentor and riled theoretical physicists everywhere, so Elsie is on her guard. Hilarious misunderstandings and well-paced, clever plot twists keep the pages turning as these adversaries transform into lovers with chemistry that's off the charts. Hazelwood is perfecting her best-selling formula, incorporating fake dating (The Love Hypothesis, 2021) and enemies-to-lovers (Love on the Brain, 2022) in a rom-com certain to please her fans and all who enjoy smart, sexy love stories. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hazelwood's best-selling blend of brainy and sexy has romance and rom-com fans dizzy with delight.COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from June 1, 2023
Two physicists get off on the wrong foot, but they learn to give each other second chances--in both work and love. Elsie Hannaway is a people-pleaser. When she meets anyone, her first instinct is to give them the answer she knows they want to hear so as not to make waves. This trait has allowed her to model herself into the perfect fake girlfriend, working a part-time gig for an app where she gets paid to accompany single guys to excruciating family events. It's easy money, and Elsie has managed to separate her fake dating world from her stressful (and badly paid) life as an adjunct professor of theoretical physics at three Boston universities...until now. When she comes face to face with Jack Smith, her current fake boyfriend's older brother, she realizes that he's also her professional nemesis, the experimental physicist who ruined her mentor's career and turned theoretical physics into the laughingstock of the science community. Naturally, he's also standing in the way of what could very well be her dream job at MIT, since he's on the hiring committee. Elsie's first instinct is to battle Jack for the spot she wants, no matter the cost. What she's less prepared for are the lingering looks he gives her or the way he always sees right through the facades she slips on to make herself appear more likable. Fighting in increasingly close quarters, however, only helps Elsie see all of Jack's hidden angles. Letting Jack, her enemy, get to know her might be the biggest test of Elsie's willingness to let down her walls, too. Hazelwood's latest STEM-set novel may be her best yet, addressing not only discrimination among different realms of physics, but the unconscious bias Elsie has to continually fight as a woman in her field. Elsie and Jack's banter is electric and hilarious from the start, and Jack earns the mantle of a swoonworthy hero who keenly discerns the heart of his love interest even when Elsie doesn't always represent herself genuinely. Their happily-ever-after is a standout, too--these two are content to take things at their own pace, a refreshing narrative choice that doesn't conform to every assumption of the genre. A dynamic rivals-to-lovers romance.COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
