Bel is the new girl at a distinguished private school for her senior year. When she reveals a talent for engineering she is pushed by her teacher to join the robotics club. Here she meets team captain and golden boy Teo, but after a promising first impression they don’t get along as well as they first thought.

This book definitely relies more on its characters growth than on big reveals or plot twists. But it manages to keep a fast pace, making this a perfect read for anyone in a reading slump (like myself).

The writing is beautiful yet simple (in a good way) and the dialogue doesn’t feel forced at any point, instead it feels realistic and natural.

I was first intrigued by the beautiful cover and I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint.

At it’s core this book is a love letter to girls in STEM.

It is about being 18 and scared. Scared of failure, scared of love, scared of the future. It’s about trying to find your place as a new girl at a new school, as a women in STEM, as a young person in the world.
And I believe it handles these topics very well.

P.s.: I need DEFINITELY a sequel of them in College (or maybe a Jamie/Neelam college spinoff?)

Big thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and I’m leaving an honest review.
It was a fast and easy read, with some really cute moments.
It was written a lot as if you’re reading exactly how they think things and how they say them in normal everyday conversations (please tell me this makes sense to anyone else as well, because it does make sense in my head) and not as if they had been adapted for written conversations, which might feel chaotic at times. I found it refreshing to see this kind of thing inside a book but a few times it was a little too exhausting, and some dialogues felt unnecessarily awkward.
Still a very enjoyable read.

4.25 stars !! big thanks to NetGalley for providing an arc for an honest review.
My mechanical romance follows Bel, who moved into a school and was requested to join a robotics club and got scouted by Teo, who picks her on his team to compete for the nationals against other schools. I loved the representation of the main characters, Bel (Filipina mc) and Teo (Jewish mc). Reading this book was so much fun and I loved their funny moments and how they help each other out to provide solutions to their robot. I'm joyed to read dual perspectives from them. Other than the fact that this is romance-focused, I got engaged with this book because of how they're both struggling with their lives and how they're keeping up with them. I related a lot to Bel more because of her current situation with her separated parents and how she's stressed from college applications. Other than that, it brings a lot of topics about misogyny because of how people shame women for joining a "boy-thing" activity.

I loved Bel and Teo's moments before and after their relationship, it was so fun & cute to read when they were helping each other out, how he kept reassuring her that everything will be fine, and their moments when they started dating.

I enjoyed this book... well for the most part. Women in stem, and a robotics club? sounds fun. I did like a couple of the characters too. Jamie, bel, and Lora were nice, But I really disliked Teo. I just didn't vibe with him tbh.
The plot was nice enough, but I just Didn't connect with the romance. Don't get me wrong, they were cute but I didn't love LOVE them.
This book was also described as academic rivals to lovers, which It really isn't? like they clashed a few times, but they never felt like rivals.
I also felt like the last 20% of the book was seriously rushed. The last chapters and epilogue just left me feeling so unsatisfied. I would've preferred if there was say 20-30 more pages in it.

6.5/ 10 would recommend

This book was so cute!! I loved it so so much and reccomend it to anybody wanting a fast paced romance.
- Enemies to lovers in stem?? yes
- Representation of women of color in stem? yes (Filipino)
- Character growth? phenomenal
- Plot? also phenomenal

4.25/5 STARS
This was such a cute book! Such a wholesome read. I enjoyed it very much even though I didn’t understand most of their “building robots” part because I’m an English major but still I was screaming and all hyped for the competitions.
It was such an easy, fun read with a very interesting plot. I loved the characters and their dynamics and how almost every character gets a development. It made me love them more. High school, especially in senior year, is all about truly discovering yourself and what you want to do for your future. It can be an enormous struggle. God knows how much I struggled, but in the end, you will make a decision that will feel it’s the best one. Bel is very relatable. I feel like I saw some of me in her. She is not afraid to stand up for herself. Bel’s character and her journey were well written. I honestly at first was annoyed with Teo but this boy makes sympathizing with him very easy. He is flawed but the more you learn about him it's going to be easy to love. As a couple, Bel and Teo were adorable!! I wished we got to see them go on their first date, but still, I devoured every single moment they had together. The rivals to friends to lovers relationship were amazing. You see the progress of their relationship and I was giggling at their every interaction. The side characters were well written and loveable. However, as much as I understood Neelam why she acts the way she does, I still think that her reactions were overdone. Dash is the sweet boy. I want to protect him. He is THAT funny and cool best friend.
I gained some knowledge about robotics and the best thing in the book is I the epilogue!! It was so cute. Overall, would highly recommend if you like academic rivals to lovers, women in stem dual POVs and fluffy romance
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

It has been a while since I read a YA book and I enjoyed reading this one! It was a cute, fun, and fluffy romance. I loved the enemies to lovers (or academic rivals to lovers) trope. In this book, we follow Bel, a transfer student in her senior year navigating her way in life with college applications, friendships, and family relationships. Bel's teacher sees her potential in engineering and encourages her to join the robotics club. She meets Teo, the captain of the club and to no surprise, they don't get along. Despite their rocky start, they eventually start to get along as they work together in the robotics club and their friendship begins to blossom into something more. I really like the dynamic between the two, especially the banter. Apart from the romance, I loved how authentic it was, touching on topics such as the struggles of women in STEM and the journey to discover your gift and further your passion.
Thank you to Netgalley, Holiday House, and Alexene Farol Follmuth for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a cute, wholesome high school romance!!

First of all, the diversity of the characters! Yes, yes and YES! The female lead is half Filipino, the male lead is half Mexican, there is mention of Korean food and Holi (an Indian festival). *Back in the days*, we did not have such a wide range of representation in teen/YA books, how incredible it is to finally see diversity in books now!

The premise of this book is about a young girl in STEM and how she is patronised by male students and her male teacher. Even if there were no intended ill-will, just an unconscious act of asking a girl if she “needs help” when you would not ask a guy the same shows how deeply-rooted the stereotype that “girls are not as good as guys” is.

It is just personal preference that I gave it 3⭐️s instead of higher. I did get lost with the tech and robotics talk, but that is just because I am clueless when it comes to this stuff. I appreciate how the author incorporates these tech elements in, as it made the characters and plot so much more real! Also, this is obviously targeted at a younger audience. However, reading this innocent high school romance made my old heart so happy. 🥲

All in all, a great read that I would recommend to a younger teen/YA audience!

Thank you Netgalley, Holiday House and Alexene Farol Follmuth for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 GLOWING STARS

nerds are hot. UM, YES THEY ARE!!!

god, this book makes me feel SO neon-bright. this was literally the best YA rom-com i've ever read. i sobbed, i laughed, i cried. these characters mean the world to me and their journeys are so so special. the main character, bel, is a badass who wears jeans with sparrows on them and has a knack for engineering and design. when one of her teachers sees potential in her and encourages her to apply to be on her new high school's robotics team (which is set up extremely similarly throughout the novel to FIRST Robotics, a real program that i was in throughout high school), she meets local heartthrob teo luna. teo is fawned over by every girl within a six mile radius of him, but he struggles with a desire to fix everyone else's problems and frequently takes on too much responsibility. he's also very arrogant (especially about his robot designs)... except bel doesn't take any of his shit!!! nor does teo let bel get away with not learning actually robotics. and they start working together, and their relationship is just so endearing, and they are SO CUTE oh my god. this book is just everything. AND IT'S DUAL-POV, AND TEO BASICALLY FALLS IN LOVE FIRST AND I JUST. AHH

EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY

[4.5 stars]

Thank you, NetGalley, holiday house, and Alexene Farol Follmuth, also known as Olivie Blake, for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

In short, I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK

academic rival to lovers? mc of color? women in stem? NEED I SAY MORE?!?!
this book 100% exceeded my expectations considering it was the first-ever YA romance book I've read.

Bel Maier
I related to her on so many different levels. She doesn't know what she wants to do going forward with her life or what she wants to study in college. Until her teacher suggests she joins the robotics team where she falls in love with engineering even though the whole team basically doesn't want her there.

Teo Luna
I also related to Teo multiple different times and for me relating to not one but BOTH characters were new. At the beginning of the book, Teo kind of reminds me of Connor Cobalt from the addicted/Calloway series. Very suck in his ways and only has one goal, SUCCESS. He's the team leader of the robotics team and during tryouts picks Bel to join the team despite the other member's objections as he sees potential in Bel.

Teo helps Bel out with learning various things about robotics and engineering. From there, their relationship grows and it was so ADORABLE and made my heart all happy, warm, and fluffy.

I loved the meaning behind the book that women and girls can be a part of robotics and stem also and it's not just for guys and boys. I loved seeing Bel's growth and this whole book was just overall fantastic and focused on not only romance or robotics but multiple different things.

This book did take me a bit to get into, but I am glad that I continued with it. It was a really cute book, and who doesn't love about reading about women in STEM?
While this book is shorter than the other books that I read, there is nothing that should have been changed. I think that there was just enough detail to make the story compelling and the characters good!

Okay I'll be honest, in the beginning of this book it took me a while to get into it. With that, I am SO GLAD I DID. It checks all the boxes: Dual POV, Enemies to lovers, AND Women in STEM. We love to see it!

I usually stray away from YA. However this book was much more than your "typical" YA romance. It had a lot more to it. The characters were compelling, especially the female lead! This book definitely exceed expectations and I would strongly recommend.

thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

my mechanical romance? more like my mechanical breakdown !! omg this book was one of my favorite reads of this year so far!

first off, i loved loved LOVED the characters. from the moment i was introduced to bel i was immediately drawn to her. to me, she was incredibly likeable and relatable - with her creative fashion sense and lack of enthusiasm regarding her future beyond high school, i felt myself connecting to her character in a way i don't always relate to characters. then, teo - a cheeky little arrogant nerd, who was also really sweet and i loved seeing his development going from that boy who prided himself on his work ethic and doing everything himself to opening himself to the perspectives of others and accepting their help. both of these characters worked great as being the main characters, and i'm so happy we got to see both of their perspectives in this book. but the greatness of the characters was not limited to just these two main characters; i also really enjoyed their friend group! i loved the diversity of the friend group and the different personalities of all of them (btw, dash and i are best friends !). their ensemble was lovely, and i desperately wish i could join their friend group (is there a friendship application anywhere ??)

now, for the romance: I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! the development of bel and teo's relationship, from being not-so-eager teammates to friends and partners to being significant others, didn't feel too rushed to me nor too slow. it felt very natural and realistic, and it was so so adorable omg. plus, i really appreciated the fact that they approached the conflict within their relationship in a mature manner; i feel that isn't always the case in ya romances, but i was pleasantly surprised that both bel and teo were emotionally mature here.

some of the other things i enjoyed about this book included the conversation of women in STEM. i think Follmuth did a great job at showcasing the struggles girls and women face in a heavily-male dominated field. another thing i liked was how the book explored bel and teo's relationships with their families and friends and teachers, and how all of those aspects affected them as individuals. i felt it added a great deal to bel and teo's characterization and personal development.

all in all, as an avid ya contemporary consumer, i found this book to be a wonderful contribution to my love of ya contemporaries. it was fluffy, moving, and engaging - i highly recommend everyone read it!

This was super cute, I liked the journey Bel went through in discovering something she's passionate about and overcoming the idea that robotics and science is lame because her old friends thought so. The romance was very sweet and I thought it was a nice innocent one for younger readers.

I was very hesitant at first to pick this when I found out this was written by the same woman who wrote The Atlas Six since I did not really enjoy that one. To my surprise, I loved this book!

- enemies to lovers
- women of color in STEM
- diverse and interesting characters

Overall, I enjoyed this. It was wholesome, adorable, and just a sweet young adult romance. It kind of dragged a little bit in the beginning but mostly I was entertained and found myself laughing at some parts.


(eARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher)

this is a very cute read!! i think the pacing was a bit weird but i really liked the setting we need more academic setting in stem !!

This truly was so much fun to read! I loved the way this was marketed as a STEM romance and it truly was one! I didn't get all the physics-y talk but I was grateful it was there. I love both the characters so much and the dynamic between them. I love how the author managed to write such differently complex characters that complemented each other regardless, I think my only issue was with the pacing. I was hoping for things to play out more, especially towards the end, It was all a little too rushed for me, but nevertheless really good! The quotes were all so incredibly cute too. In all, I definitely would recommend :)

When Bel’s teacher convinces (read: forces) her to join the robotics team, Bel has no idea what to do. Even worse, everyone on the team ignores her! Well, all except Mateo, the captain, who thinks that Bel can really help the team - until she disagrees with his ideas.

First of all, a STEM romance? YES. As someone who took engineering for years and who has close friends on the robotics team, I loved all the engineering representation in this book. For someone who doesn’t know many mechanical terms, however, there were parts that were a bit confusing. I would’ve liked there to be more explanations for the technical terms.

I really enjoyed how Bel is just learning about robotics and finding her passion for it. I’ve read stories of how the female MC is super talented in the engineering field, but Bel is just starting to explore engineering, and she is still a flawed student who has much to learn. Bel’s character and her journey was really well written.

One thing I really loved is that by the end of the book, Bel still wasn’t an engineering genius. She had so much to learn still and she acknowledged this with how the final robotics competition turned out (no spoilers, but that Mateo scene with his family was very cute).

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy, review cross-posted on goodreads.

My Mechanical Romance (⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5)
-is the perfect love story between Bel and Teo as well as Bel and Robotics. My love for this book strays from the typical romance plot rather it was Bel's personal growth. Her confidence, in the beginning, was almost heartbreaking, she was so determined that she would fail that she never pushed herself. Through the help of Teo and all the other robotics members, Bel was able to grow and flourish and eventually find her spot in life.

To say the least, I truly enjoyed reading this book, I took every opportunity to read it, including in between my events during a sports meet. The anticipation as to how Bel would take on each situation along with the romance aspect was thrilling. Although there were moments where I cringed slightly, they were overshadowed by the beauty of the plot.

Not only was this story enjoyable but it was able to target so many different overlooked aspects of high school life. Women in STEM is a topic society as a whole has negated and overlooked, though in recent times the idea is becoming more acceptable there is still a stigma around to subject. The author did an amazing job to target the misogyny that comes from women in STEM as well as the theme of said ideas changing within characters.

The Side characters were everything! I'm never the biggest fan of books that only focus on the main characters and only occasionally bring in the side characters, but Follmuth does an amazing job at growing the side characters into truly loveable and relatable characters. Readers are able to relate to a character due to the vast difference in personalities.

(-⭐️ )If I could have one wish for this story it would be for it to be longer. I became so attached to these characters it felt disheartening to see the book come to an end so quickly. Having said that I do think the plot could have been drawn out a little longer. The romance felt sort of rushed where I feel like I wanted more of those awkward teenage dating bits before the deeper romance, a personal preference of mine but a preference nonetheless. Now having said I love the awkwardness I'm not the biggest fan of all the cringy bits. Some parts felt almost too cliche and typical within a YA romance. There were some writers choices that I wasn't the biggest fan of, like adding parts, where It felt like the narrator (Bel or Teo), was talking to the reader, again just other reader preferences I wasn't the biggest fan of, but it wasn't excessive where It took over the plot.

The genre was YA romance and boy was the romance adorable! I can't end this review talking about the few negatives when I genuinely loved this book. Teo and Bel are the perfect "star boy" and "new girl" couple. And rarely was there any point where it felt the Bel being new was a whole deal. Bel's ability to fit in with the robotics group made the reader feel a sense of accomplishment for Bel, and Teo having the same view as the reader really boosts the reading experience. They are cute. Teo and Bel have those typically teenage butterflies that honestly make me a little giddy inside, I was constantly blushing at their interactions and wishing I was in their place.

✨💗 if you're looking for a cute YA romance that integrates women in STEM, ideas like finding one's self, and an adorable high school romance, My Mechanical Romance is the perfect quick read for you. 💗✨

I absolutely loved this coming of age story!

Enemies to Lovers young adult edition? Yes, please! Teenagers in STEM? Yes, please! Females in STEM? Double yes, please!! I enjoyed how the author brought us on Bel's journey of discovering her passion for something that has always been in her. There are so may relatable parts in the book that I feel that if you are a young person interested in the STEM world, especially for females, then you should give this a read. Too often are females not taken seriously in the STEM field that this story not only sheds a bright light on it, but does so in a way were you have to take not only take notice, but it also makes you want to take action. Such an important read for young females in STEM to not only shine bright, stand tall, and have their heads held high, but to encourage other females to do the same. In a world where our male counterparts do not take us seriously because we like pretty things, our biggest supporters most of the time are the females we surround ourselves with. And for all of you males out there, if you can be in STEM, how hard can it be? ; ) Seriously though, if you want a glimpse of what it's like to be a female in the male dominated STEM world, give this a read. I believe you may find this to be very eye-opening for you.


If there is anything I'd be critical about, it would be that I wish there was a bit more of Filipino references. It felt almost as an afterthought when it could've been something special to share with the world the beautiful Filipino culture.


The author's note at the end is perfection! The bow on top to a present that many will enjoy.

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC’s eBook copy.