Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of The Unbalanced Equation. I tried to love this book, it was hard to keep my attention. Normally I love long books but this plot took a long time to develop. I'm also not a fan of an age gap, theirs was about 12 years, professor student relationship was a little iffy to me also. He sabotages their potential of romance because he is her advisor. I'm not a fan of the protagonist being ultra feminists, basically not wanting marriage and family with the love interest. It leads to the question, why is this a romance book if they just want to date. Also the story is very similar to the very popular book The Love Hypothesis., which I was also not a fan of. This is a good book for readers who like age gaps, enemies to lovers, and professor student relationship.

⭐️2.5 Stars ⭐️
okay. so i have a lot of thoughts about this book so i’ll just jump right in.
First off i would like to say for the most part the writing and story are great! i just can’t get past my hatred for Tom.
He uses his ignorance as a crutch to treat people poorly and i have a difficult time believing he only treated Liz like crap and everyone else loved him. Unless it’s just his manipulation tactics that make him so loved by many.
I have no issue with age gaps as long as the relationship is consensual (as with any relationship). i just want to make it clear that that is not my issue here.
This man is nearly 40 years old and he acts like a middle school age boy throughout the majority of the book. He manipulates Liz the entire time he knows he and i truly am upset that they end up together.
I would’ve been happier with her learning to love and respect herself enough to not stay with Tom or her with any other man mentioned throughout the story.
It is hard to say fully that i would leave a situation where i’m being manipulated so i understand how she forgave him but it just still annoys me.
i hate writing reviews that aren’t 100% positive but i had to be truthful. That being said i would try to read more of this authors work if i get the chance. #lizdeservesbetter

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑛𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 | 𝐻.𝐿. 𝑀𝑎𝑐𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒
☆☆☆/5

First of all I would love to thank NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

When I first read this book's description I thought it would be similar to The Love Hypothesis but the whole plot was a lot different which made me happy.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book but then I started losing a little bit the interest due to some reasons.

1) I just couldn't connect much with the characters...I wish they would have a little more depth and development throughout the book;
2) Many of the situations around this book just seemed to be childish considering the characters ages;
3) The age gap (10years) was too much in my opinion.

Overall the story was good but I just felt like many things were missing in it but it definitely had potencial to be better!

Some of the tropes:
✼ Insta Love
✼ Workplace Romance
✼ Age Gap
✼ Parents Dating
✼ Forced Proximity

I am a sucker for smart girl romances. I love when the heroine can show how brilliant she is a find a partner that respects that and enjoys it.

This book fit that bill and it was a fun read!

If you like steamy rom coms set in academia, particularly STEM, then this is the book for you. Tom and Liz instantly hit it off when they first met. The relationship ended, however, before it even got started, because it turned out Tom was Liz's PhD assessor, which means no dating allowed. Despite the fact that Tom was attracted to her, or maybe more accurately because of that fact, he behaved in a manner that completely and assuredly labeled him as a jerk. In his mind, that would squash any romantic feelings between them. Well, when Liz completes her PhD program, she is more than happy to be done with him, only the universe has other plans. They ultimately end up working together and it turns out her dad is marrying Tom's mom. For the ultimate blow, Liz is kicked out of her apartment and has no other choice but to move in with her dad, who guess what, is moving in with his fiance and Tom! Recipe for disaster? One would think, but you will be surprised as these two adversaries develop a deep and true friendship which doesn't take long to blossom into something more. And talk about chemistry, these two had it sizzling strong!
Wonderful characters and an engaging storyline will keep you captivated till the end. The book definitely left me with a smile on my face and a happy feeling afterwards. The characters were interesting and well-developed with unique but realistic qualities. The story was delightfully cute and I really enjoyed it. If you're looking for a fun, quirky, and humorous read filled with witty and cheeky banter, then you definitely will want to pick this one up.
Great book!
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Got copy from book clubbies. Loved the science parts, but overall not as good as other STEM romances where the characters had a bit more depth. Entertaining enough to merit 4 stars though.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

After reading the love hypothesis , that I have loved , this comes with the nearly same storyline. The plot , characters and the character development are so so good. The way the characters are written, mind blowing. Despite having the nearly same plot lines, this standsout.
Tom is the new heartthrob after Alex ;).
Would definitely recommend this book to the Elena armas fans , those who loved reading the love hypothesis.

I forgot to download the ARC before it was archived. So I preordered it and decided to read it anyway. I liked the first few chapters that set up the premise where the two main characters were flirting when they first meet, and then things turn sour. I decided to stop reading when it's revealed that their parents are in love, and they would ultimately be step siblings. I know it happened in Clueless, but their parents had broken up or divorced by that time.

I might go back sometime to finish reading the story, but that was a trope that I couldn't let by. Hopefully next time, I'll be able to read the whole thing.

I am once again begging to please check the difference between "enemies to lovers" and "the MCs are a mess and don't know how to properly communicate their feelings". It took me a while to finish this book and I have to say I considered many times to DNF but I really wanted to like this. It wasn't mean to be though. I feel like it was unnecessary long as most of the conflict was based on the MCs acting like teenagers even though they should be well past that age. It is no secret that I hate the miscommunication trope, and the plot relied too much on that.

Both characters were annoying to some degree but Tom? Oh my god a full grown man being such a dick is a big nope. First thing we know about him is how horny he is because Liz is so hot. Wow, unimpressed. But then he choses to be incredibly unprofessional and instead of treating Liz as an adult he was the worst teacher ever so she wouldn't flirt with him. Dude, please grow up not everyone is like you. After that during the plot he manipulated, harassed her, broke into her privacy. It was very uncomfortable to read. This dude had no redemption. But somehow people around Liz justify him? Apparently it was her fault for not wanting to give him a second chance after being horrible to her?

I was rooting for Liz destroying this brodude but she fell for him because, surprise, he's so hot and broody. Def not a book for me.

There were a few things to like about the Unbalanced Equation. The main thing I loved was the science. This had the feel of the Love Hypothesis, where it felt like the author is immersed in the world of science. I enjoyed that a lot. I enjoyed that he fell first, and the age gap was intriguing. The dual POV was good too.

There was lot of immaturity between the MCs, and they felt very manipulative at points. The “enemies to lovers” just felt unhealthy. There wasn’t much chemistry between them either, just sexual tension.

Overall, I liked the plot, and I found this entertaining and enjoyable at some points.

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what the author releases in the future.

If you love the Love Hypothesis, you will definitely like this book! It was 100% inspired by the latter.

I too enjoyed it. It had all the good vibes I look for.

ARC REVIEW

I honestly love when there is banter, however in this book it was a bit much and I was frustrated that there is obvious tension but then the FMC tries to avoid her feeling for REVENGE. There’s one scene where the character seemed childish considering they are adults. Overall, I did enjoy the tension and banter between Liz and Thomas. I also love the fact that not wanting kids was tackled in this book and the characters did not change their mind about it in  the end.

If you like:

- enemies to lovers
- Strong independent female lead
- Forced proximity
- Second chance romance
- Workplace romance
- Age gap
- Spice
- Class/status difference
- Dual POV
- The love hypothesis vibes
THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU

Favorite scene:
“Come home with me” I growled against her ear, barely able to contain myself. “Screw your party. Screw me, instead. You can’t look at me with a straight face and tell me you don’t want to” HE GROWLED????!! HAWT HAWT HAWT*

A wonderful romantic comedy, with enemies to lovers and a forced proximity trope. I loved Tom and Liz, their chemistry was sizzling. The character and story development was done absolutely well. I loved the banter between Tm and Liz. All in all this as a fantastic rom-com.

Loved this so much! The characters were flawed but so lovable. Their banter was perfect. The storyline was unique. Such a fun read!

Cute and quirky romance that was easy to read it one setting! Yes, it may have been slightly predictable, but isn’t that what we expect in romcoms?

Thank you NetGalley for this early access read in exchange for an honest review!

This was fun, a bit predictable but a great vacation read. Thomas was the Phd supervisor from hell to Liz, so when she gets her dream job she is thrilled, only to find that she now has to share lab space with him. To make matters worse their parents have met and fallen in love..........

This is the perfect book for when you're wanting to wrap yourself up in the classic romantic enemies-to-lovers trope. Tom and Liz are both academics in the same molecular field and meet when Liz is a first year PhD student and Tom is a post-doc? faculty already? Either way - Tom is further along than Liz in their academic trajectories. They're instantly attracted to each other when they meet Liz's 1st year, but a whole bunch of stuff happens during her 4 years of PhD where she actually ends up hating Tom. Fast forward to Liz starting her post-doc: Liz's dad is marrying Tom's mom. Weird, right? This book did ALMOST cross the line into some weird step-sibling fantasies and I wasn't sure if I was going to get on board with a Liz/Tom romance, but of course I did. I read this book in a day and I'm sure you would, too!! Perfect book to curl up on the couch with and there's a good amount of steam. I can't wait for the next one in the series.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book.

Tom and Liz's initial meeting and mutual attraction before everything went to hell was a cute and entertaining start that had me hooked and it set the scene for why Tom was a bit over the top as her PhD assessor.

A lot was made of how horrible Tom was to Liz during her PhD but we aren't given any specifics so it was difficult to get overly annoyed about it on her behalf. However, it went on for four years, making me wonder how she was still attracted to the man after that.

Their interactions from when they reconnect in the bar where she works to the inevitable HEA are filled with funny quips and one-liners. There were laugh-out-loud moments all the way through this book but also a few charming scenes.

Tom lacks good judgement when it comes to manipulating Liz's life so they have to spend more time living together but the story is so cute and funny it's easy to gloss over that. When the time came, the pair made an adorable couple. The side characters who were keenly watching their progress from enemies to lovers were also a likeable, funny and relatable bunch.

Another thing I really loved about Tom and Liz was that they didn't want to get married or have children and they didn't change their minds or have a surprise pregnancy at the last moment. This was refreshing to read and I hope to see more couples like this in mainstream romance.

The unbalanced equation is a light-hearted, very funny and low-angst romantic comedy that will lift your spirits.

I really enjoyed this book! Tom and Liz are researchers who both love anime, but when Tom suddenly becomes her assessor, there's no room for romance. Four years later, is there a hope for a second chance? The characters are well written, the story moves along easily, and there's loads of UK humor.