Do you want a lovely rom-com set in Scotland? A STEM, work-place, 2nd chance romance (kinda enemies to lovers) story arc? Then definitely check out this book!

MacFarlane really hooked me in with this story. The spice was great! The pining between the MCs and providing dual POVs? Easy wins in my book. I also loved the dynamic between characters in this book - especially the friendship between Tom and Daichi. Their dynamic as best friends was very believable, and even reminded me of myself with my best friend. They were definitely stand-outs for me!

The only thing stopping me from giving this book higher than a 4 was Tom’s selfish motivations towards Liz during the book - these just rubbed me the wrong way (you’ll know what I’m talking about once you give this a read). No spoilers, but he did redeem himself by the end of the book because of his self awareness, so that’s a bonus.

If you love a STEM workplace romance, I definitely recommend this read. I will be recommending this book to my romance loving friends!

Content warnings: sexual content, death of a parent, mentions of cancer

Thank you Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF
The book was so boring it felt thrice as long as it actually was.
I usually love the enemy to lovers trope but in this case I hated it. The H was a complete asshole to the h, because that is apparently the only way he could resist her; once he’s not her professor anymore he thinks it’s fine to break into her phone to silence all her dating apps and sabotaging all her attempts to move out of his house.
There’s also the forced proximity trope but it felt very forced (they have to share a house AND a desk at work?!) and not at all conductive to actual romance.
Overall, I think it was supposed to mimic a very popular women in STEM romance book (that coincidentally has the word equation in the title as well) but it is far from the mark.

At first I felt like there were way too many things going on - so many tropes - but ultimately I couldn’t put it down and needed to see how it all played out!

Liz & Tom have a sort of insta-love moment at their department social. The connection is there, but nothing ends up happening as Liz leaves and doesn’t come back (still not sure why… 🤔). The next morning Tom finds out he will be her PhD assessor, so decides he needs to be mean to her to avoid falling for her, or her falling for him.
Flash forward to the end of Liz’s PhD - Tom’s lab burns down and he’ll be working right beside Liz for 3 months. They find out their parents have been secretly dating and are getting married. Liz gets kicked out of her apartment & goes to live with all of them… so yeah, a lot of stuff 😂

So we’ve got:
- Enemies to lovers
- Instalove
- Teacher/student
- Age-gap
- Parents dating
- Forced proximity (at work and at home)

Tom & Liz also have a LOT of similarities in their likes/dislikes.
I thought it was a bit too much, and didn’t like Tom’s sabotaging efforts.
But ultimately I enjoyed their banter and wanted to see how it all played out!

Thank you NetGalley and Macfarlane Lantern Publishing for this ARC book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!

Very fun and lovely read! If you loved the love hypothesis and you are a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, this is your book.

The author did a fantastic job with the dual POV. It's one of my favourite things about this book. The spicy scenes are soooo good too!

I can’t pinpoint to a scene in particular I loved above the others because the whole book was fantastic. Enemies to lovers is my one of my favorite trope so I know I would like this book.

Thank you NetGalley for this book!

📕 review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Unbalanced Equation
Written by: H.L. Macfarlane
Release date: September 14/22

It was easy to get into this book right away. Liz and Tom were easy to root for even when they were making bad decisions. Still some may not appreciate the lies and manipulation used to further their relationship. I enjoyed the STEM story but I’m not sure how much the anime references did for the story as a whole. But I could be wrong. All that being said I think this is an easy read and would recommend as long as you are open to an open door romance with quite a bit of 🌶.

Many thanks to @netgalley @booksgosocialgroup and #hlmacfarlane for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

This is a solid 4 ⭐️ for me! If you love Ali Hazelwood/STEM books I would definitely recommend this!! This was such a quick read for me because I really enjoyed it- I was hooked from Liz and Tom’s meet cute. The spice, chemistry, and banter in this book are great. Highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review

H. L. Macfarlane: What a wonderful, wonderful author. This book was one that I could not put down. As a teacher, I was using my planning period, my lunch, my breaks—- every spare moment to read this book. Unbalanced Equation was a special read for me. I’m usually trying to guess the ending the entire time. I didn’t have time to do that with this book because I was focused on the plot. Liz and Tom. Tom and Liz. The two main characters, along with their parents were so likable. I could see their beginning dinner being so awkward!!! I really felt like I was there. By the time Liz had to move in the “mansion,” I was nervous for the whole “family” and ready to see it play out.

This book would make a great movie (for tv or made for theaters). I really enjoyed getting to know these characters. This will make a great series.

The Unbalanced Equation
@H.L.Mcfarlane
Macfarlane Lantern Publishing

Nothing gets my literary boots wet like academia fiction, sassy female characters, and intelligent boys being closet romantics.
Here's looking at you @alihazelwood and @
.
I went through this book in less than 24 hours and read it on my phone while my husband slept.
In short, it was a fantastic read that held me captive in its Scottish charm until my neck started hurting.
I loved and hated the back and forth between Tom and Liz's characters because they were fire. Sometimes a dumpster fire of emotions, sometimes I forgot to breathe because the smoke got heeeeeavy, but hey, can't we all relate?
.
It starts off with the sweetest anime meet-cute worthy of any nerdy girl who has been in similar situations.
EX: My own relationship: Sailor Moon and Pride & Prejudice.
Not only does Tom save Liz from mansplaining nerds, but he also bests them with his own knowledge, then sweeps her off her pretty little feet. Be still, my nerdy heart.
Until orange juice wrecks the night.
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I love the drama that ensues years later and captures these two in a cluster most epic with family, friends, and each other: the bar, the fire, the close quarters, the love of single parents, the eviction, to the moving in with each other out of pure desperation…
It's glorious how a simple twist of fate can change everything, especially when fate is a toddler, and she keeps spinning.
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Tom: Acts tough, but he's a mama's boy, has a soft side under his polished exterior, an Arsehole, but a lovable arsehole with a kind soul.
.
Liz: Fakes being tough to avoid confrontation, pain in the arse, and stubborn but is kind, lovable, and a daddy's girl. Wants to feel deserving of love but is afraid of being hurt.

Good concept and well written. Love that they were enemies but really had feelings for each other. Enjoyed all the times they were put together or had to interact. It was great seeing them in situations where they flirted and had a lot of conversations. You get to see their attraction to each other and why they would be perfect together.
Would have given 4 stars but unfortunately was disappointed when the characters used sex as revenge against each other. The way it happened in both situations didn’t sit well with me.
Had a good pace and a satisfying HEA. I received this book for my honest opinion.

Liz and Tom are forced to share a lab at the university where they both work. They have a history that they have to face when their paths cross outside work as well. Will they move on from enemies?
A fun read, Looking forward to the rest of the series.

From the cover alone you can guess what this book is going to be about. It is a passionate enemies to lovers between Dr Elizabeth Maclean 👩‍🔬 and Professor Thomas Henderson 👨‍🔬, who met at a mixer back when Elizabeth was still starting her PhD program. There are many hilarious and awkward moments in this book and what I liked the most was how self aware of their own awkwardness the characters were.

Let’s start with Liz. While she may be a total brainiac and a doctor of science 🧬, when it comes to flirting she can be just as awkward as anyone else. There were times were her pettiness and need for revenge irked me but she did make up for it with her witty banter, she really didn’t spare Tom any punches. It is really nice to read female characters who can enjoy themselves and have a good time 🍸and yet still kick ass in the lab 🧪!

Moving on to Tom, he might be 38 but he’s just as randy as any other 18 year old 🙈. There were times were I wanted to shake because he was acting childish but he too made up for this with his charm.

This book has all the tropes that make up an enjoyable STEM novel: forced proximity, enemies to lovers and second chance romance.

The Unbalanced Equation is an enemies to lovers rom com with some spice. Tom and Liz had a meet cute years ago followed by 4 years of Tom treating Liz terribly when he became her PhD assessor. In the current day, the two end up as coworkers at the same lab and then end up living together when she is forced to move out of her home. To make things crazier, their parents are engaged.

At one point, the author writes “How could the two of us be this dysfunctional? We were like children.” This quote sums up the book for me. The main characters are so unlikable. They are incredibly manipulative and toxic, and it was just on the edge of cringe for me that they were about to be step siblings. They act in ways that are selfish and just plain mean, and even the scene that may have been their redemption was too focused on themselves and no one else.

I did like the lab setting and bringing the STEM influence into this book, but unfortunately I just couldn’t stand the characters which makes this a 3 star read for me.

I got this arc this morning and I finished it within hours.

It was that good.

Enemies to lovers is my favourite trope, and H. L. Macfarlane will be an author that I will be following closely.

I like that there is a main love story but also side stories (although the main one is my favorite).

We follow Liz (who is a postdoc) and her possessive but also kind of grumpy former PhD assessor, Tom.

Tom has been pining after her for years.

But do to unfortunate events, they need to share a lab.

How will this turn out for them? You will need to read this book (coming out 15th of September) to find out.

If you read and liked The Love Hypothesis then you will for sure like (in my case love) this one as well.

Not only does this book contain enemies to lovers but also forced proximity/

And something we need more of in the world: STEM workplace.

I am already so hyped for the next (standalone) in the series.

I honestly really liked how H. L. Macfarlane brought the chemistry and sexual tension between the characters.

Great first step into contemporary.

This book! I struggled to put it down! It checked all of the boxes - enemies to lovers, second-chance romance, witty banter. Not to mention the setting taking place in academia! It did remind me a lot of Love Hypothesis, which I have read recently, so that did take away from some aspects of the story, But as a whole I would recommend!
Thank you to the author and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This is another romance hoping to get in on the trend of protagonists who are women in STEM fields, written by authors who have or can believably fake a background in STEM. Unfortunately, it is not one of the better ones although it begins promisingly enough, with an instant attraction between a pair of Tolkien-reading otaku.

Very quickly we learn that the male half of this pairing, Tom, is thirty four when they meet, compared to Lizzie’s twenty three years and he is set to be her PhD assessor, a task which he performs for the next three years with unwonted unkindness because he’s so into her the only way he can keep their relationship on the level is to constantly make her miserable. For the majority of the text Tom is thirty eight and Lizzie is twenty seven, which makes the eleven year age gap marginally less alarming, but people of those ages are at such different places in their lives it’s difficult to imagine they’d actually have much in common.

Which brings us to the narrative.

Lizzie is having a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad week. Tom’s isn’t great either. I have more sympathy for Lizzie, even though Tom’s lab burned down. After all, she got evicted from her actual home the next day. Fortunately (from some points of view), Tom and his family are crazy rich and since his mum is marrying her dad, he can offer her a place to stay. Except he’s still not a good person: almost at once Tom sabotages Lizzie’s hunt for a flat. Their family situation is complicated and it makes the living together thing marginally less absurd, but I just don’t like that he’s considering taking steps to prevent her from leaving what is clearly a messed up situation. Not to mention the way he uses her phone without permission to sabotage her dating life, too. It’s not a good look, and she forgives him for it and I really don’t think she should have done.

There were a lot of red flags in this relationship, none of which were the ones alluded to in the content warning at the beginning of the book. Tom is not a good guy, no matter how the author tries to paint him as such. He even hijacks his mother’s wedding to confess his love to Liz. (She does do the same, which just makes both of them look bad, rather than excusing the behavior.) I was cautious about the relationship at the outset and it never convinced me that it was a good idea, ultimately.

Finally, I have two complaints that do not relate to Tom and Lizzie’s relationship. First, although these are “older” characters, they are self-professed otaku and yet only allude to or watch old anime. Seriously. I’ve been out of the otaku scene for well over a decade and even I know their references are dated. Secondly, and perhaps stupidly, it’s odd to me as an American reader that the section dividers are sort of balance scales usually associated with the (American) legal profession. I get that the title talks about balance (undoubtedly in reference to how wildly unbalanced the power dynamics are in the main characters’ relationship), but it’s still odd to me.

This book was fun and mainly light-hearted. I loved the banter between the main character and her love interest, it felt realistic and it was adorable. Also, I'm a sucker for science-related settings so this was perfect. It reminded me of The Love Hypothesis but they are both very distinct books from one another. If you enjoy fun science-based rom-coms, then I would recommend this book.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"The Unbalanced Equation" is like a dual POV "The Love Hypothesis". I loved "The Love Hypothesis", so I really enjoyed this book as well. Obviously there were enough differences that it wasn't a total copy-paste. I thought the pacing of the romance was really good, and I loved Liz's character. Good banter between the love interests is my guilty pleasure, and this book had plenty of it!

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Now, I love Romantic Comedy books. They are just the perfect palate cleanser between dark fantasy or thriller books. The tropes, the banter, the tension, yes please! However, with Unbalanced Equation, it just did not hit the mark for me. I love the Sunshine/Grumpy, forced proximity, and enemies to lovers tropes, but Thomas is not grumpy instead he is mean and manipulative.

The story starts with an almost Instalove, they immediately fell for each-other in a matter of minutes and then instead of being an adult, Thomas decides he is going to be an ass to her when he finds out he is now assigned her PHD Advisor.

There was tension, but it seemed much more physical vs emotional for both of them. Which i feel 4 years of pining on Thomas' part would maybe make him fall a bit in love with her for her mind/personality.

This story also hinges on Thomas' and Elizabeth's single parents announcing they are marrying each-other. Even though they are not related, it just is on the edge of 'ick' for me.

Overall, The story was okay and had fun banter. I was just wanting a little bit more from the characters and Elizabeth not to be such a pushover with Thomas.

This book reminded me a lot of a book I read earlier this year and with some similar tropes, it makes sense why I enjoyed it so much!

So much building on tensions and as fate would have it, of course nothing is going to go to plan! Watching the twists and turns unfold was a splendid experience and there were so many fun parts to digest!

Full review to follow on my blog.

Tom and Liz are two scientists.
When they both first meet each other they definitely both fancy each other. There is an age gap of just under 11 years. They have lots of similar interests and match well together. After an unfortunate events with spilled drinks, Tom ends up giving her a shirt and she leaves her clothes in the lab...

But of course things don't go well when they need too because Tom ends up being Liz's PhD assessor, which leads to him behaving like an idiot due to his feeling for her. The clothes aren't swapped back.

4 years later both their single parents have met at a grief session and have found love again. Both Liz and Tom find out at dinner at the same time.

Tom makes some questionable decisions to make Liz stay in his life and house which of course she inevitably finds out about. But she is also out for revenge too, so she's not exactly an angel in this situation.

Overall I did like this book and I read it in two days. I'd recommend it if you liked the love hypothesis or love on the brain. Lusting academics is just a new genre of romance and I love it🤣.

I also really liked that this book is set in Glasgow. It makes a lovely change.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this.