THE UNBALANCED EQUATION by H.L. Macfarlane is definitely an entertaining read. I finished it rather quickly as the pacing is *chef's kiss*. The meet-cute is great and really sets the tone for the rest of the story. What I like most is how the two characters are so clear that they don't want children and marriage, they never belittle each other for that choice, and they don't change their minds about it over the course of falling for each other. I think there needs to be more of this sort of representation in romance overall.

My only beef with the novel is that the story is marketed as enemies-to-lovers, and I can't say I ever really bought into that because it is abundantly clear from the beginning that one party is helplessly in love with the other. There is definitely great chemistry though!

I'm excited to read the rest of the Hot Mess Trilogy once the rest of the books are out in the world.

I got a free arc through Netgalley all opinions are my own.

DNF at 36%

I wanted to like this book, I had just finished reading something heavy and needed something light and romcom ish, but in the end I did not end up liking this book. It's an easy read, but Tom just grinded my nerves, and I just couldn't like this book or him as a character, because he's a dick.

I didn't finish the book so I don't know if he continued being a dick, but his behaviour from what I read cemented the fact that I probably wouldn't like him even if he did manage to change later on in the book. It especially annoyed me that Tom didn't apologise or even try to explain to Liz why he had been such a dick to her for 4 years. Like does he actually think she's going to want to date someone who treated her horrible for 4 years straight without an explanation as to why he was such a jerk?

Honestly how am I supposed to root for Tom when he sabbotages her chance to find somewhere else to live and invades her privacy?

Thank you to H.L. Macfarlane and the publisher for this ARC!

Good things first: I loved Liz. She was funny and strong and extremely relatable.

I wish I loved the rest of the book more! The spice fell a little flat for me and I feel like it could have wrapped up a bit sooner.

As one of my most anticipated reads of the fall, I was looking forward to a science-y romance that was oozing with chemistry (Get it? Like the branch of science and also the connection between characters? Hilarious.) What I got was an enemies-to-lovers relationship between two scientists filled with misunderstandings and a surprisingly large number of anime references, made even better by the fact that the author has a PhD in molecular genetics! Although I didn't find either character to be particularly likable, especially with how immaturely they both behaved, it was a fun (and surprisingly spicy) read.
Thank you so much for the ARC, NetGalley!

It was a lil cringey for my liking with the whole soon to be step siblings and forbidden love trope.

I still tried reading through ignoring the fact, but the story felt too week and both the main characters didn’t feel that strong enough for me to care deeply about

Tom was really very immature with the way he handled the situation with Liz
We don’t have much background info about him judge otherwise and frankly I didn’t care enough about him to know as well.

Lizzie was a typical closed off person who doesn’t like being vulnerable (cry) in any one’s presence - this felt unjustified given that she had a good childhood as far as we are told.

I didn’t like the fact that there were way too many references being made to Tom’s wealth

There was also a line where Liz asks him if he has ever thought of putting all this wealth to good use

I felt like this was such a pathetic attempt to somehow try to scream and tell us that she wasn’t after his wealth

My point is, don’t make it to an extent where you have to deliberately put a line to show us that she’s not after the wealth alone!


The back and forth jibes and banter kinda fizzled out and didn’t have the same effect after one too many times

What I liked:

👍🏼The writing was pretty good though
👍🏼the smut scenes were really good🥵
👍🏼The comedy part of this Romcom was hit as well I even laughed out loud at times

Just wish it wasn’t so incest-y 🫠

This book was super cute. It's the only way to describe it. Two nerds (who are super relatable) that fall in love while also loving science. Tom and Liz are the perfect couple.

Also we can't forget the great tropes in this book:
-age gap
- forced proximity
- enemies to lovers
- Guy falls first
- Steminist setting

If you like Ali Hazelwoods writing and liked The Love Hypothesis, then you'll love this.

The only reason for not a 5 star read is the simple fact i didn't Love Tom's manipulative ways at times and the whole storyline with the parents threw me off at times. But, overall I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I want to say that I'm thankful that I received and ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows our two main characters, Tom and Liz. They meet at a university event and from there through some coincidences their relationship starts to develop. I went into this book expecting something similar to 'the love hypothesis' and although this was another fun academic romance their similarities didn't go a lot farther than that.
I found Liz to be an amazing main character and thought that the tension between the main couple was really well-written.
All in all, despite it not being a really breathtaking and memorable read, it was definitely an enjoyable one. I liked the dual perspective element and the chemistry between the main characters was undeniable. A solid four star read!

This was like an enemies-to-lovers version of "The Love Hypothesis"! I thought the chemistry between the two main characters was so incredible, it was like it was jumping off the page! For all my women in stem, this book will make you feel seen with the representation of what's it's like to be a woman in academia!

Liz is a postdoc, who spent years doing her PhD at a Glasgow University, under the watchful eye of her very harsh assessor, Tom. They had met each other previously at a student and staff mixer and although during their first meeting their attraction to each other was instant, after the years of criticism she grew to hate him. The day after the mixer, Tom found out that he would be Liz’s assessor, and therefore felt that the only way to remain professional was to act like a total dick (I know, what an idiot!). Liz thought all of this was over once her PHD had finished, however the pair were then thrown back into each other lives when Toms lab burned down, and even worse, their parents announced their engagement.

Liz and Tom would find it hard to deny their feelings for each other, despite their colourful past, now that they were living under the same roof and working in the same lab. But can Liz overcome their past relationship and let herself fall in love with this man?

This book had so much suspense, you never know what will happen next. This made this book so addictive for me and I just could not put it down. The relationship between Liz and Tom was pure sexual tension, along with so much care for each other. This is the perfect enemies to lovers story with that extra bit of spice and I could not put it down!!🌶🥵

Going into this book, I was so afraid this was going to be an attempt at a story similar to “the love hypothesis” but I decided to persevere and continue reading. To my surprise, the similarities end quite quickly, and I discovered that this book is nothing like the love hypothesis.

The story follows Tom, who was the Ph.D. accessor for Elizabeth and made her life an absolute hell during her Ph.D.… Elizabeth graduates and hopes to never see Tom's face again, but fate has other plans. They quickly discover the mess they are in when their parents decide to get married! YUP, IT GETS WEIRD, BUT HEAR ME OUT.

There was a lot that I loved about this book! The mix of steamy, funny, harmless revenge between two people who clearly liked each other was fun to read. The story did a great job at keeping me on my toes the whole time and left me wanting more. I did find the beginning to be a bit slow, but once you get to know the characters, and the initial scene is set, you are hooked till the end. As a relatively new romance reader, the step-siblings/enemies-to-lover trope was refreshing and hilarious. I found myself resisting at first, but the story quickly eases you into the awkwardness of it all. Tom's character goes from being really infuriating to sincere and genuine, and the stark difference between who he was at the beginning and towards the end was worth exploring for me.

On to the parts I didn't enjoy, there were some instances where I felt like Tom, an almost 40-year-old man, was acting like a teenager for a good chunk of the story. But considering that he is a rich brat, it does make sense and fits well with his character. I also felt like the conflict between the two towards the end was slightly childish. These are two grown adults who somehow couldn't stop being incredibly childish about the decisions they were making, and this gets on my nerves quite a lot. I found myself wanting to get to the good/steamy parts as quickly as possible.

Another STEM rom-com? Count me in! Macfarlane delivers in this enemies-to-lovers workplace romance. I enjoyed this read and appreciated the conflicts between the main characters, even if I thought that Tom deserved more ire from Liz for all of the manipulation that he imposed upon her, among other things. A delightful read that I hope is just the start of another STEM rom-com trilogy - but one that is hopefully less repetitive and cookie cutter than its other mainstream contemporary.

DNF at 4% - didn't even make it through the first chapter. The MMC POV made my skin crawl, what an utter creep. I am flabbergasted at the positive reviews for this book, when I had to double-check the author was female because reading it was like stumbling upon the horny fanfiction of a teenage boy weeb. The vile objectification of the FMC was so gross I couldn't continue. Need to wash my brain after reading that.
Very disappointing after requesting this hoping for a smart, funny STEM romance similar to The Love Hypothesis.

The story of Tom and Liz was soooo cute! It’s mainly set in Glasgow, UK and I seriously can’t get enough! Talk about fall academia vibes!
If you like enemies to lovers, lots of angst, slow burns you’ll trusty like this book.
This book reminded me a lot of The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood so if you liked that book I’d recommend reading The Unbalanced Equation 😊

I enjoyed this book - I think sometimes the tension can be lost in a story with dual points of view, however this book would not have worked without it.

I really enjoyed the characters, even though I disagreed with their actions through the majority of the story I could see how they had come to them and at least sympathise!

Had so much fun reading this book! I had never read a book by the author, and didn't know anything about the plot beforehand, but my curiosity was peaked by the title and I decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did so, because I was unexpectadly surprised by its clever and charming narrative, and exceptionally relatable characters. While sometimes a bit over the top and cliché, the book is well balanced with originality and humour, that never makes it boring. Having a background in science myself, I found the author was able to capture the ambience of working in research, and the (good) nerdyness of the people that do it. This turned out a great book for escaping the stress of actual real-life research work! A definite recommendation within the genre!

The Unbalanced equation was hard to review because at points it read itself, but some little things bothered me as a reader.

First, it isn’t an enemies to lovers (imo), and I didn’t read it as such. It’s more a one-sided enemies-to-lovers, which means the dynamic is different, but it doesn’t mean it’s less enjoyable.

I truly liked the setting, in Glasgow that was more unusual compared to more famous cities or the States. I liked that vibe. It’s not a small town, but the crew around the characters gave that vibe and it was agreeable.
Now, for the two main characters, it was harder for me to root for them. The chemistry seems to be mostly physical through the book, (the spice scenes are well written). I personally prefer more emotional tension and engagement. Some themes bothered me too, especially from Tom’s pov. I enjoyed Liz more.

I can’t give half stars, but it would have been a 3,5. I rounded it up, because I still read it fast and enjoyed.

Me ha encantado! La química entre los protagonistas es maravillosa!
Si te ha gustado la hipótesis del amor, seguro que disfrutas con esta novela
Súper recomendado!

This was an absolute no for me. The fact that she was just supposed to get over him being terrible to her because he was attracted to her is gross. It give real Dan Harmon from Community vibes. She even acknowledges that he is minimizing her suffering but then its suddenly ok. Also the sabotage of her dates and housing situation... ugh.

Sadly, I was not able to finish this book. For some reason, I could feel this book putting me into a reading slump. The author's writing isn't bad, but I do find the multiple references to media jarring at times. I'm also not a fan of the trope of the love interests parents are a couple, it really weirds me out, and I did not know that was in this book when requesting. Overall, I would give Macflarlane's next novels a chance if I better connected with the romance tropes/summary.

Liz and Tom met when at a university mixer and sparks (and orange juice) flew. Then Tom became her PhD assessor and for some reason thought he had to be a jackass to her to avoid and stamp out his feelings. Cut to four years later and Liz rightfully hates his guts and he still has feelings for her. And then they find out their parents are getting married .. to each other. Not to be outdone, Liz's landlord kicks her out and she ends up moving in to Tom's townhouse. And how could I forget, Tom's lab goes up in flames and he ends up sharing the same bench in another lab with Liz. Talk about forced proximity! Can Tom win Liz over? Not by being honest (of course) but by further manipulating things to ensure she doesn't find another apartment or a good man to date. Overall, this gave The Love Hypothesis vibes with a second chance, sort of enemies to lovers flavor. It kept me reading and I enjoyed the banter and side characters. I did enjoy seeing their feelings develop and there is a bit of spice on the page.

I have mixed feelings about this read. On the one hand, I enjoyed the overall arc and I read it in a day. On the other hand, (spoiler alert) I really want to encourage the team to review the hotel scene. It is beyond sexual harassment when someone tells you "no" and "get out" at least three times and you don't listen, remove a blanket against their will, and hold their hands up. Consent could have been much clearer here (which I think was the intent) - he could have come in, she says "get out", he replies "do you really want me to" and she just stares at him as he comes closer and says "I'll leave if you tell me to leave" etc etc. Still could have gotten to the same reveals and tension without the brazen disregard for consent in such a vulnerable situation. Tom was a total immature, manipulative bastard, but I felt this crossed the line, even for him.

I'm going to give it three stars overall, but could be higher.