I really enjoyed this book! As someone who works in STEM, I thought this was a really great romance that represented what it’s like to work in the field and fall in love in the field! Super cute, like a Scottish ‘The Love Hypothesis’ but make it more enemies to lovers!

Is The Unbalanced Equation riding on the success of The Love Hypothesis? Absolutely. Do I have an issue with that? Not at all. Capitalise on the popularity of your predecessor to tap into that STEM-oriented demographic. Get that money bag, Macfarlane.

If I had a nickel for every time I said a book reads a Dramione fanfiction, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice in the span of two months. But if The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy had undeniable Dramione vibes and viewing it as long-lost Dramione fic made it better, then reading The Unbalanced Equation through a 'hey, this could be a Dramione' fic lense made one acutely aware of how much potential was squandered.

I was excited to read this book. I was promised STEM-centric enemies-to-lovers, and, well, technically, I got what I was promised. It just ended up being *cough* unbalanced. (Get it? Fine, I'll stop. It was lame.)

Mutual pining? Check. He falls first? Check. Enemies to lovers? Kinda? She hates him, but it's his own damn fault. It's less enemies to lovers, and more bully love interest, except we never actually see him do shit, it's all informed backstory. Forced proximity? Check, but it's kind of sketchy.

Here's my beef with the story: I'm once again forced to relive pre-2016 fanfiction tropes. Namely: love interest is a dick to the female lead because hE nEEds To hIDe hIS fEEliNgS; and then he does everything in his power to manipulate her option of him — and force the aforementioned closed proximity — to fix the said years of trauma from his poor behaviour. This was approved in the year of our lord 2022? I thought we left male leads like this behind.

There was also the 'hey, they are step-siblings now' plot twist that was straight out of anime, and Tom and Liz are definitely living out their best Domestic Girlfriend life with all the sneaking around they do with their parents quite literally being in the same house.

Circling back to anime throw-ins in the book; I was surprised to learn that the author is actually an anime fan because her portrayal of anime fans who are not Liz or Tom — and sometimes even the main lead's opinions on the anime scene — are prejudiced and full of outdated stereotypes. It felt like the last time she interacted with an anime fan or was at a convention it was 2002 and Yaoi Paddles were all the rage,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

Okay... this book was so close to 5 stars for me but the first couple chapters just knocked a star off :( The first few chapters just felt a little cringe ad almost like they were written by someone completely different... and a bit wattpaddy (if that's a word) but the rest of it a loved!

The tension in this book was amazing and it was a slow burn without being toooo much of a slow burn as there was lots of fiery tension and moments before we hit the burn of the slow burn!

Fans of The Love Hypothesis will adore this one!

Liz and Tom both work in STEM, when a mishap with a Bunsen burner occurs within is building. He ends up sharing a desk with Liz in his best friend’s lab. The two of them have a little bit of history, top that off with their parents getting married and Liz being forced out of her flat. Her only option is to move into the very large townhouse with Tom. But its only temporary.
This is an adorable enemies-to-lovers story. Firstly, I want to point out that I am not one who likes the miscommunication trope, but I still loved this book. I was a little put off at the start where the love interests were just really being introduced and bam, all of a sudden, their parents are getting married. It took me another chapter or two to really settle into the idea. Overall, the book was adorable, I loved the side characters as well and am quite invested that I will read anything to do with them.

This book is so easily to read and it has a cute moment that made me laugh.

I was really interested at first few chapters until they both find their parent planning to get married.

Unfortunately, the downside of this book for me is that both male & female main characters are very annoying to me especially with the male, Tom. He is 38 years old something but act very immature. I found he is too manipulative, love to breaking into her privacy and being creeps whole time.

Same goes with Liz. She knows what she's doing with Tom is actually wrong but she keep insisting being with him all the time and not too help Tom being so obsessed with her. I have to say she's one of character that easily very impressionable and has no fixed stance.

As sometimes their interaction I found adorable but mostly there's a huge red flags that I found it will be disturbing in real life and I don't see that kind of relationship is healthy.

Overall like plot, setting and other side characters I really like it and this book actually quite entertaining too. it's just that if the two main characters could act more like age and there wasn't an element of both parents getting married, I would really like this story.

Thank you for Netgalley & Publisher for providing ARC in exchange for honest review.

Wow, just wow.
I totally demolished this book in less than 24 hours. I couldn't put the book down, I haven't read a romcom for a while and this is definitely what I needed to freshen things up.
What's not to love in this book - you get everything.
☆ Enemies to Lovers
☆ Age gap relationships
☆ Spicy
☆ Amazing Characters 👏
As a reader you want to see what's happening and trust me - I saw everything #notashamed
I just want to say thank you to H. L. Macfarlane for letting me read this ARC, it was amazing, I loved your writing style and I'd love to read more from you! Also thank you for netgalley for allowing me to have access to this amazing book!
4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such a fun rom-com to read! As a person working in STEM I love reading stories around this theme!

This book has enemies to lovers, miscommunication and hot steamy scenes making it a perfect blend for a rom-com!

I absolutely loved this one! STEM/academia setting and enemies to lovers with a bit of spice thrown in is always a recipe for success in my eyes.

There are some parts where the MCs absolutely infuriated me with their childish behaviour (Tom this is directed at you) but overall it was a fantastic read.

Like the Love Hypothesis and My Mechanical Romance, once I picked this book up I could not set it down. I highly recommend it!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC!

A mean, sarcastic sense of humor, a string of wrongdoings and misunderstandings, and a bite of spice lead the way to romance in this book. The biting sense of humor definitely had me chuckling in places and the sweet moments took off the edge from some of the harder moments of the book. Liz did tend to come across as a little bratty in the way she sometimes treated Tom, while some of it was deserved, she also took it up a notch more than I liked at times. I enjoyed the book overall and I'm glad I was able to read an ARC of it through netgalley.

I was initially looking forward to reading this book because I thought this would be fun and cute. The title is a little nod to chemistry: we balance equations with coefficients so that there are an equal number of atoms on both side of the equation in the end. So, I did really want to enjoy it. With regards to book content, there are some tropes in here that readers may enjoy, such as: dual POV, forced proximity, and other contemporary romance tropes. However, there were several things I didn’t enjoy. The warped power dynamics and how early they set as well as their results are something I can’t get behind. I was so thrown off from the Prologue and Chapter 1, things happened and decisions were made so I knew this would be a challenge for me to read. The relationship between their parents and how this is presented and executed, again, not into it. Plot didn’t maintain my interest. I felt that the main characters lacked maturity and I couldn’t root for them.

There are anime/manga references thrown in as well, so this may be appealing for some reader, as well as the tropes mentioned previously. Unfortunately, this ended up not being the book for me.

Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced release copy. All opinions are my own.



Content Warnings: sexual content, swearing, cancer-related parental death prior to the events of the book, mistreatment, alcohol.

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

I heard that this was a hate-to-love relationship and similar to The Love Hypothesis, so that’s why I picked it up. But unfortunately, it didn’t meet my standards.

I won’t recap the plot, so I’ll just go into my thoughts on the book.

The major thing that bothers me about this book is that the main characters both have red flags. Tom is going into Liz’s phone, sabotaging her chances in getting her own flat, and lowkey putting Liz in sexually uncomfortable situations. He’s also this weird “alpha” dude, but I couldn’t really see him like that.

Liz is literally the definition of “play stupid games and win stupid prizes”. Also, she’s the person who’s like “I never knew you liked me!!!” even though Tom literally says he liked her from very early on. These two characters unfortunately did not vibe with me, though sometimes they were cute.

Outside of that, I didn’t have any major issues with the book. The side characters were meh and barely served any purpose. There’s not as much science-y stuff going on, though there were times where people talked in science-y jargon. The “get back together” scene was meh and just weird in my opinion. However, I did appreciate that the couple’s happy ending was not getting married or having kids—because some people don’t need that in their lives.

Overall, this book was average. The red flags in our protagonists really just threw me off.

Would I recommend this book to people? Meh.

This book is gives off major love hypothesis vibes. This book was a cute enemies to lovers academia rom-com, loved the character development and how author showed the characters progress throughout the story rather than just having the character all of a sudden have an epiphany near the end of the book that leads them to being picture perfect like I’ve read in some romances. Enemies to lovers books always have the best witty and sarcastic banter, and this book didn’t disappoint. However I disliked how they were step sibling, I found that weird, and I thought it was even weirder that no character mentioned how taboo it was. Also I felt that this book was longer than necessary, it felt like there was quite a bit of repeated back and forth, and the characters were going through the same interior struggles it became redundant to constantly hear about it. Nonetheless, if you want a book like love hypothesis with funny banter then this is the book for you!
3 stars

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book, provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm having trouble trying to decide how I feel about this book. I mean, on one hand, it kept my attention and I definitely wanted to see how the book would end, But on the other hand, I found both Tom and Liz (or Thomas and Elizabeth) insufferable for at least part of the book. I wanted to root for their HEA, and I wanted to like them, but they both were kinda toxic. However, I will say that they at least figured out they were jerks, not only to each other but to other people. The side trope of step-siblings forced proximity was not that bad.

I'm not a fan of the miscommunication trope, and this book was full of it. A simple explanation from Tom as to why they couldn't date after he became her advisor would have shut 75% of it down. Plus the way he tried to run her life. Honestly, part of me kept reading because I wanted to see Liz unleash hell on Tom for what he was doing. I felt pretty good after that happened haha

3.5 ⭐️

Tropes:
enemies to lovers
grumpy / sunshine
miscommunication

The story was very catchy as well as its characters, I was hooked from the beginning. I didn't feel it as a rom-com for me, because I didn't laugh, but it was a cute and funny story, and their banter is priceless. Also, I loved the story's setting, the genetics lab, the scientist's life, Glasgow, everything was perfect. 

There was something that really bother me, and it was the miscommunication trope, (I'm not a big fan of it) because it was throughout the story. At the beginning I was ok with that, but then this got me mad, because they look like teenagers instead of adults. 

So if you are into these tropes, you really need to pick this book up. It's worth it for a winter reading.

thank you net galley and the publisher for allowing me access to the unbalanced equation in exchange for an honest review.
i love an easy rom-com novel like the unbalanced equation! this enemies to lovers book was a fast and enjoyable read for me! liz and tom are a complex and complicated pair but the chemistry between them was undeniable. i thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the mc’s self reflect on their own questionable actions which allowed for a clear opportunity for redemption. i was disgusted by the mmc throughout the majority of the novel but the writing allowed me to genuinely believe his promise of changing his actions moving forward.
i would 100% recommend this novel to other romance lovers!

Tropes: enemies to lovers, age gap, forced proximity, workplace

Once I read the first line of this novel, I knew this book was written for a reader exactly like me - someone who enjoys a hysterical rom-com.

Even though I understood none of it, I loved the STEM rep in this novel. The author (to me at least) really sold the two STEM academics for me. I enjoyed their banter throughout and the tension between the two characters as they tried to figure out their feelings. I really saw myself as Daichi just anxiously waiting for them to get together!

I didn’t really like the addition of the parents relationship, it felt kind of awkward and unrealistic - I could’ve done with the lab being their only mode of forced proximity. Also did not like the plot line of Tom manipulating Liz’s entire life so she could remain in his life. I appreciated the character growth throughout the novel though and the importance of familial relationships.

While I appreciated all the anime references (and even the one HSM3 reference!!!), I can acknowledge it could have been too much for a reader who had no interest in something like that. In the end this book was a good lighthearted read for me!
Write to

Insane actually.
Loved how this started, because tom is like? this little fucked up babygirl but HE'S A GROWN ASS DOCTOR. and you know what? I stand by what i said.
He's a baby girl. the babiest. all the pining? The enemies to lovers-esque because homeboy was pining. Liz? i LOVE LOVE YOU (but like lmfao did the parents really really have to)
all in all, thank you netgalley for this i loved her<33

Enemies to lovers where the guy has been smitten from the get-go? Yes, please!

Elizabeth Maclean has just finished her undergrad and is starting her PhD and the University of Glasgow. Attending a mixer to meet the staff and other students, she meets Doctor Thomas Henderson, who works in the same building she will, in the next lab. And oh, do the two fancy the look of the other when they meet. Flirting, banter and heated looks are exchanged before the two accidentality get showered in mimosas courtesy of a waiter tripping. No matter, though, Tom has spare shirts in his office and offers one to Liz, who sexily strips to her bra and leggings in front of him. Clearly, this initial meeting is going precisely as Tom wanted until Liz gets a call from her friends and vanishes. The following day at work, Tom is eager to find Liz, give her back her clothes, and ask her out, but before he gets the chance, the news gets dropped on him. Since so many doctors and Professors have retired and/or stepped down, Tom must be Liz’s new PhD assessor. What’s that? The sound of Tom’s hopes spiralling down the drain. How is he supposed to get through the next four years flirting with a woman he can’t now have? He’s not going to. He will be a complete twat to her instead, so there won’t be any chance of him wanting to bend her over a lab table.

That’s going to go down great.

Cut to four years past, and Liz has completed her PhD and is looking forward to moving onto her postdoc and never having to see Professor Thomas Henderson again. But life, and plot, get in her way. Her new postdoc professor, Daichi Ito, is none other than Tom’s best friend, oh and then Tom’s lab burns down, so Daichi offers him space in his lab, sharing a bench with Liz. Not only does she have to now share her workspace with the Professor she loathes, but it turns out Liz’s dad, Jim, and Tom’s mum, Jenny, met each other a year ago and have been dating without the knowledge of their children; oh, and they're getting married. Jenny and Jim are moving into the first floor of Toms's townhouse while the manor is getting renovated for the wedding – oh, Tom’s grandad was super rich – and they want Liz to join too! As you can imagine, that was a hard pass for Liz… until her landlord informs her that she’s getting the boot and needs to move out by the end of the week.

Guy falls first? Check. Enemies to lovers? Check. Forced Proximity? Check.

What follows is a lot of banter, steamy looks, sarcastic quips, burning sexual tension, sneaky manipulations, evil sexy revenge, communication errors, a third act break up, and a delicious reunion.

Tom is an arrogant man-child who I absolutely love. Did he do some questionable things in his pursuit of winning over Liz? Hell fucking yes. Do I still love him? Hell fucking yes! Liz is sassy, oblivious to flirting, petty and has the hots for Tom even when he's an utter twat-bag. It’s a childish, trash-talking, steamy match made in heaven.

The story was fun and fast-paced; I loved the characters even though they were flawed as heck, childish, petty, and hopelessly in love with each other. The banter was toe-curling good, the sex was smoking fucking hot, and the chemistry was delicious. I would totally recommend it.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! The Unbalanced Equation is coming September 15th 💚

This book was such a joy! I got “The Love Hypothesis” vibes immediately by reading the synopsis, and this story definitely did not disappoint. Plus…. it’s dual POV!! The one thing I missed in TLH was one of the things I loved the most in this book.

It was so nice to read the story of Liz and Tom, they vibed so well, I loved them. The banter was amazing and there definitely was a very pleasant amount of spice to enjoy 😏

I’m a huge fan of romance novels like this one, even though I have no talent for science whatsoever. That being said, the “scientific” parts of this book were very easy to understand and actually really nice to read.

A winner! Will be picking up more books from H. L. Macfarlane ♥️

I was hoping this would be more like The Love Hypothesis. It was good, but not as good as that book. Still, I really enjoyed this! It was a great romance, and I especially appreciated the smart female lead!