🎆 The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren 🎆

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5/5

Genre: RomCom
Tropes: Forced proximity, opposites attract, forbidden romance
⚠️ TWs: Infidelity, mentioning of car accident

📖 Read if you like 📖
🗣️ Witty Banter
🧲 Opposites Attract
🥰 Forced Proximity
📺 Dating Shows
🚫 Forbidden romance
✌🏼 Dual POV
📚 The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

💭 Thoughts
This book was cute overall, albeit predictable. I couldn’t help but think of The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun the whole time because the plot was so similar (minus the amazing LGBTQIA+ rep). Fizzy was my favorite character, and I loved her humor throughout. Otherwise, the book was slow for me. I love the Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren and definitely recommend that one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a cute romance! Loved being able to get Fizzy's story. Christina Lauren writes such fun romances that we love to recommend!

When I picked this up, I didn't realize it was a sort of sequel or sister book to The Soulmate Equation, but a few pages in, I was like wait a minute, these characters sound familiar! It was a fun read. I perhaps liked The Soulmate Equation a tiny bit better, but I still liked this. I enjoy most Christina Lauren books.

This was a schlock fest. It's making me reconsider if I ever want to read rom-coms ever again. If I heard the expression "lean in" one more time...

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

(2.5/5 stars)

i liked the premise of this book and loved fizzy in TSE, but the execution mostly fell flat. fizzy is an amazing character and i loved her POV chapters. she's funny and thoughtful and stubborn (love!). connor, on the other hand, was so boring and frustrating. i feel like his disdain for romance as a genre was never fully addressed and just made me not like him from the start. a fun premise and the writing is good, but overall fell flat for me.

The True Love Experiment is book two in the Soulmate Equation series. In this book, Christina Lauren writes an ode to Romance by having a successful romance writer cast as the lead in a reality dating TV show where she is surrounded by "heroes" of every romance trope imaginable. There is so much to love in this story, from the flirty banter to the romance tropes that play peak-a-boo with the reader to the pop culture references. I love everything Christina Lauren put out, and The True Love Experiment is one of their best yet.

I enjoyed this novel more than expected considering I don't care for reality TV. The book started off a bit slow, but really got interesting after about 25%. I recommend reading The Soulmate Equation before reading The True Love Experiment. These books are not part of a series, but I was really grateful to have read The Soulmate Equation first as it gave me a better understanding of the idea behind the "experiment." Highly recommend both books!

Loved this! What a fun romcom. When it seems like true love is just not in the cards, you never know what might unexpectedly happen.

Another good book by the duo. The humor was in point and the characters were fun. Fizzy was fun and extravagant and I think more women would like to be like her. It wasn’t quite enemies to lovers trope, but the love story started before the main event of the TV show The Love Experiment.

Yet another hit by my absolute favorite romance duo.

I had so much fun following Fizzy's story. Although the book is a standalone, there are some references to The Soulmate Equation which I would also recommend. The crossovers were so cute!

Fizzy is such a fun main character, and Connor is swoony! The premise of the reality TV show was nothing short of adorable, and the spice... Oh gosh. Their chemistry was very much there, and I throughly enjoyed readin about their journey.

Would definitely recommend!

unlike most people I have not been as big a fan of CL books but I loved this one truly a lot. Loved both leads and the story, and chemistry and other characters were great!

I’ve been a huge fan of Christina Lauren for years and was so honored to be approved of an arc for their latest release True Love Experiment. This was the perfect romantic comedy to me! From the first page on, I was hooked. I loved the characters and I found the premise to be very different than what we are accustomed to nowadays. The banter between Fizzy and Connor was off the charts. Fizzy was a relatable character. She was vulgar in ways that wasn’t off putting. Great way to kick off the summer season!

A sweet and light romance from Christina Lauren. They are a powerhouse author duo who know how to break your heart and make you laugh.

A delightful sequel to Soul Mate Equation with romance author Fizzy Chen taking her rightful spot as the heroine. I enjoyed True Love Experiment, but felt that it was lacking when compared to Soul Mate Equation. The characters were good, but felt slightly flat. I felt that the plot was rushed. But the steam was good!

I loved Fizzy and Connor! This was such a fun romance with a great message about getting out of your comfort zone. The dating show premise was so engaging and I was really hooked by the connection between the characters. I always appreciate when authors can create conflict in romantic relationships without a ton of ridiculous twists and the authors were able to do just that. Loved the ending, loved revisiting the world of The Soulmate Equation, and loved the side characters! This is a great read, especially for romance fans. Thank you to Christina Lauren (both), Gallery Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Christina Lauren never disappoints. Another excellent romantic comedy book to enjoy on a sunny day. I enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. It has all the elements of an enjoyable story and I would recommend this book to my friends and fans of Christina Lauren.

I’m giving up on this one. I am just not enjoying it. I don’t like the main character. She’s vulgar in not a good way. All she talks about is sex and dicks. Which is fine but it's not a character I can connect with. It was just distracting and made her seem surface level. She had no real depth and isn't someone I'd even be friends with. With that said, it definitely added to my lack of feeling to their connection. To me it just sounded like an inevitable work fuck buddy situation. Not a love match. I ultimately just didn’t care about the story.

This book was a perfect journey through the emotions and challenges of knowing yourself and being willing to open yourself up to another person. It was an absolute page-turner that I have already been recommending to any peers who also love this genre.

Dear Christina Lauren:

You ladies know how to give readers what they want: a unique premise, a confident leading lady, a British love interest, seriously good banter, and a grand gesture that puts all other gestures to shame! Bonus points for the pop culture references and gifting romance readers characters who respect the genre!

As a longtime fan, I am sorry this book is already here and read. I now have to wait far too long for whatever is next, but I promise to be here with open arms for whatever story you gals gift us with!
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Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this novel. Christina Lauren doesn't experiment when it comes to writing great novels. This one was perfect! The characters were interesting and engaging and while you had an idea where the story was going, the entire story was entertaining. I did not want to put it down once I started it. This book should be at the top of everyone's summer reading list!