My new favorite Christina lauren book! I loved this one so much

This will be a great beach read this summer 😍 the true love experiment was a fast read with amazing characters. Fizzy was fiesty, funny, and charming. Connor was everything you'd want in a book boyfriend. The chemistry between them both was 👩‍🍳😘🤌🏻

When romance writer Fizzy feels like she lost her spark and Connor was pulled in a different direction for work, she was casted as his lead in a new reality tv show called the true love experiment. They did an amazing job of giving us enough show but also put a lot of focus on their actual relationship. I love that we got to see a glimpse of Jess and River and I loved fizzys family dynamic. All in all I was obsessed

Highly recommend!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love Christina Lauren books and this is no exception! Fizzy was such a lovable and relatable character. I was also excited to see cameos!! (River, I am looking at you).

“An accurate portrayal of my life would be me double-fisting tortilla chips into a giant bowl of guacamole with Crash Landing on You playing on the television for the 70th time…”

As a huge fan of the writing duo, Christina Lauren, I was over the moon to read an ARC of this book. If you read The Soulmate Equation you are familiar with Jess’ hilarious friend Fizzy. Fizzy is the main character in The True Love Experiment and let me tell you, she was delightful and funny and a female lead that you want to root for. The premise of the story is that Fizzy hasn’t been lucky in love and when she gets pitched the idea to be the star of a new reality dating show, she hesitantly agrees. With a handsome British TV producer as the male lead, this book hit all of my favorite romance tropes.

Things I loved:
• the humor
• the pacing
• all of the side characters!
• the romance (it was impeccable)
• the reality dating show (something I would seriously watch!)
• Fizzy! She was such a great main character!!

This may be my favorite Christina Lauren book and that’s HIGH praise. I highly recommend you check it out when it’s released May 16!

Thank you, Net Galley + Gallery Books for the ARC!

The Soulmate Equation was one of my favorite reads of 2021, so I was thrilled to learn Fizzy would get her own book. As much as we love seeing a WOC as the fantastic best friend, we also deserve to see them as the main character!

I loved that Fizzy was rounded out a bit more as a character. In TSE, I think she wasn't fully fleshed out, so we saw only what was on the surface. In this book, we got to see a very real consequence of what happened with Rob in TSE, something that skewed her perception of both herself, and her relationships.

With Connor, we got a male character that we don't always see done well, a single dad who has a good relationship with his ex wife and daughter. Connor works really hard on himself and the things he is passionate about, which makes you root for him all the more.

Connor and Fizzy are very different people, but they bring out the best in one another, being each other's best friend before anything else.

One of my favorite plot points of this book was that people change. They can work to make themselves better than the person they were the day before. It doesn't erase the past, but acknowledges that all parts of life make you who you are - imperfect, but trying.

At the end of the day, we are not a reflection of our mistakes, we are a product of how we react to them.

4/5 stars ☆

Thank you to Gallery Books for this Arc in exchange for an honest review :)

I love Christina Lauren - I loved Soulmate Equation - I love this whole story line!! Fizzy & Connor are fire, the whole thing was just fantastic!

One measure I have when deciding how much I love a book, is whether or not I want to turn around and read it again immediately. I can safely say, The True Love Experiment has hit that bar and beyond. Since finishing it yesterday, I cannot stop thinking about it. Is this my new favorite Christina Lauren book? Yes, yes it is.

When I heard Fizzy was getting her own story, I quickly did a binge reread of The Soulmate Equation to refresh my memory of this really unique world and set of characters. And while I still love it, I was not prepared for how much more I was going to love Fizzy and Connor’s story. From the witty banter to the off the charts chemistry; the friends to lovers build up, to the fun reality show element. This book is done to absolute perfection.

Read if you like:
•reality tv
•friends to lovers
•single parent trope
•found family
•witty banter
•the soulmate equation

Do yourself a favor and preorder this one, then read it the second you can get your hands on it. You will not be disappointed.

A huge thank you to Gallery Books for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

Felicity "Fizzy" Chen feels like she's in a rut. She is a bestselling romance author who cannot write another book. She loves dating but has not been enjoying it. When she's asked to present a commencement speech, Fizzy realizes she's not really practicing what she's telling the audience to do!

Fizzy is approached by Connor Prince, a documentary filmmaker, about making a reality TV show. The queen of romance will be filmed finding true love. Connor's producer says he must, or he'll lose his job. Fizzy says no, but then gives Connor a list of ridiculous demands, which he meets!! Each contestant on the game show will meet a classic romance archetype - bad boy, cinnamon roll, hot nerd, etc.

The True Love Experiment begins, and Fizzy is finding her groove. She's surprised when the person she falls for isn't even a contestant, but that's a problem, as it's not part of the game.

I love Christina Lauren's books, and this one was just as amazing! I was laughing, squealing, and crying. Fizzy was the heroine I needed and wanted, and Connor was just so swoon worthy! Fizzy and Connor became friends, had great chemistry, and really respected one another. I also appreciated Connor and Nat's relationship; they were great co-parents and were friends, despite divorcing. We need more of this in the media!

I was ecstatic to get my hands on an early copy. I laughed out loud a lot while crying my way through it. It's been a long time since l've seen myself in a character. Because I read to escape--not to find myself. But Fizzy? I see myself in her. And she brought me a lot of healing in these pages. She reminded me that it's ok to want love. And that it's ok to be multidemensional. This book wasn't just about finding love- it was about finding JOY again. And I find myself needing joy in my life right now. Also shoutout to CLo for reminding us all that reading romance is nothing to be ashamed of. This is a homerun of a book-one I can't wait to read again. And probably my favorite in a long. long time.

Love, love, love this! Probably my fave of Christina Lauren since Love and Other Words! It would be advisable to read The Soulmate Equation first though, as there will be spoilers, so there's that. This was delightful, sexy, and a whole lot of fun.

Thank you CLo and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book…. I don’t even know where to begin! I feel like I just spent two days spinning around in glitter, petting puppies, being hugged by my best friends, and kissed by the hottest and sexiest man.

This book had me giggling, squealing, and wanting to write Fizzy and Connor’s initials in little read hearts all over the place. I also wanted to write my initials with Fizzy because I am completely obsessed with her. I was a little nervous about this book because who could EVER match or deserve Fizzy, but I didn’t need to worry. The banter? Top notch. The chemistry? Off the charts. And you get to see two people falling for each other UNDERSTAND each other. Really see them for who they are. And that is so satisfying to see.

When I finished this book, I immediately wanted to read it again.

A++++ work.

This was such a delight to read. It's basically a love letter to romance as a genre and romance readers, and as I'm one of those readers, it really worked for me. Felicity "Fizzy" Chen (Jess's best friend from The Soul Mate Equation) is a romance novelist who has possibly lost her faith in love. She's in a dating slump, she's got writer's block, and she's not sure what to do. Enter Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and dad to 10 year old Stevie, who is told by his boss that he has to switch gears from his usual climate warrior fare to a reality dating show so that their production company can stay successful. In a random conversation with his ex-wife, he gets the idea to bring in Fizzy, one of her favorite authors. She's reluctant at first, but she knows she needs a change, so she agrees on a few conditions. The best one, in my opinion, is that she requires that the contestants brought in to date her align with classic romance novel archetypes - the bad boy, the cinnamon roll, the hot nerd, the vampire, etc. All the while, Fizzy and Connor become close friends with an escalating sexual tension between them, which complicates not only their lives, but also the show. I really liked both leads and there was just a lot of joy in these pages - even when the inevitable conflict arises - that I had a great time reading it.

I received an advanced digital copy of Christina Lauren's newest book which releases this May. I LOVED IT! It's their best book since The Unhoneymooners. This book follows a romance author who ends up on a reality dating show because she hasn't found love on her own. If you're a fan of romance or Christina Lauren, I highly recommend it! It comes out May 16. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Christina Lauren does it again! I REALLY enjoyed this book. Fizzy was such a great character, saying the things out loud that we usually only think in our heads - which made me laugh so much. I loved the chemistry between her and Connor. Would definitely suggest to others to read :)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It took me awhile to get into this book. Fizzy is a romance author, but has been in a writing slump. She is asked to be on a reality dating show, where they test your dna to match you with a potential soulmate. The relationships she makes with the contestants & producer along the way creates issues for the direction the show is going. A *spicy* read and at the halfway point I couldn’t put the book down. I love Christina Lauren books and was happy to read another one!

Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for this ARC!

This was a cute story! I am not normally a rom com reader, but I found myself enjoying this title! The main characters are likable and I laughed out loud during the interactions quite a few times! Thank you for allowing me to preview this book!

ARC read through NetGalley, all opinions are my own. Wow Christina Lauren does it again. Man, I don't know if there is anything that could have made me love this book more. The Soulmate Equation is one of my all time favorites, so I was so happy to see Jess, River, Juno, and of course Fizzy in this book. I loved Fizzy. I loved Connor. I loved their story. This book made me feel so many things, but most of all it made me feel hopeful. It also kept me guessing, there were some things that happened that I had no idea were coming. Fizzy going on a dating show was both unexpected and expected for her personality, and I loved how the dating show her and Connor came up with was different than other dating shows.

Firstly, obligatory thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC! This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I was so excited to get it early.

I am even more excited to say that it did not disappoint. What. A good. Time.

Christina Lauren dedicate this book as being “a blatant love letter to our genre” and that truly is how it feels. Was it predictable and formulaic? Yes. I knew exactly how it would end 30% in and had it near perfect. Did that take away from how much I absolutely adored it? No, not even a little bit. At one point a character comments on how romance must be difficult to write when “the reader already knows how it ends” but I feel this book accomplished it perfectly. Knowing how it would end did not take away from how much I enjoyed it at all.

Connor and Fizzy are another absolutely delightful couple from Christina Lauren, full of banter, immediate attraction, and just a couple of idiots in love who think SURELY they just need one time and they won’t fall deeply in love no no no it’s fine they’ve got this they can compartmentalize.

Look, Fizzy is not gonna be everyone’s cup of tea - the frequent sex jokes and self-deprecating humor as a form of self-preservation won’t be everyone’s vibe, but boy was it mine. I absolutely loved seeing her grow and discover that maybe she was both ready for and deserving of a good relationship at all.

Connor is great. I will always love a simp who is obsessed with the love interest, especially if he’s one who is desperately trying not to be. Connor you can tell yourself all you want that you aren’t gonna go after her - I do not believe you. With the whole premise of their reality show being fitting men into stereotypical romance archetypes, Fizzy repeatedly tries to fit him into one - but it’s so hard when he’s a lovely mix of so many while also being uniquely his own character. British hot billionaire dilf who is also a cinnamon roll but also a side of “look at her and die” (but the contemp romance version not the fantasy I’ll actually kill you version)? I’m in.

Also, on a side note, I love the relationship between Connor and his ex-wife Nat so much? Give us more ex-wives who aren’t rude or bitter. Nat and Connor are friends who still love each other and want what’s best for each other, even though that isn’t each other. They’re so supportive of the other’s relationships and it is very, very sweet to see.

This book was great, I loved getting to see the glimpses of River and Jess together (also I forgot just how funny River was?) and I am so glad Fizzy got the delightful sequel she deserved.

4.5/5 stars.

PS: This book mentions Ted Lasso from the jump and I was immediately sold.

Fizzy and Conner are my new favorite book couple. Christina Lauren- knocked this out of the park! The chemistry between Fizzy and Conner was hot, their banter was perfect and their story was beautiful. This will absolutely be one of my top reads for 2023. Thank you for the advanced copy!

I didn't realize the characters in this book were from The Soulmate Equation until I read the author's note at the end of this book. Now I know why the characters sounded so familiar!

Fizzy was a sub-character in that book and now she has her own book. Fizzy is a romance author that is in a writing slump, and Connor is a sexy DILF who usually makes documentaries, but is now tasked with creating a bachelor-type reality show using The Soulmate Equation's technology to select the "perfect" partner. Fizzy is selected to be the lead on the show and immediately takes a liking to Connor. They develop a cute banter and have instant chemistry, but they are bound by the show to not get involved. However, things don't really go as planned.

I really liked Christina Lauren's take on the reality dating show. The characters were fun (although Fizzy was slightly annoying at times), the plot was good, and I loved the rapport between all the different characters - Fizzy, her best friend, Connor, his ex-wife, and the kids - Juno and Stevie.

Christina Lauren does it again! I loved how this one was kind of a sequel to The Soulmate Equation. I loved the idea behind the “perfect match” dating app and have had a lot of fun reading about that in two books. This book, I absolutely loved the main characters. Fizzy was so spunky, herself, and entertaining. I loved the chemistry and relationship in the story. Another big thing I loved about this book was the emphasis on the importance of romance books. Read what makes you happy! It made me smile to see this conversation throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the premise of the reality show. I don’t watch too much reality tv, but I loved reading about this show in the book!