I adored this! Funny, heartfelt and thoughtful in ways I wasn’t sure Ali Hazelwood was capable of. It has her signature cheesy humor, big man x small woman trope and the silly oblivious girl x obsessed boy trope, and yet i think this time she perfected the formula. I adored Elsie just as much as Jack did, I admired her, I worried for her, and I was so heavily invested in her career and her happiness that it surprised me. Jack was fun, supportive, and he brought a great balance to the story with his clear communication and emotional openness. I just enjoyed it, breezed through the reading experience in a single day and I think it’s a romance I could see myself revisiting someday when I need a serotonin boost.

4.5 stars

Love, Theoretically might just be my new favorite Ali Hazelwood book! Impossible to put down, I absolutely devoured this one. It just had that sparkle - the cute moments that made me want to kick my feet in the air while I was reading.

Elsie and Jack have taken the crown as my fave Ali Hazelwood couple - which is saying a lot considering how much I love Adam and Olive. They had the banter and the chemistry I've come to expect from Ali's characters - but they also had a whole lot of heart. They were a slow burn love story, but the wait was definitely worth it. Jack not only fell first for Elsie, but he also fell the hardest. He was just so in tune with her and so perceptive - honestly one of the most swoon-worthy male leads I've read about in a long time.

Elsie was a great leading lady - I really liked her journey from trying to mold herself to please everyone around her to her figuring out who she was and who she wanted to be. I also really liked that Jack was so supportive of her personal growth - he actively encouraged her to be herself and saw through her facade from the jump.

Academic rivals, a professional fake dater, and the he falls first trope - Love, Theoretically really had some fun tropes - and executed well on all of them. Particularly, I really enjoyed how the academic rival plot unraveled. Jack was not only the very experimental physicist who undermined the integrity of theoretical physicists (and who happens to be Elsie's sworn nemesis) turns out to be on the hiring committee for Elsie's dream job. This made for a really fun and interesting dynamic - that also delivered the perfect amount of angst.

Love, Theoretically is not only a top tier Ali Hazelwood book, but it's also one of my favorite romcoms of the year. At this point, if Ali writes it, I'll eat it up. I'm already counting down until I can read Check & Mate!

I have never been able to read a book where I can honestly say that I relate to the main characters at the spiritual level on every single page. But this book made me feel so seen, and the love that develops throughout the book is so heartbreakingly beautiful!!

Ali Hazelwood's best novel yet! I Absolutely loved the main characters journey with her job, economic struggles, and diabetes. Both main characters felt incredibly well fleshed out, and I was obsessed with how wonderful the romance was. The pacing was great, the plot was engrossing, and I wouldn't change a thing :)

This copy was kindly given to be by both the publisher and Netgalley for review. All opinions are my own.

I just gotta say that Ali Hazelwood is quickly becoming a favorite romance author.

Of the three, this is my second favorite. I really enjoyed Elsie and her chameleon ways, loved as she works to become more comfortable with being able to express not only what she wants but who she actually is. I loved the chronic illness rep, I have not read a single book I can think of that has a main character with diabetes. Jack with his cool eye color has me questioning my love for dark hair men, lol. There is something just so fun reading a story where its clear that the guy fell first, and while Elsie doesn't catch on, we as the reader definitely do.

“Professionally, my life sucks a bit. Psychologically, I’m not, as some would say, ‘healthy.’ Musically, I should hire a tuba to follow me around.”—Love, Theoretically
Ali Hazelwood has truly earned her place amongst the pantheon of Romance Authors who consistently deliver on fun, swoony, and smart romance. Love, Theoretically is her latest release and her most recent book to leave me utterly entranced and unable to function until every last word had been read.

I won’t lie to you: I begged for this latest release. After sprinting my way through Loathe to Love You earlier in the year, I realized that there wouldn’t be much of anything that I wouldn’t do for a chance to have an ARC copy featuring Jack Smith (whom we know from The Love Hypothesis) and his love interest, Elise Hannaway. Let me assure you—Love, Theoretically delivered on every wonderful premise.

“What is up with all these people calling me on my bulls*t lately? Am I suddenly giving off main character vibes?”—Love, Theoretically
Elsie Hannaway is a brilliant theoretical physicist. As a woman in STEM in a field that has been demoted to scoff-worthy by none other than Jonathan Turner-Smith, Elsie also lives with Type 1 Diabetes. And though she has a mentor whom she adores, she finds herself locked into a tiny corner of trudgery in academia life. When she should be researching, she’s teaching. When she should be writing and working on her theories, she’s grading half-assed papers and fielding the most accurate portrayal of student emails that I’ve ever seen. Elsie has even taken it upon herself to join her roommate in a date for hire side job. Posing as a fake girlfriend helps to pay the bills where her seemingly dead-end position under the leadership of her mentor does not. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that when an opportunity presents itself to work at a University and be given the resources (and pay) that she has only been ever to dream about—Elsie leaps in, ready to claim this new opening as her own.

It’s never as easy as it seems. The way that Jack and Elsie’s lives are entwined together is truly the word of mad-scientist level of plotting. Not only that, Ali Hazelwood writes heroes that are so completely gone for their ladies that I constantly grapple with favorites because with each new books comes a new favorite. Love, Theoretically brilliantly brings together an opposites attract romance within the world of Science Academia. Ali Hazelwood masterfully integrates scientific terminology and theories easily into this romance and manages to shed light on some of the more toxic aspects of what is actually behind the curtain in the science world.

“I’m Elsie. And I really like cheese, particle physics, and movies with sparkly vampires.”—Love, Theoretically
I absolutely couldn’t put Love, Theoretically down. Elsie is such a relatable heroine, and I find myself constantly admiring each of the leading ladies that Ali Hazelwood gives to us, but also I love the “stick together” mentality of could-be foes in Elsie and Jack’s friend, George. Love, Theoretically is beautifully written, masterfully woven, and utterly enchanting. If you love smart romance, stories with women in STEM being in the forefront, and romances that will have you hooked from the get-go then Love, Theoretically is the book for you.

Congrats on a wonderful new release, Ali Hazelwood!

He wants to take care of her so badly, and that's where the romance is. 🤧

Soooo glad i pushed through! The academic parts in the beginning were a little confusing lol but around the halfway mark, you won't notice it as much.

Adam and Olive are still my faves, but gosh, i'm just darn glad I finally found another AH book to love hahaha.

This is my favorite STEMinist romance by Ali Hazelwood. I feel like this might not be for everyone but I absolutely loved the heavy academia setting. The drama, politics, backstabbing, passion! I also felt like this story was a lot more grounded than her others. There isn’t a wacky trope, weird villains, etc. The author mentioned that Jack’s article was based on the real-life chaos and drama that resulted from the Sokal affair so that makes sense.

I loved seeing Elsie’s growth throughout the book. I love her optimism, the passion for her theories that kept her going, kindness, empathy, and ultimately, her bravery to accept who she is and speak her voice.

I found Jack’s character to be sweet but a little domineering. He kept pushing Elsie to be truthful while rarely opening up about himself. This does get addressed by Elsie but I feel like I needed to know more about Jack.

There are some beats that are familiar to readers of her other books.
- guy is soo in love while the woman is oblivious and thinks he hates her (sound familiar? -_-)
- guy is very tall and big

Thankfully, the size difference between the lovers isn’t beaten over your head repeatedly. Also, there are less moments where the characters are obsessed with the other’s physical hotness. I think this balanced the romance much better. I could feel how they were drawn to each other physically and emotionally. It allowed me to feel the romantic tension and chemistry better.

Overall, I’m happy this was a great read. I felt like the author’s books were starting to feel all the same but this one is a refreshing change. If you love academia and political machinations, then I think you’ll really enjoy this one!

Spice Level: R

I was nervous that I wasn’t going to like this one, especially after seeing mixed reviews. BUT HONESTLY, I think this one sits right up top with The Love Hypothesis. I loved both so much! And getting to see Olive and Adam was literally everything! My only struggle (which was internal) was I still managed to picture Adam Driver for Jack even though that was Adam. Not even gonna lie, most male main characters I picture as Adam Driver or Miles Teller. There’s like no in-between.

In this one, it’s another enemies to lovers, which also has type 1 diabetes, which I love! It’s such a big disease that doesn’t get the highlight and awareness that it deserves (I’m the daughter of a type 1). Elsie is currently an adjunct professor, struggling between her millions of classes and not being able to focus on her research. She applies for a position and has an interview, but her industry’s arch nemesis is on the committee (and happens to be the brother of a man she’s fake dating). Elsie is also the kind of person that doesn’t like to be an inconvenience, so she tends to change herself to fit the needs of whoever she’s around. Jack picks up on this straightaway and just wants her to be herself - but how does that work when she doesn’t know how to do that?

Just a huge chefs kiss and honestly, I feel seen with the need to not be an inconvenience and to please everyone. It’s been my internal struggle my whole life with being an only child (and something I’m working on in therapy). Such recognition is huge!

Elise is a theoretical physicist without tenure who works as a fake girlfriend to pay her bills. Jack is the brother of her favorite client and an experimental physicist who is standing between her and her dream job and… attractive?

I love Ali Hazelwood’s books! This was so good! (Also, I loved the cameo from The Love Hypothesis!)

I'm shocked to be saying this, but I liked this more than The Love Hypothesis! I loved the friend dynamics, the workplace drama, and the spice. Ms Hazelwood knocked this one out the park. I was hesitant to read this one after Love on the Brain did not really do it for me. But this was a solid 5 stars!

Love, Theoretically is another banger from Ali Hazelwood. Workplace nemeses is what she does best and while it felt very similar to her other STEMinist romance books, I knew what I was signing up for and loved every minute

This was my second Ali Hazelwood read, and while I enjoy her overall style, I’m finding that I’m not a fan of certain tropes that she uses in her stories. I like the elements of STEM and generally enjoyed the tension between the characters. Personally, I don’t love the “I never really enjoyed sex at all until he came along” aspect of the story, as I’m not a big fan of the lead female character needing to be as pure as possible.
That being said, this is only my second of her books along with The Love Hypothesis, so I’m hoping that some other stories veer off from this trope and don’t make the reader feel like the lead would be sullied in some way simply because she’s had/enjoyed sex with previous partners.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. Ali Hazelwood's books just get better as they go, and this one is my favorite one yet! Jack and Elsie were the cutest ever and I always am obsessed with the academia settings in Ali's books. I would definitely recommend this for any romance readers!

Wow, this was a rough one. I only made it about 15% through before giving up because the language was just…. Dreadful and deeply irritating. It was an utter mess of science references that I didn’t understand and ultra hip slang that I also didn’t understand. This book will not age well.

“Because I knew that if we’d start doing this, we would never stop. And that’s exactly how it is. There is no universe in which I’m going to let you go.”

Elsie and Jack. She’s a theoretical physicists and he’s an experimental physicist. They’re academic rivals but he’s been smitten since the beginning. She’s a people-pleaser but he sees right through her and just wants her to be honest with herself.

🧬READ IF YOU LIKE🧬:
- academic rivals to lovers
- he’s grumpy
- fake dating services
- theoretical physicist x experimental physicist
- women in STEM
- twilight, bill nye & cheese
- physics puns
- witty banter & bickering
- he falls first/boy obsessed
- t1d representation

cw: mention of seizure, toxic/difficult relationship with family, glycemic attack, death of loved one, controlling & manipulative mentor

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleyromance for the advanced copy! Love, Theoretically is now available!

This is perhaps my favorite Hazelwood novel. The STEM-conflict at the book is maybe a little heavy, but it balances the romance and the characters well. There were moments where I found this book to be just so flirty and fun to read. A must-read for fans of Hazelwood's romances.

We’ve been taking a break from club reads during the summer and vibing with solo reads only, HOWEVER, the BBC will always stop everything for an Ali Hazelwood novel. Her book, The Love Hypothesis, did start us on this journey after all… So we took a one book hiatus from our hiatus, to read Love, Theoretically, Ali’s newest STEM romcom. Whoo! Was it worth it! (We read this book the day it came out, however we are on summer time when it comes to writing reviews, so apologies for the delay.)

Love, Theoretically follows FMC Elsie: theoretical physicist, people pleaser, and fake girlfriend for hire, and MMC Jack: experimental physicist, cinnamon roll, brother of one of Elsie’s clients, and member of the hiring committee for her dream job. We’ve got a little enemies to lovers, mistaken identity, personal growth, and STEM. There are so many layers in this book: behind the scenes academia, theoretical vs experimental physics, good old fashioned sexism, found family, humor, and steamy-sweet romance.

This was an easily-given 5 stars from each of us. It’s Hazelwood magic! This felt more reminiscent of The Love Hypothesis than Love on the Brain and the Loathe to Love You novella series (which are great but simply not the same level). It was smiles, laughter, and swoons balanced perfectly with real life and the look into the woman in STEM life.

Read it! Read it now!

Loved it! Every Ali Hazelwood book I read is better than the last and that's saying something! The characters' wit and charm and dialogue were some of the best in romance books.

one thing about me is I’m an ali hazelwood stan first and human second. I love alis books and loved this one also. I might a bit bias in my love as I’m a stem girly (im a biology and chemistry major in college) so I eat up these stem romances but I also just love the characters. I absolutely loved this one. it had me kicking my feet and giggling, there tension was so good and don’t even get me started on there banter. there’s just something about rivals that hits different. also jack’s actually expressing his emotions I DIED. elsie is the biggest mirrorball coded girly (like me) and I loved her so much. AND THE OLIVE ADAM CAMEO MY BABIES. overall absolutely obsessed, loved so so much.