As a life long Jeopardy fan (seriously, I watch it every single night and have since I was 4) and a nerd, this book appealed to all my senses. Teddy and Maxine, mortal enemies of the trivia show, with steaming hot tension and over the top banter, made this so fun to enjoy. I loved them together, especially Teddy exasperation with Maxine that he secretly loved. Add in the suspense of McKnight, and I couldn’t put this down. Plus, I learned A LOT of things I didn’t know, and probably won’t ever need to know unless I need to banter with an uptight, but excessively hot trivia player,

The premise of this book sounded so great - an enemies-to-lovers rom com based in the world of a Jeopardy-like trivia competition. Fun, right? But unfortunately, I had to DNF this one after just a couple chapters. The writing was clumsy and cringe-worthy, and I found myself disliking the main characters immediately. Upon meeting each other in the first chapter, they instantly hate each other for no apparent reason, and by the end of the chapter, they are already making out, again for no explainable reason. There is no backstory or character development at all and yet, the reader is immediately supposed to buy into these love/hate feelings they have for each other? Nope. I just couldn't imagine continuing this one when there are so many good books out there waiting to be read. Thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Heat Factor: 69 under a parachute after skydiving, and no, that’s not a euphemism

Character Chemistry: “I like you so much but I am so certain that you will tire of me that I must keep you at arms’ length to protect my heart.”

Plot: Maxine and Teddy meet as competitors on a trivia game show. Now they’re teaming up to defeat the reigning champion in the All Stars Showdown.

Overall: MAXIMUM. HEART.

Jen Comfort’s books really really work for me. I love her voice (it’s that bit of snark without a hint of smirk) and find that her books have the perfect blend of bonkers and emotion. When I closed this book, I had a huge goofy smile on my face (just as I did the last time I read a book by Comfort). So please take this as a disclaimer, because I am fully aware that this kind of narrative voice does not work for everyone (Erin didn’t love The Astronaut and the Star, which was Comfort’s debut).

Now I’m gonna gush.

So, the basic premise is that this is a Jeopardy! romance. That is, in and of itself, delightful. I wouldn’t say I love Jeopardy!, but I have fond memories of watching it when we went to Grandma’s house—she only had three channels on TV (THE HORROR). But I am kind of a giant nerd and this book is chock full of ridiculous trivia. Plus I love how the framework of reality television allows authors to create artificial situations to ratchet up the tension while still maintaining a veneer of realism. (Give me all your reality TV romance recs, please and thank you!)

Teddy Ferguson is on a big winning streak when he meets Maxine Hart. She takes the last powdered chocolate donut in the green room—his lucky donut!—and he acts like a complete snob. He also falls hopelessly in love. And then she beats the pants off him because, to use her words, Teddy “plays like a little bitch.” Of course, Maxine goes on to have her own winning streak where, though she plays fewer games, she wins more money.

Thus begins a rivalry.

Teddy is a classic, buttoned-up, type-A hero. His game show success rests on him knowing absurd amounts of trivia. He runs the board in an organized and predictable fashion and bets conservatively. Maxine is an agent of chaos. Of course she knows a lot of trivia (though not as much as Teddy does), but the secret to her success is her fast buzzer time and her willingness to make risky bets. Maxine has ADHD, which manifests in short bursts of hyperfocus when she’s interested in a topic—so she knows a lot about some things, but lacks the breadth of knowledge that Teddy has. As I sidenote, Maxine’s chapters talk about her ADHD a lot, especially in the first third of the book; while it’s an important part of her characterization, and is generally well done, there were a few moments where I found the references to be unnecessarily repetitive. (This was a minor niggle, not a deal-breaker.)

Now, the show is running a champions round and Teddy and Maxine are all set for a rematch…when who should walk in but the old, undefeated champion, who has both an extremely high accuracy rate AND an impressive buzzer speed. Also, he’s kind of a dick. Obviously, the only solution is for Maxine and Teddy to team up: Teddy will tutor Maxine in subjects where she has holes in her knowledge (boring things like American Vice Presidents and the Rivers of the World) and Maxine will help Teddy learn to take risks and get faster on the buzzer.

I admit here that the setup getting them to the co-tutoring situation strained my credulity a little bit. However, we can chalk it up to 1) Maxine is an agent of chaos and 2) Romance Reasons. Romance Reasons is the real winner here, because not only does Maxine get Teddy to agree to the tutoring deal, she also moves into his house so they can dedicate all their time to studying. (Teddy is a professor and therefore “has the summer off,” which, fine, he’s competing to win a multi-million dollar cash prize, I *guess* he can stop worrying about getting tenure for a few months. Maxine works jobs until she gets bored and quits.) So we’ve got some decent playing house content here.

But what you’re really in this book for is the sexy studying, and hoo boy does it get steamy. Who knew that learning the mountain ranges of Eurasia could be so erotic? Yes, indeed, Teddy does wear glasses, and yes, he does tell Maxine she’s a good girl when she gets an answer right, so. Peak Hot for Teacher vibes, without the gross Hot for Teacher power dynamic slash age gap.

This middle portion of the book is where most of the relationship-building also occurs, despite Maxine and Teddy desperately telling themselves that it’s just physical attraction and trivia in order to protect their respective hearts. It’s delightful.

The final third of the book features them back on set to film the competition. The romance slows down a bit (the drama comes not from a black moment, but from something else entirely, and hoo boy is it a doozy), but Comfort brings the full story to a satisfying conclusion.

Two final notes:

First, I must admit that Celebrity Jeopardy is one of my absolute favorite SNL bits. I might have done a spit take when Maxine called Teddy “Turd Ferguson”—and then told him, when he raised his brow, “It’s a funny name.” (Jen Comfort, enquiring minds want to know: did you give your hero his name solely so you could make this joke?)


Second, the thing that happens in the epilogue made me scream. Because I could not contain my emotions. (These emotions were not rage but rather TOO MUCH FEELING OMG.) My heart grew three sizes and I forgave the book any moments of repetition or slowness.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

Growing up, I loved watching Jeopardy! with my family. While I’ve never done trivia myself, it’s something I’ve continued to have an interest in. So when I heard about What Is Love?, I was excited to dive into a romance centered around a trivia game show called Answers!

The characters in What Is Love? are highly intelligent, each full of both common and obscure knowledge that most of us mere mortals wouldn’t be able to compete with. However, one thing I most love about this book is how it highlights different kinds of intelligence and learning styles. Teddy Ferguson comes from a more traditional learning background. He did well in school, is good at studying and memorizing facts, and thrives in classrooms as we know them. Maxine Hart, though, has ADHD and learns completely differently. She doesn’t study or train the way you’re “supposed to”; she prefers to learn with a bit more creativity and abstract thinking. Her goal on Answers! is to show other neurodivergent kids that they, too, are just as smart and capable.

Both Maxine and Teddy have their strengths as well as weakness going into this new tournament. If they team up, they can each fill in the blanks and be better prepared to take on their mutual rival, Hercules McKnight. If Teddy can find a way to teach Maxine the more boring information she needs, in spite of how her ADHD brain works, that will be a boon to her. And if she can teach him to be less cautious, he may have a chance of edging out more daring competitors like herself.

I enjoyed Maxine and Teddy’s forced proximity and teacher-student dynamic as they train for one last Answers! tournament. They have such different personalities—he’s quite formal and serious; she’s a firecracker of energy and calls things as she sees them—and yet they complement each other so well. They also make some assumptions about each other that may not be so accurate, especially in regards to their schooling and socioeconomic backgrounds. Speaking of, I appreciated Maxine’s unabashed views on capitalism and class structures!

As Maxine and Teddy spend more time together, their mutual attraction becomes harder to ignore. What Is Love? gets pretty spicy… study buddies can certainly be something more than that! But both will have to stop hiding parts of themselves for a relationship to fully blossom. I love how they get there and how it all ends.

What Is Love? is such a fun, smart, and steamy romance. It will appeal to anyone who likes trivia or game shows, neurodivergent representation, and characters that jump off the pages. This is my first time reading Jen Comfort, but I’ve had her previous book, Midnight Duet, on my TBR for the past year. I think it’s time I bump that one to the top of my list!

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had fun with this book. I liked the relationship between the two main characters especially since they were very opposite. I also liked seeing the aspects with the game show.

I did find Maxine just a tad annoying at times though. She was a bit much.

Gotta love a book with no third act breakup. (Sorry if that's a spoiler)

3.5 stars rounded down

PHEW this book was 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️!!

This is the first book I’ve read by Jen and I was thoroughly entertained. Her writing is so funny and this story had such great character voice. I loved the Jeopardy-esque competition plot and I thought there was the right amount of tension and pacing. It was clearly well-researched and that showed in the characters and in the setting, which were captivating from page one. And the cover and trivia question chapter headings are so fun! It’s very spicy, so heads-up on that! (TEDDY FERGUSON THE MAN THAT YOU ARE.)

I love how well-paired, yet vastly different Teddy and Maxine were, and how they grew together. And Jen does such a great job at representing and honoring neurodiversity. And her writing is so funny! I marked so many parts that had me cackling.

This was such a fun, spicy read with meaningful depth.

Thank you to Montlake and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. WHAT IS LOVE? Is out now!

Jen’s humor is so… suddenly we’re interested in learning about rivers? How dare and also thank you!

This book is the epitome of: I hate everything this person stands for and want to sit on their face to make them shut up.

What a ride. Jen Comfort continues to always be a pleasure read.

A great read, the story of Maxine and Teddy, both trivia buffs who meet when they compete on a TV quiz show. A year later they are back in each others lives, but who will win this time?

Well this book bewitched my mind, body, and soul. First of all, it’s funny AF. It takes a lot to get more than a polite “heh” out of me, and I laughed a lot. Out loud. Maxine Heart is just so vibrant and radiates this… energy… you can’t help but connect with. From the first pages where she faces off with record-holding, bowtie-wearing Answers! champ Teddy Ferguson, I was hooked.

After competing twice in show play, the rivals are forced back together for an all-time winner championship, facing off against an undefeated champion. Now, they have a shared goal and agree to work together to defeat the ick-inducing Hercules McKnight. They’ll help each other shore up weaknesses and try to ignore the building chemistry between them. Impossible! The tension burns hotter than magma, and when it finally erupts (and becomes lava, btw) the payoff is SO WORTH IT.

Also, I found myself taking so many informational sidequests I had to open the notes app to keep a running tab of future google searches to initiate. (One of my favorites was finding out more about the Chinese paddlefish, and I swear I’ve already told a weird number of people about this now extinct but incredibly interesting species.) If you have A(u)DHD, you’ll appreciate how stimulating the trivia pieces are. MAXINE AND TEDDY SURE DID. The way Teddy works WITH Maxine’s brain was so unbelievably sexy. (Is it weird that I brought this up in therapy because it touched me so much? It’s just so sweet and validating to have a partner that gets you!)

Finally, I was delighted to be surprised so much reading this. My pattern recognition skills are finely tuned, so to take unexpected turns more than once was such a treat! Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

ADHD representation and Trivia games 🥹
Opposite attracts and rivals to lovers 🫶🏻
The banter was immaculate and the spice spicing … a lot 😶‍🌫️

I lost interest in this book halfway through. Not being a TV watcher and not being in the USA, I found it wasn’t relevant to me, and I have put it aside in favour of another book. Sorry, just not my cup of tea.

What is Love? by Jen Comfort was a fun rom-com that was just totally binge worthy.
Such a lovely story with fantastic characters.
I’ve enjoyed Comfort’s previous title and her newest was no different.

Thank You NetGalley and Montlake for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

After the unhinged diva antics of Comfort's last romance Midnight Duet, I had high hopes for her next romance outing and was not disappointed. What is Love? has fewer divas but the main characters definitely have egos to rival an opera singer and a hair metal band frontman.

Set on and around a TV game show that is a thinly-veiled Jeopardy! our two lovebirds find themselves at loggerheads competing for the ultimate trivia title on the show. But months later when the network wants to do a champions tournament they find they have to team up to beat the biggest nerd of them all: the show's blue-ribbon winner with a massive unbeatable streak some decades ago.

Maxine is a tornado of interesting facts, big hair and strong impulses. She's got ADHD and while it's a big part of her personality, I liked that she is written as someone who doesn't "struggle with" the condition, rather she "lives with" it and knows herself and the way her neurodivergent brain works very well. She has no formal education but that didn't stop her from wiping the floor with her competitors on the show.

At first glance, Teddy is her polar opposite - scion of an old money family, a university professor with a lifelong passion for the pursuit of knowledge and a bucket-load of snobbery about it. But as the two of them crash together again and again, they each learn there is more than meets the eye to each of them. When they give in to their growing attraction, it gets SPICY. Let's just say I don't think I'll ever look at a world map the same again.

There's a wonderful subplot where they uncover some dodgy play on the show, some fantastic shenanigans as Maxine and Teddy help each other train for the champion tournament and heartwarming scenes that will make you go awww. And then you'll blush to the roots of your hair at the sexy times scenes haha. I just had a great time with this book, Jen Comfort is now an auto-read author for me.

In this opposites attract, rivals to lovers romance two competitors on a game show must team up to overcome a formidable adversary. A rivalry isn’t the only thing heated between these two, and as they work together to train for the upcoming tournament tensions run high.

I loved these characters more than I can say. Maxine is peppy, insecure, and always willing to take a bit too far. Teddy is so by the book that he probably wrote the book, and just an absolute sweetheart! I loved the conversation surrounding learning and the education system, and the way that the characters grew to understand and respect one another. I especially loved the conflict outside of the rivalry and the big twists that occurred! And of course, the spice and banter were perfection!

This book is silly and fun. It includes some classic millennial humor and modern references. I mention this because I know some people have an issue with these features in books. I felt it really worked for this story, but just wanted to mention it!

If you're looking for something sweet, silly, fun, and super h*rny this book is for you!

An absolutely adorable new read from Jen Comfort! I do love Jeopardy and I do love grumpy/sunshine where she’s the grump so this was pretty much a match made in heaven for me.

Maxine and Teddy were so sweet together and their chemistry was off the charts. Plus the super fun game show aspect was unique and nerdy in the best possible way.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️/5

I didn’t know I needed to read a romance book based on Jeopardy until I picked this one up! What Is Love is a red hot romance read that pits trivia rivals Maxine Hart and Teddy Ferguson against each other for a final battle. When a dark horse in the form of ultimate trivia champion Hercules McKnight enters the competition, the two team up to bring him down.

It’s so hard to review this book without giving away any spoilers, but I’ll try.

Maxine is awesome. She’s a Trivia savant from Brooklyn with ADHD who has already believed she wasn’t good enough because she’s never had a formal education. Her relationships always fizzle out when she becomes “too much”.

Teddy is equally as awesome. He’s super buttoned up, but even though Maxine has thrown his life into chaos, he refuses to give up on her. And who knew uptight Teddy could be so sexy. I may want him to be my new book boyfriend.

If you love trivia (it’s interspersed throughout most of the book), sexy love stories and surprise endings, you need to read this book ASAP.

Thank you to the author Jen Comfort, the publisher Montlake and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.

🎧 Stay tuned as I’ll be launching my podcast with an in-depth review including an optional spoilers hopefully 🤞🏼 within the next week!

Jen is an amazing new modern voice in the romance genre. I've read her previous books, and this one is just as fantastic as her others. WHAT IS LOVE? is a hilarious enemies to lovers tale with two fantastically intelligent protagonists. Yay!

This was so good! I absolutely loved Maxine and Teddy together—and damn, the spice is SPICY. I'm not sure I'll ever look at a map the same way.
As someone with ADHD I did feel like the ADHD elements felt shoehorned. They also felt a little like the author read the latest clickbait articles on ADHD and used the same verbiage to discuss it. But it didn't detract too much from the great parts of this book which was the trivia (huge Jeopardy! fan here) and the romance.

The combination of smart and filthy in this book is a whole new level. I enjoyed every second and never knew what was next on (but in the best way). Both Teddy and Maxine are not the typical romcom stars, but they were everything I wanted romcom stars to be.

This book somehow crammed in ADHD rep, the best banter, trivia facts, emotional depth and growth, a Jeopardy like quiz show, a beautiful romance, and a great secondary plot and side characters into this book without it feeling like there is too much. While there is something to the predictability of romance, this book had a bit of everything and I never guessed where the plot would go. There is a balance of vulnerability and lightness that has this book lingering with me long after I finished it (in a day).

Pretty much I loved everything about this and I need more Jen Comfort books asap please.

This first chapter of this book was pretty cringeworthy for me. I pushed myself to continue because I wanted to give it a fair shot and I’m glad that I did.

While the story was fun, and as a lover of the game show that inspired this book, I found the characters incredibly one-dimensional. They felt like stereotypes.

I appreciated the ADHD representation and the care that was taken to explaining Maxine’s mother and upbringing as well as Teddy’s family and his father’s illness. All of this was well done

In the end, this was just fine. I will probably forget about it in a few days