Received as an ARC in return for my honest review.

🧬 Biology teacher FMC
🔬 Golden retriever Dr MMC
🧬 Friends to lovers
🔬 Reverse grumpy x sunshine
🧬 He falls first
🔬 Small town

I didn’t realise this was the second book in the series and I think if I’d have read the first one it may have changed my overall rating of this one. Overall I thought it was ok and had real potential but sadly fell short in some aspects.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Luke as a MMC, he was great and such a well thought out character. Tanith on the other hand really irritated me at moments, she didn’t feel like a fully hashed out character to me and could have done with a lot more development throughout to make her more likeable and relatable.

I wish this wasn’t as rushed at the end as it felt, it really seemed like a sprint to the finish.

This book was so good. I truly enjoyed both Tanith and Luke. Luke was just a cute little charmer. You couldn't help but like him.
This is the second book in the series and the second book I have read by Christine Miles. I loved the first one and I love this one too. They both had some issues they needed to work through, Tanith dealing with her mother and Luke with his partner at his sport medicine practice. After spending more time together they both let down some walls and you can see the love happening.
I loved this series, you get some science, good looking characters, and love.
Grab Passion Under the Microscope!

Science nerd romance I guess?

Tanith Kerrigan is a high school biology teacher who met her unfortunate demise, which is sprained ankle after trying to catch a bird, and comes her savior, Dr Luke Caldwell. This book is quite cute but turns out to be a bit lackluster for me. I enjoyed the premise and the fact that she was a stem FMC and having a golden retriever vibes from the MMC makes me feels excited to see how their romance develop. But sadly, I didn't feel strong chemistry between them. And I'm not fancy of characters that admit to feel lust more than love.

While this book seems light-hearted and cute, there is a heavy topics mentioned (absentee parent, workplace sexual harassment). SO please check the trigger warning before you start reading this.

Overall, this one just didn't click for me. There were parts of the book that i really enjoyed and some parts that just didn't work. Thank you to Netgalley for the review copy .

Super cute! I enjoyed it more than the first one! I felt it took a bit to get into, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. Looking forward to the next one!

Passion Under the Microscope is a story of self-discovery, navigating adversity and two really hot science nerds finding each other.

Tanith Kerrigan is a high school biology teacher who meets her unfortunate demise (sprained ankle) trying to catch two birds... uh... doing it (it was the Colorado state bird okay!!! Very important!!!). In comes Dr. Luke Caldwell to sweep her off her feet (and to get an x-ray) in this fun, witty romp where two people face adversity, fall in love and grow. In a shocking turn of events what starts as Dr. Luke supporting Tanith leads to a role reversal as he ends up in a situation that threatens his livelihood.

This book is a lot of fun and I'm always here for women in STEM (very much an Ali Hazelwood Penny Reid stan here). I really enjoyed the banter between the two MCs and the expanded community of friends that they share. I also really loved seeing representation of complicated family dynamics as demonstrated by Tanith's with her mother Deandra.

I honestly don't know why this book ended up so low for me because, in theory, it ticked every one of my boxes for a good time. Women in STEM? Golden retriever MMC? Banter??!? What isn't there to love? This definitely falls into "It's not you, it's me" because I just wasn't connecting to the story or characters fully. I still recommend everyone give this book a try when it drops because, even though it wasn't a 4 or 5 star for me, I definitely think it's a good, enjoyable book that's worthy of your attention.

When a biology teacher meets a sports medicine doctor, there are bound to be some sparks.

A woman who doesn't need a man, but won't say no to the man in front of her. My kind of woman. Tanith certainly had more patience than I would've had.

Luke is the perfect man. Why? Because he gave her a foot massage when she didn't even ask for it.

And the best part of the book? Even when both of them had personal problems they had to deal with, they didn't lose sight of each. They helped each other in their own ways.

Passion Under the Microscope by Christine Miles is a good fit for those seeking a lighthearted, romantic tale of self-discovery and growth, with a focus on the intersection of career, relationships, and personal aspirations.

I love STEM romance as a STEM girlie myself. I think this book is 5 stars amazing Tanith reminds me of my best friend so cute.

Amazing book!
I was thoroughly engaged throughout this book and I didn't want to put it down! The author captured my attention from the get go! Five stars from me :)

This was such a great follow up to Book 1 (dare I say I enjoyed it more than Book 1).

It was a cute quick read; mildly slow burn but so quick to read that it didn’t really feel like that slow of a burn. Loved Tanith’s prickly nature and Luke’s ray of sunshine.

Can’t wait for Book 3, imagine it’ll be a hoot!

Smart is seriously sexy. It’s also fun as heck. From fornicating birds to end of the school year cheers, Passion Under the Microscope delivers. The title is definitely appropriate for the small town setting. Nothing, and I mean nothing gets by the residents of Brigid’s Vista.

#PassionUnderTheMicroscope
#ChristineMiles
#SmartIsSeriouslySexy
#NetGalley

So it's been a while since I read Off The Charts Chemistry (the first book in the series), but I'm pretty sure I enjoyed this a whole lot more. I'm a huge fan of shorter novels and novellas, and I'm in love with the execution of this one. It's less than 300 pages and still there's space for a well thought out plotline, separate from the romance.

Both the MCs have some great interactions that I absolutely loved. Tanith is a high school teacher, so her manner with her students is such a delight, and Luke is a sports medicine doctor, with a stubborn teenage patient (the only patient we actually see). I think it's so important to portray characters outside of the romance, because the rest of their life doesn't stop right there, and I think this book does it beautifully. All the insecurities made complete sense and he character arcs were very compelling.

I love how they both have their own stories and qualities that they bring to their relationship that makes it so wholesome. It's amazing to see their worlds alter as they make space for each other and see the subtle changes in their personalities. Tanith and Luke fit together so well, and their bond makes my heart melt :)

While this is a very easy read, there are some difficult topics addressed in this story (and done well IMO), and I've put them below. I can't promise that you'd love this, but I surely recommend it, coz it was what I needed.

TW- mentions of sexual harassment, parental abandonment.

PS: I didn't like that Tanith kept referring to her mom as DKLMSS (I took so long to understand what that meant and yes, it's her initials after being married to 4 men). Also, Luke calling Tanith 'lady' over and over again was annoying, but I'm gonna let it slide.

I think that this was a cute and relatively quick read. One thing that I did wish that I knew before reading the book was that it's the second book in the series. That's the main reason why I ended up giving it 4 stars because it just ended up feeling like I was missing a piece of the puzzle. While it's more than likely not necessary to read the first book in this series, I feel like it is important to be able understand the dynamic between Tanith and Luke, as well as more of their characters overall. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but wish it was a bit longer. and less repetitive (if I had to read any version of "the lady" one more time I was about to rip out my hair).

I liked the external conflicts that the two characters were having. I liked how instead of letting it take over themselves, they found ways that they could help each other out and still find time to be with each other. But I do feel like the conflicts weren't actually resolved and the ending was a bit rushed.

I especially enjoyed the little moments of them opening up to each other. The ping pong ball game was cute and I wish we had similar moments like it before they really ended up with each other. Like yeah, they had moments of opening up, but I liked how it was just them in their own little world and just having fun with it.nWith my wish of this book being a bit longer, I wanted to see more of what they were like over the past few months of being acquainted with each other. I think it would have made the chemistry a bit more organic, at least on Tanith's end. Her falling for him felt a bit rushed, even though she had mentioned her mutual attraction to him a few times.

Thank you NetGalley and Sealed with a Swoon Books for providing me an arc copy of the book in return for my honest review.

Tanith, who loved to play the field had an epiphany one day that prompted her to change the life she was leading. Love couldn't have entered her life at a more inopportune time , causing her to vacillate on keeping her self -avowals or allowing the inevitable to happen. Luke's attraction to and pursuit of her gets sidelined by a career crisis, making his decision more difficult and entangling. With the intervention of their friends and family, they learn to open up and navigate this new thing blossoming between them. It immediately becomes clear that the path will be challenging but rewarding and the author was able to appeal to the reader's curiosity about the impact the journey would make on the main characters. "Passion under the Microscope" is the second in the series and was just as absorbing a read as the first. I would definitely recommend it to readers of the romance genre.

This was so repetitive. One thing I have to say…WE GET IT. We get it, she’s a biology teacher, she broke her ankle, she lives in Brigid’s Vista, she has an absentee mother who has been married four times, he’s a sports medicine doctor, he lives in Denver but doesn’t want to, he works with an asshole, has 3 other employees at his practice. I swear I read the same words over and over again and I felt like it had no plot. Like this happened, this is how they got over it. Just like that?? There was no chemistry and she was like I don’t need a man and we all knew they were gonna end up together. But there was nothing between them. I just couldn’t wait for this to end tbh.

I honestly found this book to be lacklustre. I enjoyed the premise and the fact that she was a stem FMC was a huge plus in my opinion. I also loved the golden retriever vibes from the MMC.

It just did not do it for me. I didn’t feel as much chemistry as I normally feel from the characters.
I may have enjoyed it more had I read the first book, but I’m not sure it would have done a whole lot.
That said, the writing was great! I normally don’t like third person POV in romance novels, but this didn’t distract from the plot.

All in all, it was a good short read and I finished it in a few hours. Definitely a great pallet cleanser for between the heavier books.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this book so much. And I especially loved the fact that there was no drama between the main characters. Their relationship started slowly and then progressed gradually. Tanith turned out pretty ok considering how her mother was, God I hated that woman. Tanith was just amazing and found her home and real family in a new place. Luke was such a sweetheart, he really just needed an excuse to move to the smalltown and his horrible partner gave him one. I loved how Luke and Tanith supported each other mutually without suffocating either of them, they were just there for each other and that's how it's supposed to be in a relationship

Tanith Kerrigan is a biology teacher at the local high school. She will do anything to grab her students' attention and break the tension that is inevitable at the start of the reproductive unit she is starting on Monday, including taking a photo of two birds in a private moment. Said photo leads to a sprained ankle, which the handsome Dr. Luke Caldwell is happy to take a look at on a Saturday morning.

As a math teacher myself, I loved Tanith and her friends. The author did a fantastic job depicting the life of a teacher - grading on the weekends, constantly thinking about ways to engage your students, and leaning on your teacher friends to get through the hard days. Tanith, Stacey, Gia and Morgan truly reminded me of my own friend group of teachers.

Read this book if you love:
-Small town romance
-Sworn off men (but then she meets the MMC and all bets are off!)
-He takes care of her when she is injured

If you are looking for a lighthearted romance, this book is not that, in my opinion. There are definitely some delightful moments, but the main characters spend a significant portion of the book processing life challenges together (see TW below)

TW: absentee parent, workplace sexual harassment is referenced

Note: Passion Under the Microscope is Book #2 in the Smart is Seriously Sexy series, but you can read it as a stand alone title (which I did, and I was totally fine!)

A big thank you to Netgalley and Sealed with a Swoon for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

As the title suggests, this is a cute, light-hearted romance book centered around our main character Tanith who decided she will be swearing men off. But life has a different plan for her when she sprains her ankle and meets our doctor male main character.

I personally thought the romance was really good, they had chemistry and tension. If you like romance in STEM, I would recommend this book. Given how short it is, this might actually be appropriate for a novella.

Overall, I had a fun time reading this. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for graciously giving me an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was my introduction into the Smart is Seriously Sexy Series and I am hooked! I love when a smart and independent FMC meets someone who is supportive and inspired by her success (and brains). I found Tanith to be relatable and the chemistry between her and Luke was just undeniable! I really enjoyed this book and am going back to read the first one!