REVIEW: Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

When I say I would read Ali Hazelwood’s shopping lists, science essays or even just a reminder post-it note, I mean it.

I am a big Ali Hazelwood fan – I just can’t help myself. Firstly, she loves Reylo (Rey + Ben Solo for the uneducated), and secondly, she writes incredible romance stories, filled with sizzling smut, women in science and hot tension. I clamour to Miss Hazelwood’s new releases like a moth to a flame.

Okay, enough Hazelwood love, let’s get down to business.

I adored Love Theoretically as soon as I saw the cover (the tattoo? I was done for), but when I read it, I knew it was going on my Ali Hazelwood shelf of fame. Love Hypothesis is God-tier to me, but this almost takes the cake.

Enter our opinionated, diabetic, gorgeous female protagonist, Elsie. She is working hard as an adjunct theoretical physics professor (yes I also had to google it!), and trying to break into higher positions so she can afford health insurance and maybe take a day off every now and again. To supplement her income and afford her insulin, she works for a company that provides a fake dating service, which suits her unique talent of being able to change her entire personality to suit the needs and wants of the people around her.

Enter Jack, Elsie’s latest fake boyfriend’s brother (as well as her academic arch-nemesis and person who may stop her from getting her dream job). He’s tall, sensitive, built like a fridge and has tattoos….. swoon. He also 100% sees through her facade.

She thinks he is cold-hearted, cruel and calculating, but turns out he is a big softie who has a big…. feeling for Elsie.

This sets the scene for the fantastic enemies-to-lovers drama trope we all know and love, and Hazelwood executes it flawlessly.

If you love women in STEM, sizzling smut, cute romance and academic rivals, this is perfect for you.

If this review wasn’t enough for you, please continue to hear me chatter about it on this episode of our podcast, Tell Me What To Read.

Tell Me What To Read – Australia's Ultimate Guide to Books (May 15, Edition) – Tell Me What To Read

In this episode of Tell Me What to Read host Ben Hunter sits down with fellow book experts Steph and Krystal to chat about our May Book of the Month, Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran! Books Mentioned: Safe Haven When The Moon Hatched The North Wind Five Broken Blades Flawless Diary of a Void Tom Lake Red River Road Tell Me What To Read, powered by Booktopia. Follow @booktopiabooks on Instagram, TikTok, Threads and YouTube. Follow @booktopia on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1. Tell Me What To Read – Australia's Ultimate Guide to Books (May 15, Edition) 22:40
2. Tell Me What To Read – Australia's Ultimate Guide to Books (April 17, Edition) 35:40
3. Tell Me What To Read – Australia's Weekly Guide to Books (March 13, Edition) 32:05
4. Tell Me What To Read – Australia's Weekly Guide to Books (March 6, Edition) 17:23
5. Tell Me What To Read – Australia's Weekly Guide to Books (February 28, Edition) 27:47

Love Theoretically

From the bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis

by Ali Hazelwood

From the author of tiktok sensations and global bestsellers The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain

Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom.

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she's an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.

Honestly, it's a pretty sweet gig - until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favourite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor's career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he's the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job.

Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but... those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she's with him? Will falling into an experimentalist's orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?

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About the Contributor

Kassidy Fisher

Kass is Booktopia's resident Comms and Social Media Specialist. She spends her day scrolling TikTok, picking up the latest trends, and posting content. When she isn't on social media, you can find her on BookTok, reading the latest contemporary romance, or playing with her dog, Leia.