Love, Theoretically

By: Ali Hazelwood

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

"The reigning queen of STEM romance."—The Washington Post

An Indie Next and Library Reads Pick!

Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain.

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 favorite 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?

©2023 Ali Hazelwood (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“It would be so easy to hate Ali—who is brilliant and funny and the most delightful writer…but it’s far more productive to create a shrine I can worship at, praying for her to finish another book quickly. LOVED. IT.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult

"Whenever I want a sexy, witty, delicious romance, told in a fresh and intelligent voice, I read Ali Hazelwood. Prepare to get addicted. Each book is pure joy."—Simone St. James, New York Times bestselling author

"The reigning queen of STEMinist rom-coms returns with a tale set in the cutthroat world of eliteacademia full of delightful humor, realistic emotions, and the messy search for self-acceptance."—Booklist, starred review

One of my absolute favorite authors

I was midway through listening when I checked the early reviews because I was hoping someone could capture how I was feeling about this book and Ali Hazelwood and they did. I completely agree with the reviewer that said Ali Hazelwood is like the author version of Taylor Swift. She hits all the feels and the character development is incredible for every heroine she writes about. I always feel empowered after reading and listening to her books and always a little bit smarter because I know nothing of the STEM world.

Great story, pretty darn good narration

I often cannot get past the way female narrators do the mens’ voices, but Plummer does a pretty good job of doing Jack’s.
Regarding the story, I love all of Ali’s books and this one is just as amazing if not better than it’s predecessors.
I’d recommend it 100%.

Loved it, my favorite out of her stories so far.

I think Jack has become my favorite MC. Loved the story, loved the relationship and I liked how Elsie finally was able to stand up for herself and do what she wanted, not because she thought others wanted her to.

Love!

One of my favorite Ali Hazelwood books. Therese Plummer did a superb job narrating! I felt like she really captured Elsie’s personality.

Love Ali Hazelwood

I love all of Ali Hazelwood books! This book is definitely a great read and the audiobook is extremely well done by Therese Plummer

Loved it but

Loved it ! One of my favorite books from the author but I wanted a little more for the ending. Glad she finally told her mom off. At times main character frustrated me but understanding it was the point of her story.

Science romance

Another great science romance. Talk dirty to my nerdy heart. Once again I love Ali’s science based romances. A good plot with some steamy love scenes. Keep them coming.

Review

Story too long and main character too weak for todays women. At least , I hope

Best of Ali Hazelwood

This is definitely been my favorite from Ali Hazelwood, especially with the cameos from favorites like Olive and Adam and mentions of What Would Marie Do? Elsie and Jack have great chemistry and Milicent... I want to be her when I grow up! (There is one tiny little narrator hiccup about 3/4 in where she means to use the Jack voice but uses the Elsie voice but easily overlooked!)

Narrator is a lot, but the book is good.

I found the narrator SO intense during the main character’s portion but okay during the male parts. It was grating. That said, the book itself isn’t my favorite but is good!