The Unbalanced Equation

An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy (Hot Mess Trilogy, Book 1)

De: H. L. Macfarlane

Narrado por: Broghanne Jessamine

What do a bad landlord, a family wedding and a rogue Bunsen burner all have in common?

After suffering four years of scrutiny from her PhD assessor, Elizabeth Maclean believes she's finally free of Dr Thomas Henderson's tyranny when she begins her postdoc. But when a fire goes off in Tom's lab (stupid undergrads) he ends up working in the same lab as Liz.

On the same bench, no less.

For three whole months.

To make matters worse (and much to their mutual surprise) Tom's mum and Liz's dad announce their impending marriage after a whirlwind romance. So when Liz's landlord tells her to move out, pronto, it tips her over the edge. Desperate for a place to stay and in need of a savior, the last person Liz expects to offer her a temporary home is Tom himself.

Now stuck working together, living together and planning their parents' Christmas wedding together, will Liz discover that Tom's attitude over the last four years was all a ruse to hide his true feelings? Or are the two doomed to fail in their co-existence experiment?

A smart, sexy enemies-to-lovers story perfect for fans of The Hating Game, Book Lovers and The Love Hypothesis, The Unbalanced Equation is H. L. Macfarlane's first foray into contemporary rom-com territory. She swears there are no faeries this time.

The Unbalanced Equation is the first book in the Hot Mess Trilogy: a series of standalone but connected rom-coms set in Glasgow. Happy Ever After guaranteed with no children, marriage or unexpected pregnancies involved!

©2022 Macfarlane Lantern Publishing (P)2024 Macfarlane Lantern Publishing

Good story, great narration.

Love the accent of Broghanne Jessamine. It brought the story and the characters alive. The story is well written and has quite a bit of depth, drama and even manipulation to it. I enjoy the playful banter and even the serious moments equally. I feel for the main characters as I've had both parents die from cancer and health conditions. So I resonate with both leads whom have lost a parent to cancer. I do think that they could both have made better decisions but that would detract from the story line and growing they both have to go through.

sweet

This was a sweet story, but I felt like the problems were solved too quickly - I would have liked to see more friendly animosity in an enemies-to-lovers plot.
The narrator herself was good, but at times the accent was too difficult to understand.
Also, when there are several POVs, I prefer to have more than one narrator.
I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Not A Fan

⭐ 2.5
🌶️ 1.5
🥵 20, 33, 46
📚 Tropes/Themes: workplace romance, age gap, forced proximity, second chance, hate to love
🎙️ Single narration
⏰ Approx 11 hours
👀 Dual POV 1st person
🧠 Triggers: mentions of cancer and parental death
🛍️ Available: Now!

💬 Man, I wrote some comments about this book. 😅 First I want to say that the narrator was awesome. I could listen to her talk all day. Her Scottish accent was just delicious. And finally a book where the narrator doesn't try to do a different voice for male and female 🙌

Originally starting out I was really enjoying the story. I think the idea of the plot was hilariously great and could have been done really well, but the execution was lacking IMHO.

The biggest thing that stuck out to me is both MCs (especially Liz) are just toxic, awful people. They are so childish and petty and insecure. I will say there is a bit of a redemption arc for them- a lot of their immaturity was acknowledged by the MCs towards the end and Tom called her out on her bullshit about hobbies...but they still have a ways to go.

Another that I personally didn't enjoy (but I know there is an audience for) is HOW OFTEN they talked about wanting to be unmarried and child-free. We get it lol. I'm definitely not the target audience for that nor do I understand the desire, but you gotta do what's right for you. However in the book it wouldn't have bothered me so much if it wasn't brought up so much.

It also felt like Liz was demanding a commitment frim Tom without wanting to give one in return. I know that marriage isn't the only way of committing to somebody but the way they kept talking about it made it seem like she just wanted to casually date him.

I also need to mention the over 50 crowd would have been in their late 20s to 40s when The Thong Song came out... It's not surprising the 50+ crowd would go mad for it 🤣

And finally.... This is technically a spoiler, but doesn't affect the main story....
.
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Maybe this part of the book was meant to be sarcastic and I just missed it but it really pissed me off when they were talking about not wanting to be bothered to help with the foster kids 🤣. In the whole book a big part of her personality is complaining about Tom's wealth (meh, ok) and that he needs to find ways to use that wealth for good (commendable) but when his mother decides to turn their family estate into a foster home (even more commendable). Then they they make such disparaging remarks about it and vow to have as little involvement as possible. I'm guessing it's to reinforce their child free status but it was just GROSS.

Stem

I love a book about stem it really did remind me love hypothesis vibes which I enjoyed. I first started listening to this on audio, but I wasn't enjoying it I was enjoying the story not the narrator I would have dnf if I didn't get a kindle copy. Tom and Liz banter was perfect. I did want to smack tom a few times throughout, but it was okay.

The Unbalanced Equation

this book was so good. I loved every bit of it and yes there are a few tear jerkers. but the relationship between the two main character is hot and also a bit Frustrated. but I did love every single thing they both did. even if some of the things he did are a bit questionable. but she's not so Innocent herself. but glad both got there heads straight. you guys are going to love this book. the narrator did an amazing job too

Professor/Student

Tom and Liz meet, and were attracted to each other. Right after, Tom learns Liz will be his student. Since he is a professional, he could not pursue a relationship with his student. In order to prevent their romantic relationship from developing, Tom goes overboard in being a jerk to discourage Liz. Upon graduation, Liz lands an excellent position, only to find out due to a fire, Tom will be sharing her bench. They just cannot get away from each other. That chemical attraction is still there, simmering. I could feel the tension between these two. I could easily see both Tom and Liz’s perspectives to their situation. I so badly wanted to tell Tom to knock it off, and tell Liz how he feels and why he is acting as he was. This was a fun story. The narration was good. I received a free copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Slow start

This has a bit of a slow start and it took me a bit to get into the story but once it gets into it, it's a sweet fun listen with good characters and banter. I rarely find a book that I think would be a better listen than read but in all honestly the narration is why I stuck with it at first it really brought the story to life in a way had I been reading I probably would have started to skim,

sweet

This was a sweet romantic read.it starts out a bit slow but the dynamic between the characters makes it all worth it!

I received an advanced copy of the book and am voluntarily leaving a review

Apparently High Level Scientists Can be Clueless

The book was good and I liked the narrator. I don't think the story needed to be as long as it was. There were some unnecessary bits that could have been left out. As it is I did feel the story dragged on for a bit. I definitely anted to slap both the FMC and the MMC at times, but since they were both being so ridiculous they probably belong together. I did like how they resolved things albeit more grovelling by the MMC would have been nice. Overall I think it was a fine read with some spicy bits, some frustrating bits, and some bits that made me smile.

Great Banter!

Loved the banter in this book! The narrator had me laughing one moment and turned on the next! Definitely nailed the Scottish humor and flirtatious gibes. Give it a listen