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.

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.

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.

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