Love, Theoretically

By: Ali Hazelwood

Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer

"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?

Critic reviews

Praise for Love, Theoretically

“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

"A decidedly quirky and thoroughly charming tale...Geeky science jokes, humorous student emails, and expertly delivered snarky banter enhance the narrative. Readers will cheer for Jack and Elsie and their bumpy road to happily ever after."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Hazelwood’s latest STEM-set novel may be her best yet, addressing not only discrimination among different realms of physics, but the unconscious bias Elsie has to continually fight as a woman in her field...A dynamic rivals-to-lovers romance."—Kirkus, starred review

Praise for Ali Hazelwood

“Hazelwood is an absolute romance powerhouse.”—New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren

“Hazelwood proves that she is the perfect writer to show that science is sexy as hell.”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult

“Gloriously nerdy and sexy, with on-point commentary about women in STEM.”—New York Times bestselling author Helen Hoang on Love on the Brain

“Funny, sexy and smart, Ali Hazelwood did a terrific job with The Love Hypothesis.”—New York Times bestselling author Mariana Zapata

“STEMinists, assemble. Your world is about to be rocked.”—New York Times bestselling author Elena Armas on Love on the Brain

Terrific Narrator Terrific Story

The story was really funny and fascinating about academic life and science. Highly recommend it!

Loved the narration!

Smart, sexy, and so entertaining! I love all Ali Hazelwood’s books, and this one did not disappoint. The narration was fantastic. I found myself laughing out loud. Highly recommend.

Read the Book Instead

I often read the book first then listen to the audiobook while I’m working, which is what I did here. I really hate leaving bad reviews, but I feel like I kinda need to warn people. If you’re reading this, I’d skip the audiobook altogether. I’m honestly surprised that Therese was chosen for this role. She’s a great actor and narrator, but she was miscast. I blame whoever actually chooses the narrator in the process. My knowledge is limited on how these things are chosen, but oh boy, this choice was a head scratcher. She’s not that old, but she sounds like an old lady in this recording, especially when she’s voicing the roommate. I don’t know why they choose this for a character that’s basically in her mid 20s? So weird. It almost made me dislike the book in general, even though I immensely enjoyed it when I read it. Some people seemed to really enjoy the audiobook and some have very similar reviews to mine, which I didn’t discover until after I was one chapter in and curious if i was just crazy, so I had to go read reviews. So I’d say, proceed with caution, maybe try to listen to a sample before purchasing to see if you can stomach it. I wish I had done that and now will do so with all future audiobooks.

Perfection!

I absolutely adored everything about this book. I could not stop listening and devoured it in a day. It was absolute perfection. I LOVED Elsie and Jack with all of my heart! This is my new favorite Ali Hazelwood book.

Gold Standard

Ali Hazelwood forever. A++ romance, BOSTON academia, storyline, BOSTON, character development! Extra points for speaking disparagingly of my alma mater, UMass Boston in the most perfect ways. *chefs kiss*