My second read from Comfort, and it was enjoyable enough, but just not as good as Midnight Duet (that was one of my top reads of 2023!). Sadly I have to rate this one a 3.5, rounded up to 4, only because the surprise detail at the ending made it a bit more interesting…

I found my attention straying several times and having to go back and read pages over again because it felt rather technical about the show and trivia preparation (Answers!, a take on Jeopardy!)… not an enjoyable romance at (many) times. Other times it was sort of enjoyable and flowed better with interesting dialogue.

It didn’t feel like a third novel release (more like a debut)… which I was sad about because I loved her second book so very much! And I was anticipating this one and the premise a lot (and was hoping it was better than the other one with the orange cover that was basically the same book that I read in October... Sadly, neither was great).

I’m sure this one, Maxine and Teddy’s show rivals to lovers story, will find an audience who loves it, because there are game show and Jeopardy enthusiasts looking for romances… but it fell very short for me.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Montlake, and this is my honest feedback.

What is Love? is an absolutely delightful romcom. Set among champions on a Jeopardy-like trivia show, Jen Comfort shows that opposites attract among all the banter and fun facts.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Teddy and Maxine first meet in the green room of the game show Answers!, when Teddy is one of the most winning contestants in show history. Until unconventional Maxine beats him, going on a record breaking streak of her own. But later Maxine loses to him in the tournament of champions, and sparks continue to fly between them. Now both are pitted against the all-time champion in a $2 million tournament. Who is a jerk and deserves to be taken down. So the two combine forces to help each other prepare. But can they keep their attraction in check while spending all that study time together?

Maxine and Teddy are so much fun together. Every quip and trivia fact is visible foreplay, and it’s adorable that they think no one else can tell. But these characters have substance too, and it’s a delight to watch them uncover what makes each other tick. I especially like the ADHD rep, showing how unconventional brains are just as brilliant as conventionally taught ones.

If you are a passing fan of Jeopardy or trivia, you will adore this story. And even if you just have warm, fuzzy feelings about a forced proximity, opposites attract romance with tons of steam and banter, What is Love? is a must read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Maxine and Teddy are total opposites in terms of personality and temperament and somehow end up rivals on a popular trivia question game show. We get to see them get under each others’ skin a few times before teaming up to study together to prepare for a final tournament against a common rival. Of course with their very different study styles (super regimented for Teddy and nonexistent for Maxine), they spend most of their time arguing and then trying not to sleep with each other. Until they realize that carnal acts make great study motivators. This book was super funny and steamy and highly entertaining.

There’s a lot to love about this book: interesting trivia, behind-the-scenes look at game shows like Jeopardy, a rivals-to-lovers opposites attract romance with sizzling chemistry right out of the gate. I personally had a hard time getting into the story – I strongly believe my brain was not vibing with the writing style at the time, not that the writing wasn’t great! – so I read it in several small doses over the course of a month which is unusual for me. However, this was a really fun, creative romance with hints of adventure and intrigue woven into the story.

Thank you Netgalley and Montlake for the review copy.

I struggle to know what to say about Jen Comfort's writing because she's so phenomenal. You know how there are some authors who write books and you know it's their book because they hit the same comforting, loving beats every time? Jen Comfort somehow writes a completely new book each time she publishes one, and yet each one is amazing and memorable. On @fatedmatespod Sarah MacLean often talks about an author's core story, and Jen has one. Her core story is a strong, independent, bisexual female who learns to expand herself. Some people would call her FMC's difficult or unlikable, but they're written with such depth and nuance that you love them and take their side immediately.

"What Is Love?" focuses on ADHD Maxine and her quiz show enemy-crush, Teddy, as they prepare to compete (again) on a trivia game show. I don't even know what to say about these two. Teddy is the most buttoned-up professor and Max is the most chaotic, brilliant competitor to ever challenge him- and of course they team up to beat their real evil nemesis. This book is filled with behind the scenes looks into the trivia show world, amazing factoids sprinkled throughout and a map scene that will live in my head forever.

I knew I was going to love this book from the moment I saw Jen Comfort made stickers with an orange cat wearing a bow tie that say "Slutty Nerd" on them as part of a preorder campaign (which yes, I obviously got), but I didn't know how much I was going to love this book.

What is Love? has an incredible chaotic good premise: Teddy, a Princeton professor who is on a 70+ game winning streak on Answers! in part due to his trivia brain but also his unfailing strategy, is thrown off by Maxine, an ADHD and true chaos monster who gets in his head (and his heart), and he loses his winning streak. But the next year, he beats her in an Answers! tournament. So when they are reunited for a Tournament of Champions style competition, they decide to team up so they can beat Hercules, the reigning unbeatable champion from the 1990s who is a legend but also kind of a jerk. Teddy agrees to help Maxine study (in a way that works for her brain), and in return, Maxine agrees to help Teddy learn to bet more and play less predictably. What results is a very nerdy, sexy, hilarious five weeks of studying (and "studying" wink wink) and adventuring.

This is such a good example of rivals to lovers -- there is a simmering tension between Teddy and Maxine, and even when they realize they're better teamed up than not, that tension is still there, both because they have something to prove in terms of their Answers! legacy, and because, well, they're unreasonably attracted to each other. Which results in some very spicy spice scenes. And I will not give any spoilers, because I want the payoff to be worth it, but the map scene had me UNWELL.

I also loved the ADHD rep in this book. In a lot of ways, Teddy and Maxine are complete opposites, because she can't study in the way he does. She can't just sit down and memorize a list of rivers. And instead of getting mad at Maxine and doubling down on that kind of studying, he figures out other ways to help her learn (with, ahem, positive reinforcement). And Maxine is so used to people realizing that that's how her brain works, and feeling like her "quirkiness" is actually just "brokenness," but Teddy does everything to tell her and show her that that's not what he's feeling.

(And speaking of rep, Teddy and Maxine are both bi! I am a Jen Comfort stan!)

The B-plot in this book about the Tournament of Champions is also so good (and so nerdy and funny, with an excellent cast of characters), and when that collides with the romance plot, there is NO! THIRD! ACT! BREAK-UP! It's honestly a perfect example of how to have tension in the third act, with both the romance and also the rest of the plot, without needing to have the characters break up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for providing me with an eARC of What is Love? in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake for the ARC of What is Love? by Jen Comfort. This book was like a sexy, nerdy, warm hug -- so much fun! I loved Maxine and Teddy and their chemistry and banter; the gameshow/trivia component was also a lot of fun to experience. There was also a great supporting cast of characters, sizzling open-door spice, and laugh-out-loud humor. Add this one to your TBR, it publishes on April 1!

Because I loved Jen Comfort's previous two books, I had the highest expectations for What Is Love, to the point that I was nervous I was building it up too high. And for the first 25% of this book, I was starting to be concerned this was the case because unlike Christof and Jon, Teddy Ferguson got a lot of my side-eye and "oh how dare!". But I had faith because Comfort has earned my trust, not very different Teddy earning Maxine's trust. My words are failing me because all I want to say is BIG ROMANCE, BIG FEELINGS, HIGHEST OF THE HIGHS, JUST EVERYTHING TO THE MAX.

For those who have read my other reviews, y'all know I do a piss poor job recounting the plot or the characters. It's a Jeopardy style, rivals to lovers, Teddy is uptight starchy in the streets (a bit of a freak in the sheets) and Maxine is a delicious prickly heroine with ADHD.

Anyway, what I really want to share is why I loved What is Love. It has Comfort's signature humor (which 10/10 works for me) and gorgeous prose especially in describing feelings. I also loved how she portrayed the relationship with the parents... yes they may have done shitty things but there's love there and I wish I saw more of this nuance in books. But this is extra special because in writing this rivals to lovers trope, Comfort was just so bold in drawing the ugly of Maxine and Teddy in the beginning. Which made the payoff of learning to love and being loved unconditionally (jfc I'm tearing up thinking about it) even more meaningful and was so skillfully and beautifully done.

So please read this book. Tell at least 10 others to go read this book. Help make it a maximum success because I would love more from Jen Comfort. The world is a better place with her stories in it.


PS. I received an ARC, won a paperback via a contest, bought it as part of the First Prime promo and none of these impacted my review aside from allowing me to read the book!

What is Love? was excellent! This is my second read by Jen Comfort and I love love loved it. I had the eARC and the ALC. Both formats were great but I’m an audiobook lover at heart. Max and Teddy have my whole heart and I can’t wait for everyone to meet them and read this!

Reader Friends, I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy of this book several months ago from the author and the way I INHALED this book! This is a book that will definitely keep you up past your bedtime because you are going to become obsessed with these two hot nerds. It’s very fast paced, emotionally charged, and incredibly hot. Comfort has a way of writing incredibly real and relatable characters that you immediately become invested in their happiness, and rooting for them while also wanting to shake some sense into them. I spent the whole book in complete awe of Maxine’s ability to exude confidence and fearlessness in public and also wanting to wrap her up in a big hug when her ADHD became to overwhelming for her. Maxine’s outgoing and self-assured personality was an excellent match for our buttoned-up, quiet professor Teddy, who she won against on their favorite quiz show Answers! The way she pushes his buttons is absolutely delicious and the way this man attunes himself to her moods and needs is magical. If you love contemporary romances with a big dose of humor, hot nerds, positive mental health rep, and watching the sleazy gross guy get his due, you’re going to love this one.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

This is my first book by this author. I like the approach to the ADHD representation. I did have some LOL moments in this book, but I felt it was overdone. Author could’ve put more thoughtfulness into it, but it seemed dramatized a tad. Unrealistic dialogue where characters were unkind to one another when it could’ve been more meaningful and built a slow burn. However I did like how the author went around the norm of a typical rom-com with the ADHD representation and the game show setting.
Thank you NetGalley, Jen Comfort and Montlake for providing me a copy of the ARC for an honest review.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I wanted to love it, I’m stopping around 43%, I’m just not connecting with either character. There have been a few funny moments, and I’ll likely pick it up again in the future.

Neither characters are likable and I don’t like how the book is written. And I can’t imagine reading 300 more pages!

What is love ?

I adored this book! From start to finish it was a delight. I love Jen Comfort’s writing and the way she leans into an over the top plot line while still making the characters, and situations they are in, amazingly relatable. Her humor is so funny, so sharp, with laugh out loud, impeccably paced banter alternated with swoony and heartfelt moments of raw honesty. I loved the way that Jen thrusts you right into What is Love? with the rivalry and chemistry between Teddy and Maxine already established, but as a reader you feel like you’ve been there all along.

Maxine and Teddy are truly likeable and good, not to mention downright sexy. I truly wish they were real people! Maxine is a highly relatable character with ADHD and aspects of her personality made me feel so seen and empowered by her portrayal. Her inner monologue is fantastic, and I love that she was proud of herself, of her strengths, and played those up instead of making herself smaller. Teddy is a starchy, rule-following sweetheart and is a total goner for Maxine. Both of them are messy people with real hurts and watching them open up to each other and grow together was very fulfilling.

This book is a romance lovers dream. The caretaking! The soft scenes! The swoony heart to hearts and declarations of love and acceptance! My heart can’t take it. It’s so wonderful and full of tenderness. It’s a beautiful story of embracing who you are and finding your people that accept you not just for who you are but encourage you to be the best version of yourself.

Jen Comfort became an autobuy author for me when I read Midnight Duet, her utterly bananas and brilliant gender-flipped retelling of The Phantom of the Opera. Her banter is top notch. Her characters are substantial.

Teddy Ferguson falls in love with Maxine Hart after she steals his lucky donut, takes one bite, corrects his trivia factoid, and then throws the rest of the donut away like a beautiful agent of chaos. I also fell in love with Maxine at that moment. There is, I think, a year and a half between Maxine overturning everything Teddy believes about himself and when he goads her into reengaging with him, thus kicking off their romance.

My housemate has been urging me to read a book her church group is reading, John Philip Newell’s Sacred Earth Sacred Soul and when I proved resistant, she narrowed it down to a single chapter, the chapter on the writings of a 20th century paleontologist and Jesuit priest named Pierre Teilhard de Chardin titled “Sacred Matter.” For those of you who might want a store of facts in the unlikely event that Teilhard becomes a trivia question, the Catholic Church hierarchy suppressed Teilhard’s writings and they only became available after his death because he signed ownership of them to a friend. Teilhard wrote about the sacredness of matter, of the physical world, including human bodies. De Chardin saw God in a lot of things that the Church viewed as sinful (including women). One passage of Newell’s chapter struck me in particular,

“By union, Teilhard means the oneness of interrelatedness. He does not mean uniformity or conformity. One of the guiding principles in both his scientific work and his spiritual teaching is that true union differentiates…The Oneness of the universe keeps producing greater and greater multiplicity, more and more differentiation of life-forms. Similarly, we know this is the most intimate relationships of our lives. The people who truly love us, and are thus most deeply one with us, are the people who have the capacity to most radically set us free to be ourselves. They delight in the uniqueness of our heart and mind , our body and soul; everything in us is cherished by everything in them. True union gives birth to the glory of differentiation.”

I went on this very long side-trip because this is the heart and soul of Teddy and Maxine’s romance. Teddy falls in love with Maxine long before he knows her, respects her, and rejoices in her. They each make a lot of assumptions about the other. Their happily ever after isn’t cemented by love, but by knowledge and trust. It’s more than an acceptance, they celebrate their differences. They allow each other to bring the thing they most fear into their life. For Teddy that is unpredictability; for Maxine it is structure and discipline. The one two punch of Maxine’s sky-diving challenge and Teddy’s geography lesson will leave you breathless and probably horny.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Montlake and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

What a fun premise! I really enjoyed these characters, and the Jeopardy-style setting. Loved it!!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Thank you so much to Jen Comfort & Montlake for an advance copy of this book!

This book will be out April 1, 2024.

Holy moly I absolutely loved this book!!! I had heard about Jen's book Midnight Duet on a podcast and she has been on my radar ever since. The buzz around this book started to grow and I was so excited when I got access to it. I highlighted so many moments and quotes. It just was so good!

Teddy and Maxine are polar opposites and somehow they work so well as a couple. I will say it took me awhile for Maxine to grow on me but after their first trip to the library then it all clicked for me. I think had Comfort continued to have Maxine push Teddy's button I may have given up. I mean she still did but it was done differently compared to how it was in the first half of the book. The chemistry just built and built and I love how we knew from the first sentence of the book that he fell first. Their banter and constant battling was fun to read and I love that by the end they were really working together.

"Are we having a clandestine make-out-sesh? Because I'm suddenly very on board on libraries."

The SPICE. WHEWWWWWWW! What made this stand out compared to other romances I have recently read is where they are being intimate. The situations where the sexual tension just is so strong that it just had to be done right then and there. Teddy just adored Maxine and took such care of her.

They both grew with each other throughout the book and brought different sides out to one another. And even with growing within the book, they still also remained true to themselves. There was a moment late into the book where Maxine starts acting out and back to her mean ways and Teddy immediately could tell something was wrong. I felt that was a realistic moment and was not brushed aside or had the MMC play dumb that they weren't intune with their partner (which don't get me wrong, can still happen in relationships). It just really stood out to me and it made Maxine come to terms with things she was scared of. Bravo!!

I don't want to give away too much of story as that was part of the fun. But I just love their growth and respect for each other as the book went on. Even with being rivals they both had. the common goal of defeating the ultimate trivia winner Hercules (what a name) and getting a cool $2 million.

I just absolutely love this book & I think those who read it will have fun and enjoy it as well!

If you are a fan of trivia, rivals to friends to lovers, dual POV - check this out, you will not be disappointed!

PS - Kudos to the author for including a quote from one of my favorite movies "Hook" - "You're doing it Peter."

One sentence summary: Rival contestants on a Jeopardy-esque show live together, train together, and fall in love.

My thoughts: This book is so quirky and fun! I loved all the trivia, the world building of this fictional game show, and Teddy and Max’s chemistry. Plus there’s a scene in a field that had me like this 😳 iykyk

Recommend for fans of trivia, game shows, and books filled with humor and heart.

He wears suspenders, let's just let the nerdy factoid wash over us as we get excited for a romance about two competitors on a Jeopardy-esque show. Did I mention he wore suspenders and he's name Teddy? Max and Teddy are complete opposites in life (minus their absolutely amazing talent at knowing trivia) but come together to prepare for a champions version of Answers!. Please note that Max has ADHD and it feels like a third person in their romance (and Teddy learns how to handle her ADHD with care). It's a fun book which will suck you with with trivia facts that you'll annoy your friends with. You can't go wrong with this chaos + straight laced professor romance.

What a spicy and fun love story! This was such a quick read, I could not put it down. A British college professor and a high school drop out go head to head in this Jeopardy-esque adventure where opposites definitely attract. Check this one out for incredible banter, chemistry, spice, fun trivia and ADHD rep!