DNF @ 60%

The cover, the title, and the synopsis of this book do not fit what the book actually is. I'm a lover of all romance, but this... I don't even know where to begin. The heroines were annoying and found myself skimming a lot while reading through. I missed a lot of the 'humor' (although I've never quite enjoyed what's considered 'british humor').

This book wasn't for me.

This book made me laugh out loud at times. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the sisters and certain moments definitely pulled at the heartstrings. I much preferred one of the love stories to the other, which is often the case. Overall, it wasn't a hit-out-of-the park romance for me but it was cute at times and easy to read. The Britishness always bumps it up just a touch for me, too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

ARC received from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The cover of this book doesn't represent the story whatsoever. It's about two sisters and their respective love lives.

I just couldn't get into this. While an interesting premise, the story dragged (read: I was bored out of my mind for most of it). I also found the "plot" toward the end to be borderline ridiculous/despicable. What is this - a fictional take on the song Love Potion No. 9? Too bad since the book overall had potential, but it never got there.

Review copy courtesy of NetGalley.

The cover of this book is very misleading: the book is actually about two sisters, one of whom is working on a scientifically-created love potion, and the other who ends up wanting the solution to keep her baby daddy around. It was an intriguing premise, but sometimes the book just dragged.

Received an Advanced Reader’s Copt from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*falls back in exhaustion* Oh my gosh. I need a moment. I’m pulling a Will Smith from After Earth and taking a knee because I need a darn moment.

The Love Solution frankly, had me…unhappy and perhaps even a little impatient for the first half of the book. I was not feeling good about anything that was happening and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. The first half creates the foundatoin for the story that’s often quite disheartening, painful and frustrating. You want to shake people up and have them just get their thoughts together even though you sympathize and feel quite sad for them/their situations. And then, at around just past the 50% perhaps, a bomb is dropped and all I did for the rest of the book was no no no no no no please no.

I can tell you right now, all my praying helped for naught. Whatever was meant to never happen happened anyway. And you’re pretty much freaking out right along with the characters. The story kicks up pace after this point, hitting all the right notes with drama at its absolute peak. I mean, yes, it’s unethical and unprofessional and good God so scary, but it kept me at the edge of my seat.

Sarah and Molly are sisters who’ve stayed at one another’s side through thick and thin. Through loss, heartbreak, struggle and happiness. But what happens suddenly when they are both confronted by choices that could change the path their lives take? And are these choices only about the men they are interested in? Does their relationship last the test of their thoughts and the weight of the tasks that lay before them?

The Love Solution addresses a lot of…grey areas of life. About love and how it must come to us, whether we are weighed down by the weight of the love we receive or whether we should do whatever it takes because…love. Right? Or not?

Four stars. It took me a long long while to truly be dragged into the story, but once I was in, there was no actual getting out. TLS was not a light read for me, I felt too much for it to be. It wasn’t an easy read either…and perhaps it was not meant to be. Give it a chance someday, you might feel a lot of things.

A story of two sisters fighting the memory of unimaginable loss with the present day’s complexities of unrequited love. The first third of this story really captured my attention. It’s not often women in science are primarily featured in a book and I felt a kinship with Molly. Her career in biochemistry and pheromones brought back fond memories of my own time at uni studying biochemistry and neuroscience. The enthusiasm she had for her ‘Love Bug’ science project, the reason for the aptly chosen title, was endearing. I couldn’t help but support her attempts to gain the attention and affection of the man she secretly loved!

Despite my love of Molly, this book was hard for me to rate. There were a lot of things I liked and equally disliked about this that left my overall rating somewhere in the middle. I adored the science representation in the book, as well as the premise of two nerdy characters (Molly and Ewan) slowly falling in love. What brought this book down though, was Molly’s sister Sarah. Her story-line, which was half of the book, was very annoying to read. Her constant indecisiveness became frustrating half-way through the book. If this book had been solely about Molly and Ewan I would have rated it much higher. Regardless of this, it was still a sweet book that I think many readers would enjoy.

CHARACTERS

Molly – Easily my favourite character. She was kind, independent and career-driven. Her unrequited love for Ewan pulled at my heart-strings. While unrequited love is never easy, the constant mixed signals form Ewan really toyed with her emotions. She deserved someone willing to be proud of her on their arm, not neglecting their emotions due to the opinions of others. In addition to this, The unrequited affection in their personal lives played an interesting parallel to the nature of their research in to a chemical compound that would effectively create the illusion of love. The temptation of using it would be hard for some people to ignore, when in a similar predicament. Molly put a lot of effort in to being a good sister and helping Sarah out of her latest dramas. She definitely deserved a good HEA after all of that emotional turmoil.

Ewan – was a character I never fully understood. His actions were so hot and cold toward Molly and were quite confusing throughout the book. That poor woman! She didn’t know which way was up in their relationship (or lack thereof). Despite this, he was a genuinely nice and unexpectedly hilarious guy when he finally started opening up.

Sarah – The most indecisive woman on earth. Her inability to make any decision for the entire second half of the book really took away my patience. I really felt for her in the beginning. She had been dealt an awful hand in life and had really gone above and beyond to look after her sister. Her compromising nature to put others before herself was heartening to read about. I couldn’t help but want her to finally have everything she had missed out on. When presented with these opportunities though… she refused them. And then complained about it. It just… frustrated me. To say the least. In spite of this, I still have respect for all that she sacrificed in her life. Perhaps a life of constantly compromising would lend itself to a future of indecision and guilt at the idea of finally putting herself first.

Liam – The most patient man in the world. He really had to put up with a lot of hot and cold action from Sarah. In spite of Sarah’s hormonal tendencies, he was such a sweetheart. Maybe this was the reason I disliked Sarah so much. She had an absolute gem of a guy waiting around for her and she kept being obsessed with her cheating ex! He really deserved better, in my opinion.

Overall, this book had some highly enjoyable moments mixed in with a few lacklustre ones. The writing was done well and I particularly enjoyed the colloquial English terms used in this. It really painted a vivid image of the characters and their backgrounds. If you’re a reader that is sympathetic for indecisive, introspective characters then I think you’d really enjoy this book.

I thought this would be more of a romance but it's actually focused on the two sisters, Sarah and Molly. It's a cute, fun read.


Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

It was fine. I didn't really connect with this book and the characters but overall it was easy to read, kinda cute, and there were a few amusing moments.

DNF at 25%. I wasn’t a good fit for this book. It is the story of two sisters - Sarah and Molly. One is working in a science lab developing the “love bug” and is romantically interested in her boss. The other has her own business making tiaras for weddings.

I haven’t connected with either sister at this point in the story and am not interested in finding out where their stories lead. Unfortunately this one is a miss for me.

Thank you to the publisher and the Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Overall this book was a fun and fast read. I enjoyed the relationship between the sisters and they way that they supported each other. This is a fun and contemporary romance that focuses on the relationship between two sisters and their respective men. Each sister had her own story that only overlapped in one location (which I did take a little issue with) and they each did their one growing up. Over all I liked this story and even with the drama from the plot twist that I didn’t love, I still ended up liking the story and the way that it ended.

This was just a kind of off for me. It had cute/funny moments, but felt a bit like a British Hallmark movie but steamier. Overall it was ok, but not my favorite... and at some point it became so repetitive that I wasn't waiting for the people to get together anymore, and I was just bored. I didn't want to finish. I kept trying... but it's not going to be worth another three hours of my time. I'm super bummed, but I did not finish this one at 55%.

Sisters Sarah and Mollie were always close but when their parents were killed in a car crash when the girls were young, they grew even closer.

Elder sister Sarah went on to become a tiara designer whilst Mollie got her dream job in a science lab working on a top secret project.

New Years eve is a turning point for both sisters – Sarah receives some life changing news, and Mollie decides to make a move on her boss at the NYE party!! However life doesn’t turn out how the sisters expect it to!!

Ashley Croft is the pen name for Philippa Ashley, a favourite author of mine, and this book does disappoint.
I adored the relationship between the two sisters, even when it got complex, it was lovely to see them pull together rather than apart.

This book has everything, sad times, surprise elements and moments of laugh out loud comedy, I especially loved the bum in the face during the first tandem ride!
I am now a fully-fledged member of the Ashley Croft fan club!

I wanted to enjoy this but it wasn’t for me, the plot wasn’t great, the choice the main character keeps making were really iffy with me and I just lost interest in what was happening. Not the best.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The Love Solution is a story about love, family, grief and forgiveness. Sarah and Molly are sisters who have a very close relationship, driven by love for each other and their ability to stick together through the loss of their parents as teenagers. Sarah sacrificed a great deal for Molly to keep her on track with her schooling and she put her dreams on the back burner to make sure her sister was able to reach her full potential.
Sarah has just recently left her bank job with the encouragement of her longtime boyfriend, Naill, to start her own craft business. Molly is living her dream working in the lab. Molly has a new project which has a super cute boss running the show. Sarah returns home early on New Year’s Eve to share her unexpected baby news with Naill but instead finds him in their bed with his co-worker, Vanessa.
As Sarah struggles with her breakup with Naill she leans on her sister Molly. Molly feels like she owes so much to her sister for all the sacrifices she made so she could be successful. When Sarah learns the new project that Molly is working on is a Love Bug, she is eager to see if it would work on Naill. Will Sarah convince Molly to risk her job to give her the Love Bug to use on Naill? How is Molly fairing at work as her attraction grows every day for her boss, Ewan? Molly’s feelings are very strong for Ewan. Will she want to risk the potential relationship with Ewan and her career to help her sister? Will Sarah and Naill get back together? Will Sarah have to return to the bank to support herself, giving up her dream?
I was given an advanced copy to read in exchange for an honest review. This is a well written story that keeps you entertained as well as interested to keep the pages turning. I enjoyed this story and was intrigued until the end.

This one was not for me. Dull plot, dull writing, dull everything. I had zero interest in these characters or the story overall. I don't remember what made me request this one, but I definitely wasn't expecting what I got. This is not a fun rom-com by any means.

I was very intrigued by this book in the beginng. The premise of a book mixing a love story with science/chemestry really caught my attention. However, when I started reading I felt the story dragged a little in the beggining, and then I started having a lot of issues with the plot and the characters from the book. I feel like Sarah as a main character is really problematic, the decisions she made throughout the book (I don't want to spoil anything) felt really wrong and unfair towards her sister. In the end I would have really enjoyed if this story only focused on Molly and her love story with her colleague.

This book is a pleasant women's fiction. We follow two thirty-something sisters through the roller coaster of their love life. The relationship between them is endearing, and it kept me reading until the end. I felt the plot did not deserve the book to be that long. I liked the male characters, though, even Niall.
I chose this book because there was a scientist. Being one myself, I always fancy seeing how biologists are perceived. The representation of scientists is entirely accurate. Some researchers are workaholics. Unfortunately, nowadays, team leaders like Ewan do not have that much time to spend on the bench. They are always in search for funding, therefore, writing grant proposals more than doing experiments.
What was confusing was that Ewan and Molly were supposed to be behavioral ecologists. But the different experiments they did lead to think that they were also geneticists biochemist specialist. Not very realistic to me in such a specialized world.
What bothered me, even more, is the "Love bug" which is supposed to be a hormone. The existence of pheromones and their role in mating in the animal kingdom is already known so I couldn't help but wonder what could be this new molecule. Moreover, It made no sense to me that it had to be customized before use. If they were on the verge for a clinical trial, what did they hope to cure with that? Why was the drug in a pétri dish? Did they need to produce it in cells? Was it for gene therapy? Finally, it doesn't make any sense that something that you inhale one would be active for three years.
These are experts questions, but in a more general domain, I had trouble understanding why Sarah doesn't tell Niall sooner. I was bothered that she doesn't even once consider his rights, even though he was a cheater. Not once she had thought that having Niall back could be good for the baby.

The Love Solution was a nice chick lit story with fade to black sexy scenes. Molly's romance felt quite believable. A workaholic professor who has trouble admitting how much he likes his colleague, until he's kind of forced into it. Though I personally felt more grovelling was needed.

Meanwhile Sarah catches her boyfriend in bed with another, and she can't go on a bender 'cause she just found out that she's pregnant. In a way I understood why she held onto him, and I was actually open for a redemption story line, but the switch up felt too sudden and forced. Also a new possible love interest for Sarah, I felt missed a real connection that was more than friendship.

For me this was an okay story. It didn't fully work for me, and from the blurb I was expecting more humour.

*I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

In the year 2019, I am genuinely confused about how anyone thought that a love potion situation was a good plot device as if we haven't been having a reckoning about consent for years. There is no book worth subjecting myself through this for, so thank you for the opportunity, but no thanks.

Molly and Sarah are two very different sisters, but circumstances beyond their control have brought them closer than they ever imagined. Molly is a behavioral scientist that has her hands on a project involving a love potion While Sarah is left in a predicament that makes her question whether she could potentially use that love potion for herself.

This premise was right up my alley. I was getting Love Potion No. 9 and Chemistry Lessons by Meredith Goldstein vibes. I. Was. Pumped. And then I suffered through 60% of the book. Was there going to be a point to any of it? We hadn’t even gotten anywhere with the love potion. Then I started wondering if I should just DNF the book and move on. Ultimately I just started skimming to get the main point and even then I was still bored with the story line. It just didn’t do anything the whole book. It sucks to say, but this was a gigantic flop for me.