Ah, I just finished this book, I read it in less than 24Hrs, it is so good. Not great for my productivity however, better get back to my University assignment now....

Thank you for allowing me to read this book, funnily enough a lot of the content in the book (the science parts) greatly link to what I am studying at university (that's how I justified my binge marathon!). Such a good book and a really cute romance!

This book touched on a topic you don’t see very often in romance books. Traumatic brain injury caused by an accident months prior has caused Seraphina to have a hard time communicating while working. Milo, the CEO of the research facility is the “bad boy” of science. I enjoyed this book over all and this was the first book I’ve read read by this author as well.

I received this ARC through #netgalley and I am voluntarily reviewing this book

Cute! There were times where I felt like the romance was rather rushed- but overall I enjoyed the story.

This book has such a unique premise but missed out on being great.

The author really did a great job describing Seraphina’s life and how she lives with her disability. Her POV was heart-wrenching, and I was rooting for her happy ending. On the other hand, I couldn’t connect to Milo. None of the character traits he was supposed to have appeared to match his actions and behavior. Most of the time, I was confused if I was actually reading the POV of a grumpy brilliant scientist. Apart from this, the romance seemed forced.

The pacing of the book also seemed to drag at places. This was a huge disappointment, especially since the plot seemed so interesting.

Safety in Numbers was the first of Sophie Penhaligon’s novels I have read, and I am so glad I did as I have discovered another author to add to my list as I would definitely be keen to read more of her work.
This story was a cute read and I just adored Seraphina.
Thank you so much to the publisher & Netgalley for kindly gifting me this ARC to read.

I’m a bit torn about this book. I loved the premise and the romance story a lot . It’s really interesting to see more diversity in the book world when it comes to real life jobs and how some characters grow before our eyes.
Saying that, I had a hard time to actually get into the story as in letting my imagination “run wild “ and feel it all . Many times I got the message that I am actually told that this is what happens now and this is how it looks now than me feeling it.
Nevertheless it’s a nice story and while is my first book by the author, I’ll still be reading her in the future.

Safety in Numbers by Sophie Penhaligon
Rating : 4 stars

Synopsis
The premise of this book is based on the relationship that develops between Seraphina Ellis and Milo Grant. Seraphina is trying to move forward with her life after a tragic accident left her with a brain injury and a mild case of aphasia. She interviews for a job at Grant enterprises for a research assistant position and when the interview goes wrong. Seraphina find herself spending her work days hiding in a cubicle and hiding her disability, in a position that she is over qualified for. After a chance encounter with Milo Grant in the elevator, it leads to her landing the job that she originally applied for. A budding friendship is formed between the two which quickly turns into more between Milo and Serphina. Milo and Seraphina are both characters that suffer from underlying issues. Milo has trust issues that stem from his childhood and a previous relationship. These issues have led him to believe that he has to portray himself in an unflattering way. Milo tries to control all aspects of his business, which takes away from his true passion which is being in the lab. While, Seraphina no longer believes herself to be capable of forming relationships and friendships due to her injury. So, she lives her life in solitude due to her not wanting to disclose information about her disability. The spark between Milo and Seraphina was instantaneous but in such a sweet way.

Review:
I loved Milo’s protectiveness and his ability to look at Seraphina and decipher her emotions and moods. I also enjoyed seeing both Seraphina and Milo develop as a characters and find parts of themselves that had been seemingly lost. I really enjoyed seeing a STEM female character that wasn’t this perfect cookie cutter individual. I liked seeing the growth. I do think certain elements like her routine and or specific issues that we saw in the beginning of the book. If those elements would have been sprinkled in a little more throughout the novel, it would have made the story more well rounded. Overall, this was an incredibly cute story and I really enjoyed it. Sophie Penhaligon has definitely earned a fan of her work with this story.

*Thank you so much to the author Sophie Penhaligon, Netgalley, and BooksGoSocial for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review will also be posted to Goodreads.

This plot had so much potential. I just couldn't get past the writing. Show don't tell! It felt like an academic trying to write romance for the first time. Instead of describing emotions or facial expressions, it was just told to us. And sometimes the writing could be redundant. The premise of the love story was great, but I don't think the writing delivered.

I think we can all agree the world could use more leading ladies in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). And, we definitely need more characters with disabilities represented in our fiction. So Sophie Penhaligon’s Safety in Numbers synopsis sounded like a recipe for success to me.

In the context of the light-romance genre, Safety in Numbers got off to a strong start, with well-paced opening chapters and solid character development. But then all of a sudden things got steamy very quickly…

Now, don’t get me wrong – this made for an entertaining escapist read. But in that almost impatient jump to the bedsheets, I just felt Penhaligon sacrificed great simmer potential and from that point on, left much of the heavy-lifting to the stereotypical tropes.

Read full review at BookloverBookReviews.com

Enjoyable read! I love a good frenemies to lovers romance. Seeing the romantic side and concern from the office grump was adorable. I would have loved to see more development from these characters, but overall a quick enjoyable read.

3.5 stars

I find books dealing with disabilities really interesting and it's rather rare to find a romance that will tackle that subject.

After an accident that killed her mother, Seraphina believes she is broken and bound for a life of loneliness. She is brilliant with numbers and despite her trouble with aphasia she manages to get a job working with the CEO of a massive company, scientist Milo. While their relationship was sweet and pretty hot, I felt like her disability gets forgotten about. Obviously as she and Milo get closer she becomes more comfortable and the more noticeable parts of her aphasia lessens, but it doesn't disappear. She constantly talks about how important it is for her to stick to a routine, but that just flies out the window.

I think this just needed to be polished and tightened up a little to really have a great story.

I really enjoyed this book. It has a women in stem, a brooding, grumpy ceo boss and a forced proximity in a workplace romance and disability rep, Seraphina has a brain injury that has resulted in her needing help with her speech, I think the part of her where she feels broken or frustrated with herself is her having to learn to live with the fact that she lost alot during the car accident and her learning to love herself as she is and that she is not broken or less smart or unlovable and overall, I enjoyed this book alot.

It was a pretty nice, quick read. I was drawn to the book by the female StEM member with a brain disability. It was grumpy x sunshine slow burn romance and definitely swoon-worthy.
Seraphina applies to be Milo's research assistant. At the company, a person from HR interviews her. Seraphina doesn't want people to treat her differently so she doesn't tell them about her disability. Because of this, she is assigned to a different department within the company. Milo fires his assistant and asks HR to look for a suitable one from within the company employees and gives them criteria. Only Seraphina matches it and he hires her. He develops an infatuation with her and slowly they fall for each other.
Milo was so nice and patient with Seraphina. However, I thought that the book dragged a bit and was slow at parts. Overall it was a good book.

the fact that the (h) Seraphina had an injury, which was being brought up again and again, really ruined the vibe of the book for me.
Like I get it, you don’t need to repeat it after everything you say or do.

Also the (H) Milo, was cringey……

This book was just not for me

I liked some aspects of Safety in Numbers but I think it was poorly executed. The synopsis of the book made me very excited to read it, the couple is cute and their relationship is convincing, but the author's writing was ok. I was expecting something more… more.
But by far what bothered me most was the representation of the main character's disability and the lack of development in the character, which was almost non-existent.
Overall the bookers ok.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After a tragic accident, mathematician Seraphina Ellis must learn to live with the after-effects of her injuries and the loss of a loved one. She applies for a job at the company of the grumpy but charming Dr Milo Grant. New prospects open up for her, both professional and personal…

When I read the description of this book on NetGalley, I was quite excited. Indeed, as a disabled person myself, I am always interested in books that depict disability. Unfortunately, I was quickly disappointed.

I had the impression that I was reading about disabled people on one side and normal people on the other, and that Seraphina had to become “normal” again at all costs, not learn to live with her disability and make it a strength. I understand all too well what the process of mourning your previous life is, but I also know that disability is not an end, but the beginning of something else, and I didn’t feel that this book put a finger on that.

Apart from that, I felt that the story was told through the male gaze even though it was written by a woman. I felt uncomfortable many times during my reading. I also failed to connect with the characters. In short, this book was not for me.

I give it a 2/5.

Thanks to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and Sophie Penhaligon for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

ARC received by the author and publisher of NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Seraphina has a condition called Aphasia that robs her on the ability to speak, this is due to an incident that had happened. While, Milo Grant is the CEO of Grand Technologies and a jerk to everyone.

This was a good and easy read, though I need more actual conversations and interactions from the MC. I also skipped some parts because it became too wordy. Love the Seraphina though, because even though she has the disability on her speech the author still manage to know alot about her. She is brave and she take a lot of courage to take care of herself. Milo is okay too, though sometimes his story became too repetitive, he’s still a cutie and a softy too. Angst is okay and the romance is also okay too. I did actually enjoyed reading this.

I loved that this wasn't your typical rom-com. It was bit deeper. Seraphina and Milo had real issue that they overcame to get to their happy ending. The author is also very talented, and managed to get the book flow just right. The only reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5 is because I just didn't love the book overall. I cant quite put my finger on it. The book was good, but it wasn't great. It doesn't really leave a lasting opinion, nor do I care what happens to these characters in the future. In a 5 star novel, I'm always disappointed that the book ended because I want more of the characters. In this book it just didn't get that. It was a well written story, that I'm happy to have read, but i would never re-reread, hence just 4 stars.

**Received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to read this book because I was a fan of The Love Hypothesis and this synopsis had the same vibe. Women in STEM, hard workers, he falls first, etc. Safety in Numbers definitely aced most of those tropes! I loved the premise of the novel, and a lot of the lines delivered. The book's Male MC developed really well IMO, and shed light on neuro disabilities. A few things:

- Some chapters felt like fillers and therefore had the story moving slower than it could've been
- Minimal side characters, especially in the majority of the book. Side characters usually provide a different side of characters and allow readers different perspectives of the main characters

I also want to recognize a lot of the terms used in this novel, such as those mentioned in many reviews here, describe our MC as "broken" because she has a neurological disability. It's important to recognize that I read this book from the perspective of being able-bodied. My perspective is privileged, and describing a person with disabilities as broken, even towards the end of the book isn't accurate at all.

I was really looking forward to this and I have to say I was really upset as I found that the way disability is presented in this book is quite ableist and I really wasn’t comfortable with this, I could understand if it had come from other characters to make a point about ableism, but it was from the main characters words, actions, self belief etc and this really put me off, I just couldn’t enjoy the rest of the story due to this. Overall I’m disappointed.

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