Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I will say that this book was sIow going for me. It took me a long while before I could actually sit and read more than one chapter at a time. But once I really got into it I couldn't put it down. It was amazing. I'm only deducting a star because it was hard for me to get into. Don't give up though it is definitely worth working through the beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book, unfortunately i really didn't like the m/cs like come on his nearly 40 and acting like a bully on the playground and shea just like oh that is in the past without either of them growing up or having a decent conversation.

I don’t know if its just me but this book gives the love hypothesis vibes! Like low key…? A grumpy love interest? Say yes! This book is wholesome, i like it, i wont say i love it because I’m a super high expectation reader when it comes to romance! I love the characters and the storyline? *chef kiss*

This book was a miss. I didn't feel the chemistry from the two characters. The time jump from the first time they met to the present day did not make sense. I would have liked to see a flashback or two at least describing how they interacted with one another and not Liz just saying that Tom was mean to her during the four years.

Also, was it really love between the characters or mainly just lust? Mainly lusting after the other. I didn't feel the love between them.

2.5/5 stars

I unfortunately dnf’d this book. It felt a lot like it was trying to be the next “the love hypothesis” with a more aggressive grump of a MMC. I should have loved so many of the tropes in this. It had enemies to lovers, well sort of, age gap, women in STEM plus forced proximity were the main focuses of the story and I like the majority of those things but couldn't get attached to the characters Or the storyline.

Over all the story was choppy and felt a tad rushed. Very heavy in the science aspect of the book but lacked in character development and romance.

When the meet cute is all about how great a woman's tits are, and that she likes anime, even though she's a serious scientist and PhD candidate? You lost me from the beginning. I did continue and got about one third of the way through when I realized the story wasn't getting any better. This was a DNF for me.

The fact it took me over two months to finish this should tell you everything.

The writing style was simple and good but the plot was repetitive and all over the place. As a normal, rational human being, two coincidences I can let slide but more than that just becomes creepy and weird.

To be honest, I was really excited about it but it didn't live up to the hype. It was not that good.

I really enjoyed this book at first. Love the premise of semi-forbidden love in a science lab, hooray for STEM too! I was rooting for Liz the whole way until.... I wasn't. She was kind of a jerk sometimes. Also, I was mostly rooting for Tom, despite his idiotic way of handling things in the beginning... until he engaged in some definite and troubling stalker behaviors. He redeemed himself a little (and quite unbelievably) when he took care of Liz when she wasn't feeling well, but then I remembered, oh yeah, stalker. And then I couldn't remember what was so great about him anyway (besides the fact that he's smart, handsome, and uber rich). Liz and Tom's relationship felt juvenile, and the mean things they did to each other really turned me off. By the time I got to 80% through, I didn't really want to finish reading. I just didn't care much about their happy ending (and it was pretty anticlimactic, anyway). One trope I really hate in romances is a lack of communication that drives the H/h apart, and one character even came out and basically said, Why don't you guys ever talk to each other and clear up your miscommunications?! Amen, sister.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC via netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thought this book was refreshing and sweet. I was reading another student type book at the same time as this and it definitely topped. The author was really respectful of the age dynamic between the two characters. If you shy away student/teacher and are on the edge for this book, I would say to give it a read. There’s no direct power imbalance here as our main character is not his student! There’s some miscommunication between our characters, it’s done well and not to repetitive, however as always there’s some overreacting. I would definitely recommend giving this one a read though if you like STEM romances.

The Unbalanced Equation
by H. L. Macfarlane
Pub Date: 15 Sep 2022

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

There were many parts I enjoyed in the book "The Unbalanced Equation" particularly the beginning meet-cute of Liz and Tom at a work mixer. I could even get on board for the storyline of the turn of events that throws a damper into what could be an epic romance between the two: Tom the day after assigned as Liz's academic supervisor which would be a conflict of interest. However, how Tom goes about squashing his romantic interest by making those years unbearable for Liz with no explanation was hard to swallow. Mind you, Tom is supposedly a grown, professional man! I was almost more invested in their parents' relationship (who were well deserving of a happily ever after) than our main couple. The Tom and Liz story was hit or miss for me...sometimes it worked and sometimes it just didn't, if I am being honest. I think the maturity level of Tom and Liz, the lack of communication, and more of a lust-filled (not convinced it was true love) relationship made a lack luster coupling for me

There was a lot of potential and the story was okay...I would still check out what else this author had to offer!

I really enjoyed this book. Liz and Tom were really likeable characters who I grew to like more and more as the story unfolded. Whilst I found Liz quite infuriating at times, I associated with the guard she had as a character to protect her emotions.

The story line itself was not necessary novel it was a really well written chick lit book that I would happily recommend to a friend.

The Unbalanced Equation was a super fun read with all of my favorite things! Enemies to lovers - yes! Age gap - yes! Forced proximity - yes! Liz, a postdoc is forced to share a lab when Tom, her former PhD assessor, loses his lab to a fire. To top things off Liz’s dad and Tom’s mom announce their engagement after their own whirlwind romance. Liz and Tom keep finding themselves forced together and so many fun hijinx ensue.

I really wanted to like this book as I love supporting Scottish writers (as I am Scottish) but unfortunately I dnf’d this book 12% in.

I was really put off by the FMC being a nerdy anime geek not for being one but because of how much of a big deal they make out of it in chapter one. I have plenty of friends who are female working in STEM roles and they are nerdy anime geeks so I just don’t find it realistic because in reality there are a number of them.

I feel like this was meant to be an enemies to lovers but in reality this is a miscommunications trope which I don’t mind but not in this instance.

I didn’t feel any chemistry between Tom and Liz as it was all purely lust based and it was very quick and fast. Also I felt uncomfortable with the fact that Liz wanted Tom to ask her out as he is a member of staff and it would be a power imbalance and on top of that she is 23 and he is 33/34… I’m sorry but a man in power should not be thinking of a 23 year old in the way he mentions in this book. There is nothing wrong with age gaps but this felt inappropriate because of the power imbalance especially when Tom turns out to be her assessor. I will give him points as when he discovers he is her assessor he tries to curb the feelings but they are still there and still wrong to have. It was annoying too when Liz complains that Tom was harsh on her work but made it better like sweetheart that is ALL assessors.

Also as we talk about unrealistic events occurring, on what planet does a university student forget to turn off a Bunsen burner? They teach you in first year of high school in Scottish schools to always turn off and remove the Bunsen burner because it can make things go on fire and would you look at that it happens and there is no repercussions for the student that caused the fire.

Ultimately I dnf’d because turns out Tom’s mum and Liz’s dad are dating and I did not sign up for that. I thought I was getting a love hypothesis style book but the writing in this book was abysmal and the characters where bland and one dimensional.

i’ll go for any women-in-stem related book so i was very excited to read liz’s story! i really like the enemies-to-lovers trip combined with a workplace romance but i couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that liz and tom’s widowed parents are dating each other. combined with all four of them living under one roof, i felt like the most chapters had too much tension and didn’t flow to my liking.

to me, the chemistry between liz and tom was on and off. most of the time they were cold towards each other and the moments they were flirting, one of them was always drunk at a party. i didn’t like the fact that tom continuously lied and manipulated liz’s personal life. sabotaging her house-hunt is one thing, but going into their phone and logging onto her dating app is too far. most of the time, i’d forget that he’s actually almost forty! i was really hopeful for the side characters - i especially loved how all the phd students gathered together outside of the lab. but the mini love triangle between liz and her best friend felt out of place to me. he seemed to pop up in the middle of the novel and then disappeared until the ending

Fun entertaining book, like the work setting and science background . Adore grumpy sunshine trope so this was definitely made for me . If you loved the Love Hypothesis this book is for you, it has all the perfect ingredients for a good STEAM rom com.

I have a lot of feeling about this book. I’ll start with the whole book felt very surface throughout the entire thing the character interaction outside of the first chapter were very superficial.

It took forever for the characters to get so get together at the beginning which had me constantly putting the book down and not wanting to pick it back up.

The middle was pretty steamy and paced well. And the last 10ish chapters made me want to burn the entire thing.

I am not typically a fan of miscommunication story arcs cause I spend the whole book yelling at the characters to TALK! But this drive me crazy because they claimed to love each other but never want to talk about anything and actively decide to lie to their loved one???

Then after a very anticlimactic reunion they profess their love for each other and then spend 5ish chapters attending a wedding and not talking!? FFS the last few chapters should never have happened. I was on the fence of giving this a better rating but the last 10ish chapters sealed its fate.

Thank you NetGalley, Macfarlane Lantern Publishing, and H. L. Macfarlane for this arc in exchange of my honest review.

I think I’ve just been having bad luck lately because this book is another let down for me. Tom and Liz had little to no chemistry outside of the bedroom. Don’t get me wrong I love spice just as much at the next person but without the romantic chemistry, it tends to fall flat. There did not seem to be a lot of depth in the characters or their story and as I’ve seen others say, it read a lot like a fan fiction. The parents planning to get married added a weird twist that I was also not here for. I’m sorry but I would not recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of The Unbalanced Equation.

I have mixed emotions about this romance. On one side, the two main characters clearly care for each other as demonstrated through the ways they serve each other with so much thoughtfulness and care. On the other side, holy crap they were ridiculously immature and awful to each other while they got there. Honestly, I struggled because of all of the manipulation involved.

In the end, I was pleased they got their HEA, but for two adults, they sure didn’t act like them.

Overall this book was ok but not great. Enemies to lovers trope with some secrets that cause problems when they do finally get together. I just thought some of the character's decisions didn't make sense. It could have been funnier and more heartfelt. I just didn't feel very invested in the characters.

Overall, just ok.

I really liked the STEM aspect of this book, but struggled to like Tom’s character. The book kept me engaged throughout, and I would definitely look at reading more from this author.