Esther’s best friend, Jinny, is thinking of getting back together with her scummy ex that cheated on her. Desperate to avoid that timeline, Esther makes her neighbour, Jonathan, ask Jinny out in exchange for reading his script and helping with the scientific details.
The aftermath of this arrangement is Jinny deciding she doesn’t want either her ex or Jonathan, and Esther and Jonathan hanging out – initially so she can give him feedback on his writing, but then as friends who fall for each other. And there would be nothing wrong with any of that, if not for the fact that Jinny has no idea of 1) the part that Esther played in Jonathan asking her out and 2) that they’ve become friends.
So, when Esther tells her these things – months later – Jinny is upset, and cuts ties with Esther. Which then escalates into her telling Jonathan that they can’t be together, because he’s Jinny’s ex, girl code, and she’s just plain scared of feelings.
(There’s some extra plot (to help explain Esther’s personality) with her mother, but honestly, that ends up being so shallow that it’s not worth mentioning.) involving prodding p
Finally, Esther writes a letter to Jinny, they make up, Jinny makes Esther come clean about her feelings for Jonathan, and they make up.

My notes and thoughts (full of spoilers ahead)

- Esther’s build up from absolutely despising* Jonathan to falling for him was fun to read
- *She absolutely destroyed the man in the beginning of the story. He was described as so incompetent that she thought he needed to be told to wash his hair before a date.
- Jonathan as socially awkward among strangers, but being awesome with his friends is every introvert
- There were three plot lines that I thought were just tacked on there for… reasons… and could either have been more fleshed out or removed entirely.
o Esther gets a performance review at work. She’s told she needs to work better with her team and be nicer with her feedback. But then her input is ignored by her team lead because misogyny, and it ends ok because she finds a huge problem her male colleague ignored.
o Jonathan’s parents aren’t happy that he’s studying screenwriting (and he’s almost flunking out), and the book literally ends with the couple going out for lunch with the parents. Nothing about this relationship is solved or even explored in the book.
o Esther’s mom’s “arc” is only there for us to understand where Esther gets her trust issues from… her mom only calls to ask for more money, so she starts to call more because she needs to find a new place to live but everything is more expensive than she can afford. This is magically solved when she moves in with someone she’s dating. Was it added so Esther could have more on her plate than her friend/boy drama?

Esther annoyed me a little... She’s manipulative – which is described as “motherly”: making her friend go out with her neighbour because she didn’t like the girl’s ex, forcing Jonathan to date her friend in exchange for help he desperately needed, then tossing his (and her) feelings out the window because she was too scared to tell her _BEST FRIEND_ that she’s been hanging out with the guy. When she finally comes clean about her manipulation, she leaves out the one redeeming factor: that she’s got real feelings for this guy. I’m not saying it _justifies_ all the lying she did, but it would have made her friend understand – and spare us (a/that) third act break-up.’
Esther’s personality issues are the fault of a bad divorce between her parents: her father basically abandoned the family, while the mother never actually got it that the divorce happened and expected to still live the good life of having a high-earning husband. The kids (Esther has a brother that’s 3 years older, Eric) end up having to team up to keep the mother on track, which leaves Esther unable to believe that anyone loves her, and closes herself off to the world.

The author also piles on the poor MMC – he’s so incompetent that his life’s work depends on the critique of someone that’s from a whole other field of study (he’s a screenwriter, she’s a “rocket scientist”). Seriously? He’s facing getting kicked out of his graduate program, and instead of his supervisor guiding him with anything other than “you need to be better”, he finds his redemption in someone who just likes to watch TV and movies… To continue on the destruction of this poor man’s character, his initial characterization by the FMC (before she falls for him), makes him out to be such a loser that he can’t 1) talk to another person, 2) follow a script (again, SCREENWRITER), 3) behave on a date – she even felt the need to instruct him to wash his hair?!... I get that it’s meant to show that first impressions can be wildly incorrect, but I can’t help but think that the poor guy didn’t need that many negative traits. The author even sticks _him_ with the bad habit of smoking. Meanwhile, the main vice the FMC has is a drinking problem (the girl pretty much only drinks alcohol or coffee the whole book).

tl;dr: Not a huge fan of the FMC, MMC was cute and suffered more than he deserved.

I want to thank NetGalley, Pan Macmillan, and the author for the e-ARC of this book.

This was a really cute, slow burn with a hint of spice!
Esther and Jinny annoyed me a little bit at times. I felt like Esther was never fully honest with Jinny, but she had good intentions.
Jinny didn't want to listen about her bad taste in men at first.
If you know me, you know i hate the third act break up and how characters never want to communicate.
Esther spent so much time wallowing in self-pity when she could have just talked about how she was feeling.
Other than that, I felt it was such a cute story! I loved how much Esther and Jonathan had in common.
I also loved that it was a slower burn.
I loved that it was about women in STEM.
It was a quick read and I would definitely recommend it!

*** Read Aug. 24-Sept. 17, 2024***
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC for an honest review.I
My actual rating of this book is 2.5/5 stars (rounded up to 3).
I feel that I should preface this review by saying if you're going in to this book thinking that it will have the same feel as a Ali Hazelwood book, please stop that thought process right there! I unfortunately fell victim to thinking it would be similar to an Ali Hazelwood novel and it definitely was not the same.
Susannah has definitely written a good book here, but because I went in with thoughts of Ali Hazelwood's 'females in STEM' type books I felt disappointed while reading. I totally understand that Ali and Susannah are two, totally different authors with two, totally different writing styles. I'm human though so of course my brain is going to have a preference.
All in all, I think Dating and Other Theories is an ok book.
I liked the grumpy/sunshine trope and did thoroughly enjoy the STEM aspect of this book, however I could not stand the FMC, Esther!
I found Esther to be too negative and too much in other people's business. I'm glad the book has a happy ending, despite it being a bit of a harsh cut off to the story, but because of how moody Esther was it dragged me down and I found I had a difficult time wanting to read the book and just wanted it to end.
Was it not for how moody and negative Esther was and the harsh, quick ending, I definitely could've seen this book receiving 4.5 stars from me.
Although not my favourite book to have read this year, I'm happy I had the opportunity to read it.
#SusannahNix #DatingandOtherTheories #NetGalley

I stopped reading at 51%. Soon after, I learned that the heroine, a young woman, is financially supporting her mother, who isn't disabled but is incompetent at working and budgeting. Then, we learn that the hero's mom is a surgeon who doesn't show much affection for her husband. The likelihood of a young adult financially supporting their parent, as opposed to the other way around, is very slim.

What a great story. I always love a good enemies to lovers story. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Such a fun and charming story! Enemies to lovers romance filled with such fun! Just loved it! Will look for more by Susannah!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.


Perfect rom-com to read to decompress. I adore STEM romance novels, and this one didn't disappoint. My only complaint is that by the 300th page the story seemed to get slower and harder to read.

Captivating, charming, and sweetly romantic!

Dating and Other Theories is a heartwarming, amusing tale that transports you into the lives of Esther Abbott, an intelligent aerospace engineer who is more than happy being single until one casual hookup sees her more than just falling into bed with a man who happens to be off limits for many reasons, and Jonathan Brinkerhoff, an aspiring screenwriter who would actually like more from the brusque woman next door than help with his latest screenplays.

The writing is sweet and light. The characters are hardworking, passionate, and endearing. And the plot is a push-pull tale full of tender moments, witty banter, heartfelt dilemmas, expectations, friendship drama, undeniable chemistry, and love.

Overall, Dating and Other Theories is a spirited, hopeful, entertaining read by Nix with characters I couldn’t help but root for and a happy-ever-after ending that left me smiling, smitten, and more than a little satisfied.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are mine.

This is a perfect read for fans of fake dating and hate to love romance. It follows two neighbors Esther and Jonathan who cannot stand each other. They reach an understanding when Jonathan needs help with his script and she will help him on condition he asks her friend out. Love has no solvable formula and thus it happens naturally. Quite an interesting read.

I liked this light romcom about neighbours becoming lovers. He's an aspiring screenwriter, she's an aerospace engineer. Everything about him annoys her until they start spending more time together (due to a complicated arrangement of fake dating her friend in exchange for screenplay help), after which she realizes that she isn't annoyed by him at all. On the contrary, she has feelings she doesn't know how to deal with. I love a STEM read and plan to check out the other books in this series.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I picked it up due to the adorable cover, but the story itself was a major miss. I struggled to connect with the characters and storyline. DNF at 30%.

I read this when it was originally published in 2018 and immediately read the following two books in the series. This series follows strong, smart, powerful women who do not hide their incredible knowledge and the men who are not afraid to love them. I have the following books in the series 4 stars as well. I can respect that they have decided to change the covers and titles as the trends in marketing have changed since then.

Esther cannot stand her hipster neighbour Jonathan - the screen writer. Desperate to help another friend, she makes a deal with him - she'll read his screenplay and offer advice on the science parts if he dates her friend to help her over a break-up. Everything goes wrong as Esther and Jonathan become friends.

I'm of two minds about this book - I like the premise of this book, the STEM struggles felt real, but I didn't really like either main character. Although the banter was good, I found it difficult to care about the outcome. As always, your mileage may vary.

I liked this book a lot because it wasn't like so many of the hundreds of romances I've read. Could it have used less fade to black and more steam? For me personally, yes, but it was still a great romance read.

I really liked the MMC, he was totally my type and was adorable. The FMC is harder to love, but easy to relate to. She's quite flawed, but who isn't? I liked that it featured issues related to being a woman in STEM in a male dominated field too.

The only thing I didn't love about the book was that there was almost the agony of two conflicts for the heroine to deal with and that it felt like it took a long time to deal with them. It was realistic though, so although it stressed me out, I gave it a pass.

All in all, it was a great book and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

The beginning was very exciting and it was so much fun to meet the characters and discover how their relationship would begin! In the end, I think it got a little lost but it still entertained me, it was fun and easy to read!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC!

Todo es desde el punto de vista de ella. Esther y Jonathan son vecinos, ella no lo soporta por muchas razones, pero tiene una amiga llamada Jinny quien estaba en una relación con un tipo que la menospreciada y le era infiel, Esther estaba feliz cuando terminaron, embargo, Jinny quiere volver con el tipejo, entonces para alejarla de esa cosa decide emparejarla con Jonathan


Spoilers ⚠️
Pensé sería Jonathan quien pondría fin a las citas, pero por fue Jinny.



Recibí el arc por lo que pensé que el libro era de este año, pero es del 2017. No me encantaron ciertas cosas, pero lo dejare pasar por su año de pubicación.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start this review by saying that this book is well written, and it’s a sweet book! I just don’t think it was for me (or that it wasn’t the right time).

I come from a STEM/ STEM adjacent career (that I disliked), and so I definitely feel like that influenced my rating/ review.

I do appreciate that the author brought to light the issues that women in STEM often face, and thought they did a really great job.

The enemies-to-lovers storyline was really sweet and well done.

I think anyone who enjoys reading about women in STEM and enjoys enemies-to-lovers would really enjoy this book!

3.5/5 rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free digital copy to read, in exchange for my honest review.

This was cute, but nothing speical. I initially disliked Esther, but I warmed up to her. It took me a little while to get into the writing style.

I loved this book so much! I was looking for something with the neighbours to lovers trope and it was exactly what I wanted.

I loved the fmc (Esther) so much! I related to her thought process heavily and felt so seen in her. I loved the little details about what was going on throughout the book. It felt very natural. The banter was excellent too! I liked the mmc (Jonathan) quite a lot too, but my main reason for enjoying this so much was Esther. She felt so real and so relatable.

I was a huge fan of the writing style too. I will 100% read more books by Susannah Nix and would recommend this book a lot!

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts are honest and my own. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to #netgalley for a chance to re-read Susannah Nix's book!

I originally read "Intermediate Thermodynamics" back in early 2022, after thoroughly enjoying Nix's first book in the series, "Remedial Rocket Science" (rebranded as "The Love Code").

I applaud Nix for rebranding and re-releasing this series following the success of other STEM-focused romance series' like Ali Hazelwood's "Love Hypothesis" et al.

Although "Dating and Other Theories" was not my favourite of the series, I still enjoyed reading Esther and Jonathan's somewhat unorthodox story.

Over the years I've read Nix's Chemistry Lessons series, King Family series, and Kilt to Order (linked to another series, but currently a standalone). I've also started her Common Threads and Starstruck series', and am looking forward to finishing those!
If you like linked romantic comedies with strong female leads, you will enjoy Nix's work.