A special thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK/Avon Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

chem·is·try
/ˈkeməstrē/

noun
noun: chemistry

the complex emotional or psychological interaction between two people.

Although sisters Molly and Sarah share a close bond, they couldn't be more different. Molly wears a lab coat and is a scientist, while Sarah runs her own craft business making tiaras.

Molly has been assigned to a top secret project and is totally thrilled. Some of her excitement may also be because of her attractive new boss.

When Sarah suffers a humiliating and painful breakup, she turns to Molly—and science—for help. After all, what are sisters for?

Will Sarah find love where she least expects it, or is it really all in the chemistry?

First things first, the cover is adorable and totally sucked me in. However, this was a mixed bag for me. At times I found the story delightful and getting me right in the feels and other times, I was rolling my eyes.

The 'love bug' premise was cute and definitely had potential, but too far fetched that Molly would share this top secret project with her sister, no matter how close they are. Molly and Ewan were adorable as colleagues and their back-and-forth banter/relationship will have readers rooting for them to hook up. But Croft dismantles some of this with the bicycle race filler which was campy and unnecessary. I also struggled with the lack of depth that the love interests had, they were flat characters that could basically be interchangeable. They were without personality and dare I say, rather forgettable.

I had high-hopes for this story, but it really was lacking the chemistry (no pun intended) that a romance novel should have. Ultimately I struggled with the plot—the conflict that is the driver of the narrative is incredibly frustrating, as is Sarah. Why would she want to be with such an absolute tosser? This book simply wasn't for me and I'm confident that it will find its audience.

The concept of this book was interesting to me, but once it gets really into the plot, I was kind of not on board. Because what these two sisters are working on together is kind of unethical and Molly could lose her job because of it. It left a bad taste in my mouth about that.

If you like a low heat romance, this is a book for you. There is mention of sex in this and some body part descriptions, but the actual act is done behind closed doors. So if you like romance done that way, I definitely recommend it. I don't mind sex scenes, but closed door romance books are fun too. When one of the couple finally gets together I was so happy about it! Honestly, they were the more interesting couple to me.

I think one of the reasons this book just didn't gel with me completely was because it felt a little disjointed. I definitely found some discrepancies, like where Liam is mentioning Sarah's secret, but she never told him. I honestly thought I missed something but I went back and couldn't find mention of it. I also just didn't understand how Liam stuck around! That dude was just too good, considering all of the stuff with Sarah's ex. It felt a little bit like just too much was going on in this book, almost like these were two separate books that were mashed together.

I definitely preferred Molly's point of view over Sarah's. I found her work and her romantic entanglement so much more interesting. However, there's a lot of conflict because of Sarah that throws a wrench into her love life, that maybe it wouldn't have been the same book without that. There's some other things about Molly's love life that I could have done without, like when it seems like Ewan is back with his ex-wife. Like, why???

I didn't totally love this book, and I think most of it boils down to the unethical mess of giving some one a controlled substance without their consent and the fact that Sarah was just such a boring character. I think I would have liked a book about Ewan and Molly way better.

*I received an eARC copy of this second look book via Netgalley and the publisher Avon Books. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This just was not for me. Following two wildly different sisters with romantic troubles, and a dash of science? This sounded so up my alley. But I didn’t like the chemistry of either couple, and the idea that Sarah would ask her sister to let her use her in-testing hormonal drug to get her ex back, and that Sarah would even consider it...made me so uncomfortable.

This was a fun contemporary romance. I find romances that take place in Britain have a different kind of flow and tone to them. Not just because the English used is different. I feel like they are more comfortable taking their time.

That being said, I love these 2 sisters so much! Molly and Sarah go on very different journeys in this novel. Both of them were interesting, and had our characters growing. Their close bond was lovely to see.

All of the characters in our story were very human and flawed. I enjoyed how realistic parts of this story were. Everything was handled in a way that was plausible and believable for our characters.

All in all, I feel it is worth checking out!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this novel.
The Love Solution centers around two sisters and two stories happening at the same time. Molly and Sarah who couldn't be more different, Sarah interested in being an artist, crafter and Molly a scientist. Their love stories are also very different, Molly working in a lab on a top-secret job has a crush on her co-worker/boss crushing on her co-worker while Sarah even though she just quit her job to become a tiara maker apparently has a good stable relationship with her partner. But that quickly changes and the novel goes through a slight twist and maybe both sisters will get their happy ending?

I really enjoyed this book, it was a quick enjoyable read that had me on the edge of my seat by the middle of it. I was really rooting for both Molly and Sarah to get their happy ever afters. I especially loved how much Molly and Sarah cared, rooted and supported each other, it's such a joy to read good sisters relationships.
I could really see this book developing like a film with some angst but generally on the upbeat side.
I'm interested in seeing what else this author will write.

This story is about two sisters, polar opposite in personality, but have a fierce, mad love for each other. Their relationship is a force to be reckoned with. Although they bicker like all sisters do, they have each other's backs and would go to the ends of the earth for each other.

Each sister is faced with their own unique trials and tribulations. Sarah, the older of the two sisters and therefore also the rational, responsible sister, is at a point in her life where she can now go after her dreams after having to take care of her younger sister, Molly. She finally starts her own jewellery design business, is in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend and is a proud co-owner of a quaint cottage in Cambridgeshire.

Molly. a young and quirky scientist loves her job at the lab and loves her boss even more. Molly has huge crush on her boss and pines for him relentlessly. Unfortunately, her boss is a one-word-kind-of-man, and a workaholic that shows no interest in Molly whatsoever.

The story starts to take off the night of the New Years' Eve party, hosted by Molly's workplace. It is here where Molly is pleasantly surprised by her boss opening a world of emotions, feelings and angst. The party is also where Sarah reveals a secret yet discovers a secret that her boyfriend has been keeping from her. A secret that has her questioning her entire life and all the choices she has made up until that point.

Each of these events sends each sister down a path of hilarious situations, life-altering decision-making and a realisation for what is important in life. I adored the relationship between the two sisters. I loved the good old English banter and humour! This book is just so darn cute providing the right amount of quirk and fluff.

I wanted to love this book - the premise was intriguing. Unfortunately it just didn’t stick for me and became a predictable chick lit book - I ended up glossing through the last third to get to the end. Lacked the stickability element for me.

Two sisters battle with their romantic relationships as well as balancing it all with their work life.

This was okay. While it was an easy read, I never fully connected with either sister. When something bad happened my heart almost ached, but not quite. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book, and the stories revolving both sisters were sweet, but neither had me really rooting for their romantic interest. There wasn't much to keep me invested and really keep reading aside from the teensy muck up with the Love Bug. By the end, I didn't care whether or not they had their HEA or not, just wanted to see what happened.

I’ve tried to finish this three times and it’s just not going to happen, so here’s my review:

The Love Solution’s blurb is much cuter than the book. I assumed since this is being marketed as a romance that we would be following one of the two sisters, but instead it’s dual POV with alternating sister chapters. Who needs a POV from the love interests?
Sarah’s horrible boyfriend cheats on her in their shared bed on NYE, when she’s been expecting to tell him that she’s pregnant. Then he dumps her.
Meanwhile, Molly’s boss for whom she has been pining asks her to dance and kisses the hell out of her at a work party. And then he abruptly leaves her there.
K, now you’re at 20% through the book.
So both sisters are in love with horrible men and those are the men they pursue through the book. Lucky for us, the sisters are also not great! Science and ethics etc etc

In conclusion, this book was very not for me and I can’t recommend it.
Content Warning - opens with a car accident on page when the sisters are teens.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Storyline-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Romance-⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Storytelling-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cliffhanger-n/a
Will I recommend it?-definately!
I sincerely have to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this wonderful book and also the fabulous author Ashley Croft(philippa Ashley) for penning such a heartfelt story.
This story primarily revolves around the life of two sisters Sarah and Molly Havers. The sisters,despite of being polar opposites of one another, are very close. Sarah wanted to study arts at university and has her heart set on being an artist whereas Molly ,on the other hand, plans to be a scientist. After an unfortunate car accident took away her parents,Sarah puts her dream on hold to care for a fourteen year old Molly. Fast forward thirteen years later, Sarah leaves her reliable bank job to finally fulfil her passion of making wedding tiaras. She is also pregnant and is yet to break the news to her boyfriend Niall after New Years Eve party but unfortunately never gets the oppurtunity as she catches her boyfriend with his co-worker Venessa doing it in their bed with her tiara on(talk about awkward fetish!). Anyway its safe to say that she did not take the news easy and chased a very naked Venessa from ther house and also threw out Niall( good for her).
On the other hand, Molly, now Dr. Molly Havers, is living her dream life as a scientist at the department of behavioral ecology at Fenland University. She has a huge crush on her boss and fellow Dr. Ewan Baxter. But Ewan, though attracted to Molly,refuses to act on his feelings and after they share an intimate moment,he deliberately rejects her infront of his friends and coworkers(Even I felt for the poor girl!).
Throughout the whole story the life of two sisters,while different,ran parallely to each other. While Sarah was furiously missing Niall and was constantly in between wanting him back and hating for cheating and leaving her, Molly was equally upset with her relationship(or lack of) with Ewan.
But the twist in this book is a "Love Bug". Or a special kind of artificial hormone inducing research by Molly and Ewan which supposedly makes people fall in love with each other!
Meanwhile, in her tiara making class, Sarah meets single father Liam who was there to make a wedding tiara for his daughter Hailey's wedding since her mother always wanted to do that and he wanted to fulfil his late wife's wish!(prince charming to Sarah's cinderella!*swoon*). While spending time with each other, Liam began to like Sarah but Sarah still sad and desperate and wanted Niall to suffer. She wanted Niall to come back begging for a second chance and leave (that trash) Venessa. I think we all know what was coming next. Sarah knew about the research ( " Love Bug") that Molly was doing and in her desperation she blackmailed Molly into preparing that "Love Bug" for her! The plan totally backfired even though Niall came back to her,she realised that she doesn't want this afterall and She togather with Molly began to search for an antidote but unfortunately Molly couldn't do that alone.
Molly's and Ewan's story picked up when they participated in tandem race togather to keep Molly participating with another of their coworker Greg (who is a bit annoying). What was a simple act of jealousy on Ewan's part became the one thing that brought them close. They didn't win the race but finished it after lot of sweat and struggle and delays. They even started a relationship but it came to a halt when Molly confessed about the "love bug" . It broke both mine and Molly's heart to see that Ewan broke up with Molly and completely ignore her other than helping her to find a solution to the "Bug" problem he completely avoided her. On the other hand when rumors spread about Ewan going back to his ex-wife and finding out that he was never divorced forced Molly to back away from their situation. Molly is a strong girl. She had the courage to forgive Ewan when he said that he is sorry and asked for another chance with her,explaining that he and Anna are seperated after she cheated on him and is not mentally stable. On the same day Sarah realise that the "bug" Situation is a false alarm and the story went back to its normal track. Molly and Ewan started dating. Sarah asked for Liam's forgiveness and they too took a chance on each other. I loved Liam. He was such a level headed,calm and confident character! Oh and did I mention Sarah had her daughter the same day as Liam's daughter's wedding*talk about awkward situations* . I felt a lot bad for Niall too. But his character has no backbone and made me equally angry and frustrated with him. But the poor bloke loved Sarah somehow and is a good daddy so yeah felt a bit bad for him. Though sarah and Liam are ment to be. I loved that the story depicts a strong bond between the two sisters.The way they are emotionally so connected with each other. They have no one but at the same time have each other. I loved that the author dedicated this book to sisters. The characters were so charming. The storyline is amazing. It made me feel right there with them. The romance is sweet and hot at the same time. This book has many love stories in it. Like layers. Loved it and would definately recommend people to read this beauty! Happy reading..xx.

Review

Definitely my favourite read of the year. I adored this, witty, romantic, jovial novel. It was written so well with lots of twists and turns and utterly hilarious at times, I really chuckled out loud.
Highly recommend this beautiful book about love and finding the one where sometimes you least expect it. The concept of ‘The Love Bug’ is just brilliant and original. 5 out of 5.

I received this book (The Love Solution by Ashley Croft) for free in exchange for an honest review through Netgalley. This was my first book by this author, so I was unsure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. There were two stores going on at once, which intertwined-- two sisters. Both are struggling with their romantic relationships. One deals with an unplanned pregnancy. I found the story very enjoyable and was very satisfied with the ending.

The Love Solution was an okay read for me. Sarah and Molly are sisters that are very close to each other. Sarah is trying to cope with discovering her partner, NIall, was cheating on her and Molly is attracted to her over-worked, hot-cold boss, Ewan.
I struggled with this story for the most of it. I really didn't like Sarah until the very end when she realizes that Niall is not worth her tears and that she's really not in love with him. I' m not a fan of love triangles, so how she treated Liam through out the story was not okay for me. I didn't like that she kept referencing him as an old man, especially when she's in her early thirties and him in his early forties. It was kind of confusing because Liam was described as not looking his age. I also didn't like that she made Molly give her the "Love Bug" without thinking about the consequences her sister would face and then changing her mind at the last minute, but then that twist kind of made up for her choice. I also didn't like Ewan. He was not so perfect himself, but I didn't like how he treated Molly at times. He would act hot and cold towards Molly and then what he was withholding from her about his past really made him not a nice guy.
I did have high hopes for this one, the concept was very cute, but it didn't go the way I would of liked.

Thank you to the publisher for providing the ARC through NetGalley for review.

3.5 Stars

Molly and Sarah have taken care of each other since their parents died when they were young. They've both had their fair share of unsuccessful relationships with men, so they only have each other to count on. Molly and her boss, Ewan, have been dancing around each other for ages but he keeps running hot and cold and she has no idea what he actually wants. Sarah's live-in boyfriend, Niall, just left her for another woman, right before she was going to tell him she was pregnant. She's desperate to get him back, and Molly might have the solution: she's been working on a hormone in her research lab nicknamed The Love Bug (it links DNA and predisposes 2 people to bond specifically with each other). If Sarah uses it on Niall and he does come back to her, how will she ever know if he actually loves her or if it's because they messed with his hormones? If Molly lets Sarah use it, will Ewan ever forgive her for risking their project? With a Love Solution in hand, is it really still supposed to be this hard?

I liked this cute story! Both Molly and Sarah have interesting side narratives in addition to the Love Bug drama that let you know a little more about them (and the guys in their lives). It's set in the UK so there are a lot of slang words and turns of phrase that were entertaining and even educational when I had to look up the definitions. I had no idea what a Toby jug was! There is a LOT of dialogue in this book, and there were times when the back and forth got a little tedious...I wanted a little more action and less talking. The characters also repeated themselves a lot. Sometimes it seemed like they were having the same conversation again and again. Having said that, the dialogue was mostly so charming that it was very easy to get sucked back in even if I felt like I'd already read that part.

This was a fun debut by Ashley Croft! I'll be interested to read more books by her.

**Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!**

Sarah and Molly are close, but they couldn’t be more different. Sarah is a craft jewellery maker who spends her days making tiaras for difficult brides. Molly is a scientist who is more at home in her lab.

This book had moments for me where I covered my eyes and shouted NO! At times I was almost cringing and I felt like diving into the book to shake the characters and shout ‘what are you doing?!’

The developing love stories between the characters was well written with lots of bumps along the road. As a reader you knew that everything would work out rosy in the end it was about reading to see how the characters would get there in the end.

This book will not be for everyone, but I think it speaks volumes that thrillers are my favourite genre and yet I couldn’t put this heart warming, cheesy love story down.

Would I recommend this book? Hell YES!

I liked the initial story line of the book but felt like the characters were a bit childish and selfish. Maybe if it would have just focused only on Molly's story line I would have enjoyed it more.

I recieved this book via Netgalley and give it my honest review.
This is a story of two sisters Sarah and Molly and their love life! It's full of fun, laughter but also there are some serious parts, but all in all it was a very enjoyable read, I loved it! I loved the story line, I loved the characters and I loved the settings! I recommend this book.

I expected this to be a bit more fun than it was.

Molly and Ewan’s storyline was cute; I love a grumpy hero and I like that he was creepy and had a lot of hesitation about workplace romance.

Sarah on the other hand was a bit annoying at times. I did feel absolutely devastated for her at first l, but began to lose patience with her once she guilt tripped Molly into basically doing something immoral?!?! A discussion about consent really needed to happen between the sisters. It was kind of disturbing that it didn’t even come up.

I actually liked it up until about the 70% mark when those things started to spiral. I wish it would have wrapped up with “I never actually gave you the love bug” and left it at that; sure it would have been more predictable but also just a lot less cringey.

It was fun for some of it but I would have preferred perhaps just sticking to Molly & Ewan’s story and kept it more lighthearted and fun!

Thanks to the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story of two sisters and their journeys to find love. Sarah is pregnant but finds out the baby's father is cheating on her and Molly is in lust with her boss.

It is a funny and easy read, perfect for summer.

Unfortunately, although I love this author, I really couldn't get on with this book. Rather than leave a bad review here, I would rather not review it all.

Thanks