This book fell under the “just okay” category for me. Nothing about it really sucked me into the story and it took many times of coming back to finally finish.

I generally liked this steamy science romance, though I did have a few issues with it, which caused me to edit this review as I pondered the book further over time....

I’m absolutely on board for a romance between two molecular biology/genetics/genomics Ph.D. scientists, written by an author who has her Ph.D. in molecular genetics. As someone who was a molecular biology undergrad and genetics grad student in the distant past, I greatly enjoyed all the technology references; restriction enzymes, gels, pipettes, Eppendorf tubes, Miniprep kits, autoclave bags, buffers, and the debate over whether Drosophila or E. Coli is a better model organism all get mentioned here, among other science-y things. I didn’t think these references were too heavy-handed to lose non-scientist readers.

I liked Liz and Tom, the leads, and was definitely rooting for them (even though Tom was perhaps just a little *too*perfect--did he really have to also be wildly rich in addition to super hot, smart, good in bed.... ) I was glad to see two childfree-by-choice people depicted positively. The supporting characters—friends, coworkers, parents—were also likable.

However, I thought the book was a little too long and grew repetitive in places. The detailed anime references (of which there are many) left me cold, since I know nothing of the shows referenced, and Tom and Liz got into somewhat specific discussions of the plots of particular shows at times without any attempt to explain for those of us unfamiliar with those shows. Honestly, I think this is a problem with most pop culture references in any novel. They will cause the novel to seem dated at some point (unless you're writing historical fiction and this is your intent) and will also leave some readers confused and feeling excluded. I understood from the afterword that the author loves anime, and there's nothing wrong with writing a book just for yourself, but once you put it out there into the world one might have to consider one's potential audience beyond just "it's what I like, and that's that."

While I liked both leads, I would have identified with them even more if they weren’t constantly describing themselves and each other as basically the hottest people to ever walk the earth. I have never seen anyone that hot in a genetics lab, let alone two people….why aren’t they out pursuing modeling careers somewhere? Giving them flaws, however minor, would have made them even more relatable. And yes, I get that the story is the author's fantasy (as she also discusses in the afterword), but something can still be a fantasy and. be grounded in reality.

I thought there was a little too much coincidence at play in the beginning of the story. If I had to pick one coincidence, I would pick Liz being forced to live with Tom and their parents over his lab burning down and them having to work side by side. One form of forced proximity would have been more than enough.

Also, I wanted more concrete examples of how exactly Tom was such a jerk to Liz when he was her Ph.D. advisor, which is mostly described generically as him being really hard on her (though it sounds like she graduated in four years, so he can’t have been *that* hard on her—where I went to school, closer to seven years is the average time to Ph.D…). What did he say? How exactly was he hard on her? I wondered if this omission was because to be more detailed might mean the audience wouldn’t sympathize with him in the end, but I think with care it could be pulled off.

Thanks very much to NetGalley and publisher for the eARC!

This book is a hilarious read. It has a lot of tension, hilarious banter and honestly when it all comes crashing down, it just gets better.

When Tom first meets Liz, they flirt shamelessly and things between them seem promising. Then he learns that he is tasked with acting as her PhD assessor, so he convinces himself it was just a crush and tries to keep things focused on work. She clearly thought he was just drunkenly flirting and seems to have spent her subsequent time moaning about him to everyone. Of course, two adults having a conversation would curtail the book somewhat…so this pattern of the pair of them not talking continues.
Fast forward a few years. Tom’s lab burns down so his best friend offers him space to work with him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realise that the postdoc who’ll share the bench with Tom is the same Liz. Cue awkward moments, and everyone around them watching the sexual tension simmer.
That scenario alone could have been entertaining. Thrown into the mix is the fact that their parents have somehow fallen in love and are going to get married. Again, nobody spoke about this beforehand and they don’t address the elephant in the room immediately so the miscommunication is dragged out longer.
The whole book focuses on these two working out their feelings for each other. Their behaviours would immediately have you running a mile if seen in real life, and reading about them doesn’t make them any more appealing. There’s a couple of scenes that hint at something real, but too much of it felt clichéd. The bumps in the road were signposted a mile off and, as expected, resolved eventually. The supporting cast had some entertainment value, though a few were drafted in to do very little. Still, all worked out fine…as you knew it would.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this before publication in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to Net Galley, H. L. McFarlane, and the publisher of “The Unbalanced Equation” for an advanced copy of this book. Sadly for me, it was a DNF. I was excited to read this woman in STEM book that had an obvious nod to “The Love Hypothesis”, sadly this book did not live up to meet its requirements. This author has potential and you can see from this, but they just missed the mark. It felt disorganized and complete chaos.

After 4 years of scrutiny from her PHD assessor, Elizabeth thinks she's free of him, until he turns up in her lab after his undergrads set fire to his lab. For 3 months they have to share a work space, and when his mum and Liz's dad announce their marriage, everything couldn't get worse.
Is Tom's attitude hiding his true feelings? Or are they truly just enemies?

I really did want to enjoy the story but I found it weird that step siblings were getting together, and the story felt so stuck on the hatred of the main characters that everything else didn't truly feel completed throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I had to DNF this book. I just could not read it anymore and it couldn't keep my attention. Especially after the whole step siblings setting was introduced.

This book gave me The love hypothesis vibes and I just knew I would love it but I just couldn't do it any longer. I also don't think I love grumpy women that's just a personal preference. I couldn't tolerate the grumpy man/grumpy woman aspect of the book anymore.

I am loving all these academia books!

This one is well done. I really loved Liz, and even if Tom needed a solid slap on the back of the head occasionally, I also (grudgingly) liked him.

There are several tropes in this book: enemies to lovers, May and December, forced proximity, etc.

There is really great tension and the dialogue/banter is enjoyable.

My one dislike: why on earth did their parents need to be in this book? That seemed - to me - to undermine the age and independence of the MCs.

Overall, a fun read.

I enjoyed this book as a simple quick read rom com. There were aspects that I didn’t enjoy and I found the scientist environment less engaging than others set in similar locations. Over all I enjoyed the book, would recommend to someone looking for a fun read.

This one was a DNF for me. I will not be posting a review of it but thank you for sending I think people would like this one it just wasn't for me.

I found both Tom and Liz to be pretty unlikeable and had a hard time making it through the entire book.

3/5⭐️

Didn’t grab my attention and I wasn’t reaching to grab the book but overall was a lovely story

Thank you so much for the ARC of this fun book. I really enjoyed the setting of this book and the STEM representation. I struggled a bit with the miscommunication issues and found it frustrating but of course this is a common trope in romcoms. I enjoyed the book overall and would recommend to fans of books like The Love Hypothesis.

“demonstrated day in and day out that you can fall in love in the most unexpected of places.. you might not be looking for it - might be in complete denial, in fact, because it would inconvenience your life to be in love - but it happens all the time”

3 stars for me. I enjoyed it and it was fun for sure! the plot was slightly chaotic but I liked the multiple turns it took 😌 liz was very badass and I really enjoyed her character. To be completely, honest I couldn't think of many pros but I did enjoy it :)
there were a few cons.. Tom was insufferable at times - how many times can he screw up in one book?! he wasn’t my fave character, which I think was a big factor for me..
it also took me quite a while to get into the book..
also major point - the miscommunication was extremely frustrating and is one of, if not my least fave trope - it’s just messy and annoying!

but overall, very sweet and cute and I did enjoy it! I would probably recommend for my biology or science friends as there was lots of technical stuff that I did not get at all!!

This book was meh. I just didn’t vibe with it. I found it a little cringey in places and was super hard to get through.

I love a good enemies to lovers trope and The Unbalanced Equation did not disappoint. Liz and Thomas were really fun characters with great chemistry.

I really enjoyed this book.
The plots was good and well thought out. It was a little predictable however it was a good enemies to lovers story.
It had all the tropes I enjoy and the spice was spicy! Living in Glasgow I enjoyed reading a story set in a location I love in.

The book was so cute. The romance was so fun and raw, you know?

When I was reading this book I had the feeling that I was in this universe where everything is possible.

I loved the sweetness that was handled and also those moments where you didn't know if everything was going to explode in your face or if they were going to continue dancing with each other hahaha

I really liked the science theme, there are so few books that are so well written around these topics without being completely forced into feminism or lack thereof.

I feel like it was a proper and balanced touch.

3.5⭐️

They have a past. Now they can’t get away from each other. It started with having to share a lab and gets progressively worse when their single parents announce their engagement. They couldn’t get along before, how are they supposed to now?

This was super cute and sucked me in. So much happens! Maybe a bit too much but it was entertaining nonetheless. Crazy how their paths continue to cross and how they handled it. I couldn’t imagine being in this position!

I loved Lizzie’s friends and how supportive they were of whatever she chose. Same with Tom’s best friend - he cracked me up.

*I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review with my honest opinion.*

I am literally obsessed with stem books. I especially love if they involve some spice! This is the prefect combination! Love that the author gives you multiple point of views. If you love banter and flirting between characters you will really enjoy this one. Pretty sure everyone who reads is swooning over the male main character. This is similar to The Love Hypothesis but not enough to not enjoy them both separately. Really great read!


Stem romance
Multiple Pov's
Forced Proximity


4 stars