The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson

Narrated by Em Eldridge

Standalone RomCom

The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson was suggested to me by the bots so many times that I finally gave in and grabbed it with my Kindle Unlimited membership. It is honestly right up my alley, the algorithm knows me well. I love a light and funny book with smart characters. Therein lies the problem. The female MC is one of the dumbest heroines I’ve ever read about. Usually I will ease into a review, but I JUST CAN’T.

I actually liked the writing style, and I like when a heroine is a bit of a mess. With a few tweaks this book could have been adorable, but the heroine, Anna, was TSTL. She is a cosmetic scientist. Her ‘best friend’ of 4 months works with her and is the only voice of reason. You see, Anna is in love with the President of the company who she has met twice, and thinks they will get married. He has no clue who she is and is a total douchecanoe, but Anna won’t see that, she is too in love with the fake man she built in her head.

Then she quits her job (with no backup at all) partially because of the fraternization policy…because she wants to marry the guy who doesn’t know her. Then she decides to go to the company party after quitting and being escorted out, but she doesn’t own a dress. At all. So she wears a cosplay dress from her closet to a business function where she wants her old boss to fall in love with her. Are you seeing why she is a freaking idiot yet? When this scientist drinks the wrong chemicals, then maybe you will see it (yes, this happened). 🙄

I don’t know why I continued. Maybe morbid curiosity. But honestly, it did get better. Though the hero was a bit boring, I really liked him. I loved the best friend. And the birds. The romance was slow-burn and closed door, but it was honestly a good fake-dating romance if you can ignore her idiotic obsession with a guy she doesn’t know.

“Absence had made my heart forget that the guy I was pretending to date was super attractive, and it was annoying that my body kept leaping with excitement every single time I was around him.”

Likes:

I liked the style of storytelling. It was light, fun, cute and quirky.
I loved her best friend.
The hero was swoony.
A quick, light read that got way better after about 27%.
The bird names. “My grandpa’s favorite parrot, Feather Locklear”
The geeky references.

Dislikes:

The heroine was so clueless it was just sad.
Honestly the stupidest heroine ever, and she is a scientist.
Marco kept his true nerdy self from her.
The first third of the book was the worst.

The Narration:

Em Eldridge was new to me and I thought her voice was perfect for Anna, she sounded kind of flighty.

The Down & Dirty:

If you can get through the first third of this book without hurling it across the room, then you may end up liking it. The heroine was ridiculously naive and stupid, but she started to grow on me a bit. I loved the hero though he was a bit boring. I enjoyed the premise of the book, but I never quite got over the fact that an adult woman, a scientist no less, thought she was in love with and going to marry a man she met twice in passing.