The theory of love

Love on the Brain - Ali Hazelwood

In this fantastic romantic comedy by the author of The Love Hypothesis and Love, Theoretically, which have taken TikTok by storm, two rival physicists clash in a whirlwind of academic disputes and fake relationships.

Theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway's multiple lives have finally caught up with her. By day, she's an adjunct professor, toiling away grading papers and teaching thermodynamics, hoping one day to achieve tenure. By night, she supplements her nonexistent salary by offering a fake girlfriend service, which she executes successfully thanks to her people-pleasing skills and ability to embody whatever version of herself the client needs.

It's a great gig... until the Elsie-verse she's painstakingly built comes crashing down. Jack Smith, the arrogant and irritatingly attractive brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the heartless experimental physicist who ruined her mentor's career and undermined the reputation of theorists worldwide. And that same Jack Smith, who heads the MIT Physics department, now stands between Elsie and her dream job.

She's ready to launch a war of academic sabotage, but... what are those long, penetrating stares? How is it that when she's with him, she doesn't have to be a different version of herself? Will falling into an experimentalist's orbit finally make her put all her theories about love into practice?