Christina Lauren

The True Love Experiment

Alma 

Maybe there is a way for us, after everything ends. Maybe it won't be a scandal if we come together in a few months; maybe us falling in love won't tank the credibility of a second season of the show.

 I know it isn't true, but I yearn for her with a tight, simmering ache, this slight, scrappy, ball-busting woman who has my heart and my mind and my entire fucking body wrapped around her smallest finger.

 I don't want to think about the show, or the woman who runs constant laps around my mind, or the way she looked earlier when she confessed her feelings again. 

l'd never known that kind of sensation, the way my heart felt heavy but airborne inside my rib cage.

 I'm so fucking in love with her I can barely take a full breath.

 I know the cameras are catching the easy familiarity we have. It bodes well for Evan, which bodes well for Connor. 

But, God, I wish it were Connor beside me.

"Ive never felt that— that insatiable thing, you know? I want to be near him every second. If I eat something delicious, I want him there to take a bite. If I see something beautiful, I want to turn to him and point it out. If I hear something hilarious, I immediately want to call him and tell him everything."

“Wait. Should you be at the office or— I don’t know— accessible somehow tonight?”

"No." he says. "Blaine's on it. He knew taking you here tonight was an important job." 

“ I pretend you're a lot of work. It gets me points with the boss."

 "I am a lot of work." This makes him laugh.

 "Felicity, you are the easiest thing I've ever done."

 I look up at him, watch his words land on his own ears. A flush crawls up his neck and turns the tips of his ears pink. 

"I do know what you mean, but you're also full of shit. Objectively speaking, I am a handful."

 He tucks my head under his chin. "Get over yourself." 

I laugh into his shirt and close my eyes. Fuck, he's perfect. This is awful.

"iIl see you after the ceremony." She gathers her dress and turns to head back inside to meet the wedding party. 

I watch her walk away, quietly admitting, "I already do."

 Finally, tonight, our last night before I endeavor to help her fall in love with someone else, I can admit it.

"And I guess I want what most women want: someone who makes me laugh and doesn't take themself too seriously. Someone who's ambitious but good, whos supportive of me and the things I love. But mostly, I want us to be head over fucking heels for each other."

"Tm going to order for us," she says over her shoulder. "Im going to put joy in your mouth, Sexy Lumberjack. Trust me." 

 She ignores this, stepping up to order for us, and I look down at my outfit. From Brit to DILF to Sexy Lumberjack. I can't know for sure if this transition in nickname signals a good wardrobe decision on my part, but I changed three times before picking her up today, prompting Stevie to ask me whether I was going on a date.

He laughs, and not only does it seem to come from some sexy depth in his chest, it also reveals a small dimple, low on one cheek.

Emma Kamer

… that make me suspect I am absolutely, irrevocably, and undeniably fucked. 

This one was a unique concept of using the science of book one to make a dating show for book two. I really enjoyed it, sometimes I think the characters can be too much to put it lightly. But Fizzy made it a lot of fun to read about. Then the grumpy sunshine of the characters made me really fall in love with the books. It also had that touch of taboo with it and I was here for every second of it. The ending ended up being a lot of fun having the whole crowd interactive part of it indicating who wind, yeah it was really unique and fun to read Fizzy’s book. 

Priscilla Stanfield

4/5⭐️ • 1/5🌶️

This one was a unique concept of using the science of book one to make a dating show for book two. I really enjoyed it, sometimes I think the characters can be too much to put it lightly. But Fizzy made it a lot of fun to read about. Then the grumpy sunshine of the characters made me really fall in love with the books. It also had that touch of taboo with it and I was here for every second of it. The ending ended up being a lot of fun having the whole crowd interactive part of it indicating who wind, yeah it was really unique and fun to read Fizzy’s book. 

in all honesty i read this one first before the soulmate equation and i simply think it was better. but fizzy is also a firecracker of a person n had way more chemistry with connor (to me) — also dilf. and healthy divorcee relationship where he is still in his kids / ex wife’s life?? on purpose??? that is quite healthy/highly therapized. and maybe a tad unrealistic. i still enjoyed n ate it up tho

karina

Jennifer Gosnell

SO good. Such perfect, believable characters. Excellent plot and tension. I loved everything about it. I must now read The Soulmate Equation!

radhika dhawan

Love Fizzy as a character. Didn't love this book. I can't stand the hunky, somehow single, super tall and mature man who "doesn't have time to date" trope. I also thought there'd be more time spent in the reality show, but most of it was in summary. They don't even get to the reality show plot till halfway through the book.

About 90% of this book is just the two MCs eye fucking each other, or actually fucking each other. I mean, how lame. Please let me slightly entertain the possibility of the couple not ending up together, even if ~*as a romance rule*~ I know they do. Otherwise there is zero tension. I didn't care for the intense pandering towards romance readers either. No shade, because I literally just read one myself, but the authors spent a lot of time sucking up to their audience. It was irritating.

Katelyn Caillouet

Love Fizzy as a character. Didn't love this book. I can't stand the hunky, somehow single, super tall and mature man who "doesn't have time to date" trope. I also thought there'd be more time spent in the reality show, but most of it was in summary. They don't even get to the reality show plot till halfway through the book.

About 90% of this book is just the two MCs eye fucking each other, or actually fucking each other. I mean, how lame. Please let me slightly entertain the possibility of the couple not ending up together, even if ~*as a romance rule*~ I know they do. Otherwise there is zero tension. I didn't care for the intense pandering towards romance readers either. No shade, because I literally just read one myself, but the authors spent a lot of time sucking up to their audience. It was irritating.

Winona

** spoiler alert **
           “And every day of my life from this point forward, I will be able to sincerely say I love and cherish you with every fiber of my being.”

No words can explain how much i love Fizzy and Connor. This book was EXACTLY what I needed to get out of my almost slump. THEIR CHEMISTRY IS UNMATCHED!? the whole concept of this book was also very entertaining. I loved every character!!! I definitely will be reading Jess' story after this ! RIVER IS SO CUTE all the time he just u-turns whenever Jess and Fizzy are talking AJDBSKDNAK. I ate this book up, you should too!!

Winona Santiago

Catia

it was a good idea for a book. it was a cute romance and im glad i decked to pick it up ( as i almost didn’t) i took me a while to get into the book. 4⭐️

Anastasia Jack

after the longest reading slump of my life, fizzy and connor had brought me back to life. I truly cannot begin to explain how much I loved this book. every single character was amazing and I was swooning with fizzy over connor. I loved them together and their relationship was everything I didn’t know I needed.

issa

honestly entertaining and would recommend. gave me little butterflies, but it wasn’t a mind blowing, life altering book. 

julie reads

Natalie 

4.5/5⭐️ thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC! i loved the soulmate equation and have been excited for Fizzy’s book, and this didn’t disappoint! it was so cute and swoony too. Connor(the love interest/MC) >>>

Amelia Hruby

Christina Lauren - they do it again!! They are simply amazing and this book is 

Brittany Peterson

Christina Lauren - they do it again!! They are simply amazing and this book is chefs kiss

kels

Felt a bit rushed in the beginning, but the pace evened out eventually and the ending was perfect

Alyssa deRaad

sweet and easy. I would probably sum it up as “it was fine” lol. 

Jessica Harn

Holy moly! I am still crying over the ending. This was my first Christina Lauren book but it won't be my last. 

Jovana Gjekanovikj 

by the way, don’t make the same mistake I did and read 

I loved the writing, the evolution in the plot and especially, loved the main characters! Connor is my literal dream man and reading about a couple who is soo open and honest and forward about everything is all I could ever want. 

Wowoowowowowowowoowowow

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEV THIS!!!

by the way, don’t make the same mistake I did and read THE SOULMATE EQUATION  first. 

I loved the writing, the evolution in the plot and especially, loved the main characters! Connor is my literal dream man and reading about a couple who is soo open and honest and forward about everything is all I could ever want. 

i love books who include more pov’s, especially from the male perspective, and i think that the storyline in general is also pretty unique but sometimes it was too lovey-dovey for me which i should expect from a romance book but nonetheless i enjoyed reading it !

micki

I enjoyed The Soulmate Equation but thought Fizzy stole the show, so I was thrilled to find out she was getting a book. She's a larger-than-life character who isn't afraid to speak her mind, even if it's a little raunchy. She has a tough exterior, but it hides such a sensitive heart, and I'm glad we got to see more of that here. I loved the relationship between her and Connor. They complemented one another well, and the chemistry was off the charts. I also liked seeing Connor's relationship with his daughter, which was so cute. My only gripe with it was that it was a little too long. I kept going, "All this has happened, but there are still XX pages left?" But that's also because I don't think romances need to be over 400 pages. Despite that, it was still a pretty quick read, and I loved it so much.

Heather Harrington

Tropes: cinnamon roll, forbidden love, instalust, single dad 

Christina Lauren will always hold a special place in my heart with their dynamic writing, but TLE just hit it out of the park. I don’t want to be friends with Fizzy, I literally want to 

 her and not just because that means I can get my hands on Connor 😉 So far my favorite read of the year. The audiobook was beautifully done and the narrators were the perfect fit. Target bonus chapter and Barnes & Noble bonus chapter were well worth the time I spent reading in the book aisles 😂

Tropes: cinnamon roll, forbidden love, instalust, single dad 

🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Christina Lauren will always hold a special place in my heart with their dynamic writing, but TLE just hit it out of the park. I don’t want to be friends with Fizzy, I literally want to be her and not just because that means I can get my hands on Connor 😉 So far my favorite read of the year. The audiobook was beautifully done and the narrators were the perfect fit. Target bonus chapter and Barnes & Noble bonus chapter were well worth the time I spent reading in the book aisles 😂

“Tell me I’m not making a huge mistake doing this.”

“You’re not. In fact, I wrote it on my list, don’t you know? ‘Fizzy does a crazy romance reality show when she’s thirty-seven and has the time of her life.’”

I went into this not realizing I was meant to have The Soulmate Equation first and not entirely sure I would enjoy this book. I am not a big fan of reality TV, for one, and the last Christina Lauren book I read: 'The Unhoneymooners', was fine, nothing special and so, I absolutely did not expect to love 'The True Love Experiment' as much as I did. I truly loved this book, it was everything you could ever want in a romance, the perfect balance of sexiness, broodiness, comedy and banter, from feet kicking adorableness to toe curling spice - phew that was entertaining to say the very least.

Fizzy and Connor were so dynamic and genuine as the love interests in this book, I think something that really set this book apart from others is that they developed a deep friendship and understanding with each other before anything happened, sure there was tension and attraction right from the outset, but the fact that Connor isn't a casual kind of man and holds off on Fizzy to begin with really set the scene for this book. Connor is a steady, adjusted, emotionally available family man with a daughter and a job he cares about, an ex-wife he's still close friends with and he's done the work in therapy to be a better man. Fizzy is sex-positive, a serial dater, a romance author with a dirty mind and the confidence to speak it, she can separate her feelings away from being physically intimate with someone - but maybe not with Connor. The slow burn tease of them rejecting each other and then slowly falling head over heels was absolutely thrilling to read, honestly it was so beautiful. And it really helped that the thing holding them back from being together was actually believable and understandable too, I've read too many flimsy miscommunications and this was a breath of fresh air.

One thing I didn't love so much about this book, or any book really, were the excessive pop-culture references - I find it dates a book and really makes me cringe, I don't mind so much the references to Instagram and Tiktok - those have become standard in the modern day social setting and I find they add to the story and how romances speaks to the societal cues of the time period it was written in, but the mentions of Harry Styles, popular TV series and movies etc just threw me a little bit. An adorable, emotive line like: 

"He is the stillness to my storm, the shadow to my bright sunlight, the Styles to my Harry."

, is, in my opinion, ruined now simply because of that mention and I just don't enjoy that in books unfortunately. Another thing, not something I didn't love but a thing I noticed (and now for my own pop culture references, to really be ironic), this story really reminded me of The Ugly Truth, with the TV producer and the dating expert and the show bringing those two things together, I felt like this was a story I'd seen before and that made me feel a bit worried at the beginning that this would feel generic, but thankfully this turned out to unique and special in it's own ways. I still couldn't shake Gerard Butler from my head and he will now forever be Connor to me, oops.

Overall, this is a heart warming, entertaining romcom, a book that will absolutely absorb you right from the beginning and make you fly through its pages in record time wanting to see how it all pans out. It's moved into the place of one of the best romance books I have ever read, right up there with Book Lovers and Happy Place by Emily Henry. I adored this book and I would absolutely recommend everyone to give it a shot, and now I'm going to go give The Soulmate Equation a shot too haha.

Genevieve 

“Tell me I’m not making a huge mistake doing this.”
“You’re not. In fact, I wrote it on my list, don’t you know? ‘Fizzy does a crazy romance reality show when she’s thirty-seven and has the time of her life.’”

4.5 ⭐'s

I went into this not realizing I was meant to have The Soulmate Equation first and not entirely sure I would enjoy this book. I am not a big fan of reality TV, for one, and the last Christina Lauren book I read: 'The Unhoneymooners', was fine, nothing special and so, I absolutely did not expect to love 'The True Love Experiment' as much as I did. I truly loved this book, it was everything you could ever want in a romance, the perfect balance of sexiness, broodiness, comedy and banter, from feet kicking adorableness to toe curling spice - phew that was entertaining to say the very least.

Fizzy and Connor were so dynamic and genuine as the love interests in this book, I think something that really set this book apart from others is that they developed a deep friendship and understanding with each other before anything happened, sure there was tension and attraction right from the outset, but the fact that Connor isn't a casual kind of man and holds off on Fizzy to begin with really set the scene for this book. Connor is a steady, adjusted, emotionally available family man with a daughter and a job he cares about, an ex-wife he's still close friends with and he's done the work in therapy to be a better man. Fizzy is sex-positive, a serial dater, a romance author with a dirty mind and the confidence to speak it, she can separate her feelings away from being physically intimate with someone - but maybe not with Connor. The slow burn tease of them rejecting each other and then slowly falling head over heels was absolutely thrilling to read, honestly it was so beautiful. And it really helped that the thing holding them back from being together was actually believable and understandable too, I've read too many flimsy miscommunications and this was a breath of fresh air.

One thing I didn't love so much about this book, or any book really, were the excessive pop-culture references - I find it dates a book and really makes me cringe, I don't mind so much the references to Instagram and Tiktok - those have become standard in the modern day social setting and I find they add to the story and how romances speaks to the societal cues of the time period it was written in, but the mentions of Harry Styles, popular TV series and movies etc just threw me a little bit. An adorable, emotive line like: "He is the stillness to my storm, the shadow to my bright sunlight, the Styles to my Harry.", is, in my opinion, ruined now simply because of that mention and I just don't enjoy that in books unfortunately. Another thing, not something I didn't love but a thing I noticed (and now for my own pop culture references, to really be ironic), this story really reminded me of The Ugly Truth, with the TV producer and the dating expert and the show bringing those two things together, I felt like this was a story I'd seen before and that made me feel a bit worried at the beginning that this would feel generic, but thankfully this turned out to unique and special in it's own ways. I still couldn't shake Gerard Butler from my head and he will now forever be Connor to me, oops.

Overall, this is a heart warming, entertaining romcom, a book that will absolutely absorb you right from the beginning and make you fly through its pages in record time wanting to see how it all pans out. It's moved into the place of one of the best romance books I have ever read, right up there with Book Lovers and Happy Place by Emily Henry. I adored this book and I would absolutely recommend everyone to give it a shot, and now I'm going to go give The Soulmate Equation a shot too haha.

In order for romance author, Felicia "Fizzy" Chen to try and feel the joy necessary to write another book, she agrees to appear on a Bachelorette type television show called The True Love Experiment. As a conservation documentarian, Conner Prince reluctantly takes on the job of producer for The True Love Experiment if he is to remain employed somewhere close to his daughter. What he quickly discovers is that Fizzy is so much more than he bargained for, and he's not sure if they can hide their attraction for one another though the entire length of the show's run.

The True Love Experiment is an amusing rom-com with likable characters and an enjoyable plot.  There is lots of sexual tension throughout the story, but the sensual scenes seem as though they are cut short, making them feel a bit awkward.  Fizzy is quirky, but the story could have used even more humorous moments with this character.  There isn't too much that is memorable about Conner except the description of him being large in every way as compared to Fizzy being tiny.  The backdrop of the reality show that uses the same technology as in The Soulmate Equation is a fun addition to the story, but it doesn't make up for some of the plot holes that detract from the book.  Overall, The True Love Experiment is an entertaining romantic comedy that doesn't have anything that stands out as new or unique to the genre.

Lynn Braden

In order for romance author, Felicia "Fizzy" Chen to try and feel the joy necessary to write another book, she agrees to appear on a Bachelorette type television show called The True Love Experiment. As a conservation documentarian, Conner Prince reluctantly takes on the job of producer for The True Love Experiment if he is to remain employed somewhere close to his daughter. What he quickly discovers is that Fizzy is so much more than he bargained for, and he's not sure if they can hide their attraction for one another though the entire length of the show's run.

The True Love Experiment is an amusing rom-com with likable characters and an enjoyable plot.  There is lots of sexual tension throughout the story, but the sensual scenes seem as though they are cut short, making them feel a bit awkward.  Fizzy is quirky, but the story could have used even more humorous moments with this character.  There isn't too much that is memorable about Conner except the description of him being large in every way as compared to Fizzy being tiny.  The backdrop of the reality show that uses the same technology as in The Soulmate Equation is a fun addition to the story, but it doesn't make up for some of the plot holes that detract from the book.  Overall, The True Love Experiment is an entertaining romantic comedy that doesn't have anything that stands out as new or unique to the genre.

The True Love Experiment

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