✨Looking for a fun, feel-good romance? Read our review of The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson! A charming rom-com with fake dating, women in STEM, and plenty of swoon worthy tension. Find out if this cute lighthearted read belongs on your TBR!✨

✨Book Blurb for “The Chemistry of Love” by Sariah Wilson✨

How can Anna Ellis, a geeky, brilliant, and hopelessly smitten cosmetic chemist possibly win over Craig Kimball, the man of her dreams—who also happens to be her boss? The answer is Craig’s empathetic (and handsome) CEO half-brother, Marco. The makeup mogul knows Craig for the ridiculously competitive rival he is. Whatever Marco has, Craig wants. That can be Anna, if she’s game to play.

All Anna and Marco have to do is pretend they’re falling in love and let the rumors begin. If the experiment in attraction works, a jealous Craig will swoop in and give Anna her happily ever after—if it weren’t for one hitch in the plan. There’s more to Marco than meets the eye. With every fake date, Anna’s feelings are starting to become dizzyingly real.

Blame it on chemistry. It’s unpredictable, exciting, and occasionally combustible. If Anna and Marco are really falling in love, who are they to argue with science?

💌Bloggers note: This book review and summary will be unhinged with profanity, sexual content, and spoilers. Turn back now to shield your eyes from all the things if you’re not down for that! 💌

This book was chosen as part of the Valentines’ Day hopefuls, and I ended up pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it – I read it in a single day. It’s also on KU! Let’s do some introductions of “The Chemistry of Love” cast first:

✨Meet the Cast of “The Chemistry of Love”✨

✨Lit Breakdown of “The Chemistry of Love”✨

✨Book Review “The Chemistry of Love” by Sariah Wilson✨

Anna Ellis is a LA based Cosmetic Chemist who is under-paid and under-appreciated at Minx Cosmetics. She also happens to be in love with her department head, Craig Kimball, who doesn’t even know she exists. Looking for a way to get a leg up in his company he realizes that Anna is an excellent asset to help him achieve that goal. He hits on her and asks if she is attending the company party later that evening, and Anna agrees. After a series of events that day that leads to her quitting, she decides to still attend the company party later that night to confess her feelings but realizes quickly that Craig never had any intention of following through when we find out that he’s ENGAGED. Now, we as the reader understand immediately that his guy is a douche-nozzle but our blinded FMC and her insistence upon being in love with him will not be swayed.

Heartbroken, Anna grabs a bottle of champagne, gets shit-faced in the men’s bathroom, and has an entertaining out-of-pocket conversation with a stranger (aka Marco, the CEO). I did laugh out loud during these parts. Fast forward, Marco makes a proposition to fake date Anna to save his family’s reputation and company from the gold digger Leighton (aka Craig’s fiancé). Craig has a history of stealing Marco’s girlfriends before (INCLUDING FREAKING LEIGHTON) so he thinks it will work. Let’s just unpack this, shall we? GIRL. HOW DO YOU NOT REALIZE HE’S A SLIMEBALL AT THIS POINT?! Anna ends up reluctantly agreeing to BREAK UP AN ENGAGEMENT like a homewrecker hussy by stealing Craig. Looking back as I finished this – that was fucked up man but whatever we aren’t going off of morals and principles here. Why didn’t this bother me as I was reading it? Marco does a good job of making Leighton the villain. I mean – fair. She left Marco to be with Craig soooooo 🤷🏻‍♀️

Of course, in true rom-com fashion Marco and Anna have chemistry immediately and are put into a series of situations that we enjoy. In this we learn that they both enjoy Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and DND fandoms as there are several mentions throughout the book. We also see Anna struggle with her anxiety and insecurity and in this way, it makes her relatable. She also has immense difficulty with social skills or important decisions, and this can at times make her character frustrating. Marco, to his credit, is forever the gentleman and genuinely a good person and DOESN’T WANT to steal a girl who would be with his brother even if he starts to have feelings for her. While I love his good-guy persona, he never seems to do anything wrong or mess up, which could cause a loss of interest for him as a character for readers, and at times can come across as lacking personality. It’s also conflicting to what we the readers are consistently told by the workplace gossip that he is demanding, intense, and cranky. I wish we would have seen more of that so we would have had a juxtaposition in trying to mesh the two into a single person.

Moving right along the story line here, Anna begins to feel like it’s cheating as she begins to have feelings for Marco. It was pretty annoying at this point she’s so committed to Craig because:

1. Craig doesn’t even really know she exists
2. Her feelings are based off of a night 2 YEARS AGO when he helped jump her car in a college parking lot after a game (I think football?)
3. He is repeatedly a twat waffle to literally everyone in the book
4. They have absolutely no history and Craig doesn’t really show interest as the story continues but rather insults her about sleeping the way up the ladder

My favorite fake-dating part in the book was Marco giving Anna a lesson in seduction to help lure in Craig. But we know better 😏

-Marco, The Chemistry of Love by Sariah Wilson

Do not let this quote fool you into thinking that there will be spice as a result of those feelings. While we have tension and make-out sessions, it’s a relatively clean romance.

Their dastardly plan is, unfortunately, successful, and the awful Craig does try to pursue Anna. He also tries to steal her work for a new prototype mood ring lipstick. Who could have seen that coming? 🙄 And in the end, Anna realizes her heart belongs to Marco (fucking finally), they jointly express their feelings, and we all get a happily ever after (HEA). But seriously, we have to wait until the last chapter in the book to get there so be prepared for the slow burn.

✨Book Rating for “The Chemistry of Love” by Sariah Wilson✨

All things considered, we have rated this book: ⭐⭐⭐

Curious on what our book/spice ratings mean and why? We go into more detail to better understand our review process here.

Would I re-read this book again? No. Would I recommend it for a sweet Hallmarky vibes rom-com for Valentines Day? Yes. Does that mean it will work for you? I have no idea. But these are my mood lit musings not yours. If you give it a try, or have already read this book, leave us a comment below and tell us what you think! Until next time lit lovers – Abby 💌

Want more book recommendations like “The Chemistry of Love? Click here for other Women in STEM Rom-Coms.

✨Click below to read a free sample!✨

Want to see the rest of our Valentines Day recommendations? Read the post here

Curious on what other Valentine’s Day hopefuls we had in store? Find out more!

Abby

✨Mood Lit Mastermind✨

Abby is an ADHD moody reader book lover who has had a love of reading for as long as she can remember! When not making podcast episodes or writing for the blog, you can find her snuggling with Pan, baking something unhealthy, or hiding with her kindle.

While Sariah Wilson has a stronghold in the Rom-Com genre, our newest interest is peaked by her 2024 Romantasy release “A Tribute to Fire” from The Eye of the Goddess series. Read more here!

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