Love Theoretically
by Ali Hazelwood
★ Top 25 book of 2023 · #12 on Best Books of 2023
Physicist Elsie moonlights as a fake girlfriend, and her carefully managed life unravels when a client's brother turns out to sit on the MIT hiring committee. Their rivalry soon sparks something far warmer.
Best for: Readers who enjoy academic rivals-to-lovers romance with science-world humor
Love Theoretically is #12 on BookWard's Best Books of 2023, out of 34 2023 books that cleared our data bar.
What Love Theoretically is about
Elsie Hannaway is a theoretical physicist teaching thermodynamics as an adjunct professor and hoping for tenure. On the side she works as a fake girlfriend, using her people-pleasing talent to become whatever version of herself a client needs. It is a neat arrangement until she meets Jack Smith, the broody older brother of her favorite client.
Jack is an experimental physicist with a reputation: he ruined her mentor's career and undermined the standing of theorists everywhere. He also sits on the MIT hiring committee, which puts him squarely between Elsie and her dream job. She prepares for scholarly sabotage, but instead discovers that around Jack she can simply be herself. Love Theoretically is a witty, steamy enemies-to-lovers romance set in academia, asking whether Elsie will put her carefully guarded theories about love into practice.
Love Theoretically on the Best Books of 2023
Love Theoretically came out in 2023. Of the 34 books first published in 2023 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #12 on our Best Books of 2023 list.
Why it made the list: 679 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (16 ratings); 24 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2023 list
- Things We Hide from the Light Lucy Score, #10
- The Sun and the Star Rick Riordan, #11
- Things We Left Behind Lucy Score, #13
- One of Us Is Back Karen M. McManus, #14
See all Best Books of 2023 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2022 Best Books of 2024.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 631 want to read it, 24 are reading it now and 24 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 3.8 out of 5 from 16 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 82 | 55% |
| Reader love | 24 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 74 | 20% |
Questions about Love Theoretically
When was Love Theoretically published?
Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood was first published in 2023.
Was Love Theoretically one of the best books of 2023?
Love Theoretically is #12 on BookWard's Best Books of 2023, out of 34 2023 books that cleared our data bar. 679 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (16 ratings); 24 are reading it right now.
Why is Love Theoretically on the Best Books of 2023 list?
679 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 3.8 out of 5 (16 ratings); 24 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2023
- Fourth Wing Rebecca Yarros, #1
- King of Pride Ana Huang, #2
- Iron Flame Rebecca Yarros, #3
- Powerless Lauren Roberts, #4
- The Chalice of the Gods Rick Riordan, #5
- King of Greed Ana Huang, #6
See the full Best Books of 2023, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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