The True Love Experiment
by Christina Lauren
Published by Gallery Books
Sparks fly when a romance novelist and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script.
Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.
Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?
Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.
The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in The Soulmate Equation. But when the lights come on and all eyes are on her, it turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.
Genre:
First, I would like to thank Gallery Books for sending me an arc of The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren via Netgalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.
This. Was. Delicious.
Seriously.
First of all, I wish I had known that this was a spin off book of sorts before reading The True Love Experiment. Not because it's essential to understand this book. The True Love Experiment can be read as a standalone, and is easy to understand. And obviously, it's "sister" book - The Soulmate Equation - would have a happily ever after, so the story there is not truly spoiled for me. That's just me, preferring to read books in chronological order, so my brain doesn't explode.
That being said, I didn't need to read The Soulmate Equation to love The True Love Experiment. It holds up on its own, and its great. So far, it is one of the best romances I've read this year.
Okay, so I know that this book came about because Fizzy was a fan favorite side character in The Soulmate Equation, and fans kept asking if they - Christina and Lauren - would write a story for Fizzy. Considering she was beloved enough by their fans for them to write her a book, of course I ended up loving her too. She's fun, hilarious, and just all around loveable. I could totally see why Connor falls for her. Speaking of Connor - love him! Not only because he is described as a dreamboat with a British accent, but because he is an amazing father, and his relationship with his ex-wife. Honestly, we don't get enough functional blended families in romance novels, and I loved reading this.
I loved Fizzy and Connor.
I loved them together even more.
The TENSION. The CHEMISTRY. The BANTER. The SEX. Christina and Lauren wove it all into this truly wonderful, and weirdly relatable romance. Not the reality show, but Fizzy and Connor's personal journeys throughout the book.
I don't think I've read a Christina Lauren book I don't like yet, and The True Love Experiment is no different. In fact, I loved it. Now excuse me while I go buy The Soulmate Equation.
Coming soon after publication on May 16th, 2023