Stevie‘s review of Loathe to Love You (The STEMinist Novellas #1-3) by Ali Hazelwood
Contemporary Romance Anthology published by Berkley 03 Jan 23
The world definitely needs more romances about women in science, so I picked up this anthology of linked stories in spite of not being keen on the ‘enemies to lovers’ trope. Our three female protagonists have been best friends since grad school, which joins the stories nicely and provides a thread of continuity through the whole book, although there’s less of a link for the three male protagonists other than through their respective love interests. We meet all three women in the first chapter of the first novella, after a flash-forward Prologue, in which we meet our first couple, Mara and Liam.
Mara and Liam have each inherited half a house, from their mentor and father (who were siblings), respectively, and both are determined to live in it on their terms, regardless of how much those terms (and many of their other values) clash. One of the biggest sources of friction is their careers. Mara works for the Environmental Protection Agency, while Liam is an in-house lawyer for a big oil company, although we learn early on that he isn’t really a fan of Big Oil. Liam has some other endearing qualities that slowly grow on Mara, and she has skills that he comes to appreciate too, not that we see any of Liam’s inner thoughts. Then, however, we get a Big Misunderstanding, and worse, one that is resolved by sex (and presumably a conversation that readers never get to see, since everything is resolved by the Epilogue). I liked the depth of friendship that Mara had with her two besties, but I really didn’t buy her relationship with Liam or the magical resolution of all their difference. I liked how they supported each other’s career aspirations and the discussions of TV shows were cute, but that’s the best I can say about them.
On to our second couple, Sadie and Erik, who both work in the same industry, although she works for a small start-up and he works for its much larger rival. Both firms having offices in the same building. The two had a brief fling that could have led to something more, if Sadie hadn’t blamed Erik for her firm losing out to his on a major contract negotiation. Sadie immediately severs all contact with Erik, rather than challenging him over his suspected industrial espionage, only for the pair to get stuck in a lift three weeks later. At which point they finally have that conversation, and all is forgiven. I thought the two of them made a cuter couple than Mara and Liam, but it all felt a bit rushed, and again hinged on a Big Misunderstanding that could have been resolved sooner. We also saw less of the other besties in this one, as I recall.
Finally, Hannah and her nemesis, Ian, get to have their story. Both work for NASA, researching engineering solutions for future Mars missions, and they had a brief encounter back when Hannah was still a grad student, after Mara put them in contact for a project. Since then, however, Ian was part of a committee that turned Hannah down for a prestigious research assignment, one which she has managed to carry out anyway, only to find herself stranded in an Arctic blizzard. Now Ian is on his way to rescue Hannah, with an explanation of why he had safety concerns about the project all along. This was probably my favourite of the three novellas, although the Epilogue wasn’t great (I definitely wasn’t a fan of the Bonus Chapter that followed, or the way in which the three male protagonists all became best friends too – that just felt a little forced and/or unnecessary).
Overall, I felt that the three novellas could have done with more fleshing out to give us more science and something of the male protagonists’ sides of the stories. I understand they all started life as fanfic, so maybe they worked better when starring characters who were already a known quantity to their target readers. I’d maybe like to see what the author could do with a full-length totally original novel, but won’t be delving into anything else of hers in this format.
Grade: D
Summary:
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a collection of steamy, STEMinist novellas featuring a trio of engineers and their loves in loathing—with a special bonus chapter!
Under One Roof
An environmental engineer discovers that scientists should never cohabitate when she finds herself stuck with the roommate from hell—a detestable big-oil lawyer who won’t leave the thermostat alone.Stuck with You
A civil engineer and her nemesis take their rivalry—and love—to the next level when they get stuck in a New York elevator.Below Zero
A NASA aerospace engineer’s frozen heart melts as she lies injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station and the only person willing to undertake the dangerous rescue mission is her longtime rival.
Read an excerpt.
