The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren

Pages: 413
Method: Kindle
Rating: 4 out of 5

Many of the books that I have been reading recently have been authors that I haven’t read before, but this author I have read and thoroughly enjoyed many of their books, so I was excited to read this one. I particularly like this author because it is actually two friends that write the books together and combined their names to create their pen name. Something about the fact that there are two minds working on one story makes me feel like they are more well-thought out and well-written, but I digress.

This book was not necessarily the second in a series but it is a stand-a-lone with connections and repeating characters to another book called The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren. I read that book back in August of 2022 and I rated it 5 out of 5. Although I’m not sure I would feel as strongly about it now, I do remember thoroughly enjoying it. 

This book was enjoyable, and I always love seeing repeating characters, but I did have some qualms with it. My main issue, and I will put it bluntly, was that it was a bit too childish and sexual for me. The characters were in their 30s and they were responsible in their own right but rather than them feeling like they were children at heart, it just felt like they were somewhat immature and childish. The main character Fizzy, while I loved her bubbly personality, made everything sexual, and that’s not something I really enjoyed reading because it felt like everything was a joke and she wasn’t taking anything seriously. My other small issue was the real world references. It was set in the modern day, and while I am totally okay with that, when they use real celebrities names or real pop-culture references, it usually takes me out of the story. This is obviously just a personal preference and doesn’t affect the writing but I thought I would make note.

Now onto the things that I loved about this book. Fizzy being a romance author actually created some very insightful perspectives on romance that I really enjoyed. One of those was her take on romance in a vacuum, specifically in reality shows, and that being her reason why she wanted to approach the reality show in a different way. This is almost exactly why I have issues with reality shows myself, so I was glad to see that opinion reflected in a book. Another beautiful romance element that I loved was when a character’s face lights up when they see their loved one or the joy that is shared with someone you love. Fizzy took note of that often with the people in her life and she wrote that into her books, so her desire to have that in her own life was incredibly relatable. It’s simply an elite romance element that is always an indicator of deep love and care between characters and something you long for in your personal life.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t give too many details, but I liked that the conflict was two-sided. Usually, it happens that the love interest does something stupid, but in this book, Fizzy definitely messed up as well. And there was an added element of external circumstances, which I felt made their stubbornness and miscommunication less annoying. The resolution was beautiful, and I loved the ending, so overall, it was an enjoyable read, but ultimately not my favorite from Christina Lauren.