The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren: Book Review

The True Love Experiment has a best-selling romance author on a dating reality show. I loved every word of it!

Acknowledgments:

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

From The Publisher:

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 Experimentbegins, 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.

My Thoughts:

I have read many books from this writing duo but The True Love Experiment is my favourite. This book is full of everything I look for in a romance novel – witty banter, magnetic attraction, personal growth and a well-executed trope. I rarely rate a romance novel five stars, but this book is just that special.

Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is a romance writer who’s had a lack of romance in her own life for quite some time. This has impacted her ability to write romance and she feels the pressure as deadlines loom.

Connor Prince creates nature documentaries but finds himself constantly looking for funding from his boss. He learns that the company is going in a different direction and his boss assigns him to produce the newest reality dating show.

Connor chooses Fizzy to be the next “bachelorette”. Fizzy is reluctant to accept but decides this could be a good career move and might just help her find inspiration for her next book. She tells Connor she will agree if he can find men who fit the eight character ARCs she wants to be represented.

Fizzy and Connor develop a friendship by getting to know each other prior to the start of filming the show. This relationship builds into something that neither of them has expected but that is completely forbidden. The intensity of their attraction during the filming of the show was palpable.

The characters are highly likeable, funny, and well-developed. I loved the reality dating show setting and the great execution of the close proximity trope. The dual point of view worked extremely well. Those readers who enjoyed The Soulmate Equation will appreciate revisiting the characters featured in that book.

I highly recommend this book to those readers who appreciate romance.

What I Liked:

• The reality dating show setting
• The choice of a female romance writer as the star of the show
• The execution of the close proximity trope

Some of the Other Books I’ve Reviewed from Christina Lauren:

Something Wilder

The Soulmate Equation

The Honey-Don’t List