THE TRUE LOVE EXPERIMENT
By Christina Lauren
One of my favorite reality shows of all time is MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT. I loved this show in its heyday. The idea of putting two people together for the show based on some flimsy ‘science’ and ‘compatibility,’ asking them to define their vision of married life as opposed to the ‘reality’ of it, the way you know the editing is being cut in order to make some people feel like the villain, and the horror on their friends and family’s faces when they tell them they’re getting married at first sight make for truly great television. And as a romance lover, there were tons of great stories to embrace—particularly the love stories that ended up working out beyond the show. Yes, it’s fun to have a dating competition show like THE BACHELOR that pits people against each other, but MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT was more fun because it relied so heavily on some of those romance tropes that make my favorite stories sparkle.
And I love a behind the scenes scripted reality romance, which is the central premise of Christina Lauren’s incredibly fun, bingeable THE TRUE LOVE EXPERIMENT, which is itself a spinoff of THE SOULMATE EQUATION. In this story, a secondary character from SOULMATE, Fizzy, gets her own love story when she’s asked by stoic, handsome Connor, a producer of a new reality show called The True Love Experiment, to be the bachelorette at the center of the dating show and date 8 suitors. Fizzy, who is a popular romance writer currently suffering writers block, asks that the 8 men embody different romance Hero types like Hot Nerd, Cinnamon Roll, and The One That Got Away, but she finds her walls coming down for the ultimate romance Hero, the Hot Single Dad behind the scenes, Connor.
Reading this book is seriously fun—it’s as much fun as watching any of those reality shows for the first time and realizing why people love them so much. Fizzy was a memorable and standout character from SOULMATE EQUATION, and she is an incredibly fun Heroine to be around here. She’s sex positive, outlandish, says what she thinks, has absolutely no filter, and isn’t afraid to push anyone’s buttons. There are times when she can be a bit much, but there’s also a vulnerability to her as Connor begins to realize how she wears so much of that big personality as an armor. And though she’s a successful romance writer, she’s never been truly in love herself. Connor is equally well layered, and I found him to be one of the better Heroes in contemporary romances. I liked that he is really steadfast, makes decisions based on logic and his driving love for his daughter, has a grounded, evolved friendship with his ex wife, and is genuinely trying to be a good guy and make the right decisions for all parties. He feels like an adult. He’s incredibly charming, and his dynamic with Fizzy sparks off the page. While I could have been happy with even more of the dynamics of the reality show itself (partly what I mean is that Fizzy and Connor spend a lot of time together before the reality show even starts and in some ways I could have enjoyed her getting to know Connor alongside the other show suitors so that it felt like there was more potential with any of her dates, who honestly feel like afterthoughts), I bought their attraction for each other as well as the things that were keeping them apart. Those life issues that provided obstacles felt real and challenging, and their Happily Ever After is well-earned.
This is also a great book for romance fans as it looks directly at the genre through Fizzy’s eyes. In the opening scene, she gives a commencement speech and talks about all of the things I love about romance too—the desire to uplift and feel good. There are many critics of romance that Fizzy encounters, both in the world and in her own personal family, that don’t take her job seriously, and the authors are able to voice some of those unevolved, and frankly small-minded, opinions. But through Connor’s eyes, they’re also able to uplift the genre, which is a great jumping off point for any debate on the subject of the seriousness of romance as a genre.
This book definitely has a certain level of spice to it, but I think Christina Lauren do a good job of balancing it with story and not letting the spice overwhelm Fizzy and Connor’s relationship. I liked these characters better than THE SOULMATE EQUATION (which I also enjoyed), and felt the book was on the same scale as THE PARADISE PROBLEM from earlier this year, another book that is just such a fun to spend time with. I liked Fizzy even more than Anna in that book, so this probably comes out as my favorite of Christina Lauren’s books—it’s a definite winner.
5 Stars
SYNOPSIS (from Amazon):
Sparks fly when a romance writer and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the ultimate Hollywood love story—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script—from the “divine” (Jodi Picoult) New York Times bestselling authors of The Soulmate Equation and The Unhoneymooners.
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 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.
“Full of big laughs, a few tears, and some seriously steamy scenes” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in the New York Times bestselling The Soulmate Equation.
