Review: The Unbalanced Equation

The Unbalanced Equation by H.L. Macfarlane
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 32%.

Four years ago Liz and Tom met at at a university cocktail evening at Glasgow University and just clicked, right up until Tom discovered that he had been assigned Liz as one of his Phd mentees. Tom has to switch very quickly from lust to absolute impartiality, which he takes waaaay too far and subjects her to microscopic scrutiny and criticising her for the most miniscule errors. No surprise that Liz is thrilled to get her Phd and leave Tom's lab to work in another, more congenial atmosphere.

Coincidence 1. One of Tom's students is left alone in the lab late one night (no, it's not that song) and manages to burn it down, in order to finish his current thesis Tom needs access to a lab and his BFF offers to let him share a desk with his newest scientist ... Liz.

Then Liz and Tom find they are both heading to the same restaurant for dinner because ... coincidence 2, their parents have been secretly dating for months but haven't told them because they know that Liz hates her Phd assessor. So they choose now to announce they are getting married. I mean seriously, does anyone know anyone (other than psychopaths) who glibly announces that they are getting married to someone they have been dating for quite some time, without having introduced them to their offspring? I get the 'we met a week ago and now we're getting married because life's too short' scenario but to be dating seriously and not even mention it to your child, when you are close? Ridiculous.

Then coincidence 3, Liz loses her apartment (I forget why) and has to vacate within a week, her father has already given up his home to move in with Tom's mother (who lives with Tom), so the only option is for Liz to move into Tom's palatial Glasgow mansion/townhouse (because he inherited a lot of money from something).

Nothing about this feels authentic, I can't put my finger on it but this doesn't 'feel' like it is set in Glasgow it feels more like it should be set in Seattle or San Francisco, it just doesn't have any Scottish vibe (sorry I can't explain it better). Then the sheer number of coincidences, I read that the two of them will be 'forced' to plan their parents' wedding (I mean seriously just tell them to eff off - if you don't have the time to organise your own wedding either pay a professional or don't bother, don't go imposing on people who already have full-time jobs to organise it for you) - it was just too much and felt fake. Finally, these are two educated scientists why do they talk and act like my eleven year old niece?

There could have been a good romance here but I'm grumpy and I've had enough, I gave up at 32%.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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