Eva Acharya

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.

Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And that same Jack who now sits on the hiring committee at MIT, right between Elsie and her dream job.

Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?

Published in 2023 by Berkley Romance (an imprint of Berkley a division of PRH USA)

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Disclaimer: This post contains nothing but spoilers. If you are someone who hates spoilers, do not read ahead. Go read the books or watch the movies first. Keep in mind that this breakdown of the story is simply one perspective (mine) and may differ from others. I am simply one author trying to learn from experts in the industry. You might not agree with my interpretation of the story, and that’s okay, too. But don’t argue with me about it. I’m just as entitled to my opinion and understanding as you are to yours. However, I hope you will take away something valuable in my breakdown of the stories I study. The following is NOT a review of the books/movies, but I may discuss elements I liked and elements that didn’t work for me.

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CHAPTERS	Save-The-Cat Beats/Genre Conventions
Prologue: Elsie Hannaway (Main character: theoretical physicist), is in a men’s bathroom stall with Jack Smith (Love interest: experimental physicist), brother of the guy she’s pretend-girlfriending for as a side gig to adjucting. They are crammed together, and Jack’s helping hide her from two colleagues of his. She embarrassed because she knows asinine choices have led her here… trapped in a men’s bathroom cubicle with an enemy!	A-PLOT Off to the races with the meet-cute, a purview of what’s coming.  It establishes the two lovable leads, and the following: – the romcom tone,  – MC voice, perspective, and the status-quo that’s about to change, – main tropes/themes (enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance),  – situates the readers in an action scene that already has us wondering what asinine ‘decisions’ led her here.
Chapter 1:  Establishes Elsie as an adjunct professor at 3 different universities. She wants and needs tenure so she carry on with her research and be able to afford healthcare (she’s diabetic and requires insulin). Because adjunting pays low, she moonlights as a girlfriend-for-hire via a fake-dating company.  She has a date with her favourite client Greg. She’s pretending to be his children’s librarian girlfriend in front of his family to secure his inheritance.  At Greg’s grandma’s place, she meets his older brother, Jack Smith. This isn’t their first meeting, Elsie believes Jack doesn’t like her.  Later, Elsie blood sugar levels drop (malfunctioning insulin pump) and she almost faints, just in time for  Jack to swoop in and save her. Grandma Smith is clever and sees something neither of them do, and makes a comment that Jack should get her to sign a prenup.	This chapter is choco-block full of interesting tidbits and sets up the status-quo before the inciting incident upheaves that balance.  It also:  – sets up Elsie’s struggle, both to find a stronger footing career-wise, as well as her desperate need to get affordable healthcare (stakes! – Elsie can die if she can’t get her insulin, which is a bummer if she can’t afford it.) – sets up Elsie has a dysfunctional family, lives with her BFF, and they can barely afford rents, thus both women moonlight as fake-girlfriends for hire.  – showcases her ability to fluidly adapt to situations and people when she’s around the client’s family. – establishes that the LI is from a rich family (rich vs poor trope). – establishes the enemies-to-lovers, and the misunderstanding/miscommunication trope the entire story hinges on. – setups up a saviour moment for the LI to swoop in and be a hero, plus plants a curiosity seed that will later pay up (he’s obviously going to be wondering why she almost fainted).  – grandma’s comment regarding prenup foreshadows their relationship.
Chapter 2:  Elsie’s apartment. She’s prepping for a 3 day interview for a tenure position in MIT, and she’s one of 2 candidates being considered.  She’s nervous and wants to make a good impression at the pre-interview dinner tonight, and her BFF agrees to help her get ready. BFF dresses her up and Elsie cannot say no so she goes with it, even though she thinks she’s overdressed.	This chapter helps show her home life with BFF (1 sidekick), and also sets up Elsie’s core personality which will eventually lead her into sticky situations: she cannot say no to anyone! Humour is also present in this chapter. It’s a romcom, after all. As Elsie gets to the dinner, she thinks: “Then I step into the restaurant, newborn calf wobbly on my high heels.” And I might have laughed out loud at the analogy. Her inner voice is very critical of herself, and we learn that she is a people pleaser.
Chapter 3:  At the restaurant, pre-interview dinner. Monica, the ally at MIT who really wants to hire Elsie, warns her that she may not get the job but she hopes she will. Jonathan Smith-Turner, the head of one experimental physics, and the person who will be the boss, is backing the other candidate, who is also an experimental physicist, unlike Elsie.  Elsie hates him already. She doesn’t know Smith-Turner personally, but knows he’s the one who destroyed her mentor’s career and blemished her entire theoretical physics field with his hoax article he wrote/published when he was just 17.  Elsie resolves to do all she can to get this job away from his candidate – as a big f-you!  Yet, when Elsie meets Johnathan Turner-Smith she is shocked to her core. Jonathan is no other than Jack, her fake-boyfriend client’s brother.  Jack thinks she’s lying – about being a physicist.  They both regard each other wearily and Elsie is worried, for Greg’s secret rather than being found out by Jack (it leads to the scene from the prologue).  She excuses herself for the bathroom. Jack follows, and leads to the opening scene in the prologue, where they overhear two of his colleagues dismiss Elsie. Elsie can’t read Jack as well as she can read other people and doesn’t know if he agrees or disagrees with those men.	By having Monica, Elsie’s champion at MIT, tell her that she has stiff competition, it shows us another side of Elsie, her competitive side.  When Elsie meets Jack, Hazelwood shows us her surprise. She thought Jack was an old man, instead, he’s this handsome, genius physicist. This chapter also does the job of setting up why Elsie hates Johnathan/Jack. It’s personal (Jack is the enemy!). She’s a theoretical physicist who has struggled to be taken seriously because he basically destroyed their entire field by writing a hoax article years ago.  By telling us Jack wrote that article when he was in his teens, we are also basically being told that Jack is a genius! The office politics that is set up in this chapter is the inciting incident. Elsie is desperate for the job, she has stiff competitions, and she has internal motivation to land the gig because she hates Jack!  Elsie’s drive is set up: She wants the job for two reasons. 1) so she has job security and can afford insulin, and 2) so she can get revenge on Jack on behalf of all theoretical physicists by nabbing the job.
Chapter 4:  Elsie is angry and worried that Jack will now sabotage her chances of getting the job. CeCe, her BF, tells her Jack can’t do that without causing HR issues. Elsie calms down and stalks her competition, George (short for Georgina, but Elsie doesn’t know it yet and believes George is a male). Elsie is determined to fight for the job and hopes by showing how good she is at her job in the upcoming interviews, she will secure the position.	This chapter, we learn that Elsie can be very motivated if she wants to be. And though she hates Jack, she still wants the job as it’s security.  By staking out her competition, she hopes to find a leg up and get the job.  By now, the unique situation that drives the story or the story-plot engine is set up:  Elsie wants and needs a job, even if it means working under the enemy, because what sweet revenge it will be! But given her involvement with Jack’s brother, we’re not sure how the situation will resolve.
Chapter 5:  Elsie meets up with her mentor, we will call him Dr L, for their weekly catch up. He’s opposed to her working for Jack Turner-Smith, his nemesis, but gives her the permission to go get the job as revenge for him.	B-PLOT Enter the mentor character, (or in this case, sidekick number 2, who also acts as the story’s antagonist on top of the MC already playing the part herself).  Elsie’s mentor is an older theoretical physicist who’s taken her under his wing (Elsie’s belief). He is the one who suffered the most from Turner-Smith’s hoax article.  Elsie places a lot of importance on her mentor and seeks his permission for things in her career – kind of like a displaced father figure.  Here too, we see her tell him about this possible job she’s going for and it’s working for the enemy. She seeks his permission, which he initially doesn’t give, but when she spins it as ‘why, this will be perfect revenge, your own mentee getting the job!’  I don’t know if other people picked up on it, but I certainly picked up odd vibes from Dr L and knew that her listening to him would somehow bite her later.  The B-plot is there to complicate the A-plot further it seems.
Chapter 6:  Day 1 interview at MIT. Elsie has a demo lesson with Jack’s experimental physics class first off. All students, mostly male, are dismissive of her field, theoretical. She holds her own, however, and wishes she could read Jack’s reaction. Surprisingly, he’s the only one she struggles to read so she has no idea what he wants, aka, how she should be around him.  After interviewing other faculty members, her last interview for the day is with another scientist who is  replaced by Jack at the last minute, much to her chagrin. The dept head couldn’t give her the facility tour, so Jack volunteered.	After the meet cute situation, this is the first time we have the two lead characters in the same space again. Elsie wonders what Jack thinks of her lesson/her throughout her demo and wishes he wasn’t there, or thinks the reason the class dismisses her and her field has everything to do with how Jack sees theoretical physicists – as a joke.  Despite it or in spite of it, she handles the critical class well, and goes about her day until she is told the day will end with her having an interview/meetup with none other than Jack. She is weary. She hates it. But may as well get it done with.
Chapter 7:  Jack shows her around.  They talk through the tour.  Jack admits he’s seen her switch personalities so easily, and voices concern for his brother. ‘Does he know you do this?’ implying that Elsie is deceitful and that his brother has no idea who she is. They end up in what could be her office. Elsie hates him all this time. He thinks she makes a lot of assumptions. While in the office, she has a glycemic attack and almost faints again. Jack gets her sugary drink, asks if Greg knows her condition. He doesn’t. Jack is uncomfortable that Elsie lies so easily. He warns that he will tell Greg and expresses worry whether she will be fine without Greg and this job. He also lets her know what a waste it is that she keeps pretending to be someone she’s not.	They talk fairly openly, establishing how honesty works between them, that Jack can tell when she’s lying etc, and forces her to face the truth or speak it. This chapter is basically establishing the kind of relationship these two will have, one where Jack’s BS detector detects when Elsie isn’t being genuine, and forces her to come into her own/stand her own ground/discover herself etc. This chapter also reveals to Jack that Elsie had a health issue she hasn’t shared with Greg. But it also establishes that he’s observant and caring, despite how she may feel about him.  By having Jack give her an ultimatum–tell Greg or else–adds another stake and drives one of Elsie’s personality traits deeper. She can’t say no and she can’t betray Greg’s trust in her.  But, the end of the chapter gives us the first moment where Elsie is forced to look internally once, when Jack says it’s a pity she keeps pretending to be someone she’s not. Again, driving home Elsie’s character arc. We know that by the end of the story, Elsie will possibly stop pretending to be someone else.
Chapter 8:  Day 2 of interviews. Dinner party at Monica, Elsie’s champion at MIT, who really hopes Elsie gets the job. The whole faculty is there.  There’s still friction between Elsie and Jack. It’s made worse when Elsie realises Monica’s son was someone who once hired her for a fake-date years ago.  She hopes he doesn’t recognise her… but…	Elsie is feeling uncertain about how to act around Jack since the department tour. He’s still cold. She tries to put herself at ease, getting along with other members when her fake-dating life catches up with her – she’s mortified. She doesn’t want Monica’s son to reveal her double life and prays that he doesn’t remember her. He was the worst client she ever had! This chapter creates the tension we know will resolve, but Hazelwood leaves us on a cliff-hanger and propels us to read the next chapter.
Chapter 9:  He does. He laughs when Jack introduces her as a scientist, and basically calls her the worst ‘hooker’ ever. When Elsie tries to tell him that’s not true, the guy ignores her, and invades her personal space. Jack springs to her rescue and threatens the guy to keep quiet about it all, especially to his mother. Elsie is surprised.	Where we find out that Elsie is right to worry. Monica’s son does recognise her and in fact, he basically insults her in front of Jack and anyone else around by dismissing her as a physicist–the one thing she’s worked her but to earn–and instead, demeans her as a hooker who can’t put out.  Elsie is mortified. Shocked. Feeling attacked. Wishing she were anywhere else.  Jack again swoops in for the rescue as LI in romcoms often do! This is the point where things are now becoming a little more complicated for Elsie. This isn’t the first time Jack’s come to her rescue, and she doesn’t know what to make of it. She was under the impression he didn’t like her.
Chapter 10:  Next day, Elsie worries Jack has misunderstood the whole thing again and wants to explain to Jack what just happened. She’s not a hooker, but works for this company as a date for hire. Cece tells her she owes him nothing, but she should warn Greg that his brother may ask questions as soon as he comes back from some spa thing.  But it’s not fine. Greg is in a dental hospital and they contact her to collect him. It’s late. She doesn’t know where he lives, but she agrees to come anyway, despite not having a car.	Elsie is worried that Jack thinks she is a hooker! What a terrible misunderstanding–one she wishes to clear up, because she wants to be taken seriously as a physicist.  Here’ another sub-plot tries to amp up the stakes, though they are not directly related to the job, Greg angle, and especially the fact that Jack thinks she’s deceiving Greg may jeopardise her chances of getting the job. She’s been trying to reach Greg for a while to let him know Jack’s found the truth out, accidentally.  But by the time she finally reaches him, she needs to act as his girlfriend again. It propels her to get back into the role she’s been trying to shed since Jack learned the truth.
Chapter 11:  At the hospital, Greg is off his face. Elsie discovers she’s not the only one the nurses called. Jack turns up. She’s about to leave, but Greg insists, so she goes along with Jack to drop Greg off home. Greg spills the beans, that they are fake-dating and Elsie isn’t his GF.  Later at Greg’s, Jack admits to Elsie he likes her when she basically implies he’s hated her from the beginning.	At the hospital, Elsie’s dilemma is genuine. She’s there to get Greg because she couldn’t say ‘no’ to the nurse, but now she doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t really know where Greg lives. Again, in swoops Jack to the rescue… or both of their rescue. He’s there to take his brother home.  Here’s where the plot felt a little weak for me… There was no reason – for me anyway — that Elsie would go with Greg and Jack to drop Greg at his home. With Greg so amped up with drugs, one would expect him to spill his guts immediately, or if he insists she come with them, it would have been more to ‘drop her home’ like civilised men, that late at night. Instead, the plot has Elsie get in the car with both brothers, and Jack taking her to Greg’s house. Anyway, this chapter was basically a vehicle to clear the air between Jack, Elsie and Greg – that she’s not Greg’s GF, and also for Jack to confess (rather boldly) that he likes her. It primes the story-plot so that Jack can pursue Elsie without feeling guilty.  What really surprised me was how open Jack was at the end of this chapter, and confessing that he likes her. A total surprise to Elsie who’s been thinking all this time that he hated her (misunderstanding #1 resolved), but also a surprise for us. Hazelwood did a beautiful job leading us to believe that Jack did in fact not like her. This chapter paints Jack in a new light, forcing Elsie to change her POV.  Here, the sidekick character is monumental in setting up a situation where the main character is forced into another situation that may aid in her gaining her internal goal (one, even she doesn’t acknowledge).
Chapter 12:  Elsie spends a week thinking about Jack and hoping she still lands a job despite his preference for the other candidate, George. To distract her, Cece takes her out for a (boring) movie and on their way out, bumps into Jack with a woman. Elsie discovers this woman is George (short for Georgina) and is the candidate who lets it slip that she’s got the job. Devastated, Elsie runs away (literally).	This chapter does two things. One, drives home how much she wants the job, but also tells us that she’s also attracted to Jack even though she continues to voice that she dislikes him (because of what he’s done – with his old article).  Secondly, it is a point of no return. Elsie finds out that the job is not hers. But what devastates her more than that is the fact that the other candidate is a gorgeous woman she sees out with Jack.  Subconsciously, Elsie realises she’s lost two things tonight. The job, and the man she wanted (but won’t admit).
Chapter 13:  Jack chases her. Elsie feels like an utter failure. Jack says she wasn’t supposed to find out this way, that there was no way anyone other than George was getting the job. He’s sorry. Elsie basically assumes George got the job because she’s sleeping with Jack. Jack says George is married to a woman and they are good mates, but George is better qualified.  It’s getting cold. Elsie is about to leave, but Jack insists she come to his, to get warm. For some reason Elsie goes. (I was not convinced she needed to and it wasn’t very well established why she felt compelled to follow Jack either, given the situation.)	So far, we know that Jack knows Elsie is not with his brother, and that Elsie’s side job is fake dating, but it hasn’t been established that Jack is ‘available’. Yes, he confessed he liked her in the previous chapter, but here, Hazelwood drives the point home. When Elsie assumes that George got the job because she’s obviously sleeping with the boss, aka, Jack, she’s giving Jack the opportunity to set the record straight.  Now, both parties are aware that they are available, romantically.  And since Jack’s character is bold as has been established, he takes this moment to invite her to his home, which is conveniently close by. I found it odd that the other two friends (George and Cece did not follow these two).
Chapter 14:  His house is nice. He plays a good host, makes her hot choc, and knows all about calorie counting for her insulin bolus. She lets Cece know she’s fine. Jack explains how George was always going to get the job and that he didn’t vote for her like Elsie thinks he did.  Elsie stays the night, in his room, while he sleeps on the couch. Discovers he keeps a photo of them from Chapter one at Grandma’s. Early in the morning, she can’t sleep. Discovers Jack’s not asleep. She’s still heartbroken. Jack comforts and the two end up falling asleep cuddling on the couch.	By this chapter, we are well into the area of most romcoms where the characters are going to get together. It’s a matter of time. And the time is now. Jack’s charming, caring, and explains that he has her back, even if George is his friend, earning himself cookie points. Especially when he seems to be keen on her health issue and aware of how to look after her – shows that he cares.  Somehow, Elsie feels okay to stay the night at his. Finds out he’s kept a memento of her in his nightstand, which works to establish that whatever he’s said so far about his feelings for her is genuine.  She obviously can’t sleep. Neither can he. But she’s still upset about the job, and her prospects of a future where she can afford health care, and he does what a good hero should. Comforts her, and we all know where that kind of comfort leads. To the next chapter.  Now, we are heading into the territory of ‘the montage’ – a string of scenes/sequences/chapters that establishes the flourishing love story and makes us root for these character’s happily ever after. Notice how we are also more than halfway through the story.
Chapter 15:  Elsie wakes up in Jack’s arms and feels something hard. She slips out. When she gets back, Jack’s awake and on his phone in the kitchen. He offers her a job. He has funding and needs her research. Elsie declines. Partly because he’s still her mentor’s enemy. Then Jack asks her out and she still declines because she can’t see why he’s interested in her.	From this chapter on, we are in the montage area, but this chapter also maintains the seed that will later be the cause of why the relationship – as do all relationships in romances and romcoms – hits a bump in the road that derails it.  Elsie is still holding onto the morsel of her initial misunderstanding of who or what motivates Jack, and she’s letting a previous disbelief keep her from accepting a perfectly good job offer or Jack’s interest in her.  By this time, we know she likes him too, so why decline his ‘hey, go out with me then,’ offer? Well, if that happened, then we know the rest of the story will fizzle and lose steam.  This chapter and the next chapter also are squarely in the ‘New relationship blooms, and almost immediately is jeopardised’ territory.  We know they’ll get together, this is just an initial dance, but Elsie’s resistance to even question her mentor’s truth means she’s immediately jeopardising the new relationship she’s about to enter.
Chapter 16:  Elsie meets mentor again for catchup. She muses if she should do a postdoc and continue her research rather than teach. He basically tells her no, makes her feel like she’s ungrateful for the jobs he ‘found’ her. She feels guilty.  Later, gets a formal rejection from MIT. Goes back to teaching. Greg wants to meet her suddenly.  Cece says Elsie can do her research soon and not fake-date because she’s got a rich client now and can pay their rent.  Jack asks for a dinner date the following night.	(Sidebar, I despised Elsie’s mentor from the word go, and so I’m confused – how come it takes Elsie so long to figure out he’s a douche bag? Yet us readers know this from the start – given how the whole story is written from her perspective. But I digress…) Alas, that jeopardy has to be solidified now so that it can rear its head later in the climax when the lovers part ways (temporarily – after all, all romances and romcoms have a HEA, as does this.) In this chapter, Hazelwood helps establish that Elsie is someone who attaches her self worth to external validation. Here, she seeks her mentor’s advice on whether she should do something that will benefit her in the long run, but listens to his ill-advice regardless. So she relegates herself to being grateful that she has a mentor who’s gotten her a job that she doesn’t enjoy and goes on with her mediocre life.  The side character, the wing-woman, Cece is the one to come to her rescue and give her some hope. If her sugar daddy takes care of the rent, Elsie can drop the teaching job and continue her research, but we all know that that is not a secure plan. So what’s next, Elsie?
Chapter 17:  Jack takes her to a house party where people think they are a couple. Elsie meets George who asks to take her out to lunch.  Jack later takes her back to the restaurant they met at the start, and says he won’t have sex with her.	A date with the hero of course. Remember, we are still heading into that montage sequence. This chapter gives Elsie a taste of what it’s like to be with Jack when people mistake them for a couple, and establishes that though he’d very much like to rush things, he respects her enough to take things slow.  Consent is a thing, people, and Jack’s character is a gentleman about it. (That’s not to say, spicy time isn’t incoming – spoiler alert! Though, I guess this whole breakdown is a spoiler alert).
Chapter 18:  Lunch with Greg goes well. He wants to remain friends. Is glad Jack knows the truth now and seems keen on the Jack-Elsie duo.  The lunch with George goes well too. She offers Elsie a postdoc job with her lab, not in cahoots with Jack.  Elsie declines until George says it’s a 3-year position with enough salary that she can afford insulin and comes with a health plan, and that she will get to lead her own research. No teaching involved.  George also tells Elsie she is surprised Elsie is adjucting. She should be researching and building a CV. But Elsie wants to run the idea by her mentor. George asks if Jack knows who her mentor is, and tells her that she doesn’t need mentor’s permission. It’s her future.  George will wait 2 weeks for an answer, 3 tops.	Plot C, aka, Greg, comes in and gives his blessing, though in my opinion, it wasn’t entirely necessary. They’ve already cleared the air and Hazelwood could have just relegated this whole scene to a line if she had wanted to. Eitherway, Greg gives his blessing! Go forth, Elsie!  Elsie also catches up with George, the job-stealing woman she accused of sleeping her way into tenure. (And now, typing this, I realise how similar Greg/George is to type, not to mention that I’m still trying to wrap my head around a woman named George.) And again, Elsie is offered a perfectly reasonable job she should take (but doesn’t because of her warped sense of loyalty to a mentor who doesn’t have her best interest at heart.)  At this point, I could see her taking this job in the end, it was fairly predictable so a sense of impatience had snuck in. I simply wanted to reach in and shake Elsie to her senses. Now, note that we are still in that montage phase, though Hazelwood had interwoven the blooming-relationship-is-jeaopardised-almost-immediately seamlessly. The cause? No one else but Elsie herself, who again thinks she needs to seek her mentor’s advice. But when George learns who her mentor is, as a form of warning, she asks Elsie if Jack knows who it is as well.  George advises that Elsie doesn’t need anyone’s permission but gives her a small grace period. Now we know things are about to come to a head.
Chapter 19:  Date night. Cece is semi-surprised that Elsie is dating her archnemesis. Home drama – Elsie’s brothers are assholes, her mum’s a bigger asshole. She is upset so instead of taking her out, Jack takes her home. Elsie says she owes her family everything because of all the trouble her diabetes has given them. He tells her it’s not her fault.  They watch her fav movie (Twilight) and one thing leads to another and they kiss and make out. He still refuses to have sex, but he makes her come. Elsie reveals how she fell into fake-dating (ex was an asshole too!) and how she doesn’t know what she likes in bed.	Elsie finally goes on that long-overdue date with Jack. Date is foiled by her selfish family and their drama. She confesses that she feels obligated to help her family who seem to all but think about themselves and never her.  This is the perfect excuse for Jack to take her home to his and give her a more intimate date night. They watch her favourite movie (and I couldn’t get over the fact that Elsie actually took those films seriously. LOL). One thing leads to another and they have an intimate moment, though not sex yet.  Perfect chapter to establish that Elsie may be somewhat naive in bed and what she likes, given her propensity to always please others over her own desires. This we know will be something Jack addresses! (So look out, those spicy chapters are coming.)
Chapter 20:  Elsie is distracted by what she shared with Jack. He’s all she can think about for days. She still hasn’t talked to mentor about George’s job offer. Greg invites the two of them for dinner, and it’s easy. Elsie decides tonight is the night she has sex with Jack – but she’s too sleepy and Jack lets her sleep.	Elsie seems to be ignoring her job offers that will let her have everything: her research and secure healthcare. Her motivation for this delay wasn’t spelled out so I assume she knows something is wrong deep down with and doesn’t want to address it yet. Eitherway, Elsie is coming into her own in a way, becoming bolder – evidence of character growth since having met the bold and daring and open and honest Jack.  With only 5 chapters to go, at this point I was beginning to wonder how the next three plot devices of romcoms/romances (the lightbulb moment, grand gesture, happy ending) were going to go.
Chapter 21:  They have sex. It’s the first time Elsie actually enjoys it. She also sees his tatts – finally.	Then we have this moment that solidifies the bond the two characters share. They get intimate. Definitely works to drive home the fact that things are about to blow up in Elsie’s face. The jeopardy she’s been playing is about to clash headlong with the new relationship she’s forging.  This chapter is the core of the montage sequence, as well as the next one, establishing their new blossoming relationship.
Chapter 22:  Elsie stayed the night. She’s really happy. Jack wants to learn everything about her, including how to change her insulin pod.  They talk about his mother – she was a theorist too. That she was frozen out of her own research by her partner before he was born, essentially destroying her career. The topic of research was the same as Elsie’s mentor’s.	As Elsie begins to trust Jack she opens up more to receiving from him. A key piece of the plot comes into play here. Elsie learns about Jack’s mother, and how she was betrayed by her research partner, Elsie’s mentor. Now, we have a moment from which Elsie cannot return. She can no longer ignore the fact that her mentor is of questionable standing and that Jack might not have ever been the villain he was painted out to be. We are nearing the climax!
Chapter 23:  Mentor is still out of town. Elsie still wants to talk to him about the job offer. In the meantime, she goes to another game night at George’s and overhears Jack with another jealous ex who is disgusted that Jack is seeing a theorist when he hates theorists.  Later, at her house, Elsie brings this up when he asks her to move in. They end up fighting. She learns that her mentor was Jack’s mum’s research partner, and that article he wrote was specially targeting him.  Elsie can’t believe him or that he lied. She owes her mentor everything, her career. Jack is wrong. She tells him to leave.  Their relationship is rocky now.	In chapter 23, we see how Elsie feels about Jack. That she’s still not sure he’s genuine in his regard to her. Why? Because she still holds onto the misinformation she hasn’t addressed yet, the information her mentor drilled into her since the day he took her under his wing.  So naturally, this leads them to fight. Elsie, not used to confrontation, actually brings up the fact that she’s a theorist and calls into question: Why are you with me, you hate theorists? In this fight, Jack finally tells Elsie his mum was a theorist, and wronged by none other than Elsie’s own mentor.  So loyal to the man, Elsie actually thinks Jack’s the one lying. The jeopardy has come to head. Their relationship is now done. She can’t be with someone who lies. So she tells him to leave.  At this point, I was very interested in knowing how Hazelwood would handle the lightbulb moment, the grand gesture, and the HEA in just two chapters that were left.
Chapter 24:  For a week, Elsie ignores Jack’s calls and messages. But she can’t stop thinking about him. She finally meets Dr L, her mentor. Tells him about the job offer, and is surprised when he virtually tells her no, like she’s a child. That she can’t work for the enemy. Instead, he’ll look at other offers that came for her. This is the first Elsie is hearing that other offers had come for her. She can’t believe he manipulated her into believing no one wanted her. Jack was right. Elsie is angry. She stands up for herself for once and tells him to finally call her by her actual name and not Elise.	The relationship is soured all because of that initial belief Elsie started the story out with, that her mentor has her best interest at heart. That he’s someone who will help her out.  How wrong she is.  When she finally meets her mentor, we finally begin to look at the lightbulb moment that’s coming.  When Elsie finally realises that the man she’s basically allowed to steer her career has done her wrong (much like what he did with Jack’s mother), Elsie finally does what we have wanted her to do from the beginning (or at least what I have wanted her to do from the beginning, say adios to that waste of a human being).  Elsie has realised Jack was right all along – the beginning of the lightbulb moment. But Elsie’s character has one flaw that has always just held her back from the beginning, the reason why she took so long to recognise her mentor for what he was, manipulative. And that flaw is her stubbornness. She’s too stubborn for her own good.
Chapter 25:  Elsie’s made a formal complaint about mentor, and it’s being taken into consideration and an investigation has started.  She meets with George and takes the job.  She is still angry at Jack and refuses to contact him though.  Cece and her have an honest chat for once.	So while she made head aways on improving her professional life, by shedding the dead-weight mentor and taking the offer George had given her, she’s still nowhere near making the grand gesture to win the love of her life back. She still hasn’t made an effort to make amends with Jack, though she can’t stop thinking about him.  Bring on the sidekick character who will offer enlightenment!
Chapter 25:  Cece makes Elsie realise her new found honesty and confidence has everything to do with Jack. But Elsie is still mad.  Then Cece asks if she knows about the new article? What new article? Jack wrote an open letter to all theorists apologising for his hoax article that impacted the field. It’s done for Elsie’s benefit. But when she maintains that things between her and Jack are complicated, Cece asks the question: “What do you want, Elsie?” – which makes her realise she wants Jack.  Elsie goes to find Jack at his work, thinks she’s missed him, runs into him with his colleagues around, but tells him she’s taken George’s job offer.  Jack tells her he’s happy and that he’s ready to commit to her 100% but Elsie isn’t there yet. He says he’ll wait as long as it takes for her to get there. They share a public kiss.	Cece, her flatmate/BF not only helps Elsie realise Jack’s been a positive force in her life but also, someone who was wronged too.  She’s also the person who guides our MC into the right path, by showing her the peace offering, the olive branch that Jack has extended (all because Elsie refuses to answer his call or text back).  Elsie realises (after reading a new article by Jack) that she was too harsh in her judgment, but it really isn’t till she’s asked what she wants that finally propels her towards the grand gesture. That moment the friend asks that question and she realises she wants Jack is the lightbulb moment.  It is followed quickly by her determined to find him (after weeks of ignoring him). That my friends, is her grand gesture moment. She’s swallowed her pride and done away with her misunderstanding. It is time now to go get her man.  When she meets him however, it isn’t a huge grand gesture like they do in movies, but a more subdued one. Elsie says she’s ready to give him a try but not ready to commit even if he is. The best she can do is declare her interest in him as her man by publicly kissing him in front of his peers (and her future peers).
Epilogue: 8 months later. Elsie has succeeded in writing a paper about her research with George. She’s also ready to move in with Jack. Cece and her have a last ‘this is it for us’ moment, and then Elsie goes to Jack’s office to give him his birthday gift.  The gift is a letter that tells him she’s ready now, she’s ‘there with him’.  The End.	Now comes the HEA.  Phew. Can’t believe Hazelwood did the last three points of a romcom within mere two chapters. We are eight months into the future. Elsie is happy and successful in her professional life. Woohoo. After nearly tanking her career by following her mentor’s ill-meaning advice, it’s great to see her actually achieving the things she’s only dreamt about for so long.  But what about her personal/emotional life?  Well, Elsie may not walk down the aisle yet with Jack, but she does the next best thing she can, she tells him she’s there with him, ready to commit for life. The promise of a happy ending has been delivered. And if that’s good enough for him, that’s good enough for us.  What do you think?

As you can see from the breakdown, Hazelwood spends the bulk of the story, from Chapter 6 all the way to Chapter 23 (out of 25 chapters) on the relationship blossoming and the jeopardy hanging over it like a dark cloud before finally putting us out of our misery and letting Elsie move onto the lightbulb moment. There truly isn’t a formula to follow when we write. Sometimes you see examples of beatsheets saying this and that by this and that percentage of the book, but truly, if you tell the story and tell it well, you have some leeway with fattening up one section more than the other. 

One of the biggest lessons I took away from this story is that the HEA doesn’t always need to be a walk down the aisle, a marriage, a baby, a holiday, or something grand. It can be a subtle statement, a promise, like Elise Hannaway rocking up to Jack’s office all to say ‘I’m there with you’. 

So, that’s it for now. That was my breakdown of Love, Theoretically, chapter by chapter, to see how Ali Hazelwood did it. I hope you found it interesting and that you’ll join me for another book breakdown soon. Until then, may your words flow and your blocks disintegrate into nothing.

Also, if you’d like to recommend a book/movie/TV show for me to look at next, here’s a Google Form for just the thing: https://forms.gle/zEftt1B4KG5T92qC6

In the meantime, keep writing, keep reading, keep dreaming.

Eva