I’m always excited when I find a STEM romcom described as being similar to books by Ali Hazelwood. This contemporary romance has second chance and grumpy sunshine tropes with lots of humor but it also has a big miscommunication that kept me from loving the book.

When the book begins, Henry Fraser is an incredibly handsome engineering student working under Clara Clancy at a lab at Oxford where she is finishing her doctorate. She and her friends notice that women from all over the building drop by the lab to see Henry because he is so good looking. They jokingly call it The Hot Henry Effect. Clara thinks he is polite, thoughtful and very intelligent. (She is immune to his effect on women.) They share a friendship along with funny science jokes. He is very clumsy as he learns how to handle the cell cultures and Clara is kind and patient even when they have to clean up mistakes and start over with experiments. Henry has a crush on Clara but she is oblivious. When he goes back to MIT to finish his doctorate, Clara sends him a few emails but never heard back from him and they lost touch.

Fast forward seven years later and Clara is thirty two and working for a cardiovascular company called Pharmavoltis. The company is trying to land a new client who has designed a new heart valve system. She is surprised when Henry walks in and she finds out it’s Henry’s company, Fraser-Tech, that Pharmavoltis wants to collaborate with. Her boss asks her to be the contact person for the collaboration.

They catch up over coffee and share what’s been happening in their lives. Henry finished his PhD at MIT but he missed being in the UK (and Clara) so he moved back last year. He had been married for a short time but it didn’t work out. Clara is still single and would like to meet someone but hasn’t had success dating. Their friendship and comradery is just as good as before plus Henry helps Clara deflect unwanted attention from Dominic, a nasty guy in Marketing who wants to go out with Clara. In return Clara helps Henry avoid Marina, an aggressive flamboyant character from sales who wants Henry. Clara realizes she is no longer immune to the hot Henry effect as her friends call it and is starting to have feelings for Henry. As for Henry, we can tell by the way he looks out for Clara that he is in love with her but she doesn’t see it, even when her friends tell her he is into her.

Clara fears rejection ever since her father left when she was a child and she holds herself back from getting close to men. She has a hard time believing anyone could be interested in her long-term. Whenever Henry starts to share his feelings, Clara uses sarcasm and humor in response. This became really frustrating after a while. She thinks she’s emotionally stunted but doesn’t believe in therapy. I would have liked to know more about her backstory (and Henry’s too). This is a very slow burn and when they do finally get together (open door, mild spice) less than twenty four hours later, there is a misunderstanding that has Clara ready to bolt and I didn’t care for the unnecessary drama.

This was a quick, easy read (only 302 pages) and I especially liked the first half of the book when they were working together in the lab and laughing over nerdy science jokes. I could have done without the misunderstandings and had to wait too long for them to talk to each other about their feelings but the ending was sweet and satisfying. I recommend this to readers who would enjoy a cute STEM romance with humor.