Elementary Romantic Calculus
Grade : B+

Elementary Romantic Calculus is part of Susannah Nix’s Chemistry Lessons series (book six and the last of the series), all featuring women in STEM careers. As a professional chemist, I’m all for reading about heroines of this nature and although I hadn’t read any of the previous titles, this reads well as a standalone (and also serves to introduce characters from her other series, The King Family, about a family of ice cream makers). It mixes great laughs with more emotional moments and the blend makes for a very enjoyable contemporary romance read.

Mia Ballantine is heading for something new – a visiting lecturer position in the math department at Bowman University in rural Crowder, Texas. After getting her PhD she’d hoped that the next stop on her career path would be a post-doc position at a top tier university. But with the country in a recession and hiring freezes the norm, it’s a terrible time to be a math graduate. A one year contract with Bowman, even though it isn’t part of her original twenty year plan, will at least pay the bills and allow her to keep her job options open. When she’d broken the news of her new position to her boyfriend he'd promptly broken up with her, which hit her pretty hard. Along with uprooting her life to move to Crowder, it was just another blow to her carefully detailed plans. Plus, her dad, also a math graduate who’d made good by getting a Wall Street job, isn’t thrilled with her plans either. On the road to the University, she gets lost and ends up on a rural road with a herd of goats blocking her path, which isn’t the most auspicious start to her new life. But it does introduce her to a rather attractive, if not very talkative, goat farmer.

When Mia gets to her rental place, a garage apartment, her landlady, Birdie, is pleasant and welcoming and for Mia, it’s a bright spot in her day (plus the furnished apartment is much nicer than she’d hoped). And it turns out Birdie’s nephew, Josh, has a goat farm. And naturally, he’s the farmer she’d run into on her way into town. What an interesting and pleasant coincidence. Also, Mia soon discovers that Josh’s sister, Andie, is a part time lecturer in the forestry and agriculture department at the same University. With all these connections it’s not surprising that Mia finds herself spending more and more time in Josh’s company, although he isn’t keen on going to very public social places. To Mia’s surprise, she really enjoys her new job, and getting to know and like Josh brings with it a host of new problems. Because if she’s only going to be there for a year, is it worth pursuing a relationship that could bring them both heartache when she moves on?

The story is told from Mia’s point of view only, so we hear Josh’s side of the story from her perspective. It turns out that Josh experiences agoraphobia as a result of a revenge porn incident (it’s mentioned in the author’s note in the preface) which explains his reluctance to be out in public or in large groups of people, especially since everyone in town knows about it. Mia and Josh find plenty of time to be alone together, and get along really well, sharing some sexy scenes and in-depth conversations as their romance develops. While Mia is teaching, she also works on a theoretical math problem and Josh is fully supportive of her efforts and encourages her. I loved seeing Mia so passionate about her work and how she discovers over the course of the academic year how much she enjoys teaching students about math. She loves research, but she’s learning to love teaching almost as much. Josh and Mia have family and other issues that have to be addressed in order for them to reach their happy ending and the author does a great job of tying things up in a very satisfying conclusion. Nix deals with Josh’s mental issues in a thoughtful and empathetic manner, which I appreciated. I’m looking forward to catching up on the rest of the series!

Reviewed by Maria Rose
Grade : B+

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : January 15, 2024

Publication Date: 07/2021

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Maria Rose

I'm a biochemist and a married mother of two. Reading has been my hobby since grade school, and I've been a fan of the romance genre since I was a teenager. Sharing my love of good books by writing reviews is a recent passion of mine, but one which is richly rewarding.
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