Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

The Main Character: Elsie Hannaway is a struggling theoretical physicist and adjunct professor who teaches thermodynamics and grades labs to chase a permanent faculty position. The Side Gig: To pay her bills, she works as a hired fake girlfriend through an app, using her people-pleasing skills to adapt to whatever persona her clients need. The Conflict: Her dual lives collide when her favorite client’s older brother turns out to be Jack Smith—an arrogant experimental physicist who controls the MIT physics department and previously ruined her mentor’s career.