Anna Ellis is a cosmetic chemist. Raised by her scientist grandparents after the death of her parents, she has dedicated her career to her late mother, who loved playing with makeup. Anna is convinced that her ideas could revolutionize the cosmetics industry, if only her senior colleagues would recognize her work. Her professional troubles are complicated by the fact that she has been pining over her handsome boss, Craig Kimball. When he seems to hint that the attraction might be mutual but the company's non-fraternization policy prohibits them from dating, Anna does something totally rash. She quits her job outright.

"THE CHEMISTRY OF LOVE is full of funny moments --- the interactions between Anna's grandparents and their many birds (all of whom are named after pop culture icons) are especially hilarious --- that will have readers cringing and laughing out loud in turns."

Newly unemployed, Anna puts on her only dress (a Lord of the Rings cosplay outfit) to attend the company party and declare her love for Craig --- only to discover that he is using the party as an opportunity to announce his engagement to another woman. Bereft, Anna retreats to the bathroom to cry but accidentally wanders into the men's room. The man who offers her a shoulder to cry on is none other than Marco, the CEO of her (former) company…and Craig's half-brother.

Marco hatches a plan. Craig has always been jealous of anything Marco has, so the best way to attract Craig's interest is for Marco to pretend to date Anna. What's in it for Marco? He is convinced that Craig's potential marriage to the daughter of a rival cosmetics company CEO spells bad news for his company. It's just good business sense to break it up.

Over D&D nights and movie dates, Marco and Anna perfect their fake-dating cover story. The only problem? Anna just might be discovering that she has more in common with Marco (who's even more handsome than Craig) than she ever would with his brother. Can she confess her feelings for him? Or will her newly developed mood ring-style lipstick reveal her emotions for her?

THE CHEMISTRY OF LOVE is full of funny moments --- the interactions between Anna's grandparents and their many birds (all of whom are named after pop culture icons) are especially hilarious --- that will have readers cringing and laughing out loud in turns. At times, Sariah Wilson pushes the absurdity of the situations just a bit too far, with some over-the-top scenes stretching credulity. The combination of science and romance --- with a healthy dose of nerd culture --- will nevertheless appeal to fans of Ali Hazelwood's STEMinist romances and hopefully spark further happily-ever-afters for fictional women of science.