Title: Heart Smart
Author: Emma Lee Jayne
Series: Work For It #2, SmartyPants Romance
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2021

Max and Holly are an incredibly well fit and beautiful couple. And you can tell that they’re going to be so from the very beginning. Primarily because he is the typical grouchy male lead who doesn’t let anyone close. And although Holly isn’t all sunshine and roses, she certainly comes across as that in moments. The more you get to know each of them as Heart Smart unfolds, the more you realise that these initial views aren’t quite correct. But, they’re still a good indication of how well-fit and beautiful the couple of this romance are.

Both Holly and Max are neurodivergent, and although there are some liberties taken (Jayne herself states this at the end of the story), it still has a total sense of authenticity to it. I particularly loved the lack of understanding shown by others – in particular Holly’s ex-husband. And the ways in which other peoples’ inability to understand people who are different manages to scar the two leads. Even if we state that other peoples’ opinions don’t matter, they often do. And when you can’t conform to them, there are some very varied and not always healthy shields that people construct to prevent themselves from getting hurt again. Both Max and Holly might do this is slightly different ways throughout, but they do do them.

It took a long time for me to want to dive right back into tales of academia – I got pretty bitten by that realm when I was a part of it. But, there were also aspects of it that I absolutely adored. And Heart Smart manages to highlight many of them. The total dedication to one area of study, the fascination, the peace and quiet of the lab out of hours… all of those things that Max obviously relishes are things that I, myself, often miss. But, then there’s many of the hurdles that Holly faces – the expectations to conform to a certain type of “smarts”, the requirements of a very specific study pathway, even if it doesn’t work for you… I love how Jayne is able to talk about both these negative and positive aspects throughout her writing.

I absolutely loved reading this book and I am completely disappointed that it is over. Even though you know how this story is going to end (as you always do with a good romance), the journey and the bumps along the way are just stunning. It was a story that was beautiful and heartfelt, and made me think about all of the wonderful ways in which people can create their own families.

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Image source: Goodreads