Book Review: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
Release Date: 2nd January 2012

Publisher: Poppy
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 236
Rating: 4.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 ODY

Summary from Goodreads:

"Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it. "

Review:

When I picked this book up, what I was looking for was a light, breezy contemporary with the type of love story you'd never find in real life. And that's exactly what I got. 

TSPoLaFS is the light hearted kind of story that's exactly what you'd expect from the title. We follow Hadley and Oliver over a period of less than 24 hours as they meet, converse, and eventually start to fall for one another. Whilst the series of events that follows them is extremely improbable (I mean really, what is the chance that a couple were going to both the wedding Hadley was at, and the event Oliver would be at? Furthermore, what are the chances that Hadley can even find where that event is, given one small detail Oliver told her?), the relationship between the two is just too cute, you can't help but love it. I think we've all been where Hadley's been: you meet a cute guy, you strike up a conversation, and you just find that you click. There's no explanation for it, but your conversation flows and you start to find yourself liking this person more and more. This is the cute kind of romance that you wish you had in high school. With this romance to focus on, you even forget about how improbable some of the events are. 

After a DNF book and the feeling of falling into a reading slump, this is exactly what I needed to pull me out of it. The simple change of pace - from the usual types of books I read that generally involve our hero fighting to save the world, to a light breezy romance where someone's biggest concern is attending a wedding - was all that was needed. Do I think I would have loved this book any less if I had read it at a different time - no. Whilst this isn't the best romance out there, it's undeniably cute, and you can't help but enjoy the ride.