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

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight [Amazon]
Author: Jennifer E. Smith [website]
Publisher: Poppy/Little Brown
Genre: Contemporary
Source/Type: Library/Hardcover
Stars: 4 of 5

Publisher Description:
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.

My Thoughts:
This book was so flipping cute and exactly what I needed at the time I read it. I had just finished a book that was a complete disappointment after reading a book that was fantastic and I didn’t know where to go. Then I saw this in my stack of library books and went for it. Having read two other Smith books in the past, You Are Here and This Is What Happy Looks Like, and not being 100% crazy about either, I was wary of this one. But rest assured I didn’t need to be.  The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight was definitely my kind of book and has changed my opinion on Smith’s writing.

Statistical(I’m shortening the title since it is SO long) is the story of Hadley and Oliver, two complete strangers that end up on the same flight sitting in the same row heading to London. Hadley, having missed her original flight by 4 minutes is pressed for time to make her father’s wedding, a wedding she is dreading. Oliver, originally scheduled on the flight, has his own reasons for not wanting to return to London, his place of birth. Through the course of 24 hours Hadley and Oliver’s relationship changes from people that have just met to deeply connected. Between the time they leave New York to the time they are about to leave London every emotion is hit upon and the question still remains if you can fall in love at first sight.

Hadley really was a fantastic character with a great personality. She made me laugh or smile a lot of the time and I felt real sympathy for the situation she was in. Here she was flying across the country to meet the woman that had, in her mind, stolen her father from her. And not only was she meeting her, but her father was getting married to her the same day. I can’t even imagine what would run through someone’s head in that situation so when she found Oliver and they were able to just not think about anything and entertain each other and flirt and joke around, I totally loved it. I also loved the chemistry that she had with Oliver. They sparked right away which is sometimes hard to believe in a book, that whole insta-love thing, but it worked in their case and that is a testament to the story Smith crafted. These two characters played off each other really really well and as a reader I appreciated that.

All in all Statistical was an adorable read with likable characters. It took me no time to get through it and when I was done I had one complaint really…why wasn’t this book longer. J Seriously though, I definitely would recommend this Smith book and I thank goodness for it because it left me clamoring for her next which wasn’t that case before this fun story about love, friendship, relationships and family. Well done Ms. Smith, well done!

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