Review: The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Published: Published January 2, 2012 by Poppy/Little Brown
Pages: Hardcover, 236 pages

Reviewed by: Isalys
Reason for Reading: Bout of Books 6.0 read-a-thon

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 first book for Bout of Books 6.0 was the seriously cute and fluffy, The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight.  My goal for the read-a-thon was to choose books that would be fun that I can get through quickly and this book hit that mark.

Hadley is a teenage daughter scorned.  Still feeling hurt and resentful over her father leaving their family and moving half-way around the world, she is NOT looking forward to flying to London to watch him marry a woman she's never even met.  To make matters worse, she misses her flight and now has the added stress of trying to make it on time to the wedding she doesn't even want to go to in the first place.  The one saving grace is the boy that is cute, gallant, funny, English, and happens to be sitting in the same row.  Guess missing that first flight wasn't such a bad thing after all ;)

Hadley and Oliver are absolutely adorable together. Their instant chemistry and playful banter make their budding relationship so easy and fun to read.  Sometimes people just click and I love that you get that from them.  Hadley and Oliver each have some pretty heavy stuff on their minds, but when they're together, those things don't seem to matter...as much. Oliver has his own unhappy reasons for flying home to London which you find out later in the story.  Despite is own issues, he tries to help Hadley overcome the anger that she feels toward her dad.

While this story is a romance first, there's surprising depth to it in the form of familial strife.  The reunion between Hadley and her father is bittersweet at best.  You don't doubt that her father loves her dearly, but you can't blame Hadley for being angry at him, especially considering how it all happened *no spoilers here*.  Jennifer E. Smith did such a great job putting such complex feelings into words that I shared in Hadley's feelings, too.

Like every good love story, this one ends with a happy ending.  When they arrive in London, Hadley and Oliver know they must go their separate ways.  However, they know that they are better together than they are apart so they seek and find each other, more than once.  Hadley also manges repairs the relationship with her dad.  To be honest though, I don't think I would or could be as forgiving as Hadley was.  I understand the importance of mending fences and whatnot, but there was far too much hurt to be healed in just a matter of hours.  That was my only qualm with this story.

In the end, this was a really sweet story that takes place in a 24-hour period and still manages to be full of heart!