Review: Deadly Chemistry
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 23, 2014
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.Deadly Chemistry was a cute read!What I liked:1) Lauren was pretty geeky and awkward. She rambled on about random things when she'd get nervous around Mike. It was kind of endearing. Even though she was career-driven, she wasn't stuck up. Despite the fact that she had her doctorate and a great job, Lauren still entertained the idea of dating the maintenance man. Never once did she look down on Mike.2) Mike was fiercely protective of those he loved, even when he was on the outs with them (which, now that I think about it, he often was). That's a sign of great character, because people can be pretty petty sometimes.3) This was a quick read that kept me entertained the whole way through!What didn't work for me:1) Lauren was a scientist at a university that shared way too much information about her project to anyone that would listen. It was a three-step process that resulted in a harmless drug that she was hoping to market to pharmaceutical companies, but the first- and second-steps of the process were a little trickier. Step one yielded a compound that was deadly if consumed. Step two yielded a street drug akin to heroin. The problem was that her drug was being stolen and sold to drug users that ended up overdosing.Perhaps if Lauren hadn't shared so many details about her project with pretty much everyone, they'd have found the thief a lot sooner. Heck, after speaking with Mike the maintenance man for a total of, I would guess, 30 minutes, she'd told him the whole process and discussed with him how it could be used as a drug. Why wouldn't you keep something like that confidential? That being said, I knew very early on who stole her drugs and I'm a little shocked it took them so long to figure it out.2) There were also times when Lauren's awkwardness and angst went from cute to teenager. There was quite a bit of "does he like me?"3) The final thing that threw me was the very strange, unfounded, unexpected breakup. I don't think there were any real reasons for it other than Lauren was feeling feelings.Despite there being a few things that didn't quite work for me, I would still recommend this book because it fulfilled its purpose of taking me away for a few hours!