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

Title: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Publication Date: January 10th 2012
Publisher: Hachette NZ
Pages: 236
Rating:

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. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that 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 in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.

So help me. I'm struck dumb and speechless and have absolutely no freaking idea how to start this review without screwing up so much as a speck of the well-earned justice it so clearly deserves. Simply saying, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is a spectacular contemporary!

While I didn't cry like I'm sure many others did, I did have plenty of laughs and more than enough smiles to last me a lifetime. Hadley and Oliver are fantastic main characters! They're funny, witty and deeply affected by their own circumstances but they're also down to earth and very believable. It's fairly predictable, but don't let that sway you into not reading it! Because what TSPOLAFS is all about are the relationships between characters, not just between Hadley and Oliver but between Hadley and her father as they both struggle to mend broken family ties as well.

Guys, this is why I love contemporaries. TSPOLAFS provides us with fun and light prose that is so often lost in the seriousness of the paranormal genre but also that deeper, raw emotional aspect that tears at our hearts. If I weren't such a hard cookie to crack when reading I might have even shed a tear or two!

What's interesting is that I always have a low tolerance for fast-growing relationships but I had absolutely zero problems with this one. It's told within a time-span of 24 hours but it feels like you're with Hadley for far longer than that, a few weeks even! The amount of depth we see in the characters in such a short time is astounding and the relationship between Oliver and Hadley feels real, natural. It makes me crave for a seat next to a cute British boy the next time I go on a plane!

Overall, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is definitely a book that needs to be read if it's sitting on your TBR shelf hidden behind a countless number of others. It's wonderful prose reads like a fairy tale, there's a need you have for the two main characters to finally get together in the end and live happily ever after. Anna and the French Kiss fans? You'll find that this is a book that can easily rival it!