Love Below Zero by Bianca Blake || Book Review

A nerdy hate-to-love romance with complex characters? Sign me up!

I usually don't sign up for ARCs, mainly because I'm a huge mood reader and often pick up books on a whim, but I'm almost always in the mood to read romances. So, when I saw the blurb and the ARC review form, I signed up immediately.

about Love Below Zero

Rebecca Baxter has killed James Reid multiple times. Well, the fictional version of him anyway.

As an astronomer, James likes debunking the “science” in science fiction books. As a romance author, Rebecca is more concerned with happy endings than string theory. After a video he made criticising her best selling sci-fi romance book sparked an online feud, the two of them can’t stand to be in the same room together. Still reeling from the writer’s block (and emotional damage) James’ review caused her, she works out her feelings by writing elaborate death scenes for him and vows to never speak to him again.

That is until they’re both selected for an analog Mars mission in Antarctica. They’ll be spending four months locked in a small dome, pretending they’re on another planet. Unfortunately, avoiding someone is extra difficult when you’re stuck on a barren continent and can’t stop daydreaming about kissing them.

These two are about to find out just how quickly hate can defrost into love…

Love Below Zero is an enemies to lovers STEM rom com with forced proximity, banter, lots of nerdy references, no third act break up, and a happily ever after.

Note: I usually add quotes in my reviews and will do the same here, although much lesser. Please note that these are from an advance review copy and the lines may differ in the final book.

my review

Although Love Below Zero is a romance, there's a strong highlight on the main characters individually which I loved. Knowing them so well made their romance make sense. So, we have to talk about them first.

Rebecca is a sci-fi fiction romance writer in the UK. She loves science and loves writing stories. Her series of 3 books have become best seller hits. Since James Reid, a YouTuber, reviews her books and lowkey rips its science apart, leading to impostor syndrome and a barrage of negativity towards her books online, she has been suffering from writer's block and unable to even start writing her 4th book.

What I like about the character is that apart from her writing and basic things like owning a cat and whatever family situation, she is going through health issues which affect her mentally and socially. She has an autoimmune disease and is pre-diabetes due to which she works hard to stay healthy and avoid food that isn't good for her. Even small things like what to eat when out changes with that.

Let me go on a tangent for a minute. I'm not sure if this is the case all around the world but here, most people have at least one health issue. Take me for example, I've got eczema and a few other things. I tested positive for an autoimmune disease too due to which I cut gluten from my diet, like the main character, and it dictated so much of my food.

I know many people who have an ongoing health issue. We can discuss theories about the causes but I can definitely say that the number of people dealing with chronic health issues is far more nowadays. Reading fiction novels, no matter how "real", always feel fairly shallow because the characters don't worry about their health unless they specifically fall sick.

Where are my eczema characters? Where are women with PCOD (although, I will acknowledge, PCOD representation is increasing)? Where are the tiny injuries like random blood clots from tripping or accidental cuts?

The fact that this book had a character whose days felt normal (at least, to me), was great. I related to Rebecca so much and it made her accomplishments even greater.

The one thing that I'm slightly annoyed with is that periods are not mentioned. There are three women in the mission. They're stuck in a dome for 4 months. The book is written from a woman's point of view. The woman in question thinks about her body quite a bit. I wish that menstruation got at least a brief mention.

In short, having a body is uncomfortable, to say the least. They are so demanding.

Anyway, back to Rebecca. James's scathing review of her books hit her hard because they seemed to confirm her fears that she's an impostor in the science scene. She loves science but she couldn't study it and no one seems to take her seriously.

When she gets accepted into the Mars analog mission, it looks like a super cool opportunity. However, her impostor syndrome gets to her there as well, especially since James is on the mission too.

Although I'm a STEM girl by profession, the lack of women in tech spaces and the way we're treated cannot be ignored. I can't ignore that I've been the only woman on my team(s) for over a year. I can't ignore that when men say something, especially online, they generally receive positive responses while women receive backlash for saying the same thing. I can't ignore that every time I've gotten a raise, I've wondered if my male colleagues received the same or if they got more. I can't ignore that I'm taken less seriously if I say that I read romance.

Rebecca's impostor syndrome hit so close to home. During the Mars mission, she's forced to confront the reasons for her block because there isn't much to distract herself with. I loved the slow growth that she had over the months. It took time and there was resistance, but she got through.

I liked Rebecca's character growth. It was very real with ups and downs and a lot of denial. Until she literally couldn't ignore her problems, she did. Most of us do that. It was nice to see her get through them to a happy ending.

James, the other main character, had growth as well. He is an astronomer and a total nerd about science. He's second-in-command in the mission and is nervous about the next opportunity that he might have if this goes successfully.

I feel like I've seen variation of James in other romance books, which is why I am not as taken with him. The character had depth but I just couldn't connect with him. He's aloof, socially awkward, and often doesn't know what to say or how to act. His anxiety doesn't help either. He tends to goof up things, which is what happens with his interactions with Rebecca.

James is a consistent character. While Rebecca was fun and spontaneous, he doesn't have much variation. I felt like I knew him within 2 pages of his introduction and didn't need any of the backstories. He has severe trust issues due to his previous relationship and slowly lowers his guard with Rebecca during the mission. It was nice to see him relax and bloom with Rebecca.

Coming to the romance, it was a slow-burn romance which I liked. It felt really natural for them to go from having misunderstandings and "hate" to being cordial to becoming friends and then love. They literally couldn't escape each other so they were forced to talk and understand each other.

Both Rebecca and James had issues which they had to personally work on to give each other their best. I loved how they supported each other over time and how they found solace in one another. I loved the way they took small actions to help/support each other, like James getting gluten-free bars for her.

Loving you isn't too much trouble.

There isn't any third-act breakup as promised by the synopsis. However, there was some tension which was just as unnecessary. It felt forced. Thankfully, it was short.

overall

A fairly good romance book. The best parts are the character depth in Rebecca and the slow burn romance.

If you're looking for a chill romance with forced promiximity and nerdy characters, this will be a great pick.

chat with me

How often do you feel like characters in books feel "real"? Are there any specific books that made you go "oh yes, THIS is real and relatable"? Is there any fictional character who you think is very close to who you are?