Review: Love and Lab Extractions by Mary Stephenson Su

Love and Lab Extractions (The “Love and” Duology #1)
by Mary Su

My Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Cozy Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Young Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
Lab Partners, Love, and Visions of the Future

Strailer is a young elf who loves friends and fun. When the lab instructor pairs him off with Lilliana “The Ice Queen,” he hopes his charms can melt her icy exterior.

Lilliana is a young elf who likes things just so-her hair, her stuff, and her assignments. She realizes Strailer is as handsome as he is funny, but she knows he’s not the one for her. She’s seen visions of her future-including her love life-and she knows Strailer’s not in it.

When the elf of Lilliana’s dreams arrives in Valley Glen, it’s not as perfect as she had hoped. He brings chaos that could upend all of their futures. Will Lilliana find the heart to do what’s right or leave Strailer holding the bag?

My Review

I read one of this author’s stories in a Cozy Vale anthology and was looking forward to read more, so I started with this one. Love and Lab Extractions is set in a valley where elves live and follows the lives of two young adult elves who team up for a lab project and grow closer along the way.

This was a nice story, I liked reading about Lilliana and Strailer and seeing them grow closer. I would’ve liked a bit more about them getting to know each other, but I liked their connection and the way their different personalities played off each other. I wasn’t a fan of the Vision Boy plot line and the big part of the story that focussed on that was less interesting to me, but did like how it eventually made Lilliana realize more about her visions and realize what she wanted. The ending wraps things up well enough, but does feel a bit open regarding some things, maybe future books in the series will continue some of those plot threads.

I liked Lilliana’s friendship with her neighbor and Strailer has a good friend as well, and I liked their interactions with their friends and how they help out. I liked the bits about magic and how everyone has a magical skill, but would’ve liked to learn a bit more about this. The world building is a bit limited, but this is a shorter read and I assume the later books in the series will delve more into that. I did like the parts that were there with how the lab project gave a bit of a feel for how things worked as well as seeing a bit from Lilliana, Strailer and their friends their magic. There’s also something about illegal magical substances and a sort of elves police called the Peacemakers. Enough to make me curious to learn more.

To summarize: I liked reading this and seeing Lilliana and Strailer fall in love. I liked the two main characters well enough, but would’ve liked a bit more about them getting to know each other. I liked the way their different personalities played off each other. I didn’t really like the part of the plot that focussed on Vision Boy and how long it took Lilliana to realize some things, but I did like how things got wrapped up and she stood up for what she believed in at the end. The ending leaves a few threads a bit open and I wonder if future books will wrap that up. The world building is limited, but this is a short read and the part that were there like the magic and the bits about magical substances and the Peacemakers were interesting.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.