In Defense of the Predictable Ending: My Review of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Release Date: January 2, 2012
Publisher: Poppy/Little Brown
Pages: 236
Source: Bought
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Summary: 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 Favorite Line:

(I made it for my tumblr, and I think it's adorable)

Sometimes you just know that you are going to like a book.  I mean you can feel it in your bones.  I am not wrong about that very often.  So did I love this book?  My goodness, yes.  I also love the fact that the title is so very long.  Long titles make me happy.  Color me strange I suppose.

What makes this book so great?  It's charming and adorable, full of quirky flirting, British lingo, and the idea of our fate.  Fate is never something I have had a lot of faith in.  Perhaps it's just my ideas about life in general, but I have never entirely dismissed the idea of "having a fate" because really I can't say I know everything.  

The whole book takes place in 24 hours.  It was hard to remember that because so much happens in that 24 hours.  Still, the book is overwhelming good and leaves you feeling so incredibly satisfied.  *For me, it's kinda the same feeling I get eating Nutella and marshmallow cream.*  

Hadley *a name I adore* and Oliver have this undeniable connection that just seems to grow throughout the book.  Their banter throughout the book made me smile ear to ear.  The book still explores more than their banter.  Instead, it focuses on how love affects each of us.  Relationships are tricky things, and for many people love is even more complicated.  How we define marriage probably changes from person to person.  That is the type of idea that is explored through Oliver and Hadley's trip to London and the day that awaits them.  

I should say that I have found that sometimes, having predictability can be a huge plus for a book.  So many of us need that predictability when we read on occasion.  It keeps our hearts light and full of hope.  I knew most of what was going to happen in the book.  But that was completely ok with me.  I felt safe in the hands of that book, like it would never let me down.  I don't always want that in a book, but when done right, I feel grateful.  

All in all, the book is a short read and sure to make you smile.  Most of us can really relate to the messages held within this book.  I encourage anyone who, like me, waited to read this book to pick it up and give it a shot.  It's a great contemporary pick.