Review: Engineering a Love Story by Kathleen Reidy

Engineering a Love Story by Kathleen Reidy

Blurb from Goodreads:

It's the year 2000—dot-coms, Bush v. Gore, and sky-high San Francisco rents. But while the country swoons with irrational exuberance, Chelsea Lefevre's life is collapsing faster than a tech bubble.

She'd had everything she thought she was supposed to want: a house on Boston's North Shore, exquisite wedding china, a Waspy mother-in-law. A steady, safe marriage. But after a mortifying slip-up, Chelsea finds herself heading into the 21st century alone. Her lifeboat? A new job advising tech execs, taken to escape the misogyny she endured as a software engineer—only to discover she has a surprising knack for spotting the next hot thing.

In this heady new world, Chelsea meets Seth Murphy, a magnetic sales executive at one of the country’s hottest startups. Professional boundaries make Seth off-limits, but Chelsea is tired of steady and safe. What starts as a casual fling soon spirals into a secret and intense affair, jeopardizing Chelsea’s career, newfound independence—and heart.

But as the bubble bursts, Chelsea will have to decode the difference between good enough and too good to be true, and reckon with how much a smart woman can risk when she’s the only female in the room.

Warm and witty, Engineering a Love Story is about growing up after a decade of adulthood and refusing to settle for a life that's less than the one you're capable of living.

 

What a charming debut!  I especially liked the setting, the time period and the characters.   This is definitely more of a love story than a romance, which I appreciate.  It felt true and I can't wait to read more from this author!  Definitely add this one to your fall TBR!!

Engineering a Love Story comes out next week on October 6, 2026 and you can purchase HERE.  

I try to think. I didn't plan to leave Ash. Not this week, not this year ... maybe not ever. At times I've lazily dreamed of some sort of calamity striking, something serious enough to free me, but not tragic enough to actually hurt anyone. But I couldn't ever figure out how such a scenario might unfold exactly, and simply ending it never felt like an option, not after all Ash and the Kelseys have given me. You can't divorce family.