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

Summary from Goodreads:

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. 


To be honest I am a cynic when it comes to Love at First Sights.  Physical attraction at first sight maybe, or maybe LIKE at the first 1 hour of conversation, or 30 minutes at least. But LOVE? At FIRST sight? Come on.  It just seems like a waste of the word love. So, I was really quite iffy about picking this one up but I did love the long and seemingly geeky title.  And it’s February, the month of Love!  And I’ve been exposed to too much pinks and reds and rom coms , that and the fact that I’m not getting any younger each day, so cynic button off.  For now. Haha! :D

The plot is pretty straight forward. American Girl meets British Boy in an airport while waiting for their flight enroute to London. They struck a conversation while waiting for boarding and have not stopped since they landed on Heathrow Airport, where they eventually got separated, only to find each other again twice after that.

If I was to pick a trope that will fit the story, it’s Kismet or Destiny or Fate and any of its other various names. As Hadley once said: “There are so many ways it could have turned out differently.” But it didn’t. The universe seemed to have conspired that they meet.  A collection of delays, and hindrances, and inconveniences that led for them to find each other. A paper cut, lost charger, traffic, a book...the list goes on.

As I have mentioned above, the romantic development wasn’t really the automatic love that I was dreading. (It was actually the kismet kind) They did not spot each other in the airport and immediately had visions of getting married and having 10 kids. I do think there was a progression in their romantic relationship. There was physical attraction first and foremost. But it was the conversations in the long hours about normal teenage stuff to serious family issues, the little sweet actions from both of them here and there; that all build up to that feeling of love, young love, at least.

I was also surprised to find that the book wasn’t all too “romancey” for my taste. Hardly any body parts mentioned and very minimal of anything touchy feely. I love that they threw in some family drama to the story. Both Hadley and Oliver had daddy issues and it added a great texture to what could have been just a plain love story. 

Overall, it was a pleasant read. Cute, simple, sweet. I have to put in a quote from the story.

“People who meet in airports are seventy-two percent more likely to fall for each other than people who meet anywhere else.”

Hmm. So, what are the odds that I’ll slip past security and then just lurk at the international airport? :D