What is love? Is it something spiritual or wholly physical? Can our feelings be explained and quantified? Or are we all actually two halves of a whole?

Ask Alice and Luke and you’d receive vastly different answers.

Despite her world having been recently dismantled by a messy break-up, Alice would tell you that love is the most important – albeit ineffable – human experiences. But when she once again crosses paths with her old school nemesis, Luke, he challenges this. Luke is a scientist and he’s certain love can be measured and explained – just like everything else.

So the two decide to make a bet: they’ll each venture back into dating and if one of them falls in love, Alice wins, if not, then Luke does.

But can anyone win when you’re playing with emotions?

The Philosophy of Love by Rebecca Ryan begins in 2010 with school rivals Alice and Luke jointly winning the trophy for academic excellence due to their top-ranking status. Being top of their classes has made them resent one another and so the joint win doesn’t go down well.

The story then moves forward to the present day and Alice has just returned to her family home after living and working in London for years after her boyfriend and boss cheated on her. She and Luke bump into one another. As the two engage in conversation, it becomes apparent that their perspectives on love differ significantly. Alice embraces the concept, whilst Luke, a scientist, believes everything can be explained and measured, thus a challenge commences to work out which perspective holds true.

The Philosophy of Love is an easy-to-read rom-com that has great characters and plenty of humorous moments surrounded by serious ones. The well-crafted plot kept me engaged the whole way through.

I loved the dynamics between the two main characters Alice and Luke and their take on love. The pair were like chalk and cheese in some ways and yet you could see so many similarities too. The exploration of their differing views on love adds depth to the storyline and I felt both beliefs were perfectly valid. My tiny quibble with Alice was her obsession with her ex. But then hey, this may be a normal reaction when an ex cheats on you!

Overall, this is a superb romantic comedy. It will have you laughing one minute and feeling emotional the next. I found myself engrossed, completing the book in a mere couple of days, reluctant to set it aside once I’d begun.

Rebecca Ryan lives in Bradford with her three young children. Although she always loved writing, it hadn’t really occurred to her that she could do it professionally.

She recently left her job as a teacher to pursue writing full-time. She enjoys walking in the countryside and takeaways (if that counts as a hobby).