The Love Simulation by Etta Easton
Contemporary Romance
March 4, 2025, by Berkley

Review by Melanie

One of my favorite tropes in contemporary romance is forced proximity and The Love Simulation employs that trope with such an unique premise that really charmed me. 

Brianna, the FMC, is a middle school vice-principal. Dedicated to her students and to her job, her main goal is to upgrade the library at her school so that her students have access to more current books. Unfortunately for her, the biggest roadblock to her endeavor is the school’s principal who uses the funding set aside to renovate the library to pay for a brand new football field. 

To that end, Brianna decides to join some of the teachers at her school in a Mars simulation where the team will live and work in a habitat meant to feel and look like Mars for several weeks in order to win a grand prize that could help pay for her library upgrade. The only problem? The last minute addition of Roman Major, the science teacher she’s been crushing on for months…who also happens to be the son of the school principal and who was supposedly in line for the vice-principal job before Brianna was hired instead. 

The whole Mars simulation thing feels a little like a reality show because they’re also being recorded and taped except for certain places in the Habitat including the bedroom which conveniently allows for the couple to engage in some shenanigans in relative privacy. 

Before any shenanigans can occur however, Brianna and Roman have to clear the air. Brianna is suspicious of Roman’s motives and thinks his father sent him to sabotage the simulation in an effort to derail Brianna’s plans to upgrade the library. (Seriously, what is this man’s problem with kids reading and having access to books?!?! What’s he got against libraries?!?). Roman proves he’s willing to be a team player and do everything in his power to help them win the grand prize. 

Part of the simulation involves wearing space suits and going out into fake Mars to run experiments and the team members have to be properly attired at all times and have their oxygen hooked up or else they risk “dying” (reality tv show elimination). To absolutely no one’s surprise, the team members eventually get picked off until it’s just Brianna and Roman in their cozy little Mars habitat and that eventually leads to shenanigans on the faux red planet.

Despite Brianna’s internal struggle to believe in Roman’s true motives, she gives in to her long standing crush even while debating the wisdom of hooking up with a teacher who works at the same school she does. She’s always been conscious of her role as vice-principal and created a boundary when it comes to forging friendships with her colleagues since she’s kind of their boss. So, for her to throw caution to the wind and embark on a fling with Roman speaks to just how deep her feelings run for him.  

It’s the third act breakup that really feels like the weakest part of the book. I know the author felt that a third act breakup was needed and I don’t necessarily disagree, but I’m not sure the way it plays out in the book was the best way to do it. And then the actions taken by Brianna after the big fallout feels deeply uncharacteristic of her and I’m surprised the consequences of that partifcular choice aren’t bigger. In short, the resolution of the story feels rather quick and very abrupt after she chooses to do what she does. 

I liked the story, it was engaging and the premise was fun. I loved the group stuff where they are trying to complete the missions on fake Mars and have to work together as a team and I loved the ways in which Roman and Brianna look out for each other and take care of each other. I also loved the reality tv aspect of it that allowed Brianna and Roman to end up by themselves on the Habitat once the rest of their team had been elinminated from the competition. 

But I’m not sure about the way the third act was written and I’m not sure why the principal was so against Brianna and her plans for the library. That part was never fully explained to me and at the end of the book, everyone seems to be getting along well and there’s just a very cursory explanation of how those relationships were resolved. In short, I wish the book had dug just a little bit deeper and given us more in terms of how the relationship between Roman and his father was fixed and also, giving us more in terms of how Brianna and Roman repaired their relationship. The journal was a nice touch but I’m not sure it was enough.

Despite my feelings about the conclusion of the book, I still had a good time reading and I just liked the premise so much. Both Brianna and Roman were likable and engaging and I’m a sucker for close proximity and secret mutual pining. I liked that they acted like adults (for the most part) and had difficult conversations when needed (again, for the most part). All in all, it was a fun bit of escapism on a fake planet Mars.

Grade: B