In the past, Brian falls instantly in love with Tessa when she shows up at one of his classes. As he struggles to impress this wild and exciting young woman, he continuously works on his life's project in quantum physics. The two seem destined to be a couple and swear nothing will ever keep them apart, but along with love, life happens.
In this alternate present, Tessa's life has taken a bad turn after an ugly divorce and a devastating blow to her artistic career. Now she spends her time dodging her co-op board members because she is so far behind on her rent and caring for the elderly at her emotionally rewarding job that pays her when they can. It's a complicated life and often unpleasant. She's recently started to paint again when she is approached by a man named Brian who appears to be homeless. He's very friendly and seems to know her, but she's never met him; yet she feels oddly happy around him. He seems to pop up at every turn and is convinced they belong together and seems to complicate her life, while actually making things better at the same time.
What is Brian's story and why is he convinced that Tessa is his soul mate? The truth is stranger than fiction and Tessa might not be able to rationalize what is happening to her, but if her life is better for it, why question the universe.
I loved The Love of My (Other) Life from beginning to end. Extra points to Slatton for mentioning my favorite decadent treat, Vosges chocolates, but I found myself bothered by the mention of Differential Equations by their more colloquial name, Diff EQs, which was spelled in the book as "Diffy Q's." It's a nerd thing and probably won't bother anyone who doesn't know what that means anyway.
If you are looking for something light-hearted, but with a nerdy/ sci-fi bend to it, check out The Love of My (Other) Life. I am making it required reading for the programmers in my life, just because it's such a fun read. However, if you are put off by quantum physics and thinking a little bit outside of the box, you might not like it. Speaking from a geeky point of view, I thought it was terrific.
