A Quantum Love Story: A Novel

by Mike Chen

Overview

An epic adventure awaits in this page-turning sci-fi read!

A cozy sci-fi novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood

The only thing harder than finding someone in a time loop is losing them.

Grieving her best friend's recent death, neuroscientist Mariana Pineda’s ready to give up everything to start anew. Even her career—after one last week consulting at a top secret particle accelerator.

Except the strangest thing happens: a man stops her…and claims they've met before. Carter Cho knows who she is, why she's mourning, why she's there. And he needs Mariana to remember everything he’s saying.

Because time is about to loop.

In a flash of energy, it’s Monday morning. Again. Together, Mariana and Carter enter an inevitable life, four days at a time, over and over, without permanence except for what they share.

But just as they figure out this new life, everything changes. Because Carter's memories of the time loop are slowly disappearing. And their only chance at happiness is breaking out of the loop—forever.

“This unusual and satisfying near-future time-travel adventure fires on all cylinders.” —Publishers Weekly

Also by Mike Chen:

HERE AND NOW AND THEN
A BEGINNING AT THE END
WE COULD BE HEROES
LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME
VAMPIRE WEEKEND

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780369747778
Publisher:	MIRA Books
Publication date:	01/30/2024
Sold by:	HARLEQUIN
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	3,050
File size:	721 KB

About the Author

Mike Chen is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Brotherhood, Here and Now and Then, Light Years From Home, and other novels. He has covered geek culture for sites such as Nerdist, Tor.com, and StarTrek.com, and in a different life, covered the NHL. A member of SFWA, Mike lives in the Bay Area with his wife, daughter, and many rescue animals. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @mikechenwriter

Editorial Reviews

10/09/2023

Chen notes that this tender combination of romance and science is a “bit of a bookend” to his second novel, A Beginning at the End, albeit with “more semireal-but-mostly-fake science.” Carter Cho, a quantum mechanics technician working on the top secret Hawke Particle Accelerator, and Mariana Pineda, a neuroscientist touring the facility with her company, ReLive, makers of a new memory-enhancing drug, meet just before the accelerator explodes. The duo wind up trapped together in a time loop, repeatedly reliving the four days leading up to the explosion. As they try to break free, they gradually fall in love. Then Mariana discovers the accelerator can be used as a time machine, and sets out to save the life of her late best friend, Shay, even if she has to “break time and space”—and sacrifice her relationship with Carter—to do so. Despite the stress of their predicament, Chen’s charming young lovers find time to share some exquisite meals and tactfully presented love scenes. Frequent flashbacks to Mariana’s friendship with Shay provide sound motivation for her heroic action. This unusual and satisfying near-future time-travel adventure fires on all cylinders. [Agent: Eric Smith, P.S. Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A Quantum Love Story is the definitive time-loop romance, and one for the ages. I quantum loved it… Mission: Impossible meets When Harry Met Sally...a masterpiece." —Fan Fi Addict

“Combining the sweet redemption and understated romance of Groundhog Day with the multiple explosive resets of Edge of Tomorrow, this novel from Chen loops its way through a charming story about opposites attracting, the human ability to reset expectations and emotions against all the odds, and the power of one woman willing to make a big sacrifice for a small change that might just save the universe.” —Library Journal


“This unusual and satisfying near-future time-travel adventure fires on all cylinders.” —Publishers Weekly

"A riveting climax. The novel’s easy but intricate world building and exciting twists make it one that fans of soft or character-based sf will really enjoy." —Booklist


"A journey of scientific and self-discovery...a great mix of ideas." —Kirkus


“A book that—as suggested by the title—blends science and romance together to tell a story that is every bit as twisty and surprising as the quantum physics and time loops that make up the plot... A Quantum Love Story is one of those winding, engaging books that had me absolutely hooked from the start.” —The Geeky Waffle


“This emotional new novel from Mike Chen combines what is best about science fiction, mystery and romance… The result is a world rendered in Technicolor, every corner lit, every scene set so that the reader can walk right in. Chen's charming characterizations are at their best.” —Scientific American


“What makes a reader want to follow a protagonist into hell? We adore a capable protagonist who manages tough situations with ease...The heart of A Quantum Love Story is troubleshooting. Mariana and Carter invent brilliant plans to escape their ourobourous… Good thing they’ve got plenty of time on their hands.” —The Washington Post


“Another well-written, fun novel, with two characters you root for, a cute cat named Maggie, lots of food that will make you hungry, and time travel. Fans of Mike Chen will enjoy this one.” —Red Carpet Crash


“Mike Chen strikes an effortless balance between science fiction, action, and heart. This book kept me turning pages late into the night with its propulsive plot and irresistible characters. A Quantum Love Story is a love letter to second chances and beyond.” —Natalka Burian, author of The Night Shift

"I'm a sucker for a time loop, so my expectations were high and A Quantum Love Story did not disappoint. A delightful twist on the time loop story—warm, fun, pacy, unexpected, and satisfying." —Catriona Silvey, author of Meet Me In Another Life


"Time isn't a flat circle; it's a donut. Love isn't mystery; it's a miracle. This book beats like a patient heart that can't stop reliving the moments when it last loved you." —Meg Elison, author of Number One Fan


"Sweeping, heartfelt, and harrowing. As always, Chen enthralls by combining pulse-racing stakes with charming characters." —Noelle Salazar, internationally bestselling author of The Flight Girls and Angels of the Resistance


"Mike Chen's A Quantum Love Story is a delight of a novel. Mariana and Carter join his pantheon of richly drawn characters in a story that offers freshness and surprises throughout a time loop. Also, there's a really good dog. I enjoyed it immensely." —Kat Howard, author of the Unseen World duology


“Mike Chen’s latest novel A Quantum Love Story is a delightful romp through a time loop….quite an enjoyable page turner.” —8Asians


“Chen manages to bypass some of the usual time loop tropes and make it fresh, and it’s a good mix of the sci-fi and the love story.” —Geekdad

From the Publisher

11/01/2023

Neither Carter Cho nor Mariana Pineda knows exactly what the Hawke accelerator is accelerating. But whatever it is, it shakes the whole universe apart every four days and resets. Initially, Carter is alone in his awareness of the looping, and he's bored with it all. Until he manages to pull Mariana into his awareness of the loop. As history repeats all around them, Carter and Mariana occupy a little bubble of two, a bubble that explores what's gone wrong and how to fix it, even as they tentatively reach towards a relationship that neither of them could have expected. Just as they near a solution, Carter slips out of their bubble. Mariana chooses to sacrifice everything to get him back—hopefully saving the world along the way. VERDICT Combining the sweet redemption and understated romance of Groundhog Day with the multiple explosive resets of Edge of Tomorrow, this novel from Chen (Vampire Weekend) loops its way through a charming story about opposites attracting, the human ability to reset expectations and emotions against all the odds, and the power of one woman willing to make a big sacrifice for a small change that might just save the universe.—Marlene Harris

Library Journal

2023-10-21
A woman’s business trip turns into a journey of scientific and self-discovery after she gets caught in a time loop.

Neuroscientist Mariana Pineda is ready to quit her job. Her heart hasn’t been in it ever since Shay Freeman, her best friend, went missing and probably died three months ago. But the offer of a last-minute business trip to the Hawke Accelerator, the place Shay has always wanted to work, is too good to pass up, and she decides she’ll quit when she gets back. While at Hawke, she runs into Carter Cho, a technician who seems to always be in the background of things. Then he asks if she remembers their last conversation—she doesn’t think she’s ever spoken to him before—and tells her they’re stuck in a time loop that’s going to be set off when the accelerator blows up in a few minutes. At the last moment, he pushes her in front of a green beam of energy, and she wakes up in her bed, four days earlier. Now aware that she’s caught in the time loop with Carter, she realizes the two of them must find a way to break the cycle before losing their minds. With a puzzle box of a plot, the novel has an interesting assortment of twists and turns, but that’s also one of its weaknesses, because it doesn’t seem to know what kind of story it wants to tell. The characters lack depth; only Mariana gets any shading beyond a surface level, mainly because the story is told from her point of view. Despite the title, the characters bond more over their plight than over any feelings.

A great mix of ideas that can’t ultimately coalesce into one story.

Kirkus Reviews