I thought this book sounded interesting since it involved a female scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project. However, I grew to feel that the author was doing her protagonist a disservice by making her so wishy-washy about her fomer lover who was suspected of giving secrets to the Russians.

Rosalind (Roz) Porter was a physicist at a time when few women were in any kind of science. She worked with and for Enrico Fermi and Fermi enlisted her during World War Ii to work on the Manhattan Project. Mostly she worked in Chicago but she did travel to other research enclaves as well. She began a love affair with another scientist, Thomas Weaver, who told her he had been married while at Cambridge but his wife had died in London during the Blitz. After the atom bombs were dropped on Japan Weaver dumped her. She also suspected he had written a report about her that resulted in her losing her job. In the early 1950s Roz is selling jewellery in a department store and barely making ends meet. She is approached by and FBI agent, Charlie Szydio, who wants her to accept Weaver's invitation to get involved again. The FBI suspects Weaver is giving or selling nuclear secrets to the Russians and they think Roz is their best bet to finding information. Against her better judgment Roz agrees to see Weaver and before she knows it she is under his spell again. He tells her that he is dying from cancer caused by exposure to radiation and he gives her an envelope to keep safe for him. Incredibly, Roz doesn't tell Charlie about this, not even after her apartment is ransacked. She does start to have feelings for Charlie and he seems to reciprocate them. The action escalates towards the end and there is a happy ending of sorts.

I guess I expected a book that would delve more into the nuclear arms race but there was suprisingly little information about it. This book had too much romance and not enough science for my tastes. ( )

I am going to be honest and say that Atomic Love is not what I expected. I went in expecting historical drama, and what I got was historical romance.
In 1950's Chicago, women have been asked to leave the 'men's' workplaces and go back to 'women's work.' Rosalind was one of these women, but for a little bit of a different reason. She worked on the Manhattan project, and she was let go under suspicion that she worked for Russians, which her ex Weaver told them. Now she works at a department store and lives alone. She is minding her own business, when an FBI agent, and former POW, Charlie, starts to trail her. When they meet, he tells her that the FBI believe her former, scientist, boyfriend Weaver is giving information to the Russians about the H bombs. Together they have to figure out the truth about Weaver and how to deal with their growing attraction.
I loved about a third of this book. I tolerated the rest. For the first 200 pages, I found myself speed reading through pages and pages of exposition about Weaver and Rosalind's relationship and Charlie's time as a soldier. It sort of felt like Fields took the 'start in the middle of the action' advice, even though she really wanted to tell the story about WWII. Which is fine, but I'm still WWII burned out, so I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I had known. I will say that it did have a nice spin that neither WWII storyline took place in Europe. The Manhattan Project labs and POW camps in the Philippines are two aspects I haven't actually read about. However, Roz talked more about her relationship with Weaver and not really her job. I would read a whole book about Roz dealing with inequality in the workplace. Honestly, this book seems like a sequel to a book that doesn't exist.
Okay so after reading the first 200 pages, the story starts. And it just becomes the romantic subplot taking over the plot. To be honest, it is cute until it becomes cliché. Roz and Charlie have a sweet connection that both of them truly need. But spoiler alert, the ending is a little clunky. Not that it ruins what came before, there just feels like there's more story to tell with their relationship.
Overall, this is a fun little read for people who like historical, digestible, love triangles. I wasn't blown away, but I did have a nice time. I enjoyed reading something that isn't heavy. In a weird way, I want more. Not in the sense that I can't get enough, but in the sense that I think a lot got left out.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Romantic Subplot Rating: ❤❤❤/5 ( )

3.5***

Rosalind Porter worked on the Manhattan Project as the only woman physicist. But now, in 1950, she’s selling antique jewelry at Marshall Fields. Her job at the lab had ended abruptly just after her love affair with colleague Thomas Weaver had also ended abruptly. Heartbroken and depressed she left science behind and moved on with her life. But now Weaver has contacted her again and wants to re-establish their relationship. FBI agent Charlie Szydlo also wants her to see Weaver again, because the FBI suspects Weaver has been passing secrets on to the Russians and they want Rosalind to spy on him.

This work of historical fiction captured my attention from the beginning, and the twists and turns in the plot kept me turning pages. I wasn’t always in Rosalind’s camp. She seemed very vulnerable and far too easily swayed. There were times when she showed her intelligence and courage, but other times when I wanted to just shake her. I loved Charlie, though I found it hard to believe he’d be accepted into the FBI given his obvious PTSD and disability resulting from his time spent as a POW in a Japanese camp during WW2.

I’m not sure how this book came to my attention, but I noticed that both Ann Patchett and Elinor Lipman (authors whose works I’ve enjoyed) praised it. ( )

Rosalind, "Roz," Porter today works behind the retail counter at Fields but is still haunted by her role on the Manhattan project. When her former lover, Thomas Weaver returns, she finds herself recruited as a spy to learn if Weaver has been sharing nuclear secrets with the Russians. As her life becomes more dangerous, she finds herself attracted to her handler, a wounded vet and POW survivor, Charles Szydlo, and drawn back into her passion for science.

This is a book about romance, not about a female scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project and now is working undercover for the FBI. ( )