The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, by Jennifer E. Smith

As the song goes, “What a difference a day makes.  Twenty-four little hours.”  The events of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight take place over the course of just one day.  It is a very momentous day for Hadley and Oliver.  They meet at the airport, on a transatlantic flight from New York to London.  Hadley might never have met Oliver if she had made her original flight.  But, in this case, the four minutes she was late made all the difference.

Hadley is on her way to her father’s wedding.  He left her and her mother for a job at Oxford two years ago, and never came back.  Hadley is still bitter about it, but she has been told in no uncertain terms that she must attend this wedding.  His wedding to “that British woman,” as Hadley refers to her soon-to-be stepmother.  Add to that her crippling claustrophobia, and she is really dreading this trip.  Then she meets Oliver.

Oliver is a British college student studying at Yale.  He is also on his way to London for a wedding, and he doesn’t seem any more excited about the prospect than Hadley.  He is very helpful in getting her through her fear of flying, however, as they talk the seven hour flight away.  By the time they arrive at Heathrow they have formed quite the attachment and, even though they go their separate ways, Hadley can’t help but hope they’ll meet again.

If you’ve done the math, you know that Hadley and Oliver’s flight has only brought us to the seven hour mark of the aforementioned twenty-four hours, so there’s a pretty decent chance their story doesn’t end there.  Odds are they’ve probably fallen in love at first sight.

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