Incredibly cute and unique, I really enjoyed this Ali Hazelwood title. I giggled a little and can totally understand the befuddlement of life. It had a total Big Bang Theory vibe to it, so if you enjoyed that show and wanna read something with a little more naughtiness thrown in, definitely check this title out.

When asking myself whether or not I liked a romance book, I ask myself three questions:

1. Did it make me curl up into a ball and giggle like a maniac?
2. Did I have to stop reading at any point to stop my heart from bursting out of my chest?
3. Did I finish the book in love with one or more of the characters?

In the case of The Love Hypothesis, the answer to all three was yes. I really enjoyed this book! Was it a little bit cheesy? Yes, but in my opinion, a little cheese in a romance never hurt anyone. Olive is a third-year Ph.D. student studying pancreatic cancer detection. Adam is the tall (not just tall - MASSIVELY built), dark-haired, brooding associate professor who is notorious for being mean and unapproachable. When Olive kisses him one night after lying to her friend about being on a date, they come to a mutually beneficial agreement to start fake dating. We all know what happens when fake dating enters the equation - it can never stay fake for long. What follows is a fun story of them navigating this "relationship" while trying to convince their friends and colleagues that it's all real, while at the same time it having it become real for both of them.

One reason why I knocked off a star (and this is really quite petty, I know) is that I'm convinced that the author didn't do any research into Stanford before choosing it as the setting. The comment about their being "no bike paths" really got to me, because if you've been on campus you'd know that it's literally one of the most bike-friendly campuses in the country. There was also something about the end that felt a little... incomplete to me, but it wasn't bad! I just wanted a little more... something.

Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be rereading it!

What can I say, apparently I have a love for geeky science love stories! Although truthfully, neither of these characters are geeky but they do seem to be overly patient and sometimes clueless. I love grumpy hunks and Dr. Adam Carlsen is definitely more than a lab coat. When Olive locks lips with him he engages albeit very subtly. I can’t really blame Olive for being clueless that he’s attracted to her because he barely makes a move. Olive needs him to hit her over the head with his lack of subtlety before she catches on that they just might have feelings for each other. I loved each indecisive humor-filled moment. I was also shocked at the heat that I (the reader) felt at each very slight touch. When they finally got together? Holy Moly!!! They were on fire and those love scenes, were written so well.

Although I am not a PhD candidate this novel feels very authentic. I loved that the premise was so simple yet the silly plot was being portrayed by super smart characters. I loved the juxtaposition that just because you are brilliant in life doesn’t mean your choices are always spot on. I also really liked how all of the characters with their multi-ethnicities, gay, bi, whatever, were so natural. There wasn’t a big deal being made about their representation. It was refreshing!

What I liked the most though was the romance between Adam and Olive. It was a true slow burn romance and just before I got to the point of wanting to kick them into motion, they did it themselves. Whew! I felt relief, overjoyed, and overly emotional. It was truly Fab-u-lous.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this ARC through NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review and it was honest.

In the beginning of this book, I couldn’t stop laughing. I COULDN’T STOP. The banter was PHENOMENAL. Olive is a pure joy of a human. I absolutely love her. Adam is also your brooding, smart, ripped man. But as their relationship progressed you can’t help falling in love with them. And the STEM representation- LOVED IT!!! You feel Olive’s & Anh’s struggles, hopes, and fears in the world of academia. There is so much to this story.

Rating: HIGHLY recommend
Steam: Open-door (one scene)
Stand-alone

I freaking loved this book so much! Ugh where do I even begin?

The angst, the slow burn, the banter, the HUMOR! It's everything I've ever wanted in a rom com and more. ​I am hard to please when it comes to the fake-dating trope, but the character's motivations held up! The plot, and subplots, strung the story along and created new tension and new angst every chapter. That paired with characters who propelled off the page -- it was the formula.

One of the most delightful details in this book were the little chapter-preview hypotheses, a science-themed twist to the way books from prior eras might title a chapter “In which the protagonist slowly eats a muffin” or “A long and boring rail journey is embarked upon.” The demisexual rep was nice but sometimes felt a bit contrived, and I personally didn’t connect to the more… physical… aspects of the story, but overall, this was a very fun afternoon spent laughing at witty conversations, probably-avoidable predicaments, and the occasional fourth-wall breaking.

The Love Hypothesis is the most tender grumpy/sunshine, fake dating romance! Olive is such a fun main character with many quirks (including a love for all things pumpkin spice flavored that I deeply resonate with) and I enjoyed reading about her grad school work in the science department. I found her so likable and I loved her character arc. Unfortunately this is single POV so we don’t get a look inside his brain and I felt Adam was reserved for the first 4o% of the book. However I enjoyed Olive pulling him out of his shell and getting him to open up.

Olive’s bantering with Adam made me smile so much. The random and awkward tangents she’d go off on made me laugh out loud. They played off each other so well. Their romance is definitely a slow burn but that hotel scene was completely on fire. Wow. This book is a perfect combination of chemistry, wittiness, and humor.

I think this is a great romance with a side of women empowerment that features the STEM field. Olive and Adam are warm characters that you can’t help but fall in love with. I couldn’t put this book down once I started it and didn’t want it to end.

TW: parental death (cancer) and work place sexual harassment

My gauge of a good book is always whether or not I forgo sleep to finish it. I absolutely gave up on sleep to finish this novel!

I loved everything about it, from Adam’s brooding to the hilarious, laugh-out-loud banter between Olive and Adam.

Throw in three amazing support character BFFs (even if this perplexes Adam!) #iykyk

And an incredibly well-written sneaky slimeball that makes you shiver.

You’ve got a novel that is going to be at the top of your TBR!

This forced proximity rom-com is going to for SURE be one of my favorites of the year!

4.5 stars!

This was SO GOOD HOLY CRAP!!!!

I usually don’t fall into the hype (and this one has plenty like wow), but I’m so happy I did and this story was just the best!

I don’t even know where to start with this?? I loved everything about it! WELL, to be honest the story could’ve been a little shorter and I wasn’t absolutely in love with the ending BUT!!!!!!! It’s out of my mind because the characters and the banter and the romance were just superb! I know I just said the story was a tad bit long, but I wanted more!! More of Olive and Adam and more of this amazingly cute trio of best friends. More of women in STEM!!

Also, it didn’t hurt that the sex was hot and one or two more scenes would’ve definitely driven it home *shrugs*

I’ll probably rave about this one for a while, it’s that burrowed into my mind already. Highly recommend!!


*CW: grief, loss of a parent (cancer), sexual harassment

Easily one of my TOP FAVORITE books of the year! We need more of this Academic sub-genre in romancelandia!

Heroine: Olive is a Ph.D candidate who was adorably quirky. She faces the challenge of being one of the few women in STEM at an academic level.

Hero: Adam (sigh! swoon!) is a science professor on faculty. He has a genius IQ and is well known for being broody and sullen, feared by all grad students. He's also SUPER sexy and clearly spends all his time outside the lab at the gym. I LOVED this hero!!!

Trope: Fake Dating

Hilarious! I laughed my way through this book especially with Adam's dry, sarcastic humor.

The BANTER: I have no idea how but this nerdish science talk went from witty and hilarious to sexy foreplay.

Sexy, sexy slow burn! Talk about anticipation! It's clear that Adam has been carrying a torch for Olive and she's absolutely oblivious, bless her heart! How could this gorgeous professor be interested in a lowly grad student like her?? I MELTED from this sexual tension! We only get one fully sexually explicit scene but WOW was it worth it!

Fantastic supportive characters, Bipoc and LGBTQ representation.

I highly recommend this smart, sexy, hilarious and refreshing romance! This was a brilliant debut novel by the author!

Before I start, I know this book has been all over Bookstagram and I just want to throw in my two cents and say that the hype is real!

This book has everything:
✨Women in STEM (that should be enough for you to know to pick this book up)
✨Fake dating
✨Steamy
✨Asexual spectrum representation
✨Fun, nerdy banter (definitely made me chuckle quite a few times)

This was a knock out of a debut novel and I really look forward to whatever else @alihazelwood writes next!

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @berkleyromance for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

To say that this book was hard to put down is a gross understatement. Hazelwood has woven a tale that perfectly encompasses academic life, strife, women in STEM, and romance.

Oh my gosh, what a delight! With science, fake dating, grump and sunshine trope and oodles of chemistry, this book MELTED my heart! So tender and lovely and I cannot wait to see what else Ali Hazelwood writes - this book was a total 5 star read!

I will admit that going into this book I was pretty sure that it was a little overhyped.. It can’t possibly be as good as people were saying. Two scientists fake dating? Sounds fun but nothing that unique. I was so wrong.

Olive is a PHD student at Standford who gets herself into an awkward situation. In order to convince her best friend that she is dating someone, she ends up kissing the first man she sees. That man in question is the very handsome but incredibly infuriating Professor Adam Carlsen.

Adam FREAKING Carlsen. His character development throughout this book was such a joy to read about. You get to learn about his personality and his quirks as the book progress which just made me fall HARD for this man. There’s the Grumpy/Sunshine trope in this book but Adam is such a loveable grump. The way Adam treats Olive made my heart melt. I don’t if you can tell but i really loved him…

This book is perfect for when you need a bit of pick me up. It’s a quick easy read that will leave you smiling.

This book has a lot of hype on bookstagram and it is incredibly well deserved. I've seen so many rave reviews and I've had it preordered for months. So of course I jumped at the chance to read an arc. Thank you Berkley and Lets Talk Books Promo!

Olive ends up kissing the first person she runs into, while trying to convince her best friend that she's over her ex. The person ends up being a professor, Dr. Adam Carlsen. Adam is not a particularly popular professor, but he agrees to enter a fake relationship with Olive. It will help her convince Anh she's over her ex and it will help Adam get Stanford to release his research funds. They agree on a mutual end date and weekly coffee dates.

I absolutely adored this book. I ended up buying the audiobook because I just couldn't put it down! Olive was so loveable. She had some misadventures and bad decisions, but I couldn't have loved her more. Dr. Adam Carlsen is m new favorite book boyfriend. Despite his representation as an ass, he is obviously smitten with her. It's clear he would do anything for her. The banter with Olive and Adam was amazing! I love Olive seemed to calm Adam and bring out a different side of him. I may have swooned at the conference when he picked her up and carried her to her room. The hotel room scenes were steamy! My heart broke for Olive after her presentation, but i was waiting for her to check the recording. I loved how it ended and that we got an epilogue. I am not a big science person, but you didn't need to be to understand and appreciate The Love Hypothesis.

Thank you Ali Hazelwood for such an amazing book. I absolutely cannot wait for what you write next.

I will update with the link when I share to my bookstagram account.

WOW! As someone who has never read fanfiction in their life, the fact that this was influenced and brought up in that world really did not persuade or deter me. I thought this book was warm and cozy. The characters were well built out. I do get frustrated with the miscommunication trope occasionally and find myself screaming 'JUST TELL EACH OTHER THE TRUTH!!' pretty frequently, but it did not change how much I loved this love story.

5/5 Stars all. day. long.

In order to convince her best friend that she’s over her ex, Olive tells Ahn she’s on a date. But when it looks like Olive will be caught at the biology lab instead of on a date, she grabs the closest guy and kisses him. For better or worse, that guy happens to be Adam Carlsen, hotshot biology professor. Olive worries things will blow up and is pleasantly surprised that Adam is willing to go along with the charade.

The Love Hypothesis is an utterly delightful fake relationship romance featuring an adorable, geeky couple. I’ll just put this out there: Adam and Olive are meant to be. I enjoyed how they navigated their awkward chemistry and Olive’s over-analysis of her feelings. The story is shared completed from Olive’s (3rd person) POV. It causes the reader to rely on Olive’s assessment of situations and allows the author to suppress a few details that give more of a bang when they surface later in the story.

Set at Stanford University, The Love Hypothesis involves a third year PhD candidate and a slightly older professor in the same department. There is a potential for power imbalance, and the author doesn’t brush over the possible issues, yet never crosses the line into predator/prey territory. The characters smartly acknowledge the risks and address the situation appropriately. It’s also interesting and fun to witness the different reactions from each student, professor, and colleague to the news of their relationship.

It’s hard to put into words what precisely makes this such a wonderful story, but it’s all the little details. I loved watching Olive experience attraction and desire for the first time. I adored the quiet moments Olive and Adam share as they get to know one another. I appreciated the outward awkwardness of their attraction. The story was so engrossing because I genuinely wanted to see Olive and Adam succeed, both professionally and personally. And I appreciate that it’s not all sunshine and roses. Olive has to confront her feelings and make some difficult professional decisions. My heart ached for both as they navigated their way to an HEA.

In the end, I absolutely loved The Love Hypothesis. I adored Adam and Olive. I loved their genuine hearts and how they take the chance to find love. And I absolutely love the science. Overall, The Love Hypothesis is a feel-good story; reading it felt so cozy and comforting, even thought it also broke my heart at times.

My Rating: A

Thank you Penguin Random House International for the gifted review copy!

Let me explain to you why this book is a blessing. First, we have our women in STEM. We need more stories like this. I need more stories like this (I'm sure STEM majors will agree). Second, the fake dating + grumpy/sunshine tropes. I don't think it can get more perfect than that combination. Olive and Adam were so sweet together. He's almost always grouchy (except with her) and she's the most upbeat human being to walk the earth. I genuinely love these two so much. There was so much banter and bickering and I was there for every minute of it. They were just the softest together and it was all exactly what I was looking for. I'll admit, I hardly ever pick up romances. They've never really been my thing but this was everything I wanted it to be. It actually got me motivated to read more romance now. I was enjoying it so much and I never wanted it to end. It officially lives in my mind rent-free.

Olive was so sweet and uplifting I honestly adored her. I loved her little quirks and how she genuinely brought the best out of everyone. Adam was what I was expecting but also...not? I loved seeing him fall in love with her. I was rooting for these two from the beginning! *Sigh* This book was everything I wanted and more. I really need to find more books to fill the gap that this left behind. I'm definitely looking forward to reading what Ali Hazelwood writes next!

Happy Pub Day to The Love Hypothesis! I finished it over the weekend and I absolutely loved it! I think it will definitely be one of the best romances I read this year. Do not sit on this one folks!

As someone who is not into science at all, I was not sure how I would feel about this book, but I need not worry because it completely blew me away. It is a slow burn workplace/fake dating romance and has a little bit of steam! I got a lot of Big Bang Theory vibes which is one of my favorite shows. Olive is such a lovable character and I loved seeing her tackle discrimination and harassment against women and POC in STEM fields and Adam is…well let’s just say he is my new book boyfriend! He is the type of brooding Mr. Darcy-type hero that I just swoon over. My only complaint is that I wish it would have been dual perspective, but Ali Hazelwood does a great job of letting us see little instances where Adam shows a different side of himself so it worked.

If you are a fan of contemporary romances, but want to read one that is a little unique, you HAVE to read The Love Hypothesis! I also listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend it!

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance, Netgalley, and Berit Talks Books for the gifted copy and to PRH Audio for the ALC! All opinions are my own. #berkleybuddyreads #berkleywritesstrongwomen

Thank you, Penguin Random House for providing the review copy of this book!

Once again, I have been captured by a book. I believe I’ll be blabbering about this non stop and see me (on twitter!) recommending this to every reader who wanted a recommendation. Ali Hazelwood wrote a very funny, cute, and oh-so-hot and romantic book. If you wanna smile by yourself reading, better get started on this one! I couldn’t recommend it enough!

Twenty-six year old Olive is on her third year of graduate studies and is pushing her friend Anh to date a guy she previously dated. No issues with her because she’s totally moved on from him with no issues at all but her friend Anh is very hesitant because of girl code and she finds that Olive still has feelings for Jeremy even though she doesn’t. One night she lied about going on a date and as she sees Anh approaching the lab. Olive kissed Adam (without his consent!) just to show Anh that there’s really no harm if Anh started dating Jeremy. This is where the fake-dating started. Olive proposed the agreement - to show Anh that it was okay to date Jeremy, that she’s fine; and Adam agreed to help her because he sees that being in a fake-relationship it might help him unfreeze his funds for his study. The two began fake-dating and without knowing, Olive began to develop feelings for Adam. And I don’t want to spoil you so better get reading the book. ;)

This utterly fantastic, funny, and romantic book really just did me a huge favor. I picked this one up because people were reading it and the reviews and recommendations were flooding and I just had to read it, I said. So I did!

It was a little awkward at first because it was told on a third person perspective (TPP) but that’s fine, it wasn’t a huge problem. I forgot I have read several books with TPP. I had a problem once with second person perspective but I managed. It was just really awkward. Just really.

I have read and heard rumors that this was a fan-fiction of ReyLo (yes, Kylo Ren and Rey) but I have not confirmed that. I wasn’t really sure who was ReyLo at first and found out they were characters from Star Wars and I’m sorry to say this, but I have not watched a single franchise of the series. So I asked my friend Google “who’s ReyLo?”. And I have seen images. And honestly, they are the spitting images of the characters of this book. Description-wise, they really are. So fans out there, go read this. Right this instant. Go get a copy.

Considering this is a Rom-Com, we’ll see a lot of funny stuff and hot stuff like abs, and good Lord, I’ll never look at sunscreen the same thing again. There is also a little drama about thirty percent of it but I won’t say it here. Hot topic! See women and discrimination.

Olive’s character has a way to bond with the readers. You’ll see her everyday in your class, the one who is smart but doesn’t know it. She’s witty and fun and kind to her friends. I absolutely love her character and how she progresses throughout the story. She may be a little irritable but she’s fine.

And Adam, super hot, sullen, antagonistic, and unapproachable Adam with the eight-pack abs, was also a common faculty you encounter on your uni days or even grad school days (minus the abs!). I love him to bits despite how his students see him. Everything was explained why he acted antagonistic in the eye of his students. When he got comfortable with Olive, he was just so lovable. It melted my heart. Teehee~

There are still a few more characters like Anh (I personally see my friend from her), Malcom (love him to bits! He’s my bestfriend), Holden (he’s just so nice but can be insufferable most of the time), Jeremy (never cared), and Tom (ugh).

Buy seriously, though, I totally relate. I work in the laboratory but I’m no research person. I just do the processing of samples (PCR was a very familiar term since I do it a lot and Western Blot was a term I knew but never worked with).

It was also mentioned that STEM was overpopulated with men — this was a seriously real scenario. I rarely see women in the research area. Whenever I attend a symposium two or three out of ten presenters are women the rest are men. So I really was happy about Anh wanting to represent women in academia.

The story’s setting, the academia, was a familiar place for me. I am as well cornered in the scientific world, torn between choosing to work as a Lab Scientist or pursue graduate studies. It’s scary but I still want to do it, I just can’t find the perfect time. I’m weak and I still think so little of me. I needed the confidence boost. LOL. But honestly, it’s hard balancing work and studying. I’m stuck to working in the lab for now, considering the pandemic were in.

Content-wise, it was a fresh and a really fun read. If I needed a good laugh or just wanted to revisit uni days, I would definitely read this again. Overall, Ali wrote a book based on the familiar grounds she’s in and I love it! I had a good laugh and I found the first few parts of the book really cute. I couldn’t stop it. And I can’t believe it! Ali is a professor and pursuing a Ph.D. in Neuroscience! You smart ass! ;)

Do me a favor and read this book.