4.5/5 stars!

This book was absolutely adorable and I read it all in one sitting. This book encompasses a lot of great tropes- fake dating, slow burn workplace romance, shared hotel room and so much more. I really enjoyed the characters, especially the women in STEM!! I had so much fun reading this book and I cannot recommend this book enough. The perfect butterfly romance to get you out of reading slump!!

I loved everything about this book! SO! MUCH! SWOON! Olive is such a delightful little science nerd, and I loved serious, socially awkward Adam so freaking much. The yearning and pining, oh it is delicious. The fake dating, a beloved trope so excellently executed. I could not put this book down, and then had the biggest hangover when it was done. This is just a perfect romance as far as I'm concerned. I can't wait to read it all over again, because this is definitely one I'll need to revisit.

***4.5 STARS***

Romance in academia has never been so sweet! When I saw THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS's premise, I was immediately curious about the backdrop (Stanford's Biology department) and characters (Olive, a 3rd year PhD candidate and Adam, a renowned computational biologist). Olive is your typical romance heroine with flaws, imperfections, and plenty of awkward moments. Adam is your typical romance hero with a cold front that's actually pretty warm and squishy once you get past his walls. Despite these cliche foundations, Hazelwood writes likable characters that you can't help but support and cheer on as they continue their journey both as researchers and lovers.

The premise: fake dating ensues when Olive convinces Adam to pretend to be in a relationship with her so that her friend, Anh, doesn't feel bad dating a guy (Jeremy) that Olive went on a couple of dates with. Weirdly convoluted and definitely requiring a suspension of belief, but hey, it gets the job in setting our characters together. Romance books tend to focus on sports, mafia, business, and all types of aggressive backdrops, which is why I was charmed by THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS being set in academia and seeing Olive's interactions with her cohort and other professors.

Olive is a great character. She's not a perfect one, and sometimes I was annoyed at her in the story, but it was wonderful seeing her learn, grow, and mature as a person. She has the ever-present imposter syndrome of PhD students, especially being a woman in STEM, but has a supportive cast of friends that keep her grounded. Adam's notorious attitude as a harsh researcher gets torn down as we learn the origins of his frigidity and the abusive pushes that he himself once experienced. While at first they seem like fire and ice (especially with Olive's awkward rambles and Adam's intense stares), they actually complement each other real well and have lots of great banter.

Other than the playful romance (that gets pretty sexy later on), I really enjoyed the secondary plot of Olive trying to find a new lab for the upcoming year because her current advisor is retiring. She luckily manages to find a lab at Harvard with a well-known researcher, but all is not what it seems. With this secondary plotline, Hazelwood explores not only the abuse and toxicity found in academia, but also the challenges that women face in a gate-kept community of old(er) white men. In some parts of the story my heart went out to Olive and the burdens placed on her shoulder. However, she stands as a dependable character, and with wonderful support from her friends and loved ones, comes out stronger.

As a romance book, THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS delivers with a quirky cast (despite cliche romcom premises and a reader's need to push past awkward moments), and as a book about Olive's growth, we also see a lonely woman bloom into her role as a researcher. To be honest, I was live-reading this book with my partner who's a second year PhD student and we had quite a bit of discussion around the scenarios that Hazelwood wrote out. He's not one to read romance like me, but it was nice to have this book as a bridge between my reading interests and his own academic background, especially regarding the issues that Olive faces. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS and would recommend it for any romcom reader that's looking for a refreshing backdrop!

CW: attempted sexual assault (towards MC), misogynist remarks, death of parent (from cancer), power abuse from a superior (mentioned)

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I completely FLEW through this book. I was so entrapped by Olive and Adam's story that I couldn't bear to put it down. I love rom com's like no other, but this one was a complete home run.

This book gave us so much of the slow burn/it's fake but they both don't want it to be love, but hidden between the pages was also a palimpsest of an inspiring ode to women in STEM. The "frills" went deeper, showing that this book was a highly versatile weatherproof dress dressed up as a well beloved trope. The characters were relatable, lovable, DYNAMIC, and oh so subtly spicy. And let me tell you, at the end we get a line from Adam that I'm still thinking about in the light of day.

It was such a pleasure to read this book and I'm already thinking about soon it is acceptable to re-read. I absolutely cannot wait to see what comes next from Ali Hazelwood, as this book was an absolute delight to read.

I'm gonna call it right now, The Love Hypothesis is going to be my favorite debut of the year. I actually cannot believe this is a debut novel. Ali Hazelwood writes like a seasoned author and I seriously loved this one. It was nerdy in the best way, adorable, steamy, and a heck of a lot of fun!

Olive is a Ph.D candidate who doesn't have the time or energy to date. But to appease her best friend, she needs it to appear she is. The most unlikely fake-boyfriend she can think of is who she ends up kissing. The young professor with the reputation of being a hardass, Adam Carlsen.

This was seriously one of the most fun fake-dating books I've read in a while and I loved the spin this author put on it. Olive cracked me up with all of her fake dating knowledge, the 'one bed' line was one of my favorites of the book.

The banter, the humor, the romance, this one just had everything I loved all tied up in a fantastic slow burn romance. Adam was exactly the kind of grumpy hero I love and Olive was a wonderful heroine. I have a feeling The Love Hypothesis will be making a lot of people's top favorites list this year and I can't recommend it enough! This is a must read, friends!!

I was so excited when I was approved for this book on Netgalley that I immediately downloaded and read it. Romance is that genre where I can binge the book in a couple days or even one sitting if I'm really hooked. The Love Hypothesis was one of them, so I finished it right before bed.

I love any book with an academic setting, but what I really enjoyed about this one was the commentary on the faults and rigors of grad school. While I'm not in grad school right now--though I plan on applying in the future--I am a college student interested in going into academia and The Love Hypothesis really reflects the qualms I've heard friends make of it.

Olive, the main character, was super relatable. She was always super awkward and a bit unsure of herself at times, but she didn't let other people walk all over her either. She was funny, earnest, and smart. I adored her friends, especially her female best friend. Adam as a love interest was great, though I really wish this book included his perspective because Olive had the tendency to jump to conclusions that really slowed down the real relationship. I also just wish I could read him pining hard for her firsthand. This book does have some pretty steamy scenes, one in particular had me blushing a lot, so that was really fun.

Overall, I can;t believe that this was a debut novel! I will definitely be reading Ali Hazelwood's future books!

Fake dating? Inspired by Reylo? Just go ahead and take all of my money, Ali Hazelwood. In all seriousness, The Love Hypothesis is charming, sexy, and filled to the brim with fun, relatable characters that you won’t want to let go of on the last page.

I love novels that are inspired by Star Wars. One of my favorites, the Bloodright Trilogy, is inspired by the non-canon relationship between Finn and Poe, and now I can add a new favorite to my shelf with The Love Hypothesis because it takes three of my favorite relationships from the Sequel Era and has given them the love stories that they deserved.

If you have spent any amount of time reading Reylo fanfics on AO3, then you will be familiar with some of the characteristics that Hazelwood has given her characters. Dr. Adam Carlsen is a broody jackass who is Jewish and raised by somewhat absent parents who were diplomats abroad. Olive Smith is a bright young Ph.D. candidate working to find a cure for pancreatic cancer which stole her mother and her childhood from her. She’s constantly eating and has underlying trauma from her time in foster care. She is also almost explicitly demisexual, which shocked me to my bones to see in a rom-com style story.

Unlike some romance novels that seem unaware of their origins, The Love Hypothesis is filled with tropes and is completely self-aware of them. To the point that Olive is even convinced that she and Adam will end up in a single-bed hotel room when they find themselves having to room together at a conference. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s get into why this story is just delightful.

One night, while working late in the lab instead of being out on a date, Olive spots her best friend Anh (who happens to be interested in Olive’s ex Jeremy) and decides it would be a good idea to kiss the first set of lips she happens to find. Those lips? Belong to a certain well-known jackass named Dr. Adam Carlsen. A quick-thinking kiss sends Olive and Adam headfirst into a mutually beneficial fake-dating scenario. Olive’s bestie feels comfortable pursuing a relationship with Jeremy and Dr. Carlsen seems settled enough at Stanford that the school might unfreeze his funding.

Of course, what would a rom-com be without misunderstandings, easily resolved conflict, and real feelings involved? There was a point near the end of the book, when it felt like Olive and Adam were falling apart, where Hazelwood actually had me tearing up at two in the morning, like I was binge reading a fanfic. But those emotions are to-be-expected with this type of book. You have to put readers through the wringer, before giving them the satisfying happily ever after. What was I not expecting? Smut.

The first two-thirds of the book is fairly vanilla, which is not a critique. They’re fake dating and not in a real relationship. Why would they be getting freaky? I was expecting a sweet fade to black when the pair finally sealed the deal and I was wholly unprepared for The Love Hypothesis to have one of the most steamy and erotic love scenes I have read all year. And I read the entirety of Ice Planet Barbarians this year.

The Love Hypothesis is a brilliant novel, jampacked with delicious tropes, badass women in STEM, steamy romance, amusing shenanigans, well-rounded characters, comeuppance for bad guys, and so much heart. I look forward to reading everything Ali Hazelwood gifts readers with in the future.

I knew I wanted to read this book after I read the author's bio on social media. It was so quirky and fun and I just had a feeling the voice would translate to the book. Then came the adorable cover. And then came the advance reviews and buzz. ALL WORTH IT. My goodness, it was delightful! I crushed so hard on the author’s charming and quirky writing style as well as Adam, the very tall and brooding love interest. This slow burn romance was so absolutely delicious and touching. The sex scenes while steamy served to advance Olive and Adam's relationship and move the story forward in a very impressive way. The dialogue was masterful; never stilted. The novel managed to touch on deep issues including cancer, loss of a parent, and sexual harassment without being SAD. Finally, I appreciated the demisexual representation even though the author never actually used the label.

SWOON-WORTHY
I did not expect to love this book as much as I did but wow did I. I want to read 100 books about the adorable Olive and Adam.

The fake dating trope is one of my favorite and Ali Hazelwood did it so well. I could see Olive fall in love with Adam throughout the course of the book and it was so cute I felt like squealing with joy at some points. My favorite part was the evolution of them being friends before becoming romantically involved.
Olive is also a highly relatable protagonist. Even if I am not a scientist or even close, I could relate to her determination in her field as well as her anxiety over getting involved with Adam. And Adam is a lead character worth fawning over.

My main, and probably only, dislike with this book was I felt the ending was anticlimatic. I wanted a more definitive declaration of love from Adam. I just needed one longer final conversation between Adam and Olive that clearly laid out their feelings for each other.

But other than that small thing, this is an absolutely adorable book.

I could not put this down. It's been a while since I've read a book that I was willing to compromise sleep for but there was something really addictive about this story. I'm giving it four stars because there were some characters I didn't really like and a lot of moments that I wish were more organic or natural but overall it was a lot of fun. I also loved finding out about the Star Wars ties!

This is the STEM romance I have been waiting for. I love how each chapter begins with a hypothesis. It's really cute and fits so well with the theme of the book.

The science jokes. The statistics jokes. This book made me laugh out loud so frequently that my family made me read in another room. I am absolutely the audience for this book, but I think you will love it even if you don't regularly tell your own statistics jokes.

Adam and Olive are amazing. I was worried that I would feel weird about a relationship between a professor and student, but it didn't strike as uncomfortable for me at all. The book clearly addresses that he has no power over her career and addresses consent well. I alternated between which of the two I loved most. They are both so driven and smart. He is such a grump, but in totally relatable ways. And she brings out the best in him.

The book tackles some real issues about power and working conditions for graduate students. It was so clear as I read that Ali Hazelwood really knows and understands academia. I was utterly unsurprised to learn that she recently became a professor.

I wish I could read this again for the first time. I will absolutely be reading it again. And I will read all future books from Ali Hazelwood as well.

Thank you so much to Berkley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

Okay so…. It’s a fake dating book - it’s conflict is pretty predictable for the genre but it does do a couple things really well:

1) Both our heroes have friends and support outside of the relationship which are treated with respect, which you don’t see a lot.
2) It also has the “the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one” dynamic, but unlike in a lot of the stories with this dynamic the heroine wrestles with how the hero treats other people compared to her.
3) They work to explain why the hero is coming across as grumpy and honestly I DO respect it a little

This book is an eye-opening look into the world of academia & it was a delightful read. Relatable & likeable characters; funny, sweet and everything you want it a book. I could not put it down. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

This book is like having a cup of coffee with a batch of warm cookies on a cold rainy day, while snuggled up next to the fire. It’s basically the best thing since sliced bread; no, I’m not kidding or being hyperbolic. This has to be one of my absolute favorite romanced, and one of the only romances I’ve given 5 stars.

The writing style is easy to fly through, the pacing is perfectly done, and the 3rd car scene was absolutely flawlessly executed.

The Love Hypothesis is a refreshing adult romance that will leave you speechless from the first page to the last

5/5 ⭐️
1.5 🌶

✨Main Tropes✨
- Fake Dating
- Opposite Attract
- Only nice to their love interest
- Slow Burn

✨Review✨
Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for giving an ARC of this book.
I've read this book in one sitting. It should tell you enough to know that this book is worth every minute of your time. This is the first book I have read from the author and, hopefully, it won't be the last. This is a contemporary romcom about scientists who decide to enter a fake relationship for different personal reasons. Adam and Olive couldn't be more different, yet couldn't be made more for each other. Just like the Ying and the Yang or sweet and sour, they're opposite but they also make one.
Adam is an arrogant, broody, mean hotshot professor everyone fear on campus and Olive is this bubbly, overthinking Ph.D. candidate with a lot of talent.

The Love Hypothesis will leave you fuzzy, warm with tons of butterflies in your belly. You will keep wanting more

The banter between the two main characters never made me felt more single in my entire life. It was funny, it used many scientific references, yet it was easy to understand. It was adorable, it was just... everything.

I wouldn't say that this book is spicy. It's definitely a slow burn romance with tension. However, the sexy scenes where quite detailed. Also, Hazelwood brought a new perspective to spicy scenes, one that I have never encountered before. She was able to convey the emotions and the actions of the characters in such a realistic way. It was not easy, there was a lot of communication about each others' need and wants. It was very refreshing.

I personally had some difficulties with reading the book at the 3rd POV that focuses solely on Olive, I had to reread some passages a few times, but nothing too major. I wished I could have read more about Adam's inner feelings. However, those are my personal feelings toward the book, therefore, they will not change my final rating of the book.

Overall, it was such a fun read, it will make you giggles, you laugh and smile the whole book. It will give you butterfly and make you feel soooo single. It is a comfort read that I believe everyone will enjoy. I can't to see what this author has more to offer.

This was the slow burn of my dreams, a heady mix of humor, sharpness, and heart. I adored the dynamics, the quick pace, and the perfect implementation of the sunshine/grumpy trope! Truly so much fun and so tender!

I absolutely loved this book, usually I think teacher and student relationships are badly written based on the fact that sometimes authors give all the control to the man/teacher which can make the story a bit toxic. But Ali hazelwood made Adam the perfect combination of bad boy and caring. There was never a dull moment in this book and I really enjoyed reading about Olive and Adam!
5/5 stars

When you combine a strong, independent women who works in STEM, with a broody, Kylo Ren look alike that will have you craving more of their quirky romance...

For those whom have been following my reviews, y'all know that I am always hesitant to start a new author. Especially a debut author whom's writing is something that I have to get acquainted with. However, Ali Hazelwood has out done herself. I should not be surprised since Berkley Romance always has the best releases and they simple just know their audience completely. With that being said, Adam and Olive have taken a toll around my heart and mind to falling in love with them and their "fake" trop romance. Their first interaction is my ideal type of "cute meet" that we all romance lovers will instantly fall for and just obsess with. The rom-com appeal to this novel is also one that will seriously attract you right away.

A quirky independent STEM female student is introduced to a broody academia mentor that has no facial expressions, and is broody and just absolutely addicting to the reader. Their fake relationship starts off as a way of convenience. A convenience for both Olive and Adam. While helping each other out, Olive realizes that her "fake" emotions are not so fake after all. And the risk of Adam finding out is not something she is willing to take. But Olive will never be able to have enough of the way that Adam is. No matter how broody he may be towards everyone, he is not towards Olive;
"Maybe it was the words, or maybe the tone. Maybe it was the way he'd just told her something about himself, or how he'd taken her hand earlier and saved her from her misery. Her knight in black armor..."

With time, and the obstacles that come in the way of Olive's future research towards pancreatic cancer, she knows that it's not an easy route to take. But with the help of Adam and of course, her very well independent smart self and the courage and confidence of striving to get the answers she needs, Olive shows us that being a women in STEM is a beauty to read and know more of. And when Adam finally puts his walls down and expresses his true feelings towards Olive, it's one heck of a story fo just adore and simply fall for.

I am looking forward to see what else Ali has up her sleeves. I can see this turning into a series, I wish it could be for Holden and Malcum because who doesn't like a good MM romance, am I right? But either way, I am beyond excited to see what else Ali has for us romance lovers.

Fantastic fake-dating romance between two brilliant biologists

Olive Smith is a 26-year-old Canadian who is a brilliant, third-year Ph.D. candidate in biology, with a focus on genetics. Adam Carlsen is a 34-year-old, world-renowned biologist who is a tenured professor in the biology department at Olive’s university, Stanford. Olive has seen Adam around the biology department and near the department laboratories plenty of times over the past two-plus years, and she’s heard horror stories from fellow grad students, including her very good friend and roommate Malcolm, about how hard Adam is on any Ph.D. candidate unlucky enough to be assigned to Adam as an advisor. In particular, Adam forced Malcolm to throw out tons of data and redo half his dissertation study a few months ago, and Malcolm totally resents Adam. But Olive herself has never gotten to know Adam personally until the night she panics and kisses the first man she runs into outside the biology labs.

Olive is desperately trying to convince her BFF and fellow biology Ph.D. candidate, Anh, that Olive has no romantic interest in a mutual friend and fellow biology Ph.D. candidate, Jeremy, whom Olive went out with a few times. Anh is crazy about Jeremy, and it is obvious Jeremy returns the sentiment in full. But if Olive doesn’t convince Anh she is dating someone else, due to Anh’s loyalty to the “girl code,” she will refuse to date Jeremy. Which is where The Kiss comes in. Olive has lied and told Anh she is on a date that fateful night, and when Anh is about to catch her in the middle of her lie, hanging out alone in the hallway outside the biology labs rather than out with a guy, Olive rushes up to the first man anywhere around and, without really looking at him—because her anxious focus is on Anh—she simply murmurs in his ear as she flings her arms around him, “Can I please kiss you?” before laying her lips on his.

On the plus side, it turns out to be a wonderful kiss. On the major, minus side, she is shocked to discover that the person she has manhandled is none other than Adam Carlsen. Amazingly, though, instead of acting like the heartless robot she has been led to believe Adam is, he is the opposite of offended at her effrontery—which he has every right to be. He actually volunteers to be Olive’s fake boyfriend in order to help her convince Anh that Olive has no designs on Jeremy. And when Olive says she feels guilty having him do such a big favor for her, he tells her that the department head is sitting on grant funding that Adam needs for a major research project because of a suspicion that Adam will be heading out to greener academic pastures in the near future. Having a seemingly serious girlfriend right here at Stanford will increase Adam’s chances of getting those funds released.

And thus begins the adventure of Olive’s life, fake dating Adam Carlsen. Who just so happens to be handsome, athletic and ripped, on top of all his endless academic honors.

How do I love this book? Let me count the ways:

I love that it involves two STEM geniuses falling in love, one of my all-time favorite type of romance protagonists.
I love that both Olive and Adam are socially maladjusted introverts.
I love that both of them has a BFF who is absolutely wonderful and who strongly contributes to the story.
I love that as a romantic comedy, the humor comes from witty verbal volleys between Olive and Adam rather than pratfalls.
I love that both Olive and Adam are fit and athletic and honestly earn the attractive bodies that are an expected part of every romance novel.
I love that this is a “slow burn” novel with no sex until almost the very end of the book, and that this sex is extremely emotional and caring rather than a crude description of heaving body parts.
I love that the romantic conflict, and conflict in an important subplot, arises out of how honorable and loyal both Olive and Adam are, and never because of thoughtlessness or immaturity.

As is typical for mainstream, adult romance novels, this one is written in close, third-person, past tense. What is not usual is that it is written solely from Olive’s point of view. Normally I dislike when authors make that choice, but in this case, it makes a lot of sense for this particular plot, because a great deal of the romantic tension and forward motion of the plot would be lost if the reader were subject to Adam’s thoughts about Olive. By keeping his thoughts a mystery from the reader as much as from Olive, it causes Adam’s motivation in helping Olive to be very slowly revealed across the whole length of the book and actually adds to the reader’s vicarious identification with Olive’s rocky journey to love.

All in all, this is one of the very best romances, and definitely the very best romantic comedy, that I have read in years. I am sure I will revisit it many times in the future, and I greatly look forward to listening to the audiobook version of this novel when it is released.

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5 stars
Hero: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 5 stars
Setting: 5 stars
Romance Plot: 5 stars
Academic Villainy Subplot: 5 stars
Writing: 5 stars
Overall: 5 stars

First book I've read by this author- will be bringing it into the store to hand sell to customers for sure. Delightful rom com that is just what I (and lots of others) have been wanting to read lately. Well written and just fun