Weird premise and setup that felt forced, but there were some genuine moments in parts. Started to unravel a little at the end, but then it’s always a good possibility in these kinds of books. Worth reading in the right moment.

Pleasantly surprised by this delightful ead. The student teacher romance is a red flag, but this story manages to skirt around the issues therein. It's a fun romp in academia. Main character is smart and funny, and the plot ticks along. A fun breezy read.

Trigger warning: Sexual harassment, sex & sexism

OH, MY LORD! I LOVED THIS BOOK!
The growth in friendship and chemistry between Olive and Adam was perfect and right at each level of their relationship, and the fluff was just as fangirl worthy as the spice was. While I love fictional characters, I never want them to be unrelatable. A cast of characters make the story, and I honestly loved all the unique, relatable, and adorable characters and side characters. They weren't just plotting devices; they had their own stories.
The author also touched and addressed how difficult STEM really is for women and how even in this fast-paced world with high stakes in the future of science, women still have to worry about sexual harassment and being seen as lesser with their world and the importance of more women in stem and a support system.
Plus, awkward sex with communication and learning what your partner liked and doesn't is literally god tier in books!

Bonus: I knew the covered reminded me of something, and I realized why it's Kylo and Rey! This is almost an au, and I am obsessed!

Omg did I love this! Helen Hoang meets Mariana Zapata (high praise in my book) in this academia-centered slow burn rom com that was the cutest thing ever. The pacing? Perfect. The banter? Perfect. The tropes? Perfect. The sex? Perfect. Sigh. I can’t express how much I loved Olive and Adam.

This follows a Ph.D. student (women in STEM, don’t ya know!) who stumbles into a fake dating situation with a professor and obviously falls in love. I honestly adored every second of this book. The relationship was paced so well and I fell in love with both characters so fast that I was swooning along with them. Amazing representation on all accounts, the industry, sexuality, race, societal issues, gender norms without it ever feeling heavy handed. This is easily one of my top books of the year and I can’t wait for it to come out so I can stare at it lovingly on my shelf!

Out of all of the romance novels I have recently read, this one takes the cake. It totally blew me away. Perhaps it is because I too went to graduate school for medical adjacent research, but this took me right back to academia.

This take on the fake dating trope was well crafted and everything I could have hoped for in a book. It was a quick and heartwarming read and didn’t include excess fluff. I can’t wait to write about this closer to pub day!

What a refreshing and darling love story! Olive is a graduate student at Stanford who finds herself in a fake relationship with Dr. Adam Carlsen. The writing is witty and charming and I loved the slow burn romance and fake dating aspects. The themes of women in STEM, an academia setting, and discussions of science/research make this book a stand out romance! I was completely engaged in the story from the first page; these characters had off the charts chemistry. Do yourself a favor and read this one immediately! Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, I started out really liking this book. I really did. It had a good plot. But then there was something that was turning me off. I think it was Olive and her personality. It was quirky and cute at first, but as time went on, it because old and annoying for me.

It was a cute-isn story.

Was I conned into reading a Reylo fanfic?

Before this revelation, I enjoyed this book. It involves fake dating in the science field. The male character is supportive, and you can feel his yearning for the female character even though the book is told entirely through her perspective. The female character is smart and loyal to her friends. The book deals with issues regarding being a woman in a male-dominated field.

This was a perfect romance.

Then I read the author's acknowledgments, saying that the author writes Reylo fanfiction, and I couldn't stop seeing the parallels. The male character is named Adam, possibly after Adam Driver. The cover does look like Kylo Ren and Rey kissing. The thing is, I hate the Kylo Ren character. Hate that whinny white boy sociopathic character who loves mind-raping people. So looking back at this book, I keep on thinking, is this how his fangirls view him? Is this how they view his relationship with Rey? She's sunshine and light, and he's dark and broody with perfect abs (which means that his fans are blind because he doesn't have perfect abs. His body in that scene reminded me of Star Trek era William Shatner. This is not a compliment.)? I feel unclean and must scrub my Kindle of this book.

I didn't think it was fair that my hatred for Reylo should affect the rating I gave the book, so I took off only one star. I will be avoiding this author's work from now on, though, which is a shame.

Review based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

Thank you to Berkley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Olive kisses someone when her friend And spots her. Moving on is the only way to convince her to date Jeremy, a guy Olive went on a date with. But it turns out it's Dr. Adam Carlsen, the 'ass ' of the program. But fake dating might be the way to fix both of the problems.

AHHHH I could just scream about this book! I love the fake dating trope, and Adam is such a grumpy cinnamon roll!!!! I love the dynamic between him and Olive, it was fantastic!

I also liked the subtle-not-so-subtle demi-sexual rep as well as the women in STEM. An overall amazing read!!!

The Love Hypothesis is an absolutely delightful, laugh-out-loud book full of witty banter, endearing characters, and all the deliciousness inherent in a slow-burn romance that…WOW, when it ignites, scorches the page.

5 very enthusiastic stars for this one!

I thought this was fun and really enjoyed the writing style but ultimately I only liked this book and didn't love it. The plot contrivances were a little TOO contrived for me (and I have a pretty low bar because I love fake dating so much) and I didn't feel like I truly connected to the characters. I was happy to read about them and liked the STEM/academia setting but it wasn't something I'd revisit or rave about.

Adorable plot, well fleshed out characters, loved the STEM connection and the discussion of women in STEM! Also it has my favorite trope: fake dating turning into real feelings!

Thanks to this book for finally getting me out of a reading slump. I haven't been able to read a book in a while, but this book completely drew me in. I was initially interested in this book because of the cover and some positive reviews I had seen, and I am super happy that I gave it a try. I love a good romance, and Olive and Adam's romance was great. There was so much angst and tension, but they also had so much chemistry together from the very beginning. I loved every interaction between them. There is more to this book than just the romance, though. There were a lot of important topics covered in this book, such as grief, being a woman in academia, especially STEM, and sexual harassment. I really felt for both Olive and Adam and the more difficult parts of life they have had to face. I just really loved both of them as individuals, and I loved them even more as a couple. This story was so great, and I can't wait to read more from Ali Hazelwood in the future.

THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS is utterly chaotic, very romantic, and a simmering Bunsen burner of love. This bewitching book stars a nerdy scientist, Olive Smith, who is beautiful, intelligent and mistrustful of men. Her bestie, Anh, along with other bestie Malcolm goad her into giving dating a chance. It's been a while, but Olive is busy perfecting her science experiments for her cure on pancreatic cancer as a third-year Ph.D candidate at Stanford. Romance is on the back burner, so to speak. Anh likes Olive's ex-boyfriend a lot, but won't date him, girl code thing. Olive assures her, she is dating someone, to get Anh to ask her ex out. When Anh walks by, Olive jumps and smooches the nearest dude, who just happens to be brainy, nasty professor, Adam Carlsen. What did she just do?

Hmm...Adam is mystified when Olive kisses him in the hallway but heck, she is really pretty. Olive privately asks him to pose as her boyfriend, to prove to her best friend she has a man in her life. Adam agrees to help her out. Olive thought it would be like pulling teeth, when he actually says yes. Could there be a soft side to tough, sarcastic, acerbic Professor Carlsen?

At a prestigious science conference, Olive's presentation is shanghaied, but Adam shocks her with his loyalty and influence. Time spent with him at the coffee shop each week is making Olive yearn for something more with the hunkalicious Professor. Likewise, Adam looks forward to spending time with lovely Olive each week. Collegiate colleagues encourage him towards a social life to boost his standing at Stanford, since he seeks funding on a special research project. Could it be these two crazy, cozy lovebirds are the perfect match?

Ms. Hazelwood pens a ravishing romance story in THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS. Wonderfully written and perfectly plotted with chaos aplenty! A cute girl haphazardly kisses a fire breathing dragon of a professor. Confusion ensues and there is love and laughter too. I loved everything about this book! It's dreamy, awe inspiring and very insightful. I learned a lot about the science community. Score a big one to Ms. Hazelwood on her intellectual prowess of scientific subjects. Loved Olive's best friends who offer support, loyalty and love. THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS oozes charm that leaves you with warm fuzzies inside!

Thank You Berkley Romance for an arc e-book in exchange for an honest review 🧬

What would you do to convince your bestie to date their crush?

Olive smith is a 3rd year PH.D. Candidate that doesn’t believe in relationships. Hooking up? Sure! Love? Not high on her priority list. But she does think her best friend should date a guy she went on one date with a long time ago. But knowing her bestie won’t date him because she did, she inputs herself in a fake relationship with the ever so lovely Adam Carlsen. Adam is a tough professor, and most students don’t like him, so why would he agree to a fake relationship with a student? & why is he so charming?

Olive & Adam are such unique nerdy couple and I loved them! I love how the story progresses Adam becomes more and more attractive, and we see how his past experiences shape him into the grumbly professor he becomes. I love that there’s LGBTQ representation in this story 🙌🏻 but I love how unique this book is. I think that reading so many romances, readers start looking for something different in romance, something to peak our interest and this book is IT!

This book was an utter DELIGHT. I devoured it in two days, and kept shirking my responsibilities to read. Funny and poignant and ridiculously sexy, THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS makes Ali Hazelwood is an auto-buy author for me from here on out.

AB;AIGDJAI;GKVDASG IT'S SO GOOD. I ran out of fingers to count the number of times I was literally screaming and texting my friends about this book. As a STEM babe, I felt everything Olive did. The impostor syndrome, the stress of grad school, you name it! Add in the hottie mchottie Adam who's just so delightfully surly and it's sheer perfection. So check your contact expiration dates and bake up some butterscotch cookies now, because you're not going to want to put this book down.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

What a sweetheart of a book, set in the ultimate romantic world of . . . academia?! Yes indeed.

Olive Smith is a bit of a mess but she is passionate and dedicated and is going to get that Ph.D. goddammit. While she's focused on getting to the next step in her research, she's been ignoring matters of the heart because who has time for that? But when she needs to convince her best pal that's she's definitely over her ex, she ends up kissing a hapless bystander, who happens to be none other than the forbidding yet brilliant young professor Dr. Adam Carlsen. Sunshine kisses grump.

A fake relationship ensues, and what I love about this book is that it doesn't squander that device. Yes, of course both parties must catch feelings and be unsure of the other's reciprocation, but before that I demand some hijinks, some bad lying, and awkward situations. This has all of that.

Author Ali Hazelwood may be in academia herself, but she clearly has a talent for lively writing beyond research papers. I appreciated the specificity of her characterizations, not just giving each person their apparent likes and dislikes, but also their own signature way of speaking that felt believable. There's great banter to be had, that made for a rather intense, slow-burn romance that leads to a very hot and satisfying sex scene. Not much is left off the page. And yet, I also felt the intensity of their emotions as well - much swoonworthiness is to be had all around.

The only tiny gripe is that it does feel very conventional. The leads are typically cishet and attractive. We see a bit of representation of gay side characters and one WOC who's into helping WOC in STEM. It feels a bit like lip service. I am happy with the very strong STEM and academia representation though. Not everyone in a rom-com can be a baker, bookstore owner or writer!

There are no real surprises (there's a slight reveal later in the book that we all could see coming) but that doesn't detract either. The beautiful writing elevates this conventional story into a very engaging romance. I will happily read future books by Hazelwood.

I read a lot of romance books and romcoms. And most of the time, they are corny, have insta love, and some ridiculously perfect main man who is 1000% the greatest, never makes a mistake, everyone in the world adores him. Most of these books I give 3, at most 4 stars for giving me a warm fuzzy feeling and not ever really thinking about it again.
And then, occasionally (maybe 2 a year) I come across one that is different. One I can't put down. One that every sentence brings a huge smile to my face, has me face palming, has me laughing out loud, has me up till 2 am. And THAT was this book for me.
From the prologue I was already laughing, already adoring the characters, already swept in. I will definitely be looking this author up. The slow burn of this story was fantastic. More books like this!

The Love Hypothesis is the fake romance set in academia that I didn't know I needed! Olive is PhD student pursuing a cure to early detection of pancreatic cancer and Adam is an infamously demanding professor. When a plan to convince her best friend that she's happily pursuing love goes awry, Adam and Olive end up in a charade that is flirty, but has an end date....or does it?

It was refreshing to have a heroine who is singularly focused on excelling in a profession dominated by men who finds a man who respects her intellect. The chemistry is on point in The Love Hypothesis!