The Love Hypothesis was nothing short of adorable! The characters, the story, the chemistry (both literal and figurative).... all of it! I love the relationships between the characters and the friendships they share. Olive is a female in STEM and her voice is so authentic because author, Ali Hazelwood is also... a female in STEM! Even if you're not science/mathematically minded (um, hello... that would be ME!) this book is still for you! I never felt bored or out of touch with the "shop talk" - Hazelwood does an excellent job of making the information accessible without "dumbing it down" for lack of a better term.

This is every rom-com/contemporary romance lover's dream book. It's equally parts steamy, swoon worthy, and hilarious! Olive is such a fun and unique character. She deals with the universal issues of anxiety, loneliness, and fear that we can all relate to - no matter our area of expertise. Adam is.... *sigh* just the right amount of strong and sweet, caring and compassionate, a modern day (brooding) Clark Kent if you will. ;-)

I requested this book after one of my favorite authors gushed about it on instagram, and I'm so glad I listened! I would have been sad to have missed out on Olive's story - it's quickly become a new favorite!
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

MY HEART IS SO HAPPY! Oh my goodness - let me start by saying the fake-dating trope is not my favorite. But holy cow - I WAS HOOKED INSTANTLY. This book has amazing chemistry, humor, sex, and does include my ultimate favorite trope of all time: ONE BED. I will be adding this to our library's collection and insisting that patrons check it out. Adam is my new favorite book boyfriend. ❤

I absolutely love this book! It was the first book I read with the fake dating trope and I'm in love. The tension between the characters is absolutely intriguing. I'm addicted!!!

I loved this book, there were some inconsistencies and it wasn't perfect, but it was super enjoyable. The banter between the main characters was solid and, even though I didn't understand most of the scientific terms, I didn't need to in order to thoroughly enjoy the plot and overall book itself.

Favorite romance of the year. Felt like I was walking back in time to grad school, except my experience did not have a meet-cute and love story that won me over.. I feel cheated by my real life.

Let me start off by saying I am a HUGE fan of the “fake dating”, “fake relationship”, really fake anything trope. It is one of my guilty pleasures. This book did such a great job at creating a fake relationship!
In this book you meet Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith. A twenty something year old woman who is a graduate student at Stanford. I really liked Olive’s personality. She is sweet and funny and would do anything for anyone. You don’t get a ton of background on her, except a little bit of information about her mother, which you’ll appreciate due to certain reasons. Olive wants her close friend Anh to date her ex-boyfriend Jeremy, and finds that the only way to get Anh to not feel guilty, is to pretend she is dating someone else. In comes our hero….
Adam Carlsen is a well-known scientist and professor at the school. He is known for being brutal and not holding back his opinion on student’s projects. After getting kissed out of no where by a graduate student (ahem, Olive), he is thrown into a fake dating spiral. While in the book Adam is very blunt and has a dry sense of humor, you see that he is much kinder to Olive. I love how he treats her and once again—his dry humor is everything! He is dark and brooding and well… that is another weakness of mine.
There are issues along the way, as the couple comes up with a plan on how to carry on their dating life style. Olive is frequently thrown into awkward moments with Adam due to Anh. And there is some drama, though not much in my opinion.
I really enjoyed this book. I was hoping we would get a little more background information on Adam and Olive, but it didn’t go too deep. The entire book is set around them being a student and a professor. There was also some steam—not much, but a chapter or two had me fanning myself a little.
This book is definitely going to be a comfort read for me. I think it is perfect if you’re wanting something a little bit lighter.

There's always hype about the next buzzy romance, but in the case of THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS, the hype is absolutely true. This geeky, funny, witty, heartfelt STEM romance feels fresh and familiar all at once, in the best ways possible. It's got so many delightful tropes: a grumpy/sunshine pairing, fake dating, a colorful cast of supporting characters - so much to love!

The plot itself isn't too complicated: to prove to her friend that she's over an ex, grad student Olive impulsively strikes up a fake-dating relationship with famously grumpy, reticent professor Adam. As they both struggle with unexpected obstacles in their research, they also wind up spending more time together and growing to like one another for real.

The dialogue is always witty and clever, perfect for a cast of characters who are far too smart for their own good. It's a romantic comedy, sure, but it also touches on very real and sometimes serious issues, which make the book all the more lived-in and real-feeling, especially for anyone who's ever set foot in academia. An absolute must-read (and re-read)!

Oh goodness. This book has everything! Women in STEM, fake dating, enemies to lovers, excellent diversity. I fell in love with this book and couldn't put it down!!

I cannot get enough of this book and Olive and Adam! I just want to take Olive home and be her family - that's how invested I was in her story. She is so relatable and I felt for her so much, cheering her on. I sped through this book so fast because I really cared what happened to Olive and Adam. It's so refreshing to read a romance set in academia, and to see the struggles Olive and her fellow grad students have to make a name for themselves. And Adam was the perfect counterpart to Olive. I love that he was despised by the students, yet shows a different side to Olive. She can see underneath the gruff, aggressively critical man to the one who is caring, thoughtful and kind. I highly recommend this engrossing romance and know it will leave you with a feel-good glow long after you turn the last page.

I LOVED this book! This is Ali Hazelwood’s debut novel and It was quirky and funny and amazing! This book was so funny I laughed in almost each chapter, Olive is a refreshing break that I needed from my normal heroines; she’s smart, (she is in year 3 of her Ph.D studies) witty and charmingly adorable. And Adam, there is something to be said about the moody, brooding , hot guy scientist who doesn’t know he’s not. There story was like any other, ‘a kiss turned into fake dating’ scenario but that’s where the similarities ended with other “fake dating” books. Everything from the reason behinds the fake dating, to the slow build of friendship, then more for the two, to an ending which I did not see coming. To me. The book is set in a world of academia and science and while there was maybe one, or two words I had to sound out, 😂 the science and academics play second fiddle to the romance. I am seriously inspired to switch careers, become a scientist, and find myself an Adam…. Except I don’t really like science that much, even for the potential hot guy😆. Awesome debut novel Ali! 5 ⭐️’s

A good friends let me borrow her physical ARC of The Love Hypothesis recently and I actually have no words. The only way I can describe how I felt after reading is to quote something from Ali Hazelwood’s acknowledgment page: ⁣
⁣
asgfgsfasdgfadg!!!!!⁣
⁣
Listen, I read a lot of contemporary romance. It’s my comfort genre, the one that got me into romance in the first place. And I can truly say I can’t remember the last time I read a debut, set in academia, that was this absolutely perfect. The setting, the characters, the storyline. P E R F E C T. ⁣
⁣
The Love Hypothesis gave me allllll the swoon, all the tension, all the fake dating turned real feelings perfection. On top of that, it had some of my other favorite tropes: grumpy/sunshine, and forced proximity?! Please and thank you! I cried at one point, I loved these characters so hard. I’m so grateful to my friend for letting me read her copy so that I could hug it. If any book deserves to be hugged, it’s this one. ⁣
⁣
I’ve always loved romances set in college settings, but so rarely are they about characters getting graduate degrees. While I didn’t go as far as my Ph.D (...yet) I recognized so many of the feelings and thoughts Olive had. There’s something so relatable and real about her graduate experience. Olive and Adam are both so passionate about their research, this story is the ultimate in competency porn! I didn’t realize how badly I needed a STEM romance with a Ph.D candidate heroine until now. ⁣
⁣
It should be known after I saw so many reviews mentioning the cover looking like Reylo, I could only picture Adam Driver as Adam Carlsen, and I definitely wasn’t mad at it! From the prologue I was sucked into their world at Stanford and it was everything I wanted and more. I love a grumpy, yet swoony, hero and Adam Carlsen fit this so well. He’s cranky to almost everyone, except Olive, and I loved it. ⁣
⁣
I loved how Hazelwood made it clear that Adam had no control over Olive’s Ph.D and that they were in different departments. There were implications to them fake dating, but he didn’t hold power over her. I need more romances like this set in academia immediately please! ⁣
⁣
The Love Hypothesis is a slow burn. Sure Olive and Adam kiss in the first chapter, but as relative strangers. But holy wow when the steam hits! Hazelwood can write some damn good steamy scenes.
⁣
If I could give The Love Hypothesis a million stars I would. Love, love, loved.
⁣
CW: Death of a parent, cancer, sexual harassment⁣

I loved this book! I could not put it down, staying up way too late finishing it. I will be purchasing this book for my library. Faking dating stories always catch my attention and this one was a fun one. SO cute!

Hands down my favorite read of 2021. The Love Hypothesis is charming and sexy and incorporates some of the best romcom tropes in the most amazing tongue-in-cheek way. The pacing is deliciously perfect and the payoff isn't rushed. Do not pass this one up!

The Love Hypothesis is everything you would want from a romance— an instantly likable and relatable MC, a handsome, broody love interest, hilariously witty banter, and tons of chemistry between Olive and Adam. The author does a wonderful job in setting this light-hearted romance against the backdrop of the issues faced by women in STEM, making it richer and more balanced than your typical love story. I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this delicious, entertaining read!

THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS is hilariously pokes fun at academia while also shining a light on the not so glamourous parts in this fake dating romcom. I loved the witty banter and STEM humor between kind/tired/impoverished PhD candidate Olive and her grumpy unapproachable hero/esteemed faculty member, Adam. Through the course of their fake relationship, we get to see Olive experiences the initial consequences of their fake relationship as one of the few women in her department and and how she is treated differently from peers and faculty that I felt was so honest.

The chemistry between Olive and Adam is *chefs kiss* so perfect.

I loved this book so much. I highly recommend it, without reservation.

A delightful read that also addressed some heavy topics facing some of today’s biggest issues. I could not put this down!

Thank you to Berkley & NetGalley for the advance review copy—all opinions are my own! Full review to come closer to Pub Day, September 14, 2021. For now...

This was a lovable, funny, banter-loaded RomCom that unabashedly embraced its STEM in academia setting with humor, playfulness, and tender honesty. Olive was thoroughly likable, her backstory incredibly sympathetic, and her character arc was deeply satisfying. Because this is single POV, we don’t see much of Adam’s interiority, especially because he’s very reserved through the first 50% of the book, but I still enjoyed watching him open up and show his super-soft-spot for Olive.

Chock full of fake dating shenanigans, this also features cute meta-aware nods to RomCom tropes, spot-on Star Wars references, and delightfully quirky characters who felt like friends by the time I read THE END. I can’t wait to see what Ali gives us next!

CW: parental death - cancer (in the past, off-page), sexual harassment in the workplace (on page), portrayal/discussions of social anxiety.

I was absolutely squeeling with delight the first 2/3 of this book, but then it took a turn. I was worried about the age/power differences in this book, but I think the author handled it really well. I also loved the discussions of consent and Adam and Olive had the most amazing chemistry.

My issues started with the steamy scenes. Adam seemed to turn into an entirely different person during those scenes and then seemed off the rest of the book. The ending was also a bit abrupt and I would have liked some more conclusion.

This book is an addictively charming escape! I loved the chemistry between Adam and Olive, Olive's passion for science, and being immersed in the world of academia. Reading this book feels like eating chocolate (sorry Adam!) cake--sweet, rich, and delicious. I laughed, felt for Olive, and couldn't help but smile as I breezed through this delightful rom-com.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I will post my review on Goodreads and TikTok closer to the publication date.

Rep: Demisexual MC, mlm side relationship, Vietnemese best friend, tall women rep.

I have been on a romance binge and I have to say that this book caught my eye because of the cover. It’s very much giving me Reylo vibes, and with the love interests name being Adam my suspicions were only heightened. Naturally, I did some digging to discover that the author, Ali Hazelwood, is a popular Reylo fanfic author and this book is the rework of an earlier fan ficition she wrote. I truly love that for us all.

Now onto the review, there’s no better way to say it - this book was simply a joy to read. I found myself laughing, audibly I might add, and smiling throughout. I adored our quirky, and widely intelligent Olive and our broody, and deeply caring Adam. The side characters were great too, adding a lot of richness and drama to the story.

While it is never explicitly stated that Olive is demisexual, the author paints the pictures with the questions and thoughts she has Olive reiterate to us. This was refreshing to see as this is not an identity I see often in books. As someone who wants to go back to school for a graduate degree I gobbled up Olive’s PhD experience. I think it’s important to showcase the highs and lows of higher education to give people a realistic picture. That’s why, although sexual assault is a difficult topic, it really highlighted the power imbalances that reside, even within academia.

I don’t know if it’s simply the fact that in most of the romances I’ve read recently I’ve gotten to see into the minds of both of the love interests, but getting a couple chapters from Adam’s point-of-view would have really elevated this novel. Olive had a strong voice and she vividly recounts her situation, but Adam is elusive and Hazelwood teases us with all of his looks and gestures. I guess what I’m really trying to say is that I loved Adam, his character was well developed and his actions were explained and justified without the author telling us every minute detail. However, sometimes when you grow attached to a character you simply desire to know a bit more about them, to see a situation through their eyes.

This love story made me feel good and even though I’m not the big fan of the miscommunication trope I feel like it made sense in this novel. It never felt like Hazelwood was adding drama or causing problems for the sake of it, every action felt intentional and aided in character development and plot progression. This is a story I can feel myself going back to time and time again and I can’t wait to read more of Hazelwood’s fiction works.