Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun friends to lovers romance. I loved the comfortable friendship between Lyric and Kian, but even from the first few pages you could feel the chemistry between them. The book got better in time…after an awkward start (in my opinion) with a random trip to Target with both MCs picking up a random stranger. The side characters were also interesting and done well.
Although this was a short book, I felt like it was done well, leaving no loose ends.

3.5 stars

Lyric and Kian are graduate students, roommates, and best friends. Lyric’s research is studying the Sizzle Paradox, gauging the connection between couples. She’s struggling to crack it for herself, and when Kian decides to help her, it starts our longtime friends-to-lovers storyline.

These two are clearly meant to be together and obviously resist it for the majority of the book. When they do finally get together, the circumstances are really well-written to make very cute scenes. I’m not quite sure why Lyric was struggling so much to finish her thesis and why she made some decisions that she did toward the end of the book. These parts were a little frustrating. Lyric and Kian’s lack of communication was also a little much because they were friends for so long and could read each other really well, until they became attracted to each other. This was a quick and cute read!

Read if you like:
- Going to Target with your besties
- Fake dating and friends-to-lovers tropes
- The graduate school setting

Thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin for the copy of this book.

Lily Menon knows how to bring the laughs and the romantic tension. This friends to lovers romance was a lot of fun. I like Menon's dialogue and humor so I found this book to be a lot fun, especially as this is one of my favorite tropes.

I liked this book! It was slow to start and I had some trouble buying into the world of the story - I go to Columbia, so every time something super specific was said about the area or the campus it threw me off a little. I thought the characters were well written and filled with depth, even the side characters. I did think the ending was a little rushed. What I liked most though was the way the two characters realized almost at the same time that they'd been in love the whole time. The miscommunication trope was done VERY well here, in a way that literally made me roll my eyes (this is good, I was super invested and wanted to shake them both by the shoulders).

Overall, I liked it and would recommend it to my friends.

I was provided an ARC of this book, courtesy of the publisher, thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I read it in a single sitting! Although the romance seemed a little spontaneous, I thought that was part of the fun of the story. Lyric is hilariously awkward at times and I found myself laughing out loud at her multiple times! Would highly recommend to anyone who wants a fun, romantic read!

I loved this book it was so cute and just the light romance I needed right now! The characters were charming even if sometimes they got on my nerves. Highly recommend this book if you love contemporary romance.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Read if you like:
✔️ Friends to lovers
✔️ Women in STEM
✔️ Fake dating
✔️ Academia storylines
✔️ The Love Hypothesis

I really liked this friends-to-lovers rom-com featuring another badass woman in STEM (shoutout to The Love Hypothesis). I finished it in a day!

Lyric is an overachiever in every way and, at just 24, is on track to receive her Ph.D. next year for her groundbreaking work on sexual chemistry. The only problem is that she's hit a block and can't bring herself to write a thesis centered on a love she's never experienced for herself. That's where her best friend, Kian, comes in. An attractive ladies' man who has no trouble in the romance department, Kian agrees to "tutor" Lyric so she can fine-tune her dating skills and find someone to whom she is both physically and emotionally connected. Unexpectedly (to Lyric and Kian only; everyone else saw it coming), the only man she develops feelings for is Kian.

The Sizzle Paradox alternates between Lyric's and Kian's perspectives, which I really enjoyed. It kept the story moving and kept me engaged. I'm not a scientist myself so I'm not sure how sound Lyric's theories are, but they seemed plausible enough. I don't know how she was so clueless about her own feelings given her field of study, but I was able to overlook it because the characters were endearing and funny and I just wanted them to figure it out and have their happily ever after. There is some family drama mixed into the storyline but it's not overly serious. I found it to be a fun, swoon-worthy read and would recommend it to any romance fans, but especially fans of The Love Hypothesis. There is a little bit of steam in this, but nothing too spicy. There was lots of chemistry though, which we got to see from both of their perspectives.

This is great! The chemistry felt real, the conflict wasn’t forced, and I love stories about women in STEM. Someone needs to run an fMRI on me after reading this because my oxytocin levels would be off the charts. I’m so glad that I got to read this, and I’ll be looking out for more from Lily Menon in the future.

This book is so cute, and really checked all the boxes for me! \

I absolutely loved that it was set in academia, with friends-to-lovers and dual POV! So much fun.
Readers also get a closer look into both of the main characters familial lives, which leads to having really well developed and multi-level characters!

I really can't recommend it enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a bit conflicted with how I feel about this one.

On the one hand, it definitely had sweet and romantic moments— I liked Kian and Lyric together as a couple, which is the primary goal of any romance.

On the other hand, there were strange narrative and plotting choices that kept taking me out of the story. This might be a personal preference, but one of my writing pet-peeves is head-hopping and multiple perspective shifts in a scene/chapter. Each chapter would ping-pong back and forth between Lyric and Kian so that readers would get a few paragraphs with Lyric, then a few paragraphs with Kian, then back to Lyric, and so on. It was a disorienting experience as a reader and definitely impacted my enjoyment of the overall story. I will also say that both Kian and Lyric read as younger than their years, and many of their choices seemed immature. Finally, this Romancelandia grad school definitely did not resemble my time in grad school. Researchers do not need to have personal experience with their research subjects in order to effectively understand it, so the whole premise for Lyric’s pressure to experience ‘The Sizzle Paradox’ personally did not make much sense to me. The text also used ‘thesis’ and ‘dissertation’ interchangeably, when those are two different papers (at least in these characters’ U.S. educational setting)— Master’s degrees have a thesis and doctoral degrees have a dissertation. Not the biggest deal, but it was emblematic to me of the way that this text didn’t seem to have a firm grasp on the academia setting.

I’m all for the recent movement of characters working in STEM fields, but this book is not my favorite of this new trend. Not terrible, but not a must-read either. 3 stars.

I received this book as an ARC on NetGalley. It’s so fun getting advanced copies of books! It makes me feel like a ✨book influencer✨😎

Lyric Bishop is on her final leg of her PhD research project. She is studying sexual and romantic chemistry and the exact combination that results in a long, happy relationship. She is stuck, though. How is she supposed to write about something she has no experience with? Sure, she’s dated, but she has never found a guy she feels equally sexually and romantically attracted to, and if she doesn’t crack the sizzle paradox for herself, her thesis will crash and burn.

Good thing her hot, environmental engineering PhD roomie/bestie is naturally talented with dating and is willing to help her. Lyric is an absolute disaster at dates. She’s awkward and nervous and it’s such a turn off. Kian Montgomery is a natural with sizzle, but not so much with the emotional intimacy. He’s going to help Lyric by taking her on some dating lessons, and she wants to help him find a lasting romantic relationship (which he is finally ready for). Can these two help each other find love, and subsequently crack the paradox?

This book sounded so cute, but when I read it, it just flopped for me. I can’t put my exact finger on it. It read as very immature—two doctoral students that can’t have a conversation about their feelings? Crying and getting incredibly emotional/making huge life decisions on a whim because of a lack of communication? It’s super cringe and I don’t like that.

Also, the main character’s name is LYRIC. Her sisters are all gemstones, so why not stick with it? The name was distracting itself.

Finally, the final love confession really was only half a page. Super underwhelming and just felt like I was watching a middle school relationship start. If I wanted that, I’d stand in the hallway outside my classroom. These two are almost the same age, in different fields, and already best friends. Nothing is holding them back. So WHY CAN’T YOU JUST TALK ABOUT IT? If your relationship conflict can be solved with a single conversation, it’s not a good one, imo. It was cute, but not my style. I don’t recommend, but give it a try!

I really enjoyed reading a contemporary romance about grad students. Something about them being in university but being older then undergrads made it a plot I really enjoyed and a relationship I could actually see working out.

I loved that Lyric's research was directly relevant to the plot, it really justified that the characters were grad students. Kian and Lyric were great characters with a great dynamic and a fun 'denial of feelings'.

I have no complaints about how this book resolved and would recommend to anyone who like the Love Hypothesis (amongst other books).

(4 stars)

Lyric Bishop needs to complete her thesis. Area of study: sexual chemistry and romance. The only problem? How can Lyric be considered an expert in her field if she can’t even figure out her dating life. The more she is emotionally connected to someone, the less sexual attraction, and vice versa. Lyric has deemed this “The Sizzle Paradox”. And how can she crack this paradox? Her best friend, Kian Montgomery, thinks he has the answer. He can tutor Lyric on dating while she can help him foster a long-term relationship. Nothing will go wrong as long as they follow the established rules…..*cough cough*

I really enjoyed this book! It was such a fresh take on the fake dating trope and was just incredibly cute. Lyric is definitely my spirit animal. Exhibit A: “I give him a mock salute because I am an awkward potato and this is what awkward potatoes do.” Lyric and Kian’s friendship was precious from the beginning and I really loved the way it progressed. This book was light and had many funny moments that made me laugh out loud. A definite must read for rom-com lovers!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Sizzle Paradox follows the MC Lyric who is a student completing a study that studies romantic partners and what determines their relationship success based on emotional and sexual chemistry. Lyric finds herself at a block, because she hasn't been successful in her own relationships. Her best friend and roommate is the super handsome Kian, who never enters committed relationships in fear of ending up like his father, yet is at a point in his life where he feels bored and like something is missing. Lyric thinks the solution to his problem is that he needs to date a different kind of girl, and Kian thinks he can teach Lyric how to have a successful relationship through some fake dating practice. Cue a friends to lovers romcom with a slow burn. 

This was my first Lily Menon book and overall, I thought it was a cute read. I love Lyric and Kian's friendship. They are so comfortable and supportive of each other in their equally strong, scientific careers. However, despite this close friendship they have overall terrible communication with each other when it counts. I also felt the ending of this book to be really rushed, to the point where I thought I missed something. I'd give it 3.5 stars. It's a fast, light read, but not my favorite. 

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

The sizzle paradox a friends to lovers story following Lyric who is studying sexual chemistry to find out what makes a successful long time partner but has her own trouble with dating when her best friend Kian who when it comes to dating doesn’t have these issues offers to help her end they begin fake dating, but lines get blurred along the way as they discover their feelings but thanks to some miscommunication things got a bit complicated. It was a fast and fun read, I loved the dual pov even though the ending felt a bit rushed but overall I still enjoyed the book. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Loved the characters relationship and how it all played out for them and for me it was a quick read that I really enjoyed.

I really wanted to like this. I’ve enjoyed Menon’s other books and know she can write an adorable rom-com. This book, unfortunately, missed the mark a bit. I fully wanted to sit Lyric and Kian in a room together to make them talk it out. It honestly got so frustrating that I couldn’t enjoy the book. I had a constant mild annoyance as well - the use of the phrase “doc student” grated on me. Unfortunately, I just didn’t love this book.

Ah, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Thank you to the publisher for letting me read it ahead of time!

Lyric is an experimental psychologist trying to prove her thesis regarding sexual psychology she has come up with, titled "The Sizzle Paradox" which she measures using "Sizzle Paradox Scale" or SPS. She's been unlucky in her life thus far and is having a hard time defending something she can't relate to on a personal level as both a person and a scientist. So her best friend and roommate of 6 years Kian offers to tutor her in the art of dating and seducing as he's pretty darn good at it.

As you can imagine, this is is one of the god-tier tropes of "fake dating" and it did NOT disappoint. Lyric and Kian's relationship is so stinkin' cute - they both value their friendship so much it seems abhorrent to them that they could ever work together - except no one else agrees.

I love reading about women in STEM and there are many books published recently or coming out soon that feature this. Woman can be sexy, funny, and succeed in the fields previously and stereotypically dominated by men. It also had a very good pace and I was able to finish this in one day! Definitely recommending to those who love all themes and tropes in this book.

The Sizzle Paradox by Lily Menon is about Lyric Bishop. She is studying sexual chemistry in romantic partners and what makes them work long-term. Lyric feels like a fraud because she struggles in her dating life to find this chemistry. To complete her doctoral thesis, Lyric must get firsthand experience at cracking the Sizzle Paradox. Lyric finds that the more attractive she finds the guy, the less she is able to form an emotional connection with them. She needs to know why, so she enlists the help of her roommate and best friend Kian Montgomery. Kian has no trouble finding this chemistry in his relationships, so he offers to “tutor” Lyric on dating tactics. Soon, the two best friends grow closer and they begin to question their relationship. They begin to wonder if they can really keep their feelings out of the picture.

This book has an interesting premise. Both Lyric and Kian are likeable, and I like how we get both of their perspectives.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book wasn't my cup of tea. I could not connect at all with Lyric. I honestly found her immature. Kian wasn't what I expected either. They both just did not act their age at all. It also felt like it took forever to get to the "Sizzle". I just could not get into this book. I liked the dual POV a lot, but it still wasn't enough.