The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Synopsis: Olive, a PhD candidate, needs to convince her best friend that she’s over her ex and clear the path for their happily ever after. What better way to do this than by kissing the first man she sees? Rather awkwardly this man turns out to be Professor Adam Carlson, tall, dark, brooding, and by all accounts a complete ass.
Nikki says:
I really needed a nice, light, ‘low risk’ read to start the year, and although I would never normally go for something like this, I already had The Love Hypothesis on my shelf and had been seeing it everywhere, so thought I’d go for it. Well, less than 24 hours later and I’d totally devoured it. It was cheesy, and cliched, and cute, but all utterly delightfully so. It was even a tad spicy, surprisingly so for such sweet story.
The story follows Olive, a PhD candidate, who needs to convince her best friend that she’s over her ex and clear the path for their happily ever after. What better way to do this than by kissing the first man she sees? Rather awkwardly this man turns out to be Professor Adam Carlson, tall, dark, brooding, and by all accounts a complete asshole. Somehow, rather than reporting her, Adam ends up agreeing to ‘fake date’ Olive and the pair are somewhat forced into lots of cute, funny social situations.
I loved the awkwardness between Olive and Adam, it balanced humour and the sexual tension really well. I also loved how 'real' some of the situations were. I think all women, not just women in STEM can probably relate to the challenges of being taken seriously or even achieving in male dominated environments and I think Ali Hazelwood handled those situations really well. The spicy scene was also written quite realistically, with both Adam and Olive a little unsure and nervous - though I know others didn't like this.
This would be a great romance for fantasy readers wanting to dip their toe in the genre as there was more than one occasion when it felt as though Adam had wandered in brooding, straight from the pages of something like Kingdom of the Wicked, or Zodiac Academy.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Standalone
Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine | 'One Bed' | Fake Dating | Forced Proximity