The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

e-Audio, 11:08:00
Narrated by: Callie Dalton
Release Date: September 14, 2021
Published by: Penguin Random House Audio
Read from: September 3-7, 2021
Stand-alone
Source: Libro FM
TW: Non-consensual kiss, verbal sexual assault (on page)
For Readers Interested In: Contemporary Romance, Spice Level=2, Realistic Fiction, Women in STEM, One bed, Grumpy/ Sunshine, Meet Cute, Recommended, Fake Dating, Professor/Student, Adult

    As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.
     That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding…six-pack abs.
     Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

BETWEEN THE COVERS!
*This book is part of the new adult contemporary romance genre! It is more mature than YA. I have featured it in Between the Covers as a way to feature the few Adult and New Adult titles I am beginning to read!”

*MY THOUGHTS*

Ok so when I heard about this book, it was after everyone had read it and raved about it. So naturally I was intrigued. Everyone started recommending it left and right. So when I saw that Libro FM had it available for librarians, I HAD to get my hands on it.

Olive is trying to make sure her best friend is comfortable all while making herself uncomfortable. So she kisses the first man she sees. This turns out to be the professor that everyone can’t stand, Adam Carlsen. She’s floored when he says he’ll keep the secret and not out her to Anh. But suddenly, things start to feel different. She’s suddenly proving the influence of gravity where she’s falling for him. Is he following her lead? Or is she putting herself out there to get hurt?

Ok, after hearing so much of this, I was a little put off. I wasn’t sure about the professor/student troupe. I wasn’t a fan by the way it sounded. But I’m glad I gave it a shot. (I hate that saying lol So cliche. But it’s true) This book was everything. I liked the romance, I liked the smart talk banter, and believe it or not, I liked the instant way they just “fit” together. Normally I’m the first to scream about insta-love, but I think for the way it was written it was great.

The romance itself was great. I liked seeing the two of them together. I heard it was originally written as fanfic, but the fandom that it was written for I’ve never watched, but it didn’t take anything away from the story. Well honestly I wouldn’t know if it did lol But I don’t think it did. I think it was an extra layer of cuteness for those that have tho.

If you’ve seen this on TikTok as a spicy book, please be advised this is only a book with some spice in it lol It had its moment that made me blush. But it fit. Anything else wouldn’t have felt natural with a couple like this. Don’t get me wrong, the spicy events happened a couple of times, but they only “showed it” the one time. It wasn’t completely clean, but if you’re looking for a book that has minimal spicy times and more romance, this is the one for you.

The only reason I didn’t give it five stars like everyone else was the miscommunication troupe. I’m not a fan, and this one was no different. Everything could have been fixed with them talking to each other. I hate that in real life, so seeing it in books makes me angry too. But with everything else being so good, this stuck out like a sore thumb to me. It was so glaringly obvious that all they needed to do was talk so that they could be together, so they purposely didn’t lol Maybe it’s just me being picky since I hate this troupe, but ehh, I still loved it.

This was a solid read for me. Full of troupes and fanfiction I have no idea about and all, I really enjoyed it. Hoping to see more from Ali Hazelwood soon.

Overall, I give this