Recent Reads: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood 

Series: The Love Hypothesis #1
Publisher: Berkley Books
Publication Date:  September 14, 2021

 

Format: Hardback
Source: From Book of the Month.

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

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.

Review: 

I have really been enjoying rom coms lately and this one was so wonderful. Nerdy, fake-relationship, academia focused – all swoon worthy in my opinion. 

The book follows Olive as she throws herself at an unsuspecting passerby in order to convince her friend that she is dating… and that unsuspecting person was actually the grumpiest Professor in her department. Lucky for Olive, he doesn’t immediately report her to the college, but instead agrees to go along with her fake relationship. 

Olive is such a good representation of a Ph. D candidate (I have worked with a lot of them in my roles in academia). She is all over the place, tight on funds, tired, and just trying to move through her program at a somewhat normal pace. She is in the lab a lot and students around her are all anxious about their own programs and research being completed. I really liked Olive, she was fun and funny.

Adam, the grumpy professor, is also wonderful. He is moody and mysterious, and apparently hot but since he is an ass, no one really likes him. Olive is impressed to find out that he can be tolerable, and their banter and her smart-ass comments are life in this read. I loved their relationship build up, it was amusing and swoon-y. Although this started as a fake relationship, Olive was true to herself and who she was the whole time. She kept it real with Adam and that was refreshing. Adam was oblivious to how curmudgeonly he was and being with Olive really pulled him out of his shell. 

Overall, this was a fun, spunky rom com with a little spice. I really loved this read.