The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | BOOK REVIEW
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When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman’s carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.
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.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | BOOK REVIEW
THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS BY ALI HAZELWOOD
BOOK REVIEW
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
WOW, what a book!!!! It was amazing, a brilliant debut novel and one of the BEST romances I read in a very long time. And one of my rare FIVE STAR BOOKS of 2021. Also I rarely have felt so protective of characters as I do about Olive and Adam. I love them to pieces. And hope you’ll love them too.
So, let’s get to it:
If you love fake relationships you’ll love it, it’s one of the best I’ve read so far.
If you love women in STEM, and great STEM representation – you need to read it!
And if you like me adore the sunshine/grump trope – you are going to fall in love with Olive and Adam.
And last but not least, if you loved The Kiss Quotient your are really going to enjoy THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS.
This book was everything I love about a romance. It was refreshingly different, with an engaging plot and a wonderful supporting cast as well as two main characters that pulled on my heartstrings.
I’m a HUGE fan of characters that are different, and I loved that Olive and Adam weren’t your run-of-the-mill couple. They were both scientists at heart, and both were personalities that had a hard time making new friends. And I loved that when their friendship grew into more their connecting became visceral, palpable. It hit me right where it counted. Also I think I was grinning for most of the book.
There were so many amazing scenes between them. Olive teasing, Adam being grumpy, but also totally wrapped around her finger. The back and forth between them was priceless. The banter. The humor. The friends. This book had it all!!
And OMG the sex scenes, which weren’t many, but the few were AMAZING!!!! Absolutely beautifully done, hot, sexy, and sizzling. I think I caught myself reading with an open mouth, they were this sensual.
It’s not easy to put all these feelings into words.
There aren’t many romances that really surprise me anymore. And with that I mean that romances with unique characters and a different kind of story are rare. Many romances fizzle out, this one did not. I also loved that the author took a popular trope but put her own spin to it. And that she really committed to the science background. She did an amazing job with it, and it was obvious she knew what she was talking about. And even though I always expected the other shoe to drop, thankfully the author did an absolutely fantastic job with the climax.
Moreover the novel had great LBGTQ and BIPOC representation!!!
FIVE STARS
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The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | BOOK REVIEW
Normally I would skip over books like this because you probably know how I feel about these covers….but man it has all the stuff I love in a contemporary romance. So I am going to add it to my GR list. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this one.
Can’t wait for you to read it!! It was such an amazing book. Everything I love in a romance, and often unsuccessfully look for. I’m sure you’ll love or at least enjoy it 😀
okay I’m really regretting not requesting this now but I think it’s out soon anyway! great review. – H
OMG you will LOVE IT!!!!! I’m going to read it again when it’s released. Need to find out if I love it as much the second time around – lol
This sounds like a great book, but I’m not sure about the hot, steamy, sizzling love scenes. Wonderful review, Corina and you have me waffling on this one, I want to read it, but not sure about the steam.