The Love Hypothesis | Review

The Love Hypothesis Published by Berkley Books by Ali Hazelwood
on September 14, 2021
Genres: Academic, Adult, College, Contemporary, New Adult, Romance, Women's Fiction, Chick-Lit
Pages: 384
Source: Borrowed, Libby
Format: eBook
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram
Also by this author: Love on the Brain, Love, Theoretically , Bride
Find the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

ISBN: 0593336828
Rating:

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.

I read this book in fewer than 24 hours. I got a notification that it was available on Libby, downloaded it, and then proceeded to read the whole thing in one sitting. That is always indicative of a great read for me. One that I just cannot put down.

So it starts out with a fabulous meet-cute and then kind of just goes on from there in the same vein. Why? Because, Olive, a third-year Ph.D. candidate, is kind of crazy. Okay, not crazy so much as just the kind of girl who sometimes acts now and thinks later.

And that’s what she does when she’s put in a position to have a fake relationship. She just goes and kisses the first guy she sees… And it’s professor Adam Carlsen.

“Dr. Carlsen might have been a young academic rock star and biology’s wunderkind, but he was also mean and hypercritical…He was a notoriously moody, obnoxious, terrifying dick.

And Olive had just kissed him.”

Am I the only one that could feel the tension from that first kiss? No? Yes? Okay, moving on…

The “dick”, Adam Carlsen, surprises Olive by playing along with her ruse. And then from that point on, the story gets all kinds of yummy. With the two of them forced into the role of boyfriend/girlfriend–as you may gather–they get put into all these situations where they have to act the part. Funny, it never seems to be quite so difficult as one may expect…

“‘Are you okay?’ He said it looking into her eyes, in a low, intimate tone. Like they were alone. Like Anh was not there. He said it in a way that should have made Olive uncomfortable but didn’t. For some inexplicable reason his presence in the room soothed her, even though until a second ago she had been freaking out.”

It’s clear from the beginning that there’s so much more under the surface for these two than what either of them is eager to admit.

This was just such a sweet story with some serious spice thrown in, partway through. And that was a surprise, given how uptight that Adam seems throughout the book.

I will say that Adam’s continual support of Olive and the fact that he was such a hardass with everyone else just showed how much he cared about her from the beginning. He was always such a fan of hers–always believed in her.

“‘You are not mediocre, Olive. You were not invited to speak because people think that you are my girlfriend–there is no such thing…I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.'”

This book was such a fantastic read! I can’t wait to read more from this author. She mixes some academia with romance and humor–a perfect blend!

 

 

 

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