I really enjoyed this book! The main characters were incredible together, and lovely individually as well. Sometimes in these types of books the science can feel overdone or overwhelming - not that I'm a scientist at ALL - but it felt right with the storyline and I loved watching the characters' careers progress as well.

This book was excellent. All the fun and happiness that I want from a romance. There will be multiple re-reads of this book in the future. I honestly have held off on writing the review because I don't think I can do this book justice. It is that good.

I'm always a sucker for fake-dating tropes and having one be a grump that is surprisingly nice and the other being bouncy, energetic make the trope even better. The thing is, other stories can do that. But this story adds in an academica setting, with SMART people, who are yeah, a little bit awkward. The mix just creates perfection.

Again, I can't say enough good things about the book, but I can't wait to see what Ali writes next. She is an amazing author.

To get her best friend to not feel guilty about dating her ex-boyfriend, Olive kisses the first guy she sees in front of Anh. Said person turns out to be the arrogant, fails everyone, grumpy professor, Dr. Adam Carlsen. Enter: fake dating arrangement. To get the research committee to believe Carlsen isn’t a flight risk and to attain his frozen research funds, he wants to show the faculty that he’s in a committed relationship. Win, win. Right?

OH HOW I LOVED IT! The science wasn’t at all overwhelming, overbearing, but all the details that were sprinkled throughout were perfectly placed. The STEM heroine in this was amazing, and easily relatable, and the brooding, grumpy hero with the heart of gold was just the perfect compliment. I couldn’t get enough of Olive and Adam, and their friends were a hoot, too. AND, the hypotheses at the beginning of every chapter were fun and on point with the theme of the book.

Reylo vibes in a contemporary academia setting- I’m here for it! I loved the self-aware use of romcom tropes and the banter between the main characters. The supporting cast was fun too- loved best-friend Anh’s energy especially. I appreciated the author’s attention to the challenges women can face in STEM fields, as well as how hard academia can be as a career path. The romance was super adorable and I loved the little hypotheses that started each chapter.

Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read that kept me engaged the whole time!

4.5 Stars

AHEM. *pulls out bullhorn* ATTENTION ALL SLOW BURN ROMANCE LOVERS - you're going to want to read this book. Yes, I'm talking to you Mariana Zapata fans, Elena Armas fans. Just sayin'. Also, it won't hurt if you're a lover of Reylo, because....yeah. The romance Force is strong with this, y'all and I read it in one day.

Olive Smith, a grad student working on her PhD in STEM (cancer research), spontaneously kisses Adam Dri.....I mean, Adam Carlsen, professor at Stanford to fool her best friend Anh, into thinking that it's ok to date Olive's not-so-serious ex. *blinks* Just go with it. Thus begins the fake-dating destined to turn into real love and yes, romance happens. I loved that it focuses on a STEM heroine, that the setting isn't just fluff but genuinely part of the entire narrative. The teasing UST builds and builds until you're ready to just smush these two together. The reasons they have to fake-date are thin like gossamer, but it works for this tale. Olive is kind of deliberately oblivious bit of sunshine, Adam is a stone cold grumpy grump who only softens for her, and I'm a complete sucker for this type of romance. Ms. Hazelwood does enjoy dangling the carrot, but when it finally happens, I was chomping on that carrot like Bugs Bunny.

The story is told through Olive's eyes in the third person and keeps a sense of intimacy while allowing the reader to see clearly what Olive is deliberately blinding herself to. I loved the little hypothesis at the beginning of each chapter, and while it was easy to see where things would end up, it's the journey that kept me turning the page all through the night.

I really enjoyed it and I'll be keeping an eye out for more books from Ms. Hazelwood. I don't hesitate to recommend it.

I love a <i>good</i> fake dating trope. I adore it actually. It was all kinds of wonderful in a perfectly paced book of nerdy science stuff and awkward beginnings of not only a fake relationship but a relationship in general.

This book offered everything you want in a romance. It was funny, sweet, a lil' saucy ;), and all around so satisfying. Adam is a rude, anti-social asshole of professor and Olive is an unsure but dedicated student, trying to make a difference with her research on a cure for pancreatic cancer. Neither of them has a real reason to be around the other, except their love of science lands them in the same place. After a split-second decision, Olive goes from knowing Adam from afar to having her lips on his in an attempt to push her best friend Anh into the arms of an ex that Olive didn't care too much for. Suddenly, the two are swept up into dating rumours and find a reason that having everyone believe they were fake dating would benefit them.

These two were so awkward. The scheduled dates and weird small talk at first just made me giggle a little every time. The more they pushed their conversations, the more we got to see their banter shine through and WOW DID I LOVE IT. Adam and Olive were such smart asses and it was so entertaining to see them thrive in their smart ass-ery.

I loved Olive acknowledging the rom-com trope they were living. She kinda breaks that fourth wall a little and we just love to see it. I didn't think I'd be sitting here telling anyone that I loved a romance book about two scientists but here I am. I am here telling you. Pay attention.

The Love Hypothesis was so incredibly enjoyable. I finished the book and I immediately went back and reread the parts that I liked because Adam was offering up so much GOLD. TIME AFTER TIME HE NAILED IT. HE UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT!!

Already a highlight of my reading year. Great introduction to a new to me author. Enjoyable story and wonderfully sweet characters, yes, even our grumpy Professor.

This is a light and fun romance. Dedicated scientist and researcher spends all her time in the lab but when her friend does a surprise visit olive must show her she has another love interest so her good friend will not feel guilty dating Olives ex boyfriend, so she spontaneously kisses lab guru Adam that happens to be standing in the hallway. And thus begins a silly but cute “fake relationship “ between Adam and Olive. You can see where this is going, fake turns into sparks!

"The Love Hypothesis" was a really enjoyable romantic comedy. I loved the character of Olive and her experience in academia and a STEM field rang true and makes her more of an unusual heroine. The "meet cute" is hilarious and fans of the fake dating trope in romance will enjoy this.

Review posted on GoodReads (Posted on May 26th, 2021)
Review Linked.

3.5/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review.

I was super excited to read this book because I have heard nothing but amazing things from other readers who got early copies of this romance. This book was fun! For me, I think I liked the book the more and more that it went on. I did really love the two main characters, Adam and Olive. I also loved seeing two academic characters and I loved how interesting the romance was.

For me, this book was good, but not amazing. Like I said, I think I enjoyed the romance the more and more it went on, but there were some times where I felt like the plot got a bit lost. I also would have loved a bit more from the romance towards the beginning of the book.

If you love adult romance and love academics and science then this is the book for you! It was super fun and cute to read.

Thanks for reading!
Caden

3.5

i’m a sucker for just about every trope we get here; i appreciated how the characters poked fun at them as they appeared. that being said, they kinda started to weigh me down about two-thirds of the way through. in general, i hate when the third act conflict/bottoming out of the lead couple in a book can be obviously avoided, and hazelwood does a great job here of not making olive and adam seem too daft. not my favorite book, but the characters (especially malcolm) really salvaged things for me.

#netgalley

Emily’s Rating: 5 Stars

@rosebuds.reads here, doing a guest review for Erin (@asthebookends)

This book. This book was absolute perfection, and I’m struggling to find the right words to properly express how much I loved it! I’ll start by saying I literally could not keep myself from smiling for almost the entire story, and my face hurt by the end of the books from how much I was laughing. I can never resist a good fake dating to lovers stories, and The Love Hypothesis did not disappoint in any way. The banter was whip smart, and so entirely hilarious. The grump and sunshine slow burn was AGONY, but the payoff was for sure one of the BEST I have ever read in a romance.

The longing and pinning between the main characters was written expertly. Adam is honestly so drool worthy, and one of my favorite “I hate everyone but you” characters I have ever read. Olive was just the most adorkable girl ever, and so relatable! I really love a clumsy, awkward heroine. I also really loved the demisexual rep, and thought it was done beautifully. The arc and growth of both Adam and Olive was amazing, I loved watching them grow both as people and together as a couple. I don’t have a single complaint about this book, and I encourage every single romance fan to give it a try!

I liked this one. I thought it was great to see a women in STEM realizing her feelings and working through them while still working on herself and what she wanted to accomplish in life.
A cute fake dating, strong female lead romance.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Me reading The Love Hypothesis: I'm reading Adam Driver fanfic. I'm reading Adam Driver fanfic. I'M READING ADAM DRIVER FANFIC.

Annnd I was okay with it. I know it's suppose to be Reylo fanfic, but Olive is not Rey. That's not to say I didn't enjoy her character, I did, but I did want to scream at her for being so obtuse. But all that unnecessary angst does leads to their happy every after ending. It was a fun and quick read.

Wow.... This book is everything I need in a romcom. The fake dating trope is one of my favorites, and Ali Hazelwood hits its out of the park with this one. The representation of women in STEM was fantastic and eye opening, as well as the main character being demisexual. I have never come across a character who I identify more with in a romance novel more than I have with Olive. Will be recommending this one for sure.

This book checked all of my boxes and was an absolute joy to read. It was adorkably wonderful and gave my heart all the flutters and swoops that I love to feel. The Love Hypothesis combined so many of my favorite tropes like fake dating, "I hate everyone but you", slow burn enemies to friends to lovers, etc, and leaned into them so perfectly. All the pining and longing had my heart beating so fast and every loaded glance and near touch had me swooning. I'm always a sucker for those thoughtful little gestures and gifts that slowly add up, and The Love Hypothesis had them in spades. I adored Adam and Olive and their chemistry and the build up between them was so well done. I nearly combusted when things finally boiled over *bites fist* and I'm honestly still fanning myself. I loved all the aspects of their friendship and relationship because they connected on so many levels. The banter between them, as well as all their friends, was hilarious and I laughed so hard. I loved that they all gave as good as they got.

In addition to loving Olive and Adam, I adored the secondary characters just as much (well, besides a certain "good friend", but even he played his role so vilely). Anh and Malcolm are the ride or dies that we all want and need in our lives. Their found family was a highlight of the book for sure. The Love Hypothesis is definitely one of my favorite reads of 2021 (and ever!) and I can't wait to read what Ali Hazelwood writes next!

CW: cancer, death of parent, bullying, sexual harassment

*I voluntarily read an advance review copy of this book*

I knew I was going to love this but I don’t think I expected this to be a new all time favourite.

first of all, the fact that (I’m pretty sure) this is reylo fanfic is enough for me to be head over heels. I won’t get too much into that but our hero’s name is Adam and he’s a grump and he’s got black hair and he’s tall...

Anyway this book has an insane amount of charm. Our protagonist, Olive, is extremely likable and relatable. She’s so easy to root for because she has a passion and she works hard for that passion.

The chemistry between Adam and Olive is genuinely so palpable and the origins of their meeting/meet-cute makes me nearly tear up it’s so cute.

There’s so many tropes that this book tackles in such an amazing way. Yearning, fake-dating, shared hotel room, etc...
there was a slight bit of miscommunication and a moment where I wanted to strangle both of them HOWEVER it was very short lived and also extremely understandable.

I just love this book so much. I love both of our protagonists and their hopes and dreams and everything about them. Also, there are such amazing side characters with fantastic personalities who also have passions and dreams and getting to know them was also a treat.

I feel extremely blessed to have gotten an e-arc of this book as it was one of my most anticipated releases of the year!
If you love contemporary romance you MUST add this to your tbr’s. (I don’t give out 5 stars lightly and this was a 5 star read for me.)

Thank you to penguin random house and NetGalley for the e-arc!

One of the best romances I've read this year. I love that it's about women in STEM, and both Olive and Adam are definitely characters you can enthusiastically root for. It's slow burn, and so well done, that I pretty much read this in one sitting. I was hooked from the first chapter up to the last. Highly recommend!

THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS!

Phew. Y’all. This book was INCREDIBLE. Oh my god. I was hooked from the beginning!!!!

The book follows Olive, a lab student (who is totally kick ass and amazing) and when she purposely / accidentally kisses the first person she sees in the hallway (who happens to be Dr. Adam Carlsen, the unapproachable professor who every grad student is terrified of) to help her friend, it sets off one of the best fake dating relationships I’ve read!

Olive is a woman in STEM, which is amazing to read about (even if you’re clueless about science like I am!). She’s wicked smart, funny, thoughtful and just all around a very likable character.

Her fake relationship with Adam is perfect. There are hilariously uncomfortable moments. There is good conversation and confusing feelings. And Adam? Yeah he’s probably my new book boyfriend, I’m not even going to lie. Grumpy, brilliant, considerate, hot and funny? Sign. Me. Up.

The chemistry between Olive and Adam is off the charts. They have their tender moments...but the steam is A M A Z I N G.

I honestly had no clue what direction the book was going and I was turning the pages so fast to see WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. I loved the twists and turns.

I love that this book plays off of other romance tropes (THERE ARE TWO BEDS) and pokes fun at them!

Ugh. 5/5 stars. I’d give it more if I could. Will absolutely be purchasing this book when it’s released. I’m a huge fan. Congrats on the wonderful book, Ali!!

Thank you for the opportunity for this e-ARC!

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood was everything I was hoping for and more. I absolutely adore fake relationship troupes, so this book definitely hit all the right notes for me. I love the awkwardness of Olive and Adam and how the other characters interacting with them kept pushing them into silly and awkward situations that furthered the sexual tension.

Highly recommend this book and will be purchasing it for our library.

Thank you, Netgalley for allowing me to read this arc.