Fake dating, science, banter—I love to see it!!! The Love Hypothesis was supremely enjoyable in every respect, from the characterizations to the plot to the absolute dynamite dialogue. It was so much fun!

One of my favorite things about this was how Hazlewood played with tropes, calling them out on several occasions to a lovely humorous effect. Like when Olive and Adam need to share a room, Olive exasperatedly claims that even though she knows he booked a room with two double beds, she predicted that there would inevitably be only one bed! (I won't spoil whether that trope came to fruition or not)

Another really spectacular thing I loved is reading about a demi-sexual (although not explicitly so) character. It wasn't treated as weird that she needed to trust someone before she experienced sexual feelings. It just was!

Basically I loved this SO much!!

HOWEVER, Hazlewood and I differ in opinion on one very important point: Olive (and the author) claim that Tokyo Drift is the best Fast/Furious movie. That is absurd. I agree with Adam that the best one is Fast Five—an absolute banger that never disappoints!

a very cute and fast-paced romance that kept me entertained throughout the book! The main character and love interest were enjoyable to read about, and the ensemble cast were super funny!! There were moments that I was either laughing or smiling to, so I totally recommend this novel to any romance reader!!!! 4/5

Wow, this is the best book that I've read in 2021. Olive is a third year PhD student, struggling to get funding for her experiments and muddle through the hell of grad school. When her friend Anh wants to date one of Olive's exes, Olive does the rational thing: she kisses one of the professors in her program to make it seem like they're dating. Adam, Olive's fake boyfriend, surprisingly agrees to go along with Olive's fake dating plan to help his own image within his department, and shenanigans ensue. Olive and Adam's fake relationship quickly develops more depth than either of them anticipated, and they have to figure out if they have a chance at the real thing.
I am not exaggerating when I say that this is The Perfect Book. I laughed, I swooned, and I had to put this book down sometimes because I tried to read it as slowly as possible. I will be yelling about this book forever and counting down the days until I can buy a physical copy. If you wanna be happy, do yourself a favor and read this book!

I really loved this book! I really liked that the woman who wrote the book works in a STEM field. I felt like as she has worked in academia we got to see a true representation of what that world is really like. I loved the characters and the fake dating trope. It's also pretty steamy at points. I thought it was well written, well-paced, with interesting characters. I'm interested to read more from this author in the future! Highly recommend!

For anyone who has been caught between logic and love *raises hand.* THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS is a fast, fun romance in the STEM world, which means you get smile and feel smart at the same time. Ali Hazelwood is pure joy in author form, and her book is pure joy in book form. Highly recommend!

This was a cute read! I enjoyed the Academia backdrop for this love story. Plus, it had one of my fave tropes, fake dating. Olive was a very unique character with such a sad backstory. I really felt for her and wanted her to find happiness. I of course loved the brooding Adam. It didn’t hurt that he seemed based on Adam Driver to this reader. I loved their chemistry and interactions. The climatic part of the story had me seeing red due to one side character I hated. This one had me emotionally invested. It was a quick read and I’ll definitely read more from this author

I ADORED THIS BOOK. Read it in a day. The best rom-com I've read in a looooong time. Adam was just everything a romance reader wants in a hero - he is a modern day Darcy, swear to God - and Olive was real and human and I wanted to be her BFF. Fans of Christina Lauren will LOOOOOOOOOOOVE this book!!!

A fabulous debut novel full of sweetness and humor. The main characters were phenomenal. I look forward to more novels from Ali Hazelwood.

I just absolutely loved this book. I loved the honest representation of academia, and I loved seeing awesome women in STEM. Hazelwood writes with such a clear voice for Olive, and I laughed out loud multiple times. The dialogue crackles with wit and chemistry between the two characters, and the romance has so much tension! I can't wait for September when everyone can fall in love with this book!

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

In order to convince her best friend she’s not a forever singleton, ph.D candidate Olive fake dates the first man she sees, grumpy professor Adam.

Okay I loved everything about this book. In fact, I smiled the entire time reading and never wanted to put it down. It has all my fav things: a grumpy hero who is a secret softy, fake dating, and a little forced proximity. Here are just a few of the 45434 things I loved about it:

👩🏻‍🔬Both Olive and Adam’s characters were fleshed out so well, each with their own well developed backstories and motivations. I absolutely loved Olive and rooted for her the entire time.

👩🏻‍🔬The progression of the relationship from mere strangers (kind of) to lovers was so natural. Their chemistry was just so genuine and adorable. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough for more.

👩🏻‍🔬The banter was just so enjoyable!! I loved the comedic aspect. It was the perfect companion to some of the more serious topics covered (sexual assault, death of parent)

👩🏻‍🔬The cast of characters. I love when romances include friend groups. Each secondary character just oozed personality. Can I be in Olive’s friend group?

👩🏻‍🔬 THE STEAM 🔥🔥🔥 Ali can seriously write a steamy scene 🙌🏼🙌🏼

Thank you SO much to Berkley and Ali for this amazing ARC. Everyone must put this on their TBR!!!

This book is an utter delight from start to finish. It's got all the right tropes, most importantly fake dating and mutual pining. And it has all these sub-tropes that feel like every romance reader's wish-fulfillment/fan service dream. In the midst of that, we have a heroine in STEM navigating some pretty difficult parts of being a woman in a male-dominated scene. Then, there's a great and funny cast of side characters to round the story up. All of these make The Love Hypothesis compulsively readable (I read it in one sitting). A must for every romance shelf.

TW: loss of a loved one to cancer, sexual harassment.

I LOVED this book! Usually when you're in the mood for a basic romance you anticipate a quick beach read. Nothing too much, something easy and fun. "The Love Hypothesis" was so much more than I expected. Author Ali Hazelwood, (please write some more!!), created wonderful characters that you genuinely liked, cared about, and actually found yourself rooting for, She sets them in a realistic academic setting filled with the horrors of working towards a PhD and all the stresses that go with that endeavor. Our heroine Olive is not one for romance, no time, no interest, not to mention no confidence. Our hero Adam is a professor, brilliant, awkward, but in the tradition of true romance, he has a great set of abs! Abs aside, this is a man who took his gay best friend to the prom when that friend got dumped - you gotta love him. Bottom line, this is a delightful story, the good guys win - the bad guys get punished and it makes you physically smile. Fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC

CW: death of a parent (past), sexual harassment, bullying, cancer

Honestly, this has been my favorite read of the year so far. I would HIGHLY recommend you read if you enjoy (spoilers)

-m/f fake dating
-enemies level banter
-grump/sunshine
-meddling BFFs
-a piney, Henley wearing hero who can push cars like a champ
-only one room
-a frazzled PhD candidate with a pumpkin spice obsession
-so much banter
-coffee dates
-nerds falling in love

This is going to be a blathering mess because I adored this book so please prepare yourself. This book is a love letter to PhD students, scientists, and people with a passion. I adored Olive, completely relatable, with a heart of gold, and honestly what a good friend. Her entire purpose is to make sure her friend is happy and dating the person she wants to. I wanted to hug her and protect her from the world, not that she needed it. The secondary charters in this book are so well-rounded and added to the book. The writing sharp, and got right to the point because who do we want? Olive + Adam.

This is a relationship between a PhD candidate student and a teacher, who has no control over her and is not her advisor. It's addressed in the book throughout the implications of their relationship for both of them which I truly appreciated.

I so appreciated how Olive's sexuality was represented. It is a spectrum, and her need for a connection and trust was so beautifully written. The steam in the book perfectly matched her, and then when she was ready. Wowza did this book bring the heat. Have I already reread those CHAPTERS for academic purposes, yes, yes I have. Adam can get it.

And Adam. Dear lord. While I can't say that the only person he likes is Olive, it's pretty close. The snark between the two of them, with his little smiles underneath, how he's so clearly gone on her from the beginning, believes in her completely and just adores her. He's gruff, buff, and in charge in the bedroom and honestly my next book boyfriend. I could not get enough of him.

Consent is hot. Competency is hot. The mentions of Fast and Furious, the little easter eggs about chocolate. I can't I will just keep guessing. All I want to do is shove this in the eyeballs of as many people as I can.

Rating: All the stars and RAVES
Steam: 3.5

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!!!

This book starts off with a bang and just doesn't let up (in the best way). I started reading it in the lobby of the dentist office, and to stop to do the actual appointment. I hated that I had to stop reading.

Olive and Adam were amazing characters, and every side character was super perfect. It was just the perfect book for me. Balancing an actually smart, STEM-career character that was still so funny and lovable. Ugh SO GOOD.

Harlequin Junkie Top Pick - and 0n our Best Books of 2021 list!!

The Love Hypothesis has to be the most adorable, geektastic–but most importantly–smartly written debut I've read in…forever. Author Ali Hazelwood wowed me with a diverse cast that was quirky enough to make me grin, and with a wicked smart heroine who got herself into a predicament that you could tell was going to blow up in her face. And you know what? It was worth every sharp intake of breath, giggle-snort, and sigh of relief experienced.

This. Book. I am so in love with everything about it. I mean, first of all, get a load of that book cover! It's perfectly modern as well as being a scene ripped right from the story itself. And then there's the cast, most of whom I adored right away: Olive, Anh, Malcolm, Holden, and yes…even the Darcy-like Adam. The dialogue between them all was on point and seemed genuine, not forced. Including the good-natured teasing and nosiness from Olive's friends while she was fake-dating Adam–the "fake" part being unbeknownst to (most of) them.

On top of the cast of characters that I'd love to hang out with in real life, Hazelwood's storytelling was amazing. What could have been a straight up rom-com was peppered with bits of serious subjects and authentic situations that most of us will understand all too well. And it made The Love Hypothesis a multilayered story. One that explored a wide array of issues but ultimately was a sweet, oh so satisfying romance that warmed my heart.

An absolutely stellar fake romance between a grumpy professor and a well-meaning grad student, The Love Hypothesis was everything I love about contemporary romance. I think Ali Hazelwood's entertaining but still emotionally deep writing will spell nothing but success for her.

The Love Hypothesis is Ali Hazelwood's debut novel but it feels like she's been writing for years. This was an immersive, un=put-downable book for me. From the science to the swoon-worthy moments, this book has everything I didn't know I needed in my romances.

CW: sexual harassment, death of a parent from pancreatic cancer (past)

I’m currently re-reading this book because I loved it so much! as a fifth year Biochemistry PhD candidate that has a BS and MS in Chemistry I loved the STEM representation. I felt seen and heard being a female in a male dominated field. I also loved how honest and real Ali presented and discussed the academia culture.

I loved Olive and Adam! I want to protect them at all costs. Olive was strong and I related so much to what she was going through. Adam was definitely someone that was grumpy and benefited from someone like Olive. This slow burn was worth the wait. I felt attached to Olive and Adam and was sad to see this book end.

I cannot wait to see what Ali comes out with next!

OMG! Look at the cover reminds us Reylo (Kylo and Rey disguised in lab coats, kissing each other till they get breathless), two nerdy adorable characters who were pretending as couple: a rigid-a.hole but also charismatic 34 years old professor and sweet, quirky, gold hearted Phd student who tries to find the cure of pancreatic cancer! I’m sold!!!

Banters are nerdish, sexy, entertaining but I have to scream at hot professor Adam’s face at each time he calls Olive smart ass! I wish he may have called her something smarter, catchy, more affectionate maybe?

Olive Smith is an orphan, insecure, hard working, smart biologist spending the most of her time in the lab for her research and emailing colleges for funding to work on the cure of cancer with brand new method.

After losing her loved ones at young age she becomes insecure about relationships. She is happy with her research, spending time with her close friends. There’s nothing she cannot sacrifice for them.

As soon as she breaks up with her boyfriend she doesn’t even like, she realizes her bestie Anh likes her ex way too much. To prove a point that she already moved on her life, she decides to kiss the first guy passing through the corridor while Anh is watching so she can believe in her and date with her ex.

The plan was simple till the guy she randomly kissed turns out Adam Carlsen, a young, hotshot lab tyrant most of the students curse the day they met.

But interestingly he doesn’t get furious about her love triangle tantrum. Actually he agrees to pretend acting like lovers for his own reasons to get enough fund to finance his own researches. Both of the parties seem like benefit from this arrangement till Olive realizes she likes way too much their Wednesday coffee dates and don’t forget the fact that she keeps drooling over his six packs. Even though he’s named as professor from hell, he always treats her sweet, respectful and he seems like he also enjoys to spend time with her.

But Olive has to wear big girl pants to face with her true feelings even though her love is unrequited. Could she be brave enough to come clean with him? What if she has to risk at more than broken heart?

Overall: I loved nerdish heroes and their gibberish scientific sweet talks! I enjoyed their chemistry!

#metoomovement , emotional and physical abuse themes were sensitively added into equation.

Holden and Malcolm were my favorite supporting characters.

I loved the academic romcom premise!

I went back and forth between four and five sisters but finally I rounded up 4.5 stars to 5 because of my love for MCs. Especially Adam earned millions of brownie points after the final revelations. He’s sweetest kind of douchebag!

This book made me feel so good and put a long and wide smile on my face, made my entire week.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this digital copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

I have no intention to devote my life to science (more specifically, biology) but I LOVED reading the fake-relationship of tenured grump & MacArthur Fellow, Adam, and genius PhD student, Olive. The book is steamy but also delves into deeper issues such as #MeToo. Definitely recommend it for a quick, fun and uplifting read, especially if you relate to women with savior complex. Some days nothing's more attractive than finding out the toughest man in your department is the biggest softie!

Hi! Hello, I cannot shut up about this book. I already emailed Berkley and Ali and basically sent the longest, gushiest blurb the world has ever seen but The Love Hypothesis is ADORABLE and wonderful in so many ways.

I won't summarize the book here because you can easily read the little blurb on NG, but here is a romance lovers dream read. It is snappy and fast-paced and swoony and sexy and funny. Ali gives us so much time with the leads together; I am not a reader who likes to get bogged down in multiple complex side stories - I like my romance with a side of romance - and let me tell you, this book has the PERFECT amount of setting and conflict and side characters without feeling like we ever lose track of the two people we REALLY WANT TO KISS EACH OTHER. The banter is so good. Their chemistry is A:DJKF:DJ: SO GOOD.

Adam is a great hero; even if we are in Olive's POV for the book, we always know more about what he's thinking that she does, and there's something so delicious about watching her figure it all out. PLUS she's a woman in STEM, written by a woman who is - that's right - IN STEM. The authenticity of the setting is so great and I, a scientist myself, really felt represented and grateful that Ali put this world in the book. Will it feel niche to some people? Maybe. Will it feel inaccessible to non sciency people? Nope! The things that Olive deals with and the fears/insecurities she has are totally universal.

The heat is HOT in this one, and even if Ali makes us wait for it, it's so worth it. I am sorry to be so inarticulate in this review. I promise I am more articulate as a writer. But did I mention I read this book twice in one weekend? I never do that! I have children and deadlines and a whole stack of other books but this one really stuck with me and I will be yelling about it from now until September 14th.