A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

It was okay. It didn’t resonate with me. However, I would read another book by this author…………………….,….

It’s taken me a while to consume this author’s novel. I originally requested it via NetGalley in 2022, but struggled to pick it up. Finally I took the leap this week listening to the audiobook after checking it out from my library. I really wanted to love this book, but was just average for me. The main female character really has some growing up to do and I struggled to connect with her. It’s a little slow at first, but it is fairly lighthearted and easy to read/listen to. If I had to say what my favorite thing about this book was the friends to lovers relationship. I love that trope and this does fit the bill there. I do think if these characters were more mature this would have been a higher star for me. Also, I did want to note that the narration was great!

On paper this one sounded great - tutoring lessons on dating from your super handsome best friend? Sign me up! Unfortunately I just didn’t love this one. I thought Lyric and Kian were both VERY immature, especially given the fact that it’s reiterated over and over again that Lyric started college early and is supposedly very smart. These characters did not feel like grown ups. I was rooting for them to get together, but mostly so that Lyric would stop trying to make poor Zoey and Kian a couple. She’s not interested!

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for a review copy. I would be willing to try this author again.

The Sizzle Paradox by Lily Menon is a rough book. It was a frustrating read. This book was painful. I mean I'm all for unique first names but Lyric... was not feeling this at all. She gave major pick me energy, oh look I'm so small, my legs are the size of your arm. Like stop, please. This book was just wack, it gives Wattpad circa 2014 energy. Would I read it again? No. Anyways, 2/5 stars.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was.. fine. I definitely prefer this author's young adult novels, but I appreciate her trying her hand at adult romance too. I liked this friends to lovers romance and I had a lot of fun while I was reading it, but I definitely wanted something more. I will never get over the thought that dating, even fake dating, your roommate is a good idea. Despite it usually working out in fictional stories, it seems to be one of those ideas that would end up terribly in real life.

All this rambling to say, there's nothing wrong with this book, but it also didn't captivate me like some romance books have.

I liked the academic setting and premise of this book but overall found it lacking. The MC's came across as immature which made it hard for me to fully enjoy. It was a cute story but just not for me. Thank you SMP and Netgalley for my copy.

I found the characters to be more than awkward and a bit unrealistic. The characters were nothing special and I thought they had zero chemistry. It was a struggle to continue reading this book.

This was a fun, sweet friends to lovers story. I enjoyed the writing and the book was just a good time. I definitely enjoyed the dual POV and feel like it added a lot to the narrative.

This book had my emotions all over the place!

"We are introduced to Lyric and Kian, best friends and roommates finishing up their phds. Expect Lyric is stuck. She is having a hard time relating to her research and therefore cannot defend her thesis. She's never had a relationship where she didn't friend zone her partner. Why has she never romantically connected to someone?

Kian jumps in to help and one things leads to another. This in turn makes Lyric and Kian's friendship complicated."

And that is all I will share! Read it yourself.

Overall I loved the book, it really keeps moving and doesn't give you a chance to get bored. I like that the author dropped us in the middle a friendship instead of building up to friendship. It just gave a different perspective than we normally get in romance.

Did you like The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams, but found yourself wishing it was chock full of millennial cringe? Then have I got the book for you!

I counted FOUR times that the female main character referred to herself as an “awkward potato”, two mentions of loving The Office, two of three mentions of a Friends obsession, and talk of “adulting”. And these are just the things I can easily recall. As an almost millennial (‘97 baby— what am I??), I found this book to be absolutely insufferable and cheugy.

On top of all of that, the story and characters were just not good. They felt very immature and stupid. Friends to lovers can be done so well, but this is just not an example of that. These two sucked so bad at communicating and will definitely be breaking up in the future.

I considered DNFing, but stuck it out since it was so short. I honestly wish it was shorter.

thank you for the review copy; i wish i had liked it

I love a little stem, mixed in with my romance. I liked that the heroine was smart, and I enjoyed the banter between both the heroine and hero. It’s a cute book that was entertaining from start to finish.

This book was so ridiculously adorable! I loved every second of it! It was my first time reading this author, and I can't wait to see what they come out with next!

This was a cute romcom. i read it with a handful of other romcoms and loved them all. So although I cant remember all the details, I know i enjoyed this!
Thank you!

I liked this one conceptually more than in execution I think. There’s nothing overtly wrong with it, it was a cute and quick read. The academic setting is one of my favorites (although these characters felt so very young).

I wasn’t really connecting with either of the two MCs and I’m not sure if I could pin point why aside from there being a few of my not favorite tropes lined up one after the other. Friends-to-lovers (with an “instant” revelation that all of the sudden they’re in love), sex to “get it out of their system” and then miscommunication at the end that sends the two apart.

Overall, the story was decent and had some fun side characters to keep things interesting. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy to read and review.

I enjoyed this 2nd adult story by Lily Menon. Told from the alternating perspectives of Lyric and her best friend/room mate Kian, it has a couple of my favorite tropes: friends to lovers and fake dating. And Lyric’s extended family-mother, father and 4-5 siblings were great characters, too!

I particularly liked the final life scenes and the love and support these two have for each other. The only thing I didn’t care for was that these best friends didn’t communicate with each other well.

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinsgriffin for the advanced e-copy of #thesizzleparadox.

I have loved everyone of Sandhya Menon's YA novels! To be completely honestly, I did not enjoy her debut adult novel as Lily Menon, "Make up Break up" as much. I felt similarly about the Sizzle Paradox. I definitely think I'm more inclined to stick to her YA books.
A sincere thank you to NetGallery for this book.

The MCs were so immature and just didn’t have that much personality. The book kept telling me they were best friends but there was very little backstory to the being best friends. And why was Lyric just dying to set Kian up with someone she wasn’t even really friends with. Also the chemistry between them was really lacking. There was so much tell and very little show in this book, and it just didn’t work for me.

Thought this would be a "Love Hypothesis" type novel, but unfortunately it didn't give the same feels. Disappointing for me.

*Thank you @stmartinspress for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Review not posted to Amazon/Goodreads because less than 4 stars or DNF.*

4.5 stars - Kian and Lyric make a delicious pairing for this friends-to-lovers romance. I love this particular trope and for the first troupe. I’ve read 100s of them. Yet, only with this one, for the first time, I found myself picturing how terrifying, awkward, and tenuous moving a relationship out of the friend zone must feel. This is a testament to how well Lily Menon crafted this story and these characters. Reading it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.