Ehh, Well I finished it but I really didn't enjoy it. Some parts I liked but not enough. I couldn't like the main girl character. stupid lack of communication.

The Sizzle Paradox
by Lily Menon
4 stars
Lyric and Kian are roommates and best friends they seem perfect for each other, they don't see it but everyone else does. After many failed attempts trying to find a love to help Lyric finish her thesis, The Sizzle paradox has been her work in trying to see what makes a relationship last.
Kian is tired of dating the same girls all fast that just never work out he's a few months away from getting his degree and wants a relationship worth more than a one-night stand.
Kian decides he can help Lyric out by them two going on practice dates, so he can tell Lyric what she can approve on.
Lyric wants to help Kian find a different girl than what he's used to dating so she decides it is time to set him up with one of her friends.

Classic friends to lovers trope it was a cute and fun read, a little slow-paced but picked up in the end. I did not care much for the misunderstanding that kept happening between the two. I did get extremely excited when they finally did connect and start getting together but it still took a while for them to fully be together and get over there not sure if it should happen attitude. I loved the little bit of family scene we got from both of their lives see a little of the back story. Hands down Lyrics sister's names I loved them. The first book I've read by Lily Menon and was impressed I didn't think id enjoy it as much as I did.
Thank you, Net Galley, and St Martin's Press for the eARC for an honest review

I just couldn’t get into this book. The characters just weren’t for me and they just felt a little too immature. Wasn’t as realistic as I wanted it to be.

I absolutely loved this book! As a fan of The Love Hypothesis and all science romance, I highly recommend it! Lyric and Kian’s friends-to-lovers plot line was full of humor, chemistry, and “sizzle”. I could NOT stop reading this book and was so glad to get a copy of it. I especially loved the was the author wrote their snarky personalities and flaws. I really felt like the characters were relatable and look forward to reading more from this author.

DNF 33%
This author has never met a PhD student in her life, especially one in STEM. The book uses dissertation and thesis interchangeably (they are not the same thing). Somehow Lyric can afford to live in NYC as a student without being from a wealthy family and without working three jobs. Lyric has to be one of the most immature heroines I have ever read. There is socially awkward and then there is 20-something-woman who acts like she's 12. Once again, there is no way this is an actual person who has managed to get through Ivy Leave undergrad, a masters program, and is now completing a PhD. Also why in the world would she need to personally experience her thesis to prove its worth. THAT'S NOT HOW SCIENCE WORKS!!!! Where is the objectivity? Where is the research? Frankly this book is insulting to higher education and women in STEM.

What a cute friends-to-lovers book!

I adored this short and sweet story about best friends Lyric and Kian falling for each other. This book was stereotypical and similar to many other romance books, but I still enjoyed this stem twist on it.

A classic opposites attract story, I loved how the two main characters got past themselves to realize their love for each other. While I did not enjoy it as much as the books this book is often compared to (The Kiss Quotient and The Love Hypothesis for example) but I still enjoyed it nevertheless.

"The Sizzle Paradox" is a run-of-the-mill love story between two best friends turned lovers. Starting off as truly platonic relationship amongst best friends, their relationship slowly changes to something more. The novel was a cute story but unfortunately offered no twists as the story progressed slowly and was predictable from the beginning. As a fan of "Love Hypothesis" I was excited for this book to come out but it didn't hold up to my expectations.

Thank you Net Galley and St Martins’ press for this arc.

While I really like the premise of this book, I don’t think it delivered on what the blurb said it would be. I expected something different than I got. Also the hero nine was hard to root for. Also felt the writing was a little all over the place. A lot of side plots and some of it had nothing to do with the main couple. Also plot holes felt added in just to add in. Not sure what the purpose for some of these things where like the London guy or Kian’s family plot. Also found my self wanting more of the side characters stories instead of Kian and Lyric. I like the author’s past work so I am willing to try her again. This one wasn’t for me.

3.5/5

This being marketed as The Kiss Quotient meets Love Potion No. 9 and I have to say, that’s a pretty dang accurate mash up in terms of describing this book. The author used a couple of different tropes in her last book and she does it again here too, and does it pretty well might I add. You have friends to lovers with a side of fake dating and fake dating is one of my faves so I was happy to see it here. Despite Lyric being a woman in STEM, which I love and always find interesting, she isn’t portrayed as the best scientist around. She’s talked about as being super smart but her actions (both romantically and having to do with her research) don’t really match up to what was being said about who she is. It didn’t bother me too much, just something I found odd and wanted to mention. My overall experience here was good, I have to give credit to the audio narrators performances because I truly enjoyed listening to both Brittany Pressley and Abhay Ahulwalia and felt like they elevated things for me.

This book has a ton of my favorite elements: best friends to lovers, academic setting, and a decent amount of 🌶️spice🌶️. It was light-hearted and reminded me a lot of Christina Lauren's Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating. Lyric and Kian are both working toward their PhDs when they agree to go on fake dates and we can all guess what happens from there. While I loved the premise of Lily trying to crack her Sizzle Paradox, I struggled a bit to get through this because there really isn't much happening for over half the book. It got pretty frustrating to read pages upon pages of our main characters being so adamantly against even *considering* a relationship with the other when everyone else can see right through it. Once the ball got rolling though, it wrapped up to be a really heartwarming romance.

Pretty cute! It took me a little bit to get into it, but I think I’ve just been in a funk lately. Over all, I enjoyed it!

This book left me really, really confused. It tread a weird line, in my opinion, between light and fluffy and trying to reach for more but really never getting there and thus missing out on being just a really great light and fluffy read. It had the friends to lovers trope that I love meeting up with a twist on the fake dating trope that I typically go for as well. For me, it just so clearly missed the mark. I'm giving it to a 3.25 though as it wasn't terrible, it just wasn't what I wanted it to be!

This is a pretty standard best friends-to-lovers novel.

Lyric is a grad student researching attraction and romance, but she’s blocked. She hasn’t felt a spark in a while. Kian, her best friend/roommate offers to coach her in what a good date is (because, ladies, he is GOOD). Shenanigans ensue.

This is a really quick, fast paced book. A great summer read. Skip it if you’re not into the whole, both in love with each other but assuming the other person is repulsed by the idea of a relationship. This book relies HEAVILY on that. Kian and Lyric have a great friendship, though. And the spice is pretty decent.

This slow burn friends to lovers story will keep you up all night!

Lyric and Kian have been best friends since their freshman year. They've been there for each other through every drunken toilet embrace, every heartfelt confession of dates gone wrong, and every late night of studying that didn't pay off. They're roommates who are comfortable with each other, who tell each other everything.

Lyric's doctoral thesis in social psychology is based on her hypothesis that when two people are intellectually and sexually compatible, pheromones come into play and there's a far greater chance that they are each other's OTP. She calls this phenomenon the Sizzle Paradox. She's determined to prove it based on her own experiences, but always ends up disappointed.

Kian is a serial dater. He's never with anyone for very long, and he always moves onto the next person with no remorse or regret. But he never has trouble attracting what Lyric thinks are potential life partners. So Lyric decides she needs his help.

Kian and Lyric agree to go on a couple of fake dates. The fake dates lead Lyric to the realization that she's been hiding her attraction to her best friend. She's determined to ignore it. Until a kiss neither of them planned ruins everything.

This is a slow-burn, steamy, friends to lovers, fake dating story that fans of The Cheat Sheet and People You Meet on Vacation will thoroughly enjoy.

Such a fun book! What if your best-friend was possibly “the one” to help you answer the sizzle paradox, also known as that special combination of emotional matching, sexual chemistry, and physical connection? As two doctoral students, Kian and Lyric have known each other and been best friends since freshman year of college; they’ve seen each other at their worst and just fit each other like a pair of comfy worn-in shoes.

Lyric has been stumped with her research for the “sizzle paradox” and agrees to accept Kian’s help discovering what makes a good match (for her) by going on a series of fake dates. From here, it’s only a matter of time until Kian and Lyric discover they might have the potential to become more than friends. I loved the pacing of this book and the dynamic between the comfortable “friend zone” daily life combined with the tense heated “dating” moments. Kian and Lyric complement each other so well that it’s easy to see how they might be able to successfully move their relationship from best friends to romantic partners. The best parts of the book were the intense quiet moments when each character is attempting to have restraint but then also completely ready to become reckless. Some family and friend dynamics I would’ve liked to see explored more, but the complexity of side characters seemed to stay at a minimum. Also I’m not sure as to how believable the research side of this story was, but I didn’t have too much trouble suspending reality if only for the storyline’s sake. I hope Lily Menon continues to write more adult contemporary romances in the future as I believe she will garner a strong following. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for this eARC in exchange for my honest evaluation. All opinions are my own.
3.75 ⭐️ rounded up to 4 ⭐️

This book was everything I wanted out of a fun romantic comedy! The main characters were great, it's definitely something I would recommend as a light summery read. Lily Menon is such a great author and I can't wait to see what she does next!

I normally enjoy her books, but I just couldn’t get into this one; no sizzle and a very annoying protagonist who never got better. Unfortunately, this was not my cup of tea and while I almost DNF so many times, I slogged through it to the end in hopes of a payoff. There was none.

The premise of the book had me excited. I love a best friends/roommates-to-fake dating-to-lovers rom-com. It's quite a slow burn and there is a lot of miscommunication between the two main characters about their feelings for one another that kind of fell flat to me. It was a quick read and the romance was cute overall.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me this ARC, but this does not influence my review. This was a great read, it features the best friends to lovers trope. The book was well written, I was obsessed with the jealousy and mutual pining. What I didn't like was the multi POV of both FMC and Kian.

To be completely honest, I struggled to finish this book. I thought the premise seemed very intriguing, but the actual book was just not for me. I found most of the characters annoying. I think this is because I never felt like we got to explore a deeper level. Everything felt like very surface level. If we got to know more about them, maybe I would have had easier time connecting. Because it was compared to The Kiss Quotient in the blurb, I had very high expectations, but I found the plot to be lacking. everything seemed to be moving so slowly. Overall, it was underwhelming. I cannot honestly say that I would recommend this in the future.