2 stars

I really wanted to like this one, what with both halves of the main couple being grad students struggling to find love and professional success. Having just graduated from my own grad program while muddling my way through the job market, I figured that I would be all in.

Unfortunately, this ended up being a pretty big miss for me. I didn't really buy Lyric and Kian's relationship as best friends, let alone lovers, and the fact that almost every conversation they have with other people in the first half of the book was about how they weren't interested in each other made me want to scream. The pacing of the friends-to-lovers portion of the storyline felt particularly uneven with really one major instance pushing that forward before they share their first kiss, which then catapults things into full throttle. The one big sex scene is fun, but the happy ending rang hollow for me because there wasn't really anything to latch onto in these characters to demonstrate that they have grown as people and are ready to finally love each other.

Beyond that, there is a huge plot hole in the actual science of The Sizzle Paradox that Lyric is using for her research that I just could not get over. While her dissertation is focusing on the physical and emotional aspect of what makes us fall in love, the Sizzle Paradox that she uses in her own life is primarily focused on sex. If she was just using it to measure sexual attraction, totally good! However, she constantly complains about how she hasn't been able to find a relationship to fulfill BOTH facets using this method. Again, we have a good concept that is not executed to the best of its ability.

I'm sure there is an audience out there for this book, but I think I'm just not in it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Thank you to SMP Romance for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm going to be short and to the point. I was throughly enjoying this book, until I got to the halfway mark and the author included the quote 'delinquent, unemployed, baby brother."
I don't know why I need to explain why this view is about 20 years outdated, but considering marijuana is now LEGAL and has been proven by SCIENCE to affect people less than alcohol, how about we stop villainizing it and using stereotypes like delinquency and unemployment? And also not villainize unemplyoment, especially in the current lcimate?

This ruined the entire book for me.

A witty and fun friends to lovers romance, great banter and chemistry. Well written and evenly paced, a quick read that's perfect for summer.

Since they were undergraduates, Kian Montgomery and Lyric Bishop have been best friends and roommates. In contrast, Kian has no trouble finding romantic relationships, and Lyric struggles with finding the right fit. For her, that means they have to meet the Sizzle Paradox, that elusive thing that balances sexual chemistry with emotional connection. It also happens to be the base for Lyric's entire doctoral research. Now she is beginning to doubt that she is ever going to finish her study and find love. Luckily Kian steps in and offers to tutor her in the art of relationships but what starts as two friends helping each other develops into so much more. With well-written characters and laugh-out-loud moments, The Sizzle Paradox by Lily Menon is well worth adding to the "must-read" list.

DNF at 25%, pretty predictable from the beginning. I wanted to like this but it fell at bit flat for me.

I really liked the concept though!

This BFFs to Lovers book is one for the beach!

Lyric and Kian have been friends for years! They are both in their doctoral programs at Columbia and since they are great friends they are also the perfect roommates for each other. Lyric is trying to crack "The Sizzle Paradox" a hypotheses she came up on her own rating ones chemistry with anther persons. She has never gotten high scores for both variables. Because of this she thinks she is hopeless when it comes to dating. Kian offers to coach Lyric on dating best practices. What could go wrong, right? One slight kiss in London (like Chandler and Monica) and everything goes haywire!

3.5 stars

‘The Sizzle Paradox’ is a fun, light-hearted friends-to-lovers romance with a heavy dose of slow, simmering romantic tension.

Lyric and Kian have been best friends for a long time, and roommates for almost as long as that. But when Kian offers to help Lyric out with her thesis, which is all about physical and emotional chemistry, the sharply drawn lines of their friendship become more and more blurred. Will they stay best friends? Or is there something deeper lurking around the corner?

This book is great if you’re looking for something that reads quickly and doesn’t have super high stakes or angst. Personally, I feel like this trope is a difficult one to carry out, and this particular novel does an okay job with it. I would have just loved to have seen a little more self-awareness and growth from Lyric. Kian is doing all of the heavy lifting in this story; but if having the hero do all of the pursuing is your vibe, then you will love this story.

A sincere thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Its about time I finished this, this was a cute lighthearted fast paced story but nothing special imo

3⭐️

Thank you net gallery for this arc!

Kian and Lizzy are both in the last phases of completing their PhD degrees. Lizzy's thesis is based on sexual chemistry and emotional connection with a love interest, something she is having no luck with. Kian offers to tutor her in that department. Thinking this would be the perfect opportunity since they are best friends and nothing will come of it, or so they thought.
I thought the premise was cute, but the book didn't do it for me. I couldn't connect to the characters and found myself skimming instead of reading. It felt more high school than grad school. The beginning felt a little slow but the end felt rushed. Wish it would have been more balanced. This was my first book from the author, but this book won't stop me from reading more from her.
Thank you to Net Galley, Lily Menon and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

With a name like Sizzle Paradox you are going to get some steam. Lots of great troupes in this story leaving something for everyone. I enjoyed the alternating perspectives between Lyric and Kian. It was engaging and entertaining.

I adored this book from beginning to end. It is best friend to lovers which I am such a sucker for. Lyric and Kian's friendship is a thing of beauty. They understand each other and are so supportive of each other. I thoroughly enjoyed their banter the entire book. The little moments where you see this routine they've built, like cuddling on the couch and debriefs after dates...it was so cute.

Smut in this book was a little less intense compared to some other books I've read this year, but I think the handful of scenes were done very well.

Some will say that this plot is predictable. I say, yes, it is. But you know what's NOT predictable, the fact that these two PhD students are so dumb when it comes to this budding relationship. They are so oblivious that I spent good twenty minutes yelling at the pages.

If you enjoyed The Love Hypothesis, then you will enjoy this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

For fans of The Love Hypothesis, this one is for you!! There is something about the academia setting that just sets up a romance perfectly. Also, who doesn't love a friend to lover's romance. I did however find myself struggling to connect with the characters. I don't mind the miscommunication trope most of the time, but this just didn't work for me. I think at surface level its very cute but lacks the depth to make it amazing

💫 Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this ePub with me in exchange for my honest feedback!

🐶 Although this is my first time reading a book by this author, I knew we were kindred spirits from the get go when I read the dedication was to her golden retriever Ollie. I feel that on a spiritual level.

👩🏼‍🔬 Lyric Bishop is a psych grad student that’s on a mission to crack the “Sizzle Paradox” which is her theory that the more she is into a guy, the less chance they have at forming a healthy committed relationship. Over the past 5 years in her program she has studied thousands of couples and in that time she’s only been in a few relationships that never worked out. She feels like a fraud trying to defend her thesis without any actual real dating expertise, and decides to take her dating life in her own hands and come to a solution.

🌏 She enlists the help of her tall dark and handsome roommate and best friend, Kian Montgomery, who is also a grad student for environmental chemistry. This dreamboat enjoys long walks through Target, his favorite movie is Casablanca, loves the environment and spending time outdoors, and has the best (and worst) dad jokes. He’s the exact opposite of Lyric when it comes to dating. He goes through women at an alarming rate and is terrified of long term commitment.

💟 They decide to work together to help Lyric become more comfortable in the dating scene and a little less awkward. And you guessed it, the solution to her dating life AND the sizzle paradox is none other than her best friend Kian.

📖 This was such a fun quick read that made me laugh out loud multiple times. I would definitely recommend it to a friend to read. Some of my favorite tropes showed up in this one that made me so happy: friends to lovers, forced proximity, a little bit of fake dating, and it had the best alternating POVs from the two main characters.

💍 Moral of the story: Marry your best friend people!!!!!

📅 Be sure to pick up your copy of The Sizzle Paradox when it comes out on June 14th!

This friends to lovers romance was really fun! It started off slow, but it did get better in time. I loved all the female STEM reps in this book. I liked Kian and Lyric together, but the miscommunication trope just wasn’t it for me. Some of the choices they made seemed a bit immature. However, the ending did make for that. Overall, this was a very slow burn, but a great light read! 3/5 stars for me.
Read if you like:
- Women in STEM
- Friends to lovers
- Fake dating
- Grad school setting
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Lyric and Kian have been best friends for seven years and live together while finishing their post-graduate doctoral programs. They have never considered being more than best friends. When Lyric needs help with her thesis on the Sizzle Paradox, she enlists Kian's help to help her breakthrough her mental wall.

I liked this book, but I do feel that all the technicals in their doctorate programs ended up taking away from the story. There was also a lot of miscommunication that I didn't feel was super believable when they had been friends for seven years. The ending made up for that, as it was emotional, heartfelt, and heartwarming. This is a very slow burn, but a sweet read—a pretty good Romcom.

First off, Thank you to St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for allow me to read the digital ARC of The Sizzle Paradox

The cover caught my attention and who doesn't love a good Rom-Com -it was colorful, comic-y and cute. Plus the description also peaked my interest! I do like books that are superficial (sometimes you just need a no brainer type read). I loved the premise behind the MC, Lyric's, study - and I Mean who wouldn't want to fall in love with their bestie. Sure was it predictable, but it didn't take away from being a cute story. Fun and fast read!

I was a bit disappointed in this book and DNF. I didn’t think a doctoral student should act so immature. The relationship between the MC and her best friend seem more like a long term relationship that shouldn’t have resolved to romance

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC and to review.
Unfortunately, I DNF'd this at 52%, as I lost interest, but this book still has enjoyable moments.

Firstly, the cover and title are intriguing. I love how colorful, comic-y and cute the cover is; super typical for a rom-com! The title is super fun for a rom-com as well.

I was recommended to read this friends-to-lovers rom-com by a friend that works for Kirkus Reviews; as she is the queen of rom-coms in our group, I was excited to find this on NetGalley and even more excited to be approved to read. Lyric and Kian are PhD students, both in the final stages of completing their degrees, with Kian graduating first; this proves a problem for the friends as they have roomed together for the duration of their PhDs and are extremely fond of one another. Both are having problems in the relationship department; Lyric's PhD thesis revolves around finding equal sexual and romantic attraction to one's partner (which she is having no luck with) and Kian has commitment issues, but is committed to sticking with no commitment. The two strike up a deal to help each other solve their problems by fake dating, of course promising to not fall for each other.

In theory, this is a cute novel. Menon has enjoyable characters, dialogue and plot, but I found myself bored despite this. Not to mention, it took about 40% of the book to get to the actual plot wherein Lyric and Kian finally decide to pretend to date and go on a very awkward first date. Also - Lyric must mention Kian's height difference every other sentence; we understand he's bigger than you, but there's no need to describe his hands, legs, etc. every chance you get.

Overall, this book is three stars for me because I liked the idea, but just found it poorly executed. I know others will enjoy this book and I hope they do.

Lyric Bishop is studying how to find love and tries to get her best friend to help her figure it out. Problem is her friend is a guy and along the way they start having feelings for each other. She doesn't want to have these feelings because she doesn't want to mess up the results for her study. I enjoyed this book and thought it was a very fun read.

As a major (and I mean major, full scale, triple octave) contemporary romance book lover, The Sizzle Paradox was everything I could’ve asked for — and more! The story follows Lyric (which, side note, has me thinking how boring my name is) and her best friend, Kian, in the completion of Lyrics’s thesis on sexual chemistry and a lacking emotional connection, all based on levels of attraction. When Lyric finds that the hotter she finds a man, the less emotionally connected she feels to him, she enlists the help of Kian to tutor (in the purely academic sense of course *cough* not *cough*) her on bringing the ~sizzle~ into a relationship. This in theory should be easy for them, as they’re totally and completely nothing more than Just Best Friends. Right? Lily Menon’s The Sizzle Paradox is a must read for any friends to lovers fan, and is the perfect edition to your summer TBR! Thank you to NetGalley for the wonderful opportunity to meet my new favourite gal Lyric a few months early!