the sizzle paradox seems to fall along the lines of the love hypothesis and the kiss quotient in subject matter, with women of stem being main characters and their minds being as important in development as the romance. the problem i found with the sizzle paradox is that it doesn't feel as if a scientific mind is at use with lyric.

while the character is presented as someone who is very smart and capable, there are numerous moments throughout the book that it feels as if lyric is more a caricature than fully formed. her actions with kian don't feel like those between two people who are best friends and when they finally do give into their feelings, it doesn't feel like a natural progression— as she spends much of the beginning trying to pair him with another friend.

between that, the lacking info on her thesis that she's supposedly spent ages on, but doesn't seem to hold much of a scientific basis or importance, and a romance that doesn't hold much heat, this read ultimately fizzled rather than sizzled for me.

A great read. Great loved both characters and wanted everything Ronaldo out for them. Looking forward to more from this author.

This book was so cute and funny. I smiled and laughed a lot and didn’t want to put it down. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to read it. It’s the perfect summer weekend read.

This friends to lovers romance follows grad students Lyric and Kian. Lyric is studying sexual chemistry in romantic partners to try and crack the code to long-term happiness in partnerships. She has the data, the interviews, and a year before she has to defend her thesis. Only problem is that she doesn't have a personal connection to the data since her own romantic relationships were always lacking in one aspect or another. Her best friend and roommate, Kian, has the opposite problem - he has no problem talking to women or getting into a relationship but he always leaves before things get too serious. With her thesis advisor pushing to see some progress from her, Kian agrees to teach Lyric his methods for attracting a partner and she'll work on setting him up with women outside of his usual type. What neither of them expect is for the lessons to feel so real and for their perfect match to be their best friend all along. This was cute, but overall I found it a little lacking in chemistry. Friends to lovers is a real solid trope that I almost always enjoy and there were some really great moments of that dynamic in this story. However, those moments were then undercut by some underdevelopment of the characters and their relationship. Lyric and Kian seem to be constantly reminding everyone in their lives (and, thus, the reader) that they're best friends and would never work out as a couple but they never really get into specifics. Their communication style was also odd because they didn't seem to have problems discussing anything in the beginning but then once they started to develop feelings, they could barely speak a few words to the other one. For pretty much the last half of the book, they were in some weird holding pattern where they both recognized their feelings but were so determined to not ruin the friendship that they wouldn't even give a hint that they were actually attracted to the other one. That being said, when they did open up and give into their feelings, it was really cute and I really liked them together.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC. Publication date was June 28, 2022

While I generally am a huge fan of Lily Menon’s romances, The Sizzle Paradox, unfortunately, fell a little flat for me. I wanted to enjoy the characters and the plot as much as I did in her previous books, but I struggled to get into the narrative. The Sizzle Paradox did have some really fun RomCom elements, though, which were definitely my favorite part of the story! I loved the use of the Best-Friends to Lovers trope, which did lend a spark to Lyric and Kian’s romance in a nice way. Lyric was also a delightfully intelligent leading lady, which is something I look for in romance novels.

My Recommendation-
Though The Sizzle Paradox wasn’t my favorite read, I still quite enjoyed parts of it! If you love a good RomCom with a Best-Friends to Lovers twist, you might want to grab a copy! I would especially recommend this book to fans of STEM-based RomComs like The Love Hypothesis!

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this friends to lovers romance. I really enjoyed to dual POV's between the two main characters. The chemistry between them was pretty strong, which everyone around them could see even though they kept denying it. Once they did test the waters though - watch out!! Of course, like in any good romcom there is opposition and that is the same for this book as well.

I would have liked to see a little more to the ending, especially because there was a lot of build up before it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. Best friends to lovers is a romance trope but it was well executed in this book. I did enjoy the changing POVs of Kian and Lyric along with their idiosyncrasies. The sex was hot and the romance, once started, seemed to blossom rather naturally I stayed up late to finish it so that is a solid romance in my book. 4 stars.

I liked this book a lot, I enjoy reading about smart women in STEM fields, and the sizzle paradox premise is creative and unusual. Lyric is trying to find out what keeps couples together by studying long married couples. She’s testing the sizzle paradox theory using guided imagery during an MRI. Successful couples show high brain activity for being both emotionally connected and sexually attracted to their partner.

Lyric and Kian have incredibly strong chemistry but it takes a while for them to express their feelings to each other. They have misunderstandings that could be resolved if they’d only talk to each other, even after they get physically involved. The sex is very steamy!Kian is graduating a year earlier than Lyric, and his future is uncertain. They need to decide how to resolve their issues going forward.

Synopsis:
The Kiss Quotient meets Love Potion No. 9 in the next sparkling romantic comedy by Lily Menon, The Sizzle Paradox...

Lyric Bishop feels like a fraud – she’s studying sexual chemistry in romantic partners and what makes for a successful long-term relationship, only she can’t seem to figure it out in her own dating life. The science is sound, but how can she give her expert opinion with no real-world experience? In order to complete her doctoral thesis, she must crack the Sizzle Paradox – it seems the more sexually attractive she finds a guy, the less likely it is to come with an emotional connection; but why? – and to do that she must get the help she desperately needs.

Kian Montgomery, her best friend, roommate, and fellow grad student, has no trouble bringing both romance and sizzle to his own relationships. When he offers to tutor Lyric on dating tactics to find a good match, she’s certain it will solve her problems, and in exchange she agrees to set long-term-commitment-averse Kian up with someone different to give his romantic life a much-needed shakeup.

But once the two progress with their "tutoring sessions," they start to feel less like the academic exercise they were supposed to be as real feelings develop. Which is a problem, because Lyric and Kian are best friends and absolutely, irrefutably nothing else... Right

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it wasn't for me. If you're a fan of all friends to lovers, give it a shot and see if you vibe with it.

I loved kiss quotient and love hypothesis but I didn’t see that vibe in this book unfortunately so maybe that was on me expecting it to be more like that.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to net galley for this ARC! This was absolutely great. Friends to lovers , and fake dating.
This book totally has a romcom feel to it. I would definitely recommend it if you want something light, and easy to read.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

*I am a member of Sandhya/Lily Menon's street team. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

The Sizzle Paradox by Lily Menon is her sophomore novel writing adult romance. After enjoying her YA work as well as her adult debut, Make Up Break Up, I had high hopes going into this new book. While I did enjoy it, there was something about this book that didn't have me really loving it.

I'm not sure if it was how genuinely blind the two main characters were or the flow of the story, but something just did not work for me. There were parts where the main character, Lyric, was truly clueless to the growing chemistry she had with the love interest. And there were some elements of a sub-plot with the main male character that just did not seem very plausible or were too short and rushed to be very believable or really needed in the story.

I don't think this is a bad book. There were elements I enjoyed, but overall I don't think I was completely sold on it. I am landing at a 3.5 star rating. It was more than just okay, but I don't think it deserves a full four stars from me. I will still be picking up books that Lily/Sandhya Menon writes in the future. I'm hoping that this was just a flux for me.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF. After starting and stopping several times, I realized that I dreaded the reading experience every time I picked up the book. I loved The Love Hypothesis, Kiss Quotient, etc, but that didn't translate into love for this story. I also didn't like the relationship development between these two friends - the whole thing felt off. Ultimately, I set the book aside and felt no desire to see how it all turned out.

Thank-you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for the chance to review this ARC.


The Sizzle Paradox has a lot of ingredients that make a romance novel great.
Friends to lovers, fake dating, forced proximity and the right amount of slow burn!
The characters felt real and they were so fun!

Menon's wring shines here! I had so much fun reading this!

Lyric and Kian have been best friends and although Lyric is studying sexual chemistry she personally, has no experience so she asks to be tutored by her best friend Kian.

I love Lily Menon's YA as Sandhya Menon, although I love her YA, I feel as if her adult romance left a lot to be desired. I don't know, if I found some things to be a little cringey or if it was just not for me in the context of the book but I did not enjoy the relationship between Lyric and Kian, it felt a little forced and I could not feel the chemistry between them. In a romance, I want a mutual understanding between the couple and a 50/50 give but I did not get that in this book between the two characters. As much as I loved her as a YA author I feel that her adult romances are not for me as her characters feel immature. I was so sad about not liking this as this was one of my most anticipated reads because of the sexual tutoring trope.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for a review

I loved the dual perspective, every romance book should be written this way. The book itself was okay I guess, the beginning was just but everything just started going downhill. There weren't that many great scenes or moments that made me giggle, everything was just bleh. Even though the main trope of the book is best-friends-to-lovers you can't convince me these two were best friends. Lyric was highly immature for her age and so annoying, Kian isn't the kind of character I will continue to think about months after reading this book, simply because he doesn't have a personality and is completely forgettable.

This is a great book with STEM and friends to lovers. I really enjoyed this and I'll be reading more of Menon in the future.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down! I love the STEM setting and the friends/roommates to lovers trope. I found myself laughing out loud at Lyric's awkwardness and total inability to flirt. There were cute nicknames, sweet family moments, and some delightful animal facts throughout the story.

The steam level in this book worked for me. A bit of a slow burn, but worked with the sexy dreams they had. I felt there was decent character growth for both of the MCs, too. They were a bit immature at times, but I felt it made sense with Lyric, at least.

I will admit, I hated that they both had such....unique....first names? Lyric's made sense with all of her siblings' names being similar, but Kian? What the heck is that???

Overall, I liked this one a lot! I would definitely reread.it.

Friends to lovers. I wanted to like this more than I did. There is a whole conceit of fake dating that just feels necessary. There’s clearly chemistry between Lilac and Kian, and they’ve been best friends for seven years but never apparently thought about dating. The best parts of the book is when the artifice is dropped and you get to the actual connection between them.
I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really cute fake-dating, friends to lovers story with the added element of STEM which is so fun to read about. I bought into the chemistry between the MCs right off the bat so watching their relationship unfold was adorable.