3.5/5

This was a fun, quick romance! I liked that we got dual POV for Lyric and Kian, but the miscommunication between them drove me a little crazy. I liked the idea of their fake "dates" and wanted to read a little more of those, I felt like they were really fun. As always, I love an academic setting and the side characters were great.

This book was so darn fun to read. I loved the combination of fake dating AND friends to lovers. Their relationship was adorable and I loved how it evolved. So grateful that we got dual POVs. I’m always so interested in reading what our leading gentlemen is thinking.

While an adorable read, it also had the perfect amount of spice. Lily Menon turned up the heat at the perfect moments, while keeping it light and airy the remainder of the read. Fabulous story♥️♥️

The premise of the book is so charming, but I had trouble connecting with the writing. Lyric and Kian's chemistry felt really forced. Their dialogue and how they interacted felt more clunky than endearing, which made it hard for me to root for them.

This was such a fun nerdy-romance. Really enjoyed the characters and their quirks. Definitely recommend for fans of The Love Hypothesis.

“it’s always been you. always.” *swoons*😍

tropes: friends to lovers, college romance, forced proximity, roommates, jealousy, fake dating

THIS BOOK WAS SO FREAKING CUTE!!! i literally read it in one sitting because i could put it down! i normally don’t read as much friends to lovers but i’m so glad i read this book! the storyline, the characters, and the tension between lyric and kian were incredible!!

lyric is the sweetest i swear. she’s such a little weirdo in the best way and i love how she was always so authentically her! i literally want to be her best friend because she’s so awesome. and i’m so happy she finally found the person she was meant to be with.🥺

kian oh my gosh. he is the cutest and hottest guy like i want one of my own😂 he was such an amazing friend to lyric and always wanted to the best for her! i wanted to give him the biggest hug because of what he’s been through but he’s so strong and such an amazing guy!

overall, i 100% recommend this book if you love friends to lovers romances because this is the cutest friends to lovers book i’ve read in a long time!

Friends to lovers. Met in college, currently doctoral students in STEM. One study is on sexual chemistry and she is struggling with her own romantic life. Her friend/roommate starts giving her lessons on dating and flirting. This is silly and fun. I do think a lot of things could be avoided if the characters just said what they were thinking but it was a very enjoyable experience reading this.

This is a story about Lyric and her doctorate research project looking for the answer to how romantic and sexual chemistry can be calculated.

The book starts with Lyric’s point of view which is just a whole chapter about Kian, mostly his godlike physique. Since Kian is objectified in the first chapter, the reader already knows where the story is going. Personally, I thought this aspect of the book was infantilizing the reader by putting a not so subtile hint that could have easily been exploited in other ways.

The premise of the novel was good, but it could have been exploited better. The secondary plots were actually more interesting than the main one. Zoey, Charlie, Max and Eli seemed to have more depth to their characters compared to the actual main one, Lyric. She did not seem to act at a doctorate level making the reader question how she got there.

I have to say though that Kian was a very nice and well thought character if we remove the fact that he is a six six giant.

The book was a fun easy read, but I would not rate it more than 3 stars.

⭐️𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄⭐️
𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦:
𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘢
𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴-𝘵𝘰-𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴
𝘍𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶🌶🌶 /5

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝:
🤓 Two main character point-of-views. Personally this is my favorite set-up in romcoms because it allows you to see into the head of the two main characters and feel all the feels.
🔥 I adored Kian and really enjoyed that he was a main character POC.
📈 Lyric was super relatable and fun! The polar opposites of her personally (a woman in a STEM field from a family who does tarot card readings and vibes with crystals) was an interesting spin on her character.
🤓 The friendship between these two was just *perfect*. They meshed effortlessly and knew each other so well that it made for a very authentic story.
🔥 I definitely felt the sizzle between the two MCs in this one. Some great romantic moments that were just 🥵…

𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝? Yes! If you were a fan of The Love Hypothesis, this will be right up your alley!

Release Date: June 14, 2022

The plot/trope was fine, friends to lovers. But I did not like the two main characters: Lyric and Kian. Their dialogue seemed forced along with their lack of chemistry. Didn’t work for me.

If you're in the mood for a truly funny romantic comedy book look no further - The Sizzle Paradox has all sorts of funny and romance throughout the entire book.

I liked all the characters in the book - and I loved the relationship that Lyric had with Kian. They were great friends, and once they actually opened up about how they felt about each other they made a cute couple.

Lyric and Kian did take A VERY LONG TIME to communicate with each other about how they really felt. Like, it was literally THE END of the book before they told each other they were in love with each other. They kept saying it to themselves and everyone around them, but when push came to shove they both kept their lips sealed with each other, and were then both absolutely convinced the other didn't love them. It led to a lot of hurt feelings and a lot of potential life changing decisions. That was the only thing that really bothered me about this book was that neither one just opened their mouth and said "Hey, I'm in love with you." Other than that I really enjoyed this book.

I loved the whole idea of Lyric needing a "tutor" because she felt so love inept. Her best friend, apparently more capable at love and all than her, offers to be her tutor and it works - they have this trust in each other that makes it just good enough to work. Lyric is able to trust that Kian will be honest with her about why she may be failing in relationships and love. And Kian is gentle and kind enough with Lyric to help her move through her awkwardness at dating.

The book was well written enough and kept me hooked with the story that I wanted to keep reading. Each part of the story worked well together and moved well within the book. I enjoyed watching each event and the entire story play out until it reached the end game.

Even with the amount of humor in the book it also had the right amount of heart and seriousness that comes along with adult life. The author did a great job striking that balance throughout this entire book.

The dynamic between each character was well developed and they all played off each other well. Even the weird moments that Lyric couldn't pick out because she wasn't love savvy fit into the story and made everything work.

The growth that Lyric did in terms of what she wanted from her education was good to see as well. She knew she had spent a lot of time investing in her education (and money, let's be real) and she took time to examine it due to her exploration and experiment with Kian. I think that time she took really helped develop her character and made her seem more like a real person.

Overall, this was definitely another hot from Lily Menon that I recommend to any adult who loves romance books!

After seeing this book being compared to "The Kiss Quotient," which really got me into the STEMinist sub-genre of romance books, I was really excited to give it a go. I came across it after finishing "The Love Hypothesis," which I also loved, so maybe my expectations were a bit too high.

This story was a fun, fast read, but nothing I would go back to again like I would with other romances. I love me a good friends-to-lovers trope, and I think that Lyric and Kian had a lot of potential to be an amazing couple. I was disappointed in the lack of character development, however, as well as the lack of real chemistry between the two.

The story is solid and truly has a lot of potential, but the characters need some help: more backstory, more chemistry, more HEAT!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this e-ARC!

As soon as I saw this book described as similar to The Kiss Quotient, I was sold and needed to read immediately. But y’all, I was SO disappointed by this one. 😅😅😅

Here’s just a few things I didn’t like about it:
📝 Major fan fiction vibes, from the way the plot played out to the writing
📝 Lyric was incredibly immature and a pretty insufferable main character
📝 Kian wasn’t much better - he just always seemed like he thought he was better than everyone else
📝 I was 50% into the book and literally nothing was happening, so the pacing was really bad
📝 I don’t think the author knew anything about being a graduate student or doing research
📝The epilogue had one of my least favorite tropes in romance novels 😅

I’m giving two stars because I finished the book and I did love the women in STEM and PhD student representation.

If you are a fan of The Love Hypothesis, you need to read The Sizzle Paradox by Lily Menon. Lyric is an experimental psychologist studying sexual chemistry but struggles in her own romantic relationships. Her best friend, Kian, offers to teach her about dating through a series of fake dates.

What I liked: Friends-to-lovers with fake dating is a top-tier trope and this one is done well. Kian is incredibly suave and Lyric is the right mix of awkward and sweet. As well, the quote from Lyric’s thesis work at the end of the book was beautiful, it made me cry.

What could be better: I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly it is but something missed the mark for me. The Sizzle Paradox got just to the edge of being exceptional but didn’t quite make it.

I would give this book four out of five stars. It was genuinely enjoyable and sweet with a little bit of spice. Kian and Lyric are great characters and the premise was well-constructed. If you are looking for a cute book with best friends to lovers and fake dating, you will enjoy The Sizzle Paradox.

*Please note that the ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Books (especially romance) that take place in academia is my weak spot and I was so disappointed that this book missed the mark. Lyric and Kian are best friends and doctoral students and what should've been a cute and fun friends-to-lovers story just turned out to be okay at the very best. Best friends are supposed to communicate (at the very least) but Lyric and Kian simply... don't. Personally, I just found Lyric's character to be annoying. She was childish and all over the place and I found myself rolling my eyes on more than one occasion (side note: studying sexual chemistry sounds really cool. The unrealistic nature of this book's graduate school setting was something I didn't mind ignoring. I LOVE stories set in academia - just something about the vibes). Kian was okay. I literally could not find myself caring enough about these characters to root for them. I kept waiting to be invested and while it did get better, it honestly just dragged and the end was so rushed. So overall, the pacing of the book was extremely weird.

I'm willing to give Lily Menon another shot but this book just wasn't it for me.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Quick Summary: The Sizzle Paradox was a mixed bag of positives and negatives, in my opinion.

The things that I found appealing or attractive, in some sense, included: the cover, the male-female best friend relationship, the shared drive towards academic excellence, the support that each character gave to the other as it related to family, and the inclusion of interracial relationships.

The things that I thought were lacking or confusing included: the language used at times seemed very immature (akin to how a teenager might communicate), the ambiguity of the supporting characters (I didn't feel like I really got to know anyone), the inclusion of orbital conflicts that remained unresolved but that were linked to a character (for whatever reason), and what I will call the experimental use of profanity (it just didn't come across as authentic, rather it often came across as weirdly misplaced or overly used).

At the end of the day, I still liked the main characters. I found LB to be quirky and sweet, albeit very insecure. She was book smart but clueless on a common sense level. Kian (great name, by the way) was brawn and brains, all in one. He had a good heart. The fact that these characters were able to forge a friendship and maintain it for so long is quite interesting. However, being that they were such great friends (until "feelings" entered the picture), it's kind of at odds with the picture we see with poor communication after the "incident."

Rating: 2.25/5
Recommend: +/-
Audience: New Adult

A thank you is extended to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of this title in exchange for an honest report. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Refer to Goodreads for more.

Lyric. What a mess! I really don’t understand her character at all. She’s supposed to be gifted/brilliant and thus graduated high school and undergrad early, making her only 24, compared to her grad-school peers who would be 27/28 (according to a brief explanation in the book). Kian is about to graduate, though maybe from a different program?! I can’t remember- and don’t care. He’s older than her. YET- both absolutely do not act like educated mid-late twenty-somethings. It’s like a frat boy and a middle schooler live together and immaturely work their way through the dating pool. Lyric acts like no adult I have ever met. I think the attempt was to make her seem neurotic, and nerdy cool, maybe neuro-divergent?! But with no explanation or hints towards that, I just struggled to like her, or find common ground. I enjoy dual-perspective stories, but since the plot moves at a snails pace and literally nothing happens until the last third, I found myself switching to other books and slugging through this when I felt like I had to for the sake of finishing this review. I’m really bummed because I enjoy the niche of romance with STEAM heroines and/or post-grad settings. I love the friends to lovers trope as well, so I feel frustrated that Kian fell flat, Lyric was unlikeable and moments that could have really held some angst and heat, well, didn’t.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Format - ARC Ebook

Rating- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Spice- 🌶 🌶🌶

Series- N/A

Troupes- Best Friends to lovers, dating lessons, STEM Rep, South Asian Rep, Forced Proximity

CW- Perental Trama,

This is my first book from Menon, and I have Ali Hazelwood to thank for having a new author to follow. This was such a fun and different book.

Lyric and Kian have been friends for 7 years and both will tell you that that is all they will ever be. Lyric our adorkable lovable heroine is dating furiously trying to prove her thesis theory but she’s gotten no where. She needs to find that special Sizzle that makes for a long lasting well rounded relationship, and Kian is the perfect person to guide her. Kian our smexy sweet hero has no problem with the ladies but he also doesn’t really do long term. Tutoring Lyric in the ways of non-awkward dates starts to make him see her in a different light, throw in a romantic trip to paradise and thing start to heat up.

These two dummies spent a good 60% of this book insisting that they are just friends, when it is obvious to everyone including the their own subconsciousnesses, so the burn is slooow and the chemistry is sizzling and when we finally do get there it’s hot and sweet and just what I wanted.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but it didn’t leave me wanting more, things wrapped up nicely and I was happy with these characters and their story but didn’t feel the need to know more, if that makes sense? I am however looking forward to more books from Menon!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martian Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Sizzle Paradox
Lily Menon
Romance
304 pages

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Fake dating! For science! I loved this quirky, cute romcom. The STEM storyline was a fresh take on the fake dating trope, and I completely bought in to Lyric and Kian’s chemistry. I liked that the story gave us background on their families, it made the characters feel more real. The treehouse restaurant scene was everything. Adored the epilogue! I will say that these people were licking their lips A LOT, so be prepared for that. This one’s out June 14th, so add it to your TBR!

🧬 Dual POV
🧬 Friends-to-lovers
🧬 Fake dating (with rules!)
🧬 Open door romance
🧬 Forced proximity
🧬 Slow burn
🧬 STEM storyline
🧬 LGBTQ+ rep
🧬 Epilogue

#caitsquietplacereviews #caitsquietplace #cqpromances #thesizzleparadox #lilymenon #stmartinspress

such a cute romcom !!! i haven’t read one in a while so this was the perfect thing to get me out of my slump! and i definitely loved it more because it had the best friends to lovers & fake dating tropes, which are both some of my faves!

This was such a fun read! I was captivated by the characters - they are endearing and real and the author did an excellent job making you feel like you know them. There was humor and suspense and a great plotline. I couldn't put this one down!