So happy the main female character Lyric works in STEM! I’m glad to see more novels shedding light on females in these professions. The premise of Lyric and Kian helping support each other to reach their professional goals was refreshing. They’re so close, knowing what the other is thinking and finishing each other’s sentences. Also, the chemistry WAS sizzling. The only thing I would have liked to add was a more established backstory to how Lyric and Kian became such important people in each other’s lives before all the “researching”. I really enjoyed the book!

Hear me out! Fake dating, friends to lovers, science experiment. All things I love a rom-com needs. Plus the plot is easy to follow with a little bit of 🌶! I did get bored/frustrated in some parts when there was miscommunication, and I wish there was more tension. But I would definitely recommend this books to friends I know who like this kind of read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press!

Lily Bishop and her best friend/roommate Kian Montgomery are both working on completing their doctoral theses. While Kian’s work is going smoothly, Lily struggles with her topic of the “sizzle paradox”. She needs to find find someone who fits the sexual and emotional perameters. Kian offers to tutor Lily in order for her to attract the right guy and solve the mystery.

The Sizzle Paradox is a unique twist on the fake dating trope. This friends to lovers romance has everything from typical family drama to grad school complications. The chemistry between Lily and Kian is apparent from the very beginning.

I do wish that the author would have included some more background info on the main characters. We know that they are best friends and roommates but that’s about it. How long have they known each other? How did they end up roommates? A lot of information is given about Lily’s thesis but not Kian’s. The ending was a little rushed but the epilogue helps.

This is the first book that I have read from Lily Menon but I plan to look into some of her other works in the future.

The Sizzle Paradox is perfect for fans of Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis or Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient.

I had a bit of hate/love relationship with this book. I liked how fast it was to read, and I loved the STEM representation, the sexual tension was obvious and the academia setting was just amazing. I had forgotten how much I love college romances.

However, the miscommunication was too much for me. I only enjoy friends to lovers under very specific circumstances, and the miscommunication didn’t help the book’s case for me. It was frustrating and at some points I just wanted it to finish once and for all.

Overall, sweet and sexy, and I’m sure fans of friends to lovers will enjoy it.

Rating: 3/5
Steam: 2/5

Thanks to St. Martin’s for my eARC!

I really enjoyed the storyline and the added scientific research to it. I am a big fan of books that include romance and STEM. I can definitely tell The Love Hypothesis was an influence for this book. I would have liked the characters to have told their feeling sooner, but the tension between them kept me engaged until the very end. I of course, loved the ending.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.5/5

The Sizzle Paradox follows Lucy and Kian, best friends (and roommates) who attempt to help the other find love. I like the premise of this book, and thought it was a fun, light read. I enjoyed the dual POV and probably finished the book in a few hours. There were a few aspects that frustrated me - Lyric is a hard character to like, mostly because her personality is a combination of being both childlike and incredibly smart. Also, about 80% of this book relies on miscommunication, which is difficult to read when the characters are supposed to be best friends and they miscommunicate for almost the entire book. Pick it up if you're a fan of the friends-to-lovers trope, but know that you'll also get the miscommunication trope.

This was a cute, adorable story that had some really sweet moments. I laughed a lot throughout this book as there were some pretty hilarious moments and there were a few tears shed as well. This story tells about how miscommunication can really mess with a relationship and how you can miss things that are right in front of you. I really enjoyed my time reading this sweet book. I recommend!

Overall: 62/100
Characters: 64/100
Plot: 60/100

Tropes
* Friends to lovers
* Women in stem
* Fake dating
* Miscommunication trope
* Academia
Content warnings:
4/5 on the smut scale. parts and actions described on the page

This book centers around Lyric, a grad student studying sexual psychology and is trying to quantify emotional and physical chemistry, but she’s having some issues because her personal love life is not good. So her serial dater best friend and roommate, Kian, tries to help her by giving her lessons in dating.

And that leads me to one of my hang ups on this book, I don’t really understand why her personal life impacts her data or thesis. I got got a hint of imposter syndrome but it wasn’t really addressed again and I don’t get how getting into a relationship would fix that. And the entire research part is a fairly major part of the plot so it seems weird that wasn’t addressed more.
Second hang up on this book is the amount of times the people around Lyric and Kian told them they should be together in the first half of the book was excessive. They really wanted to hit the readers over the head with that.
Third hang up was the classic miscommunication trope. It was strong in this one. It’s been a bit since I’ve finished a book where I’ve stopped so much to say just have an actual communication and don’t rely on others to read your mind.
Fourth hang up, I hated how Lyric kept pushing for Kian and Zoey to get together. It was pretty awkward. And I don’t see how she could’ve missed the signs from the get go that Zoey liked Charlie.
And kind of unrelated but this book read like a young adult romance (that’s not good or bad it just felt like it) and there was something about it that felt familiar and that makes complete sense because it’s by the same author who wrote When Dimple Met Rishi. I can’t articulate why or how I thought that. And just to be clear this is not a ya novel it’s a solid 4/5 on the smut scale like parts described and actions are depicted on the page.

Overall, it isn’t a bad book. It was enjoyable, quick, and cute. It has women in stem which is one of my favorite things in romance novels.
Would I read this again: no
Would I read more by this author: probably wouldn’t seek it out
Would I recommend: maybe with some caveats, like if you liked the author’s previous work ya or otherwise.

This book was a fun read as I have grown to expect from Lily/Sandhya Menon. The characters were adorable and lovable. The plot was expected, but in the way that all HEA’s are. Definitely a fun read to just enjoy.

read time: March 08 - March 09 2022

i am not embarrassed to say that i shed a tear at the ending :’) this is like an excellent contemporary romance for me! it’s super light, swoony and made me giggle a lot!! on top of that, it’s a stem romance?! like if you love the love hypothesis you’re gonna like this too!! except this one is a couple of besties, goin on a fake date (research purposes) not to impress anybody, but to learn from each other. they suck at dating apparently especially Lyric (awesome name i know) hahahaha omg you wouldn’t believe how she behaved during her dates she’s so awkward and weird 😆 she tends to talk like a geek around hot guys who’re clearly attracted to her, and there she goes, talking about ducks’ penis to the recent guy (Benedict Cumberbatch’s clone). she messed up big time y’all. now as for my (idk how many) husband, Kian Montgomery, a well-known hottie, soon-to-be doctor, he’s awesome in dating. but the spark wasn’t there anymore. he thought he’s getting bored of dating the same type of women so the besties paired up to find out what’s wrong with them. until.. the fake dating stuff went… completely opposite of what they have intended. there u go, a nice and light contemporary romance. honestly i don’t get why the rating is pretty low, i think it’s awesome. well who am i to say maybe i’ve only read a few romance books, but anyway this book is everything i need to get out of my reading slump! it’s witty, swoony, and cute!

-Official Review on Instagram and Video Content on TikTok will be posted a week before publication date ♥️
-A proper review on Goodreads will be posted today ♥️

thankyou Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc!

Graduate students Lyric and Kian have been best friends for years. They have helped each other navigate undergrad, grad school, and the crazy world of relationships. With less than a year before they head out to the real world, the best friends decide to research Lyric's thesis--the Sizzle Paradox. As they fake date and Kian tries to help Lyric figure out how to "do dating," they grow closer and closer until they need to decide if they want to fizzle out or let things sizzle.

This book was marketed to a similar crowd as The Love Hypothesis, though to me they were drastically different. This novel builds the friendship and sexual tension between the main characters in a completely separate way. While I enjoyed experiencing Lyric and Kian figure out how to get over their neuroses, I did wish for a bit of a curveball thrown into the plot as I never actually believed they would not end up together.

This was a cute friends to lovers story with a sweet HEA. It was a quick and easy read, but I did struggle with parts of it. The majority of this story exists because of miscommunication/lack of communication between the MCs and it’s absolutely INFURIATING-if they just TALKED to each other everything could’ve been solved without the obnoxious run around. I usually don’t mind the miscommunication trope, but for some reason this one seemed unavoidable and just got under my skin. I wanted to like Lyric, I really did, but I felt like she just kept making stupid decisions and avoiding her problems.
I was provided an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. All opinions are my own.

The Sizzle Paradox is the perfect little read for fans of academia romance.

Lyric Bishop is a scientist studying sexual chemistry, but she feels like a fraud because she has little *real-life* experience to back up her work. So she asks Kian Montgomery, who just so happens to be her best friend and roommate, to help her find a good match. After all, Kian is very successful in his personal dating life, so this should work, right?

This was basically The Love Hypothesis meets The Hating Game, only they weren't enemies - they're actually best friends. But don't get me wrong: it had all the sexual undertones. I love the classic "let's-have-sex-once-to-get-it-over-with" because it sets up a whole lot of tension, and Menon executes that plot perfectly here. Plus, we also get a sex dream that sets Lyric up for a whole bunch of awkwardness. It was amazing!

The plot moves along quite nicely and kept me entertained with being over the top. But really: it's the tension between the characters that made me stay. I can't overemphasize how well Menon does these two MCs! Plus, the dual point of view gives us a great glimpse into both of their minds, which is helpful since they aren't always the best at communicating. 

If you're looking for a good read that feels real but is still sweet and well-paced, you should definitely give The Sizzle Paradox a read.

*I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Lyric and Kian are perfect for each other, and everyone can see it but them. After seven years of friendship, Kian offers to help the always unlucky in love Lyric learn the secrets of romance, but their very real feelings get in the way. This book was a joyous and tropey romp of a love story, and is destined to be the perfect summer read. If you like fake dating, friends to lovers, and a sprinkle of angst--this is the book for you! ]Thanks to netgalley for the ARC!

Fun!

I mainly picked this up for the book cover but god DANG this was such a fun ride! It was great curling up in my bed while doing online school and just getting sucked into the characters’ world and their relationships

I do wish the author’s writing wasn’t so overly...mediocre? I can’t quite explain it but the way she writes dialogue and internal thoughts just don’t make me believe that the writing is as polished and professional as it should be.

It was a nice book, but not as great as the author’s other books. The relationship between the two main characters evolved somewhat predictably, so nothing too stand-out about this book. But it is a nice fun read.

Will post to IG closer to PUB Date!

Lyric and Kian are best friends and nothing more. Studying sexual chemistry requires Lyric to rely on her best friend to help her crack the Sizzle Paradox, and Kian is just the man to help her. Kian begins to tutor Lyric on how to date and find a good match and Lyric is happy thinking this will solve all her problems. Until they both start to realize that maybe this test is proving to be more than both of them bargained for. Maybe the Sizzle Paradox is telling them something that they have known all along and maybe, these two best friends are actually something more.

This was a REALLY slow burn for me. I was just dying and waiting for these two to finally get together and felt like we waited a long time for it. There was also too much focus on the science part for me and not enough on the relationships. I wanted to see it through because I KNEW what would happen and was so happy when it finally did. It just took a little bit for me to get there.

This was a really cute and quick read. The storyline is your classic friends to lovers with a bunch of miscommunication and some spice mixed in. The story highlights how sometimes we can be really smart but miss the things right in front of us.

Lyric is a doctoral student working on her thesis in sexual chemistry (on her theory of the sizzle paradox) but is struggling to finish. She wants to find a serious relationship to better help her interpret her data but Lyric is a hot mess around guys she finds attractive. Kian, her best friend, roommate and fellow grad student, offers to help by being her dating coach. Can their friendship survive testing the sizzle paradox?!

Overall this was an enjoyable read. I wish the characters had a little less miscommunication but nonetheless we get a very sweet HEA.

This was a 3.5/5 star and a 2.5/5 for spice read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I liked the premise of this book, the relationship fell a bit flat for me. I just didn’t quite buy this shift from friends to lovers. It seemed a bit stilted, and then the final resolution felt a bit rushed. It was only ok for me.

I was drawn by this cover and excited to dive in. In practice, though, I struggled with the writing style, as the story or chemistry felt forced and unrealistic. In the end I did not finish the book. Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.