Unfortunately I did not enjoy this one and ended up DNFing at about 33%. I disliked both main characters and after reading some other reviews, it seems like those characters never get better. I found myself annoyed rather that engrossed in the story.

Lyric is a student at heart and will do just about anything to prove a thesis. She’s studying sexual chemistry but with no experience of her own she is going to need to do some experimenting.
.
Kian is her best friend and roommate. Kian agrees to be her sexual chemistry test subject which shouldn’t be a problem seen as there are no real feelings involved…right?
.
Thank you #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you so much @StMartinsPress & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 28 June 2022)

SYNOPSIS | Lyric feels like a fraud as she is at grad school studying sexual chemistry in romantic partners with the goal of providing recommendations on what makes a successful long term relationship but she herself has never actually been in a successful long term relationship.

WHAT I LIKED:
- dual POV helped drive the story along (I love not having to guess what the love interest is thinking)
- love an academic setting & a focus on STEM

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- Lyrics behaviour doesn't match her age at all (she reads very immature)
- it took more than half of the book before there was even a spark between Lyric & Kian
- this had more of a brother / sister vibe than best friends
- the ending was sooo rushed (but by that time I was glad to be finishing)

Fake dating for the sake of science can't go wrong, right?

Lyric and Kian are best friends.

They're also Ph.D students trying to gather their data and prepare their thesis, which is the whole basic plot.

Add in a little best friends to lovers, fake relationship drama to keep the book going (although this was at the end, wish it was more towards the beginning/middle).

I was hoping for more Sizzle in the Sizzle Paradox.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this title.

I just reviewed The Sizzle Paradox by Lily Menon. #NetGalley

This is a first time read for me by this author and I found it to be quite entertaining. STEM romances are definitely becoming more popular now and this latest one is a good addition to the genre. Lyric desperately needs some pointers in dating and how one goes about finding the sparks and chemistry that occurs between a couple that's attracted to each other along with finding an emotional connection. Otherwise, her whole thesis and work behind it will seem like a fraud. Her best friend and fellow grad student Kian has no trouble in the romance department and offers to tutor her. In return, she will help him with relationship commitment since that seems to be a trouble spot for him. As these two each impart their knowledge of love and romance, the line between academics and friendship and real romance seem to get blurred. I enjoyed the ride as these two figured out what was really going on between them.
This was an enjoyable and fun light-hearted read with cute characters and I am glad to have had the opportunity to read it.
I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Great book and enjoyed the characters . loved the slight romance and the how well the group worked together. Overall a great book . I would read this author again.

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

This was such a fun read. Not only did it suck me in from page one. But, I felt that I was able to really become invested in the characters lives. I felt that this story was a bit more realistic for me. Some books with this premise often fall flat or seem too unreal. But, this was not the case with this one.

Was a quick easy read. Overall pretty cute but nothing about the plot or characters really stood out to me compared to other romcoms.

Cute, but nothing groundbreaking. I actually didn’t have strong feelings about it at all. I enjoy Menon’s YA books, so I was disappointed to be so disappointed here.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an EArc copy of this book ahead of it's release!

This book was super cute! I loved the academic setting! Fake dating and friends to lovers? Sign me up! This is definitely a cute romance for fans of The Love Hypothesis. It is an easy book to read and you could easily fly through this one in just a couple sittings.

The characters had lots of tension and I loved watching them try to navigate their feelings for one another and I appreciated that this one was dual POV so we got the perspective of each of the characters. This isnt the most unique story out there, but its fun and cute for sure.

In this friends/roommates-to-lovers contemporary romance, Lyric and Kian face the music about their relationship's potential and fall in love. Fyi it's a romance novel, so that's not a spoiler. Against a grad school backdrop, Kian tutors Lyric in how to date better for her academic research. Yes, that is a sentence I wrote. Backdrop is the keyword here because aside from a few jokes about stats and being poor and/or nerdy, the characters basically act like normal humans, which is highly inaccurate based on my experience. Grad school is its own hellscape, and that culture isn't portrayed much in the book. Furthermore, you can throw around words like "abstract" and "ANOVA" to your heart's content, but if you think someone's cognitive psychology research is going to pass peer review with personal musings on finding love, you've never sat down and read a journal in all its dry, passive voice glory.

Let's talk about the romance, though. One person teaching the other to flirt/date is a hard sell for me because it implies there's a right way to do everything, which I have found to be a damaging mindset. But I also understand/respect being anxious or uncomfortable and seeking a friend for advice, so that leaves me with a mix of feelings. In trade for setting Kian up with someone he's not excited about, though? I think by trying to make it quid pro quo, the author actually emphasizes the imbalance of services they're offering to each other. It's especially weird given that Kian said he was happy to help without anything in return (as we would hope a friend would), indicating this is about creating drama down the road rather than any kind of logic. Beyond my issues with the premise, I found the romance to be abrupt and generic, which prevented me from summoning any enthusiasm. The final act fight is not exactly miscommunication drama but honestly something worse- non-communication drama based on assumptions and passive aggression and morose, childlike behavior worthy of one of my 6th graders with their undeveloped brains.

Another big issue for me is that the writing is eh *shrug* level. The use of first person narration only further drove home how irritating I found both leads. Being that up close and personal with Lyric's raging insecurities and Kian thinking possessive "caveman" thoughts (his words) really ruined everything else they might want to transmit to me in an all-caps stream-of-consciousness freakout that already wasn't fun to begin with. The book reads as New Adult even though it's about grad students due to the maturity levels on display (negligible). And there's a reason I say college-age humans are at their worst stage of life. I intend to use this book as further evidence in my campaign against people in that phase of life being in contact with me in any way.

I will finish up with a random pro and con to even things out. Pro: Lyric's lesbian best friend frequently bemoans how stupid straight people are, and that's fun. Con: the book features a throwaway comment about a photo of Lyric and Kian (neither of whom are Latinx) wearing sombreros and eating tacos together and WHY. Has the recent Great British Bake-Off Fiasco taught us nothing??? (to be fair, this book was published before that, but STILL.)

So, yeah. End rant, mic drop, etc.

I wanted to like this book, but there’s nothing really different from any other recent romcom. There was nothing surprising or unique to this story.

How do two broke PHD students afford this 5 star hotel trip to London? It just made no sense.

I won’t be posting about this on my Instagram, but I will review on goodreads.

Thank you to @stmartinspress for my gifted ebook.

This was fun and I generally really enjoy this author’s writing. This book was not my favorite of hers but the characters were sweet!

The Sizzle Paradox is a friends-to-lovers romance. Lyric and Kian are best friends, roommates, and both doctoral students working on their thesis. Lyric hasn't had good luck with relationships so Kian agrees to "train" her. What ensues is a lot of miscommunication.

The book is written with alternate points of view for each chapter - so you get both his and hers. There are some laughs and romance, I didn't really connect with the characters that much. The first bit of the book was a bit slow for me but I did get into it more towards that latter part. I also felt like there was more potential for some more heat in the romance department - it was a bit lukewarm at times.

Stopped reading at the 33% mark. I could not get into this one. I really honestly didn’t like or relate to either of the main characters - you’re telling me Lyric studies sexual chemistry but thinks it’s a good idea to bring up duck penises on a date? And Kian was so cocky that it turned me off. I couldn’t bring myself to root for either of them.

I wanted to like this book. I love friends-to-lovers and women in stem. When you read a lot of romance, certain tropes pop up a lot and that's okay, but THE SIZZLE PARADOX just felt uninspired and over done.

There is nothing new about a smart woman with poor social skills who spouts scientific facts when nervous. This has been done over and over and over again. And THE SIZZLE PARADOX just rehashes the same characters and the same plot lines I have read so many times before.

I skimmed and them finally gave up.

Cute and predictable read. But nonetheless I enjoyed this friends to lovers romance. Perfect Summer read.

This was cute! I liked their friendship a lot & their loooove. I enjoyed it! There was something keeping it from being a 5 star read for me, but I can’t pinpoint it.

Lily Menon is one of my favorite authors, as she writes some of the sweetest novels with the most relatable characters.

The Sizzle Paradox is a fake dating trope, set in the STEM world (similar to The Love Hypothesis) except we have Lyric, a brilliant scientist who is struggling to finish her research, who recruits her best friend Kian, the soon-to-be doctor, and beloved campus hottie to help her out, no-strings-attached. Of course, the fake dating idea backfires, Lyric and Kian realize that maybe their relationship probably needs to change and how to navigate it all. There are so many tropes (friends to lovers, forced proximity, fake dating) in here that somehow work and I especially loved how much representation there is throughout the characters.

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

This book sizzled just as much as the title would indicate! Gave me Love Hypothesis vibes in the best way,