About the Book:
When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman’s carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.
As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.
That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding…six-pack abs.
Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.
(This book releases on September 14, 2021.)
My Review:
“HYPOTHESIS: If I fall in love, things will invariably end poorly.”
Okay I’m actually giving a romantic comedy 5 stars because OMG this is just SO good!! If this is Ali Hazelwood’s debut novel, I cannot wait to see what she does next! Refreshing, inventive, sexy, smart, funny…I could go on and on. Olive and Adam are amazing!!
I never knew I needed a STEM romance in my life but hello, give me a romance set in the world of academia and I am sold. I also read that the characters Olive and Adam were loosely based on Kylo Ren and Rey from the Star Wars sequel trilogy and I can 100% see Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley as these characters. I also want to say how much I LOVE the chapter headings in this book. It’s the little things for me!
“HYPOTHESIS: Adam Carlsen and I have absolutely nothing in common, and having coffee with him will be twice as painful as a root canal. Without anesthesia.”
I have never been this excited to read a book with a fake dating trope. Usually they are just seem uninteresting to me and well, overdone. But here, the author make Olive and Adam’s fake dating actually compelling with a slow-burn chemistry that kept me invested and believing in their connection.
“He stepped a little closer, and really, he was not gross. How someone this sweaty, someone who’d just pushed a truck still managed to smell good was a topic worthy of a Ph.D. dissertation, for sure. Earth’s finest scientists should have been hard at work on this.”
This book has that very elusive “it factor” that just made it work on every every level for me. I loved Olive and Adam, I loved the academic setting, I loved the slow-burn chemistry, and I loved the author’s humor. You won’t go wrong with this book! I’m obsessed!
(Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review.)
