The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars**
The prologue to our action is an adorable Meet Cute in a bathroom in the research wing of a University.
Unfortunately, our smart and quirky protagonist, Olive, is having major issues with her contact lenses at the time and never gets a good look at the guy she’s talking with.
Regardless of her optical challenges, the interaction made an impact. In fact, it sort of helped her decide the course of her life. Her decision to pursue a Ph.D. was in a way spurred along by that encounter.
Three years later, Olive is now a Ph.D. candidate at that very University, living a perfectly normal single student lifestyle.
That is until her best friend, Ahn, falls for the guy Olive went on like two dates with. Olive seriously doesn’t care if Ahn goes for it. She doesn’t have feelings for that guy, but Ahn isn’t buying it.
Therefore, Olive does what any good friend would do and creates a fake dating relationship with the first man she can literally grab.
The man in question happens to be Adam Carlson, a young hotshot Professor with a surly reputation. What could go wrong?
Pursuing motivations of his own, Adam agrees to go along with Olive’s scheme. Logically, it is a win-win for both of them, but can they keep to the boundaries set-up at the beginning of their agreement?
I really had fun with this story. Olive was such a great main character. I grew quite attached to her over the course of the story and was rooting for her to achieve all her goals.
Additionally, I felt that the incorporation of a female main in STEM was such a refreshing set-up for a Contemporary Romance. The University setting, the research issues and politics, the hot professors, it was all so engaging!
The fake dating was actually quasi-plausible and I enjoyed watching the evolution of Olive and Adam’s relationship as they got themselves in deeper and deeper.
Adam is definitely a swoon-worthy male lead!
Overall, this is a memorable, science-is-sexy story and I want more from Ali Hazelwood; definitely one of my favorite Romance stories of the year, if not my very favorite.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Highly recommend!