Title: The Love Hypothesis

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Berkley 2021

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 376

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

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 one was light and fluffy and oh so cute! I love the grumpy guy - sunshine girl romance trope so much. This was just what I needed to read this week during the Thanksgiving craziness. Right away we fall in with the mess that Olive has created in her life. We get to know her and her struggles to excel at her career and create a found family for her personal life. We get to slowly see Olive open up and get to know a very great (if hidden) guy in the process. I loved Adam’s character so much. The unapproachable and antagonistic male lead is totally my catnip. I really enjoyed this book. But, I would have liked more concluding chapters and a few more steamy scenes would have been nice.

Next up on the TBR pile: