The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Description: “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.”
Review: I loved this book! Some romance books are too cheesy for me but I thought this book was the perfect balance of cheesiness. I found Olive to be a relatable character; she was smart, funny, pretty and yet she still wasn’t always sure of herself. The trope of fake boyfriend turned to actual crush is a little overused but I liked how the author was aware of that and even poked fun of it. The first half of the book was a little slow, we all knew where the story was heading and I wish it got there a faster. Once the half way point was reached the story started to pick up and even got a little steamy. Personally I would have liked some more hot and heavy parts!
Not only was the romantic part of it great but I loved seeing the friendships in the book. Olive and Adam were able to build a strong friendship throughout the book even if their relationship was originally built on a lie. Olive has two best friends, Anh and Malcom. Olive has a different type of relationship with each of them but they are such pure friendships. It was nice to see a group of friends that was truly looking out for one another. The characters of Olive and Adam seemed a little flat and stereotypical at times but I think their outside friendships gave the reader a better view of who they are.
I was able to binge this book in two days (a little hard when you have a husband and a 2 year old)! This book is the perfect summer beach read, I highly recommend it to anyone who likes fun, lighthearted romances.