The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
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. And 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: Eeeekkk Olive and Adam forever!! I am always a sucker for a fake dating relationship, but I loved how this one came about so chaotically and with Olive literally grabbing the first man she sees to kiss.
I think one thing that worked so well about this story for me is that it is NOT dual POV. Olive has no idea what Adam's true feelings or thoughts are for so long and it really helped build the tension and drama so much. Had we had chapters from Adam's perspective, it would have dampened the tension. But yet it was still SO satisfying to get the bonus chapter at the end from Adam's perspective where we get to see how truly down bad he was all along! Although I will say, I was hoping to get some behind the scenes perspective on what Adam was thinking when they first met and then during their first kiss! Miss opportunity!
I wish we had gotten a little more depth on the main characters' backgrounds, as well as depth on the side characters, but I really did love learning the personal motivation Olive has for pursuing the research project that she is. Love that both Adam and Olive are in medical research and the overall women in STEM rep in this book!
I have to say NO ONE warned me about chapter 16. Whewwww. What a steamy chapter. And so long! This is not a complaint but also a head's up that this is absolutely NOT closed door.
I also really liked that both Olive and Adam seem like people who really need emotional intimacy to both confide in someone and to be sexually intimate with them. Olive feels so strongly about this that she even feels like something is wrong with her, which to me only shows how deeply into Adam she is that she is able to feel comfortable with him.
I will say, I did think all the insults hurled at Adam were largely undeserved. Adam is called Dr. Evil and described as being an ass over and over. In reality, he never says anything cruel or does anything mean. Yes, he is a little stilted socially. And yes, he has high academic and scientific standards and doesn't let anyone slide. But that doesn't make him an asshole. I also appreciated that, despite unkind insults hurled at Olive, Adam and Olive make sure no lines are crossed professionally. Adam makes sure everything is above board with their relationship and I really liked that.
Maybe I somehow missed it on audio, but the details surrounding the need for fake dating seemed very glossed over and shaky at best. There really doesn't seem a huge need for the fake dating in the first place, is all I'm saying. But I'm glad they agreed to this scenario, however it came about.
I also thought the miscommunication went on for longer than it needed to. There were multiple opportunities for them to finally come clean with each other about their true feelings and they continue to avoid it. Of course, both of them think the other is interested in someone else and are unsure of how the other feels, so in some ways it made sense that they remained stubbornly hesitant to make the first move.
This was excellent on audio!
Stars: 4
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