Book Rating: Four and a Half Stars.

Book Blurb

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 will admit, before I read the love hypothesis, I had very, very low expectations. This book was discussed a lot on booktok, and if you’re familiar with booktok then you already know that most of the recommendations on there are either hit or miss, with the majority of them (in my opinion) being the ladder. However, I can gladly say the love hypothesis was a HIT! This book included a handful of my favorite tropes such as fake relationship, forced proximity, pining, light angst and my ultimate favorite: sunny x grumpy. Olive and Adam’s relationship had me floored from the beginning because of how organic and genuine it all felt despite the true nature of their relationship. I also liked their conversations and how even though they never considered themselves ‘friends’, they always had the most personal and intimate conversations with each other. Another thing I enjoyed about this book is how passionate they are about their profession, especially Olive. She was a very strong female lead, and her character alone made me love the book tremendously more.

Who should read this book?

If you’re someone that likes seeing a relationship steadily build overtime and actually feel their connection at the tips of your fingers, this is it. Also, if you’re like me and share the unpopular opinion that 3rd person books ARE THE BEST, then this book is absolutely perfect for you.

Who shouldn’t read this book?

Even though I believe this book is wonderful in every possible way, if you’re someone that needs equal parts romance and spice, then this one sadly isn’t for you.