This was such an amazing and humorous book to read and discuss!
Rating: 5/5
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.
Content Warning: Sexual Harassment
This was voted as my December #EnchantedReadsBookClub pick!
This was such an amazing and humorous book to read and discuss! I would have totally read this in one sitting if I were able to. I ended up reading this within two sittings on the same day. I just didn’t want to put this down. And between those two sittings, I could not stop thinking about this book.
This was such an amazing and humorous book to read and discuss! I would have totally read this in one sitting if I were able to.
The Love Hypothesis involves a fake-dating trope, where female scientist student, Olive is determined to prove to her best friend, she’s over the last guy she dated. Saying that she was dating someone else. But when it comes to proving it, Olive kisses the first guy she sees, Dr. Adam Carlson, otherwise known as the asshole professor. After their awkward kiss, Olive explains her situation and Adam says he’ll play along as it would benefit him as well with some issues he was having with funding at the university. Olive has no intention of ever falling in love, and it would benefit Adam too. So now the two are fake dating, what could go wrong?
From the first page, I knew I was going to enjoy reading this. I loved following Olive. She was such an entertaining character. Her inner thoughts of what she really wanted to say or do and what she would actually say just cracked me up. Practically all the way through, Olive’s action had me dying with laughter. This book would not have been the same without Olive.
Practically all the way through, Olive’s action had me dying with laughter.
And I absolutely adored Adam! I want an Adam! I loved how he cared for Olive no matter what the situation was. I especially enjoyed how Adam just went along with everything Olive got him into or asked him to do.
This book flowed so well. Each chapter ended in a way that made me want to keep reading. I seriously did not want to put this down. It’s only because of adulting that I did. But I still managed to finish this in a single day. It was actually the first book that I’ve been able to do that in a long long time.
Another aspect of this that I really enjoyed was, going off the title “The Love Hypothesis” each chapter started with a hypothesis, which in a way foreshadowed what we were to expect during the chapter. It was a mixture of heartfelt and humorous hypotheses. And I loved everything single one!
...going off the title “The Love Hypothesis” each chapter started with a hypothesis, which in a way foreshadowed what we were to expect during the chapter.
And let me just say, this book got spicy! When things got hot, it was hawt. It was so unexpected, but I’m not complaining! Give me all the heat!
Overall, I absolutely loved reading this from start to finish! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys RomComs, especially with the fake dating trope!