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The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood

5/5

Told completely from the female lead's POV, this one-of-a-kind romcom will leave you pleasantly satisfied. Olive is a third-year Ph.D. student who is desperate to convince her best friend that she is happily dating even though she doesn't believe in dating. Or relationships.

Then in steps, the intimidating, scary, but still very attractive Dr. Adam Carlsen saves her from a mess of her own making.

What happens between these two is nothing short of adorable and quirky with just a few spicy moments to tide you over.

As for their budding romance, it is definitely among the opposites attract the line. He is grumpy and takes his coffee black. And she is sunshine and loves all things sweet. But it is the cutest. He is only sweet towards her and takes care of her and who doesn't love that in a fictional character. I was rooting for them from the very beginning.

Like many others, I am a fan of the fake dating trope and even the professor-student relationship. Two very cliché aspects of a romance novel, but Hazelwood somehow manages to make it not feel like a cliché in the slightest. I think it helped that she set this one in the STEM field which was very new for me and I liked how everything was new and not familiar.

In that regard, some clear liberties were taken, but as this is a work of fiction and the fact that the author was very clear that Adam and absolutely no influence or hold over her as a student didn't bother me. There were no unbalanced power dynamics between them whatsoever and I appreciated that.

Sexual harassment in academics is a very real issue and the author did a good job highlighting that fact and allowing Olive to confront her demons.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this love story. I recommend it for anyone related to or in the STEM field or if you're just a sucker for a fake dating trope.

9/14/21

*This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

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