On the HahaFiction shelf
The Love Hypothesis
The Love Hypothesis Series · 2021
Olive Smith needs her best friend to believe she has moved on from an ex. Her solution is to kiss a nearby man in the lab hallway, who turns out to be intimidating professor Adam Carlsen. He agrees to an ongoing fake relationship because appearing settled at Stanford could help him recover frozen research funding. They have practical reasons to keep pretending until the attraction complicates their agreement.
From the author’s blurb
“So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.”Read the full description at Ali Hazelwood author description
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What makes it funny?
After kissing Adam, Olive tries denying that she did it. His dry questions make the attempted escape harder. Her frantic inner commentary also has plenty to say about academic status and the faculty members who wield it. Readers in romance book groups describe the book as silly and cute, with humor that kept them smiling.
The comedy at work
A pair of scientists set up a relationship to persuade other people of things they cannot simply explain. That means performing intimacy while negotiating its rules. Adam’s stern reputation and Olive’s anxious improvising give their conversations an uneven rhythm that suits the fake-dating predicament.
Try this if…
Readers who enjoy academic settings, an upbeat heroine with a grumpy partner, and romance built on a public charade have clear reasons to try it. Book-group readers also mention The Hating Game and The Kiss Quotient when discussing its appeal.
Good to know
Olive is a graduate student and Adam is a professor. The author flags their power difference, workplace sexual harassment by someone other than Adam, a parent’s past death from cancer, explicit sex and profanity. Some readers found the book boring or overhyped; others found the academic-romance formula repetitive or the later sex scenes too detailed for their taste.
A few distinguishing details
- A fake romance that might unlock laboratory funding
- Scientists with a carefully arranged public relationship
From book groups
Questions readers ask
- Are her other books just as good?
- Readers say Love on the Brain and the other books offer similar humor and romance, with some still favoring The Love Hypothesis. Others find the formula repetitive.
- Is it worth pushing past page 50 if it hasn’t grabbed you?
- Readers split: fans say the sexual tension and payoff reward continuing; detractors suggest stopping if the opening does not appeal.
More funny contemporary romance
Sources & further reading
- Author content notes
Author commentary
- Author
Author commentary
- Publisher and opening chapter
Publisher
- Reader discussion
Reader discussion
- Kirkus review
Review
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