The Love Hypothesis is an absolute delight! I was reading the majority of it whole at work and was grateful that my face mask was on hiding the gigantic grin on my face. I fell hard for these characters, their dynamic, and how everything unfolded. It was just so well done.
The Love Hypothesis is all about catching real feelings as you are trying to fake it until you make it. PhD student Olive kisses an unsuspecting Adam, a professor at the university, late one night as part of her plan to show her BFF that she has moved on on to encourage her to date her ex. The kiss is awkward but there is chemistry between them. Adam agrees to go along with Olive’s plan and thus begins a pseudo dating adventure. They set guidelines for this experiment but rules are meant to be broken, right? Especially when real feelings start entering the picture.
I adored Adam. He is snarky, grumpy, and a bit pretentious on the surface but when he is with Olive he is a little bit different. He is still snarky but you get to understand why he is the way he is. He has his reasons for being the “hard ass” professor and is a man with dreams and ambitions of his own. Olive also has her own goals which she wants to accomplish. She is invested in her research for pancreatic cancer and is desperate to prove herself in a male dominated culture. She suffers from a bit of a fear regarding her abilities which Adam recognized and tried to encourage her. I really liked that thiugjoit the faux dating Adam encouraged Olive’s abilities but never tried to do things for her when he could have with his experience and education.
The banter between Olive and Adam is top notch. They made me grin and laugh out loud. I loved when he started referring to her a smart ass. It was a joking banter between them and also became a term of endearment in so many ways. It does not take long for the lines of their faux romance to become blurred. They try to ignore it but everyone se sees the chemistry and dynamic between them and it was very real. This included the people who knew it was a fake romance. They are both afraid to be vulnerable and to get attached to someone else. If only their hearts would listen to that….
Each chapter of The Love Hypothesis has a hypothesis at the start which basically is a summery of what may be happening. It gave me insight into Olive’s brain and usually made me giggle as I read each of them. I also liked how tha book delved into discussions on STEM and Title IX and it has women in science. Real, quirky, funny, nerdy women who loved science and were good at their research. So excited for this representation!
Overall, The Love Hypothesis had all the elements I love. A decent troupe (faux dating), a sense of attraction, chemistry between the main characters and hilarious friendships that play a role in the dynamics of the story. It was so well written and funny and left me in such a good mood. If these are some of your favorite “go-tos” for a book, I highly recommend this one for you.
Rating: 5 Stars
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