THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS by ALI HAZELWOOD

‘Maybe her life was nothing but a little sob story, but it was her little sob story. Her heart may be broken, but her brain was doing just fine.’

What a fantastic debut! A swoony, slow-burn fake boyfriend romance chock full of fun banter, a seriously gorgeous, nerdy hero with a touch of alpha, set in the world of Academia at Stanford University, and didn’t we just love it!!  The banter between Olive and Adam gave us a good giggle, and the back and forth between Adam’s childhood friend, and fellow Professor, Holden really tickled our funny bones.

Fake relationships are a little hit and miss for us, and although it did take us a little while to settle into the third-person prose, once we did…we never wanted it to end! And thirty-four-year-old scrumptious nerdy genius Dr. Adam Carlsen played a big part in why we felt that way. There’s something about a genius, alpha-type, grumpy hero that makes our hearts leap, and Adam’s good looks were matched by his incredible brain – what a combination!

‘There was only fresh breeze between them, and whatever distance Adam had seen fit to keep. Her stubborn, mercurial fake boyfriend. Wonderfully, perfectly unique. Delightfully one of a kind. Olive felt her heart overflow.’

When an unexpected kiss from Ph.D. student Olive Smith takes Adam by surprise and results in an arrangement between the two to fake a relationship – each for their own reasons, little did they know how their fake relationship would flourish and how hard it would be to part ways amicably when the 29 September expiration date of their agreement approached?

‘You just had to go and make me fall for you, she thought. You absolute ass.’

Talk about swoony moments! Oh, and…let’s not forget the chemistry and the sizzling hot sex between these two! WOW! We had expected the sex to be fade to black. How wrong we were! Bloody hell, it was hot! Adam and Olive would cause a Bunsen Burner to ignite! Along with the rom-com fun, there were also moments of angst and heartbreak and some wonderful surprises. The way in which Ali Hazelwood wove the ending together was pure joy for romance junkies like us!

‘A good kiss will do that: make a girl forget herself for a while.’