The Love Hypothesis

Description

The multi-million-copy global bestseller, TikTok sensation, and definitive modern classic of contemporary romance! From New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood comes The Love Hypothesis—a brilliantly witty, fast-paced, and highly addictive STEM romance masterpiece. Blending the high-stakes world of academic research with scorching, high-steam romantic tension, this unputdownable book delivers a spectacular mix of razor-sharp banter, deep emotional intelligence, and undeniable chemistry that will keep you glued to the page.

As a brilliant third-year Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, Olive Smith is strictly data-driven and doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships. However, her absolute best friend, Anh, is a hopeless romantic, and that’s exactly what gets Olive into a massive dilemma. Desperate to convince Anh that she has completely moved on and is well on her way to a happily ever after, Olive realizes that vague assertions won’t cut it—scientists require empirical proof. Panicking in a late-night hallway, Olive does what any self-respecting biologist would do: she closes her eyes and kisses the very first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young, brilliant professor—and the biology department’s notoriously harsh, well-known ass. Which is precisely why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant unexpectedly agrees to keep her elaborate charade a secret and act as her official fake boyfriend. As their calculated corporate-style experiment gets underway, they must navigate the rigid politics of academia while pretending to be madly in love.

But when a major science conference goes completely haywire, putting Olive’s entire career on the line, it is Adam who steps up to surprise her with his unyielding professional support and his even more unyielding… six-pack abs. Suddenly, their controlled little experiment feels dangerously close to a catastrophic chemical combustion. Olive quickly discovers that the only thing more complicated than a formal hypothesis on love is putting her own fragile heart under the microscope.

Masterfully executing the fake dating, grumpy-meets-sunshine, workplace/academic, forced proximity, and age-gap tropes, The Love Hypothesis delivers a beautifully structured, atmospheric, and high-energy narrative. Brimming with academic wit, deep found-family dynamics, and incredible character depth, this premium Little, Brown paperback edition is a mandatory masterpiece for every contemporary romance enthusiast’s personal collection.