The Love Hypothesis

Genre

Romance & Contemporary Relationships

Publisher

Berkley (Penguin Random House)

Publication year

2021

ISBN

9780593336823

To convince her best friend she has moved on, PhD candidate Olive Smith impulsively kisses the first man she sees, Adam Carlsen, a notoriously difficult professor, and asks him to fake-date her. He agrees, for his own reasons. Ali Hazelwood's debut, set in academic science, launched a wave of...

A biology PhD student needs her best friend to believe she is dating someone, so she panic-kisses the nearest available man - who happens to be Adam Carlsen, the department's famously severe star professor - and improbably talks him into a fake relationship. Ali Hazelwood's runaway debut takes that classic rom-com setup and roots it in the real, rarely-romanticized world of academic science, where its heroine navigates grant politics, imposter syndrome and casual sexism alongside a slow-burning attraction. Originating as fan fiction, the novel wears its tropes with knowing delight - grumpy-sunshine, only-one-bed, mutual pining - and delivers them with warmth, banter and genuine swoon. It is unabashed comfort reading, propulsive and funny rather than literary, and it struck a nerve: a TikTok phenomenon that sold three-quarters of a million copies and launched a whole 'STEMinist' subgenre. For readers who want a smart, feel-good contemporary romance with a scientist heroine and real chemistry, it is a definitive modern example - and pure pleasure.