The Love Hypothesis

By: Ali Hazelwood

Narrated by: Callie Dalton, Teddy Hamilton

Now see Adam pine for Olive in a special bonus chapter!

The Instant New York Times Bestseller and TikTok Sensation!

As seen on THE VIEW!

A BuzzFeed Best Summer Read of 2021

When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

Critic reviews

An Indie Next Pick!

"A literary breakthrough…The Love Hypothesis is a self-assured debut, and we hypothesize it's just the first bit of greatness we'll see from an author who somehow has the audacity to be both an academic powerhouse and divinely talented novelist."—Entertainment Weekly

“Contemporary romance's unicorn: the elusive marriage of deeply brainy and delightfully escapist...The Love Hypothesis has wild commercial appeal but the quieter secret is that there is a specific audience, made up of all of the Olives in the world, who have deeply, ardently waited for this exact book.”—Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author

“Funny, sexy and smart, Ali Hazelwood did a terrific job with The Love Hypothesis.”—Mariana Zapata, New York Times bestselling author

“This tackles one of my favorite tropes—Grumpy meets Sunshine—in a fun and utterly endearing way...I loved the nods towards fandom and romance novels, and I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended!”—Jessica Clare, New York Times bestselling author

"Pure slow-burning gold with lots of chemistry."—Popsugar

"A beautifully written romantic comedy with a heroine you will instantly fall in love with, The Love Hypothesis is destined to earn a place on your keeper shelf."—Elizabeth Everett, author of A Lady's Formula for Love

"Smart, witty dialog and a diverse cast of likable secondary characters...A realistic, amusing novel that readers won’t be able to put down."—Library Journal, starred review

"Hilarious and heartwarming, The Love Hypothesis is romantic comedy at its best...a perfect amalgamation of sex and science, sure to appeal to readers of Christina Lauren or Abby Jimenez."—Shelf Awareness

"With whip-smart and endearing characters, snappy prose, and a quirky take on a favorite trope, Hazelwood convincingly navigates the fraught shoals of academia...This smart, sexy contemporary should delight a wide swath of romance lovers."—Publishers Weekly

Funny. Snarky. Intelligent. Real.

I devoured the book in one day (in-between family gatherings and kids). I couldn't put it down.

Then a few days later I inhaled the audiobook. GOD I adore Callie Dalton. Hands down my favorite female narrator (not an intentional nod to Mariana Zapata but I'll leave it there to honor the slow burn queen 😂)

Olive is the best kind of mess. She's frazzled from her PhD. She's grieving the loss of her mother to pancreatic cancer (which is fueling her research into easier/cheaper screening methods). She adores her friends and will do anything for them... which is how she ends up kissing Dr Adam Carlson.

Adam is the resident grump/beast - instilling fear into graduate students (but all in the name of scientific excellence, of course). He agrees to a mutually beneficial fake dating relationship with Olive after the whole kissing-incident.

Both Olive and Adam are navigating the challenges and obstacles of academia in their own unique ways - research, funding deficits, grants... i.e. lots of work, questionable returns. But science! Meanwhile juggling their fake-relationship and not at all (!!!) catching feelings.

Cancer is a near and dear topic to me (my mum died of cancer and i am currently fighting cancer) so I was gut punched during several scenes that this was discussed.

The banter and incredible one-liners in this story are perfection. Funny. Snarky. Intelligent. Real.

The relationship between each character and their individual friends is beautiful. The development of their relationship together feels *just so good*.

Read if: you're traumatized from academia and/or a STEM nerd, if you love Mariana Zapata & Helen Hoang, if you love sharp and funny banter, if you like a delicious slow burn with a fun twist on some classic tropes, if you're wild for sunshine/grumpy books.

I'm so so excited to see this book climb the bestseller list. I know its going to be (frankly it already is) a total hit.

Overall score: 5++ (this is my new bible. I will study it religiously)
Smut score: 3.5/5 (slow burn, explicit but not super kinky other than *one* thing that had me going "ohhhh" 🥵🌶)

Amazing

I LOVED this. It was smartly written and I effortlessly fell in love with the characters and the story! I also appreciated that women in STEM and BIPOC were mentioned and normalized (as were the challenges of being both). The performance was wonderful!

Wow!

This story was simply fantastic! It was like a much more intelligent but just as funny and witty as Sophie Kinsella.

The most spot-on academic rom com

Funny, sweet, well-developed characters with really accurate portrayal of science training.

SPOILER:

But the bad guy would never be fired.

well done

thorough and well thought out
loved every minute.
the narrator is a new favorite.