The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Recommended: ugh, yes
For lovers of meta trope silliness that’s a bit tongue in cheek, for lovers of fake-dating romances, for people in that academia life who want the thrill of love in it (though according to this book none of those people will have time to read anyway 😔)

Summary
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.

Thoughts
Ahhhh, shit. I liked it. There was so much hype that I fully did not expect to. Also I kind of hate the cover for some reason? Though I get it now. I guess it looks too much like the guy is confused and not into it, and I don’t like that vibe in a story, but that’s not where this one goes.
I loved how the common tropes were acknowledged and teasingly turned on their head at times. Rom-coms exist in this universe, and the characters know about the fake-dating tropes and associated perils. It was such a fun aspect for an avid reader of rom-coms and romance. ☺
Part of my original hesitation on this book was the expectation that it would be the same old story of the one perky outgoing character and the one reclusive character (sunshine and grump, basically). It kiiind of was, but I think it also developed both leads into more than their assigned stereotypes. There was friendship for each of them on both sides, and other relationships that mattered. Part of the fun, as always in the trope, is the discovery of each other as more nuanced than they first thought.