“Everyone likes tall, broody, sullen hunks with genius IQs.”

In order to help her best friend believe she’s moved on from her ex-boyfriend, Olive Smith kisses the first man within reach. That man just happens to be Dr. Adam Carlsen, a young hot-shot professor and well known jerk. When he agrees to a fake-dating scheme she is positively floored. However, the more time she spends with him, she finds herself falling in love with him. Will she be able to keep her feelings separate from their fake arrangement and more importantly how does Adam feel?

I’ll admit that the quote I picked for this book is a fallacy, but it is true for me. I like tall, broody, sullen hunks with genius IQs. Please deliver mine to my doorstep. However, I understand why people wouldn’t be comfortable reading this book. It started as Reylo fanfiction. I’m not especially a Reylo stan, but with the male love interest being named Adam, they weren’t exactly trying to hide it. I personally don’t find Adam Driver that attractive physically. I think he’s a nice guy and funny, at least based on his interviews. So, separating these two things in my mind is what enabled me to really enjoy this. Also, at least Adam Driver is an adult, the people writing fanfiction of minors are the ones to really watch out for. So, if you hate Reylo or are put off by the fact that this was clearly inspired by a real person, you should probably just move along. Might I suggest: Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert. And you should also avoid: Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade.

Anyways, let’s talk about the book. First, you have to suspend belief a little. The fact that a professor is dating a grad student, even one that isn’t his own, publicly is a bit weird. I understand that he isn’t in her chain of command, but still. I don’t really do the whole hot for teacher thing. It’s probably because I teach. I just never would have considered it. Yes, I have taught adults. No, I still wouldn’t consider it. I know people who have, but not me. I chose not to let this bother me, mostly because they didn’t have contact in a professional way. They also have like an eight year age difference so if that bothers you, avoid it.

I enjoyed both of our main characters though. Olive is a type of quirky that works for me. She’s funny, sarcastic, and fueled by Starbucks. It’s like me when I was 26. I wasn’t in academia, but it still describes me. Adam is more serious and subdued. He’s also a consent king who likes to go down on his woman. Yes, okay. I have seen people say that he needs a bit more “seasoning”. I don’t find serious characters boring so it didn’t bother me. What I will say is that the level of spice was less than I was lead to believe and there is really only two sex scenes so this is not for a reader looking for mostly smut. Maybe read Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, which I apparently never wrote a review of.

This book does have plot, even if people say it doesn’t. It’s just not especially high stakes plot. They’re trying to convince her friends they’re dating, he’s trying to convince the school he’s not a flight risk, and they’re both trying to do their academic things. There is a plot. Also, most romances don’t have particularly strong plots so… I don’t know. Are they reading romantasy? Are they reading dark romance where people die? I don’t know. If you’re looking for a lot of angst and drama, this isn’t really that until over half-way through with an incident that I’m not going to reveal here because spoilers. Then it gets a bit dramatic, but also rage inducing.

One could also argue that this is one of those books where if one person just told the other how they were really feeling there wouldn’t be a book. So, miscommunication. Yes, outright lying as well. However, I’m not convinced that that would actually work. Olive wouldn’t have fallen in love with Adam if things didn’t play out this way and as for Adam’s feelings, well, you’re just going to have to read it to find out. But I’m not convinced that if he had been perfectly upfront it would have gone well.

Something that I want to mention is that Olive is portrayed, at least in part, as demisexual. The word itself is never used, but that is how she describes herself. I wish the term was used. I really do, but I can also respect people not want to put labels on themselves. However, Malcolm, her roommate is maybe bisexual or pansexual. Then there is another side character who is gay. So, there is some representation here. Is it the best representation? Eh.

Overall, this book made me smile and brought joy to me. I’m sorry if you read it and hated it. However, for me, this is going to be my reading year of joy, so it’s what matters to me the most. If the book isn’t bringing me joy or intriguing me in a different way, I’m DNFing it. I didn’t DNF this. Do I recommend it to all readers? No. Do I acknowledge that there are some aspects that won’t appeal to everyone? Yes. And that’s fine. This is my third Ali Hazelwood book and I have discovered that I find her books fun and easy to consume. Honestly, that’s fine. If you want something fluffy, a tad outlandish, and easy to consume this book is easy for you.

Have you read The Love Hypothesis? What did you think? What are your favorite romance books? Let me know in the comments below!

Important Bits:
Length: 383 pages
Published: September 14, 2021 by Berkley Books
Representation: Demi (?) MC, POC SCs, Queer SC, Gay SC
Content Warning: Death of a Parent (off page), Alcohol use, Sex on page, Sexual Misconduct
Awards: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance (2021), Book of the Month Book of the Year Award Nominee (2022), Swoon Award for Contemporary Romance (2021), She Reads Best of Award Nominee for Romance (2021)
Also by: The Love Hypothesis (2021), Under One Roof (2022), Stuck With You (2022), Below Zero (2022), Love on the Brain (2022), Love, Theoretically (2023), Check & Mate (2023), Bride (2024), and Not in Love (2024)