the love hypothesis chapter 9

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The Love Hypothesis

Quick recap & summary by chapter.

The Quick Recap and Chapter-by-Chapter Summary for The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood are below.

Quick(-ish) Recap

Three years prior, Olive Smith talks to a guy when she's in the bathroom fixing her contacts (and can't see) after her Ph.D. candidate interview. She tells him about her passion for her research. She doesn't catch his name but remembers the conversation distinctly and wonders about the guy she met.

In present day, Olive is a biology Ph.D. student researching early detection methods for pancreatic cancer. She kisses a guy randomly in order to trick her best friend into thinking she's dating someone (so that her best friend Anh won't feel bad about dating Olive's ex). That guy turns out to be Dr. Adam Carlson , a young, handsome and highly-respected tenured faculty member in her department. He's also known for being hypercritical and moody.

Meanwhile, Adam's department chair is worried that he's planning on leaving for another university and has frozen some of his research funds. So, Adam he agrees to pretend to be in a relationship with Olive in order to give the impression he's putting down "roots" here, in hopes they will unfreeze the funds.

As Olive and Adam fake-date, they get to know each other. Olive sees that Adam is demanding and blunt towards his students, but not unkind or mean. Olive confides in him about her mother getting pancreatic cancer, which is why she's doing her research.

Olive soon realizes that she has feelings for Adam, but she's afraid to tell him. When he overhears her talking about a crush, she pretends it's about someone else. Olive also hears someone else refer to a woman Adam's been pining after for years and is surprised at how jealous she feels.

In the meantime, Olive needs more lab space and has been talking to Dr. Tom Benton for a spot at his lab at Harvard. When Tom arrives in town, it turns out he's friends with Adam. Adam and Tom are friends from grad school, and they have recently gotten a large grant for some joint research that Adam is excited about. After Olive completes a report on her research for Tom, he offers her a spot in his lab for the next year.

Olive and Adam's relationship continues to progress until they attend a science conference in Boston. Olive's research has been selected for a panel presentation, while Adam is a keynote speaker. There, Olive is sexually harassed by Tom, who makes advances on her. When she rejects him, he accuses her of someone who sleeps around to get ahead. He also says that he'll deny it if she tells anyone and that they won't believe her.

While Olive does finally sleep with Adam at the conference, she soon tearfully breaks things off since she doesn't want to complicate things with Adam's joint research project with Tom. Adam is also in the process of applying for a spot at Harvard.

Olive is certain no one will believe her about Tom until she realizes that the accidentally recorded the conversation where he made advances and threatened her. Meanwhile, Olive's roommate Malcolm has started seeing Dr. Holden Rodriguez, a faculty member who is a childhood friend of Adam's. Olive and Malcolm turn to Holden for advice, who encourages them to tell Adam about the recording. He points out that he thinks the main reason that Adam is considering a move to Harvard is because Olive is supposed to be going there.

Olive finds Adam and shows him the video. He is incensed at Tom and reports it to their faculty. When Adam returns from Boston, he reports that Tom has been fired. Meanwhile, Olive has been reaching out to other cancer researchers for spots at other labs, and she's gotten promising responses. Olive tells Adam that she loves him and that she never liked anyone else. Adam admits that he remembered her from the day he met her in the bathroom and that she's the one he's been interested in for years.

Ten months later at the anniversary of their first kiss, Olive and Adam re-create the kiss to mark their anniversary.

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Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

Olive Smith is an applicant for Stanford’s biology Ph.D program. After the interview with Dr. Aysegul Aslan , she ends up in a bathroom nearby unable to see and trying to wash out her eyes because she put in expired contacts.

She meets “The Guy” there, who she assumes is a Ph.D student there. As they strike up a conversation, she tells him that her name is Olive and talks about why she’s applying to the program. She tells him that she wants to do it in order to research a specific topic.

A few weeks later, Olive is accepted into the program.

Years later, Olive is now 26 and a Ph.D. student in Dr. Aslan’s lab. Olive has just kissed a random stranger (in order to trick her best friend, Anh , into thinking she’s on a date) — only to realize that the “stranger” is actually Dr. Adam Carlson , a 34-year-old tenured and highly-respected professor in her program with a reputation for being notorious moody, mean and hypercritical.

After they pull away, Adam accuses her of assaulting him. Olive insists she asked him and he said yes, but he says he merely snorted. Finally, she explains that her friend Anh had hit it off with a guy she’d been dating, Jeremy. Olive broke things off with Jeremy, but Anh felt too bad to go out with Jeremy. To make Anh feel better about it, Olive lied to Anh about dating someone and being on a date tonight. When Anh showed up at the lab, Olive needed to kiss someone so Anh would believe she was on a date.

Finally, Olive apologizes and leaves. She doesn’t notice that Adam had called her by her name (which she hadn’t brought up in this conversation).

A few days later, Olive is still embarrassed by what happened. However, she figures that she’d never crossed paths with Adam before then, so perhaps she wouldn’t cross paths with him again. Meanwhile, Olive is preoccupied with needing to find more lab space for her research on early detection of pancreatic cancer. Today, she also finds out Tom Benton , a well-known cancer researcher and an associate professor at Harvard, is interested in potentially allowing her to carry out her research at his lab at Harvard. He’s going to be in town in two weeks and wants to meet with her.

When Anh sees her, she confronts Olive about kissing Adam Carlson. Olive thinks back to how they met since they were the only two non-cis-white-male students in their class. Beyond that, Anh was her biggest support and best friend.

Today, Anh demands to know why Olive is dating Dr. Carlson. This conversation is interrupted when Adam walks in. He plays along and pretends that he and Olive are together. After they make formal introductions, he tells her to call him Adam, in case her friend Anh is around. Later, when Olive talks to Anh again, Olive continues to pretend she’s dating Adam, and she once again encourages Anh to date Jeremy.

On campus, Olive starts to notice that people are treating her differently and with some level of curiosity. When her roommate, Malcom , demands to know why she didn’t tell him about dating Dr. Carlson, Olive realize that everyone know about her lie. Olive goes to Adam’s lab to tell him what’s going on, and she apologizes to him for it.

Olive notes that he seems very at ease with everyone believing that they’re dating, and she wonders why. Finally, he admits that Stanford considers him to be a “flight risk” (that he wants to leave them for another institution) and that they’ve frozen some of his research funds because of it. Part of the issue is that he’s recently gotten a large grant with one of his collaborator’s at another institution, and the department is worried he’s planning on moving there. He hopes that the dating rumors will make them think he’s more likely to stick around since he’s dating someone here.

A few days later, Olive goes to Adam’s office and tells him she wants to proceed with pretending that they’re dating. Olive notices that she’s been treated much better by everyone since the rumor started. (Apart from Malcom, who dislikes Adam Carlson, and has been shunning her.) Adam explains that he’s looked into it and there’s no issue with it, though he can’t serve in any supervisory capacity for her or serve on her thesis committee or be a part of any decisions if she’s nominated for a fellowship or other awards.

They decide to set some ground rules for their fake-dating arrangement. They decide to be fake-dating while on-campus only, so no personal engagements. Olive stipulates that there’ll be no sex. They also agree not to date others in the interim, since it will make things messy. And they agree that they should get coffee or something regularly to make things believable.

They plan to continue their fake-dating until September 29, roughly a month from now, which is the day after the department’s budget review. Their first coffee “date” is planned for Wednesday at 10 AM.

Later, Olive talks to Malcom, who is still upset with her. Malcom comes from a long line of well-known scientists, and he dislikes that Adam Carlson’s criticism of his research had made his life so difficult. Olive confides in Malcom that they’re merely fake-dating and that she barely knows Adam. She says that he’s just helping her out with the Anh/Jeremy situation (and she doesn’t mention Adam’s reasons for participating).

On Wednesday, Olive and Adam have their first fake-date at the coffee house. They ask each other some basic questions, and Adam pays for her order.

The next week, they meet up again, though Olive is running late since she was getting ready for a meeting she has with Tom Benton later that day. Meanwhile, Adam is a little moody because his department chair has still not agreed to release his research funds. They discuss attending the fall biosciences picnic together so that his department chair can see that they’re together.

They’re interrupted when a friend of Adam’s walks in and greets him warmly. Adam introduces the man to Olive as his friend and collaborator — who turns out to be Tom Benton.

Dr. Benton reveals that he’s heard about Adam’s romantic exploits all the way at Harvard, and he’s surprised to hear the rumors about Adam’s new girlfriend being true. Olive also awkwardly tells Dr. Benton that they have a meeting planned for later that day. Tom is delighted to find out that his meeting is with Adam’s new girlfriend.

The three of them sit down to chat. As Tom asks her about her research, Adam rephrases it to help Olive organize her thoughts when he sees that she’s struggling to come up with an answer. Olive then tells Tom about her research on biomarkers in order to more easily and cheaply diagnose pancreatic cancer. As Tom inquires about her reasons for doing her research, Olive reluctantly admits that it’s because her mother had pancreatic cancer.

Finally, Tom asks Olive to spend two weeks writing up a report on the current state of her research. He says that he’ll make a determination of whether to give her the lab space and cover her research expenses depending on what he reads in that report.

When Tom steps away, Olive and Adam discuss that if she decides to go to Harvard then she needs to keep it a secret until the end of their arrangement, otherwise it’ll make Adam look worse. They also agree not to tell Tom that they’re only fake-dating.

The next day, Olive attends a well-attended talk that Tom is giving on campus. The auditorium is so packed that there’s no space anywhere. Anh convinces Olive to sit in Adam’s lap for the duration of the talk.

Afterwards, Olive and Anh head back to the biology building. Olive talks about the report she’s preparing for Tom and the presentation she needs to work on for a conference (the “SBD Conference”) coming up in Boston. Meanwhile, Anh is working on organizing an outreach event for BIPOC women in STEM for the conference.

As they walk back, they see that there’s a traffic jam involving a stopped car blocking an exit. Then they see Cherie , the department secretary, talking to Adam. Adam then proceeds to physically push a car out of the way to relieve the jam. Anh encourages Olive to go over and give him a kiss for his efforts. After some awkward negotiation with Adam, they kiss.

Olive is working on her report for Tom when Greg Cohen , one of Dr. Aslan’s other Ph.D. candidates, barges in, clearly agitated. Chase , another one of their lab mates, walks in uneasily after him. When Olive asks Greg what’s wrong, he angrily responds that Carlson is on his dissertation committee and he failed his proposal. They ask Olive whether she knew he was going to fail Greg, and Olive insists she didn’t know. Greg then yells at Olive and calls her selfish for not caring how Adam makes everyone’s lives miserable. Greg then storms off.

Later that day, Olive texts Adam. She asks him about failing Greg. She argues that he should be nicer, but Adam is unapologetic. He insists that his job is to make sure that students produce useful research. Olive gets frustrated texts profanity at him, and he doesn’t respond.

A few days later, Olive is on her way to the biosciences picnic, where she’ll be seeing Adam after their tense exchange. She, Anh, Jeremy and Malcom go together and are quite late. When they arrive, they see Adam playing Ultimate Frisbee shirtless, showing off his six-pack. Olive is surprised to find herself “viscerally attracted” to Adam.

As they put on sunscreen, Anh gives Olive way too much sunscreen. Meanwhile, the frisbee from the game lands near her. When Adam comes over to retrieve the frisbee, Anh offers Olive’s excess sunscreen to Adam. He accepts, and Olive rubs the sunscreen on him. Olive also apologizes for what she texted him the other day.

Tom then comes over and brings up that Adam will be going to Boston soon for a few days.

Olive is in the break room at night when she runs into Adam next. Olive is working on her report for Tom, but there’s a section she’s having trouble with since her lab equipment seems to be messing up. They chat and share snacks. Olive finds herself wondering why he’s single.

Olive also finds herself telling him about her mother and her death. She describes how, when she was 15, her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer too late and only had a few weeks left to live by then. Olive also says that her father was never in the picture and her grandparents were deceased, so she was sent into the foster system until she was emancipated at 16.

When she mentions needing to get back to work, Adam offers to let her use his lab equipment if she needs it. He also gives her some advice on the Western blot she’s working with to make sure she’s doing it correctly. Before Olive leaves, she asks Adam why he’s single, but before he can really answer, Jeremy walks in and interrupts them.

On Saturday, Olive sends in her report to Tom. He responds by asking her to meet to talk about it at Adam’s house (where he’s staying) on Tuesday before he leaves for Boston. At Adam’s house, she and Tom chat about her report for about 20 minutes. Before she leaves, Tom offers her a spot at Harvard for the next year, and Olive is thrilled.

Adam gives her a ride back to campus. He talks about how excited he is about the research he and Tom are working on. As they chat, Adam says something that The Guy she’d met in the bathroom all those years ago had said to her. Olive realizes then that Adam was The Guy she’d met. She marvels at how she’d wondered about The Guy for years. Olive then suggests that go celebrate her lab spot and him and Tom’s grant.

They agree to get coffee. Before then, she convinces him to go with her to get flu shots at the setup on campus, all the while she teases him for his fear of needles.

On Wednesday, Olive and Adam are texting and teasing each other when Anh comes in and comments on how in love with Adam she is. Anh says that she feels better about dating Jeremy, since she sees how much Olive likes Adam. As Anh leaves, it dawns on Olive that Anh is right.

Olive soon texts Malcolm asking to talk. When they get together, she tells him about how she thinks she’s fallen for Adam. She also tells him that she thinks that Adam was The Guy that she met all those years ago. Malcolm suggests that perhaps Adam feels the same way. Olive doesn’t think that’s the case, but moreover, she says scared of being vulnerable and possibly giving up the friendship she and Adam currently have if she’s wrong. Olive also says that everyone she cares about ends up leaving her — citing her mother, father and grandparents.

Olive says she’s certain she doesn’t want to say anything to Adam about her feelings — but then she turns around and sees Adam standing there.

When Adam acknowledges that he overheard her, Olive quickly lies and said she was talking about some other guy she has a crush on. Their conversation is interrupted by Dr. Holden Rodriguez , who is going to Boston with Tom and Adam. Dr. Rodriguez knows Olive since he was on her graduate advisory committee her first year.

As they talk, Holden explains that he and Adam are old friends. They grew up together because their parents were all diplomats. Holden tells Olive about how his boyfriend dumped him just before prom, so Adam went as his date instead.

After Holden leaves, Adam comments that Holden speaks highly of Olive and her research. Adam also explains a comment Holden made about Tom, saying that the two don’t really get along. He then tells Olive that she should just tell Jeremy how she feels, incorrectly assuming that the mystery crush Olive was referring to is Jeremy.

Malcolm continues trying to convince Olive to admit her feelings to Adam, but Olive refuses. With Adam out of town, she feels his absence. When Adam finally texts her on Sunday, she feels even worse about her stupid lie about liking someone else.

On campus, she runs into Holden, who mentions how glad he is that Adam and Olive got together. Holden days that Adam had talked about someone he wanted to ask out for years, and he’s glad Adam finally did it. When he says that, Olive thinks about how there must be someone else out there that Adam likes, then, since they only really met a couple weeks ago.

Holden also warns her to watch out when it comes to Tom and to watch Adam’s back, since he doesn’t trust Tom.

A little later, Olive is informed that her research has been accepted for the SBD conference as a panel presentation with faculty. Olive feels overwhelmed, since graduate students very rarely are selected for oral presentations. She goes to her advisor, Dr. Aslan, and explains that she’s terrible at talking. Of course, Dr. Aslan just gives her some encouragement and tells Olive she’ll help her practice her presentation.

Afterwards, Olive tells Malcom and Anh, who also volunteer to help her practice. They also mention, however, that they each got invited to stay with people in Boston for the conference (Anh with Jeremy and Malcolm with some friends who had a spare room), so they won’t be rooming with Olive. Anh says she figured Olive would stay with Adam.

Olive is trying to sort out some living arrangements for Boston when Adam, who is back in town now, comes up to her. She tells him about having trouble finding accommodations in Boston. Adam comments that there’s probably not anything left in the vicinity by now, but she could stay in his room at the conference center. He adds that he has the room for the whole conference, but he will only be using the room two nights, so they’ll only overlap for one night most likely.

When she tells him about her presentation, he offers to look over her slides. She also invites him to her talk, and she thinks about how one of the reasons she likes him is that she always feels like he’s on her side.

At the hotel in Boston, Olive takes the empty bed, and she rehearses the talk she’s about to give in a few hours. When Adam arrives, she thanks him for all the help he gave regarding her presentation.

He asks when her presentation is so he can attend, but it turns out it overlaps with the Keynote speech, which he is giving along with two other people. She offers to show him the recording of it afterwards.

When Olive goes to do her panel presentation, she sees that Tom is on the same panel. She gives her portion of the talk, and it goes well. Malcolm and Anh are there to cheer her on.

Afterwards, the room empties out, and it’s just her and Tom. As they talk, she notices him moving closer until he tries to kiss her. When she pushes him away, he keeps trying. Finally, he says that she’s clearly someone who sleeps around to get ahead, and so they both know she’ll sleep with him, too, for the same reason. He also says that she only got on this panel because someone wanted to kiss-up to Adam Carlson.

He also says that Adam is the reason he accepted Olive into his lab. When Olive threatens to tell Adam about this, he says that Adam won’t believe her word against his. Olive also says she won’t go work in his lab, but Tom says she knows it’s the best option for her, and if she doesn’t then he’ll just replicate her research since he already knows all about it.

When Adam gets back to the hotel, Olive is crying. She tries to pretend nothing is wrong, but fails at it. Finally, she lies and tells him that she’s upset because she overheard someone saying that her research was “derivative” and that she was only chosen because of Adam.

Adam comforts her, and then he says he has an idea for where they should go instead.

Holding her hand, they walk past all the people at the department social and instead head out to dinner. Adam asks what she wants to eat, and Olive sees an all-you-can-eat sushi place and wants to go.

After dinner, as they head back, Olive’s heels are hurting her, so Adam gamely picks her up and brings her to their room. She then suggests that they watch a movie. Olive goes to grab a quick shower, and Adam offers her a t-shirt since she forgot to pack pajamas.

When Olive’s mind wanders back to being called mediocre (by Tom, though she doesn’t tell Adam that), Adam tells her about how his advisor had once told him he wouldn’t amount to anything because of a mistake he made. He says that he had started preparing applications for law school as a result, since the comment shook his confidence. However, Holden and Tom (who also trained under the same advisor) convinced him to stick with science.

Adam says that later he realized that his advisor was abusive and a bad mentor who created a toxic environment. Comparatively, Adam says that he is critical since he wants students to be better, but it isn’t about belittling them as people or cutting down their self-worth. Adam also says that no one ever reported his advisor’s behavior because he was short-listed for a Nobel Prize, and they didn’t think anyone would listen. Adam also mentions how Tom had helped mediate thing with him and his advisor, so he was grateful to Tom for that.

Adam then tells Olive that the abstracts submitted to SBD go through a blind review process, so they definitely didn’t choose her because of him.

Finally, Olive moves to kiss Adam, but before anything can happen, he stops her. He points out that she’s upset and staying in his room and that the situation feels coercive to him. When Olive says she’s fine, he points out that she said she was in love with someone else and that he doesn’t want to regret this later.

Olive convinces him that she’s fine with the situation, and soon things get intimate.

They have sex.

Afterwards, Olive asks Adam about a book he’s reading. He says it’s in Dutch and that he learned it as a kid. He also says that his parents were busy all the time and that he was mostly raised by au pairs. They then talk more about their childhoods.

As they chat, Adam finally tells Olive that he might be going to Harvard. The reason he’s leaving the conference early is to go interview with them. He thinks that working together with Tom in the same lab would make them much more productive. He also mentions that he could show her around Boston when she’s there.

Olive wakes up to a barrage of texts from Anh and Malcolm. When she finally talks to them, it turns out the Malcolm hooked up with Holden at the department social. Malcolm also says that Holden mentioned that Adam’s funds had been released (though Adam hadn’t mentioned it to Olive).

That night, Olive meets up with Adam. He wants to go out and have dinner, but Olive breaks things off with him, since she doesn’t know what to do about the Tom situation. She thinks that taking herself out of the equation is the best thing for him.

As she starts to leave, they end up kissing, but he pulls away, and she leaves.

Olive spends the next day crying. Then, determined not to send up at Harvard, Olive takes Adam’s advice to reach out to people through her advisor and asks Dr. Aslan to e-mail various people she’d met at the conference to see if they’d be interested in her research.

Dr. Aslan agrees, and also asks to see her speech. As Olive edits the video recording, Malcolm talks about how he went on a first date with Holden, but they ended up running into his entire family (since they are all science junkies who attend science conferences).

As she’s editing, Olive realizes she recorded her upsetting conversation with Tom. Malcolm and Anh hear her listening to it. Once they’ve listened to the whole thing, they insist that Olive needs to tell Adam about it. Finally, Malcolm fills Anh in on what was really going on with Olive and Adam. However, they both agree it’s clear that Olive has feelings for Adam and that Adam would want to know about this. Still, Olive knows how important the collaboration with Tom is to Adam, and she is reluctant to complicate things for him.

They decide to call Holden to ask for advice. Olive asks Holden what he thinks about Adam moving to Boston and working with Tom. Holden says that he doesn’t trust Tom. He says he thinks there was a weird dynamic where Tom was secretly sabotaging Adam during grad school and then defending him. He thinks that Tom likes Adam’s loyalty towards him and having influence over him. Holden also tells them that he thinks Tom and Adam’s collaboration benefits Tom more than Adam. Finally, Holden implies that he thinks the only reason Adam is considering leaving Stanford is because Olive is going to Harvard.

Olive tracks down Adam’s location at a dinner with some Harvard people, including Tom. When he sees her, he gets up and asks what’s wrong. Tom comes over to try to get Adam to sit back down, but Adam insists on talking to Olive. Finally, Olive starts playing the video. Adam grows furious as he realizes what happened. He tells Tom that he’s going to kill him and goes after him, but Olive tells Adam that he’s not worth it.

As the Harvard people demand an explanation, Adam ignores them and kisses Olive. He then tells Olive to send him the recording immediately and then goes to talk to the Harvard people.

A few days later, Olive is back home, and Adam is on his way back to San Francisco. Meanwhile, Olive has received responses from four cancer researchers who are all interested in her research.

When Adam gets back, Holden insists on a double date. Adam reluctantly agrees. When they all sit down, they address the fact that Malcolm still has misgivings about Adam because of Adam’s harsh criticism of his work. Adam tells Malcolm that it wasn’t personal.

As they joke around about pumpkin spiced flavored foods, Holden mentions how Adam has liked Olive for years. Olive corrects him, saying they’ve only been dating for a few weeks, but Holden says that they met three years ago and that he’s liked Olive ever since. Olive then realizes that Adam was definitely the The Guy (from three years ago) and that he did remember her.

After dinner, Olive and Adam head home. Adam tells Olive that Harvard is going to fire Tom and that there will be other disciplinary actions. Olive then tells Adam that she remembered him, too, from all those years ago. But she didn’t piece it together until later, and she admits that she didn’t say anything once she figured it out.

Finally, she tells him that she loves him (in broken Dutch).

Ten months later, it’s the 1-year anniversary of their first kiss. Olive and Adam go to the lab and recreate and their kiss at precisely the same time as last year.

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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.

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The Love Hypothesis

The Love Hypothesis

48 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-8

Chapters 9-11

Chapters 12-13

Chapters 14-15

Chapters 16-19

Chapter 20-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Different Types of Intelligence

Through the representation of academia , Olive’s difficulty to parse her emotions, and the differences between Olive and Malcolm , The Love Hypothesis shows how there are different types of intelligence. Olive, Adam, and others within the Stanford community possess intelligence, as evidenced by the fact they work in academia. Many of Olive’s thoughts about her experiment show how she understands the material and is always seeking new information with which to supplement what she already believes. Tom’s insults in later chapters reveal just how intelligent Olive is. While Tom also possesses a level of intelligence to remain in the field, even if that intelligence is only enough for him to copy and add to the work of others, his jealousy and view of Olive as a threat shows just how intelligent her thought processes are.

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The Love Hypothesis

The love hypothesis publisher's summary.

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

The Instant New York Times Best Seller 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 PhD 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.

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As a third-year PhD 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 on her way to a happily ever after was always going to be tough, scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting woman, 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 he agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend.

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Love on the Brain

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• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 67
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 68

Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: what would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project—a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia—Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Ali Hazelwood never disappoints!

• By Priya S on 02-05-24
• Release date: 08-23-22
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 73 ratings

Love Theoretically

• Narrated by: Therese Plummer
• Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 16
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 15
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 15

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she's an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. Honestly, it's a pretty sweet gig - until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down.

• 4 out of 5 stars

More than just a fake dating plot…

• By Rachel-Leigh on 08-22-23
• Release date: 06-13-23
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

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The love hypothesis.

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.

Overflowing Shelf

Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

CW: sexual harassament/assualt

Did I read the same book as everyone else? Because this book was a big fat NO from me. I know a lot of people love The Love Hypothesis , but everything about it – from the writing to the characters, to the plot and even the romance – did not work for me. If this wasn’t a hyped book, I would have put it down after the first chapter and marked it as Did Not Finish.

I honestly don’t know where to start with this review.

To try to make this digestible, I’m going to structure this a little bit differently than my normal review with sections: 

Within the first page of The Love Hypothesis , I knew this book would not be for me because of the writing style. I know this was originally fanfiction, but I was expecting better writing since Berkely published it. 

First off, why are there SO MANY ITALICS in this book? You may be thinking, “oh, they’re for internal narration!” Nope. They were all italics used for emphasis. Dear Lord, there were five different words italicized for emphasis on the first page alone. As soon as I noticed the italics, it was all I could see. By my count, there were only about 47 pages in my ebook without italics. The story was only around 230 pages long. I just couldn’t with that.

The tone also missed the mark for me. I feel like Hazelwood was aiming for quirky and fun, but I found it childish and too cutesy for my tastes. It impacted my read on Olive as a character (more on that below on the characters).

And dear Lord, was this book lacking in descriptions. And the descriptions it did have were so repetitive. Did you know Adam was big, dark and huge? And did I mention he’s big? And he’s got a deep voice? I felt like I kept getting hit over the head with these same descriptors for Adam every time he was on the page. Meanwhile, with Olive, I felt like I knew nothing about what she looked like besides she was around 5’ 8” and that she’s Canadian. The only reason I pictured her as a brunette is because of the cover.

Finally, I felt like there were a lot of chunks of dialogue text where there were no attributes or tags to who was speaking, which sometimes made it hard to follow a conversation. When deployed properly, a lack of attribution during a conversation in a book can be a great writing device. Here it just caused confusion. 

This book has the dumbest reason for a couple to begin fake dating. And that’s not even touching the non-consensual actions that lead to it (more below in the romance section). Instead of talking to her best friend in the world like a normal person, Olive needs to lie about dating Adam to make her friend feel comfortable about now dating a boy that Olive went on a few dates with. Like what? WHAT? 

It’s like, “oops, I got caught kissing this guy. Guess we now need to pretend to be in a relationship, so my friend feels okay in her relationship.” In what world does that make sense? This whole book wouldn’t have happened if Olive had just stopped lying. Even Olive knows that as she says: “It would have been so easy to confess the truth.” 

I feel like the whole reason the plot of this book exists is summed up by this passage:

“This was what happened whenever Olive lied: she ended up having to tell even more lies to cover her first, and she was horrible at it, which meant that each lie got worse and less convincing than the previous.”

I just couldn’t deal with the weak premise for the fake dating and the plot. I threw the book across the room every time Olive told a new lie, and then at the end, she had the GALL to tell Adam, “ You didn’t need to lie, you know.”

Finally, the conflict at the end of the book made me so angry. It hinges on sexual harassment in academia. Up until that point, that had become a joke thanks to the treatment of Title IX earlier in the book. That rubbed me the wrong way for a lot of reasons. It’s a serious issue, but it was thrown in as a random plot point and not given the exploration it needed as it was there to purely introduce drama into Adam and Olive’s relationship. 

Additionally, Olive had proof of what happened on a tape recorder. Still, she forgot about it for multiple chapters and, of course, decides the only way to resolve the situation is to – you guessed it – lie. 

CHARACTERS:

Let’s talk about the characters. Our main female lead is Olive, and the book is primarily told from her perspective. Despite this, I felt like I knew relatively little about her.

Additionally, Olive came off as incredibly childish. Her actions read more like a high-schooler, not someone in her mid-20s in a Ph.D. program. Honestly, if this story featured two high schoolers, I might have bought it more as the fake dating premise would make more sense.

Also, I found it weird that Olive kept insisting she was all alone in the world. Yes, her parents are gone, but Olive has an incredibly close-knit friend group with her best friend Anh and Malcolm who have her back no matter what. Heck, even Adam is there for her, yet she insists she’s all alone. 

It does appear Olive is asexual in the novel, which I appreciate, but I also found it hard to know if she identified that way. There were a few throwaway lines earlier hinting at it and a bit more of an exploration of it later in the book, but it felt like a bit of a missed opportunity to explore that more.

Now on to Adam. Weirdly, I sort of liked him even though I found him bland and lacking dimension. Because the book is told from Olive’s point of view, I struggled to get to know him beyond the surface level as the two of them never had in-depth, genuine conversations. I know he’s big and huge and has a deep voice, but his personality seemed to be a bit non-existent.

There did seem to be a bit more to Adam than meets the eye, and I wish Hazelwood had explored that more. Everyone says he’s this mean person, but I felt like he was one of the few characters who was a voice of reason. While he might have cultivated a bit of a toxic work environment, it seems like he was coming from a genuine place of wanting to help others, not hurt them. I honestly didn’t find him as much of a bad person as all the characters in the book did.

Outside of Olive and Adam, the secondary characters felt very flat and like caricatures. They’re also supposed to be Olive and Adam’s friends, but boy, were they all terrible friends. 

Finally, our villain character was almost too evil villainy to be believable in a contemporary romance. He seriously gives a monologue like you’d see an old-school Bond villain do, and it just felt so out of place and a bit out of left field. 

And finally, we’ll close with my thoughts on the romance. This book lacked any sort of chemistry between Olive and Adam. I just did not see it at all. There was no spark, no fizz, no butterflies in your stomach. 

Now, I can see why some people love the romance in this. It is full of extremely popular tropes. You get fake dating with a splash of enemies-to-lovers, what is not to like? But the tropes were executed poorly, which hurt the romance. 

Let’s also start with the fact that their romance starts non-consensually. Olive literally grabs Adam and kisses him without his consent. The first chapter writes this act off in the first sentence:

“In Olive’s defense, the man didn’t seem to mind the kiss too much.” 

If the roles were reversed, we find that incredibly problematic, yet the book portrays it as an adorable meet-cute. Add in the fact that he’s a professor and she’s a student and you get a really weird power dynamic in play. The book tries to write it off as a non-issue, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. 

Additionally, all the scenes where we’re supposed to be building romantic tension fell flat for me. I found it so weird that she was sitting in his lap in an academic lecture in front of everyone and that her friend essentially forced Olive to make out with him afterward. 

And the sexy scenes were so not sexy. I was already dreading the sex scene as the book was not working for me, but it was even more cringeworthy than I imagined. 

First off, Olive kept on HER UNICORN KNEE HIGH SOCKS. That’s the opposite of sexy.  Second, Adam, of course, is BIG. It’s the only thing we know about it, so it obviously extends to his entire body. Finally, I actually threw the book down with this line:

“He could fit her entire breast in his mouth. All of it.” 

First off, how? Second off, why? That does not sound romantic to me at all. 

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind a good sex scene. But this felt like it was in there just to add some smut (a term I hate!) and didn’t add much to the overarching story. It was also incredibly cringe in its writing, so I couldn’t wait to get past it. If they had better chemistry, it might have worked better.

Finally, let’s talk about the falling in love part of Olive and Adam’s relationship. I felt like she wasn’t actually in love with Adam as she had to be told by someone else that she loved him before she felt it. And then, when she realized she had feelings for him, she had to lie about it to him. I felt like Adam was much more invested in their relationship than she was. It was abundantly clear to everyone except Olive that the man was head over heels in love with her and would do anything for her. It took her far too long to realize that.

I wish we had a little more time with them as an actual couple, as they were in a fake relationship for most of the story. I’d have liked to see more of their real relationship as that was more interesting to me, and they seemed like they’d be cute together. 

I hope this review doesn’t come off as too harsh, but I had a lot of thoughts and feelings about why this did not work for me while I was reading it. I did want to like this one, but it was clear pretty quickly that this was not going to be the book for me.  I felt like I was hate-reading it to finish it, which is never a good sign.

Will I be reading more from Ali Hazelwood? At this point, probably not. 

Her next book Love on the Brain , sounds and feels way too similar to The Love Hypothesis to hold any appeal for me. As a relatively new author, I don’t want to write off someone completely, but I think she’ll need to write something drastically different for me to want to pick up one of her books again.  

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5 thoughts on “ Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood ”

I listened to this one and didn’t read it – so the writing stuff you mentioned I didn’t notice. I also don’t know if that helped me enjoy it more – but I did really enjoy this one. But, to each their own. I love that you even said “did everyone read the same book?”

Like Liked by 1 person

I was wondering if the audiobook experience would be better as I don’t think you’d notice some of the weird writing quirks. While I didn’t like this book, I can see the pieces of it that make it incredibly popular and respect that a lot of people love it. It’s so funny how people can react so differently to the same thing, which is what makes reading so fun. This one didn’t work for me, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work for others!

If you finished the book, you did better than me. I also was ready to give up during the second chapter but pushed through until I read 1/3 of the book. I couldn’t force myself to read more and returned it to the library. The writing is extremely juvenile and so over-the-top, repetitive and unbelievable. Huge problems with the characters as well. Diverse character traits are great, but the protagonist flip-flops between being a genius and acting like an insecure child. Plot is also totally annoying and unbelievable. Every event she sets up in the most childlike way. I don’t even see this book working for a YA audience.

I honestly have no IDEA how I finished this book, let alone went on to read the next two books she wrote. I keep hoping they’ll get better, as I weirdly want them to work for me, but so far, they’ve all been not great, though I think The Love Hypothesis is the worst of the bunch.

[…] I find most of Hazelwood’s sex scenes to be super cringe and the least sexy things ever (see here, here, and here for examples), so it actually helped not to have to read it play out on the […]

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• Mar 15, 2022

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood | Book Review + Questions

Updated: Oct 25, 2023

When we chose The Love Hypothesis for our book club February book, I was feeling giddy and excited. But as I started reading that feeling slowly started fading away. But ... wasn't this book all hyped up on Bookstagram and TikTok? What was happening? Then a crazy thought entered my mind ... Was I too old for YA or NA books? Thankfully according to Marie Pabelonio, associate editor at Goodreads, NO. 😁😁 ( click here for the article ).

First things first , I'm not into the professor / student romance. Call me uptight, but it's just not my thing. And as it's not my thing in real life, then it's not something I particularly enjoy reading in books.

Second - Adam. I know he was supposed to come off as moody and sullen, but I found his character very bland. Very been-there-done-that. I hated finding out that he had actually been pining over Olive since their meet-cute. I don't see how that needed to be added to the storyline actually - it only made it worst for me! If Olive hadn't fake kissed Adam, then how long would he have continued to wait before talking to her?

Third - The first kiss. I thought their meet-cute was cute, but ..... the first kiss? Ughhhhh ... Olive kisses him, as she would have done to any random guy, because she wanted to fool her best friend into thinking that she was over the guy she last dated because her best friend was crushing on said guy but wouldn't do anything about it because she was thinking Olive was still into him. Again ughhhh ... These are PhD students, but why does it feel like I'm reading something outta high school? Also ... a stolen kiss is only sweet in movies and books. Trust me.

Fourth - Olivia and Ahn's friendship. Read paragraph above. If you need to go through all that to convince your best friend, then I question the friendship. If Anh is really her best friend, why can't they just have a sensible conversation about this? And what kind of best friend puts her friend time after time in embarrassing situations and expect her to do what she tells her to? Ahn was annoying!

Fifth - The sex scene. I was very shocked that it had unprotected sex. Someone assuring you that they are clean counts for nothing in my book and I think this shouldn't be included in books. Always practice safe sex. Someone in the book club also mentioned that she hated the way it was written and the words used. The word "pornographic" was mentioned during our book club discussion.

So is there one thing that I liked about this book? Yes!

Olive. But Olive without her friends and without Adam . Olive, a successful woman in STEM. She came from Canada and pursued her education in the US. Moreover, she experienced many difficulties and faced obstacles to have opportunities she deserved, but nevertheless she really fought to get them. I admire that about her, which is maybe why I am so upset at how she is represented in love and her friendships.

Book Club Questions:

Did you find that there first meeting was cute?

What did you think of Olive?

What did you think of Adam?

Did you find Olive immature at times?

How did you picture Olive physically?

What did you think of the side characters? Which one was your favorite? Which one was your least favorite?

Did you think that Anh was a cliché character?

Why do you think it was more important for Olive to deceive Anh than to tell her the truth?

How do you feel about unprotected sex in books? Does it ruin the sex scene for you?

How did you feel about how Olive managed the situation with Tom Benton?

How did you feel about the ending?

Do you think that this book was overhyped?

xoxo Elodie

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Helpful Book Guide: The Love Hypothesis Spicy Chapters List and Review

Posted on Published: July 27, 2023  - Last updated: October 23, 2023

Categories Book Guide , Spicy Chapters

What are The Love Hypothesis spicy chapters? Well, this guide is for you! Though this book is not very spicy, it is still my responsibility to squeeze out the spiciest The Love Hypothesis spicy chapters possible for you. It’s also a book I recommend with the ‘who did this to you” trope!

Table of Contents

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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.

The Love Hypothesis Review

The Love Hypothesis is a captivating and heartwarming romance that delves into the complexities of academia and love. The story revolves around Olive Smith, a dedicated PhD student, and Adam Carlsen, a charming and cocky professor. Both characters are beautifully crafted with depth and vulnerability, making them relatable and endearing to readers.

The romance between Olive and Adam is a slow-burn delight, filled with moments of vulnerability and tenderness that will leave you swooning. Their undeniable chemistry and emotional connection create an engaging and satisfying love story. The witty banter between the two adds a delightful touch to their interactions.

Ali Hazelwood’s writing is both engaging and emotionally resonant, effortlessly drawing readers into the world of academia and scientific research. The novel’s exploration of the characters’ hidden depths and vulnerability adds layers to the story, making it a truly captivating read from beginning to end. “The Love Hypothesis” is a must-read for anyone looking for a heartwarming and well-developed romance that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

books like the Love Hypothesis

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

Catalina Martín desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding. Especially since her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. Now everyone she knows—including her ex and his fiancée—will be there and eager to meet him.

She only has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic and aid in her deception. New York to Spain is no short flight and her raucous family won’t be easy to fool.

Enter Aaron Blackford—her tall, handsome, condescending colleague—who surprisingly offers to step in. She’d rather refuse; never has there been a more aggravating, blood-boiling, and insufferable man.

But Catalina is desperate, and as the wedding draws nearer, Aaron looks like her best option. And she begins to realize he might not be as terrible in the real world as he is at the office.

This book was cute to read! Also have the only one bed trope and enemies to lovers (of course).

Twisted Games by Ana Huang

She can never be his…but he’s taking her anyway.

Stoic, broody, and arrogant, elite bodyguard Rhys Larsen has two rules: 1) Protect his clients at all costs 2) Do not become emotionally involved. Ever.

He has never once been tempted to break those rules…until  her.

Bridget von Ascheberg. A princess with a stubborn streak that matches his own and a hidden fire that reduces his rules to ash. She’s nothing he expected and everything he never knew he needed.

Day by day, inch by inch, she breaks down his defences until he’s faced with a truth he can no longer deny: he swore an oath to protect her, but all he wants is to ruin her. Take her.

Because she’s his.

His princess. His forbidden fruit. His every depraved fantasy.

Regal, strong-willed, and bound by the chains of duty, Princess Bridget dreams of the freedom to live and love as she chooses.

But when her brother abdicates, she’s suddenly faced with the prospect of a loveless, politically expedient marriage and a throne she never wanted.

And as she navigates the intricacies—and treacheries—of her new role, she must also hide her desire for a man she can’t have.

Her bodyguard. Her protector. Her ultimate ruin.

Unexpected and forbidden, theirs is a love that could destroy a kingdom…and doom them both.

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA.

A competitive figure skater since she was five years old, a full college scholarship thanks to her place on the Maple Hills skating team, and a schedule that would make even the most driven person weep, Stassie comes to win.

No exceptions.

Nathan Hawkins has never had a problem he couldn’t solve. As captain of the Maple Hills Titans, he knows the responsibility of keeping the hockey team on the ice rests on his shoulders.

When a misunderstanding results in the two teams sharing a rink, and Anastasia’s partner gets hurt in the aftermath, Nate finds himself swapping his stick for tights, and one scary coach for an even scarier one.

The pair find themselves stuck together in more ways than one, but it’s fine, because Anastasia doesn’t even like hockey players…right?

Twisted Hate by Ana Huang

He hates her…almost as much as he wants her.

Gorgeous, cocky, and fast on his way to becoming a hotshot doctor, Josh Chen has never met a woman he couldn’t charm—except for Jules f**king Ambrose.

The beautiful redhead has been a thorn in his side since they met, but she also consumes his thoughts in a way no woman ever has.

When their animosity explodes into one unforgettable night, he proposes a solution that’ll get her out of his system once and for all: an enemies with benefits arrangement with simple rules.

No jealousy.

No strings attached.

And absolutely no falling in love.

Outgoing and ambitious, Jules Ambrose is a former party girl who’s focused on one thing: passing the attorney’s bar exam.

The last thing she needs is to get involved with a doctor who puts the SUFFER in insufferable…no matter how good-looking he is.

But the more she gets to know him, the more she realizes there’s more than meets the eye to the man she’s hated for so long.

Her best friend’s brother.

Her nemesis.

And her only salvation.

Theirs is a match made in hell, and when the demons from their past catch up with them, they’re faced with truths that could either save them …or destroy everything they’ve worked for.

Twisted Hate is a steamy enemies with benefits/enemies to lovers romance. It’s book three in the Twisted series but can be read as a standalone.

Abou t The Fine Print by Lauren Asher

A typical billionaire romance that is quite popular. It’s one of the more famous ones of the genre, especially on Kindle Unlimited.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project – a literal dream come true – Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.

Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school – archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas… devouring her with those eyes. The possibilities have all her neurons firing.

But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there’s only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar… in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time.

Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart. 

Romance between a sunshine fashionable “it” celebrity girl with grumpy sea sailor local. Bright cheerful icon x cold ordinary sailor combo meal.

The Love Hypothesis Spicy Chapters

As many readers may know (especially romance book readers), oftentimes we like to seek out book tropes and read romance books that include the book tropes we usually like and the book tropes we want to read at the moment. It’s what drives a lot of book recommendations and is a common way we seek out books to read. If you are a reader who is interested in:

• Tracking tropes that you have already read
• Tracking tropes that you would want to read in the future
• Collect original trope ideas that you came up with (and haven’t come across before)

Then this book trope reading journal is perfectly made for you!

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The Love Hypothesis

If, like me, your catnip is the taciturn, brainy, hot hero who is secretly a big squishy marshmallow at heart, look no further than this awesome debut!

Description

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.

About the Author

Ali Hazelwood is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis, as well as a writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her three feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).

Praise for The Love Hypothesis

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

“ C ontemporary 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

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Love Hypothesis - Chapters 16 - 18 Summary & Analysis

In Chapter 16, when Adam understood that Olive wanted him as much as he wanted her, he took control of the situation. He asked permission before each step he took. He finally asked her why she was so tense and she admitted she had not had sex many times. Adam indicated that he could not have sex with her because she was basically a virgin. Olive argued that was not the way that worked. She explained she did not usually feel any sexual attraction to a person unless she was allowed to really get to know a person and trust him. She told him she trusted him. She begged him not to say no and he agreed he wanted to have sex with her as well. He suggested that they should go about things a different way though. Adam gave her oral sex until...

(read more from the Chapters 16 - 18 Summary)

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