The Love Hypothesis (Ali Hazelwood) and Well Matched (Jen DeLuca)!

 

Yes, yes, I know... The Love Hypothesis has been everywhere for over a year now and I'm just getting around to reviewing it... Fear not though! I read it the day it released. I'm just writing some catch up reviews since I've been awol and all... The same with Well Matched! Read it last year, reviewing it today.

This late-to-the-party review approach is definitely going to continue being my MO for a while but anyway... Moving on. 😊

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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.

There are not enough words in the English language for me to describe how much I loved this book!

I read it in one of the darkest phases of severe depression last summer (a miracle in itself seeing as I hadn't had the ability to read anything in months) and it made me laugh. It made me smile. I couldn't stop reading it. I read it cover to cover and then immediately wanted to start reading it again. I wanted to magic myself between the pages and follow Adam and Olive around as they lived their lives like a little stalker because I loved them and didn't want to let them go. 

I geeked out over it being a romance between STEM characters. 

I fangirled over the Adam Driver vibes that Adam gave me (and yes, I know Adam is actually modeled on Adam Driver) . 

I cringed at the ridiculous situations Olive found herself in with Adam and I alternated between cheering Olive on and squirming in my seat during that chapter (IYKYK)... Man, I wish there were more of those chapters. Maybe just more chapters in general as I didn't want the book to end!

It was pretty much all my favourite things smooshed into novel form.

I hate all the booktok hype... I hate that my paperback copy (yes, I own it in multiple formats) has "the TikTok sensation" written on the bloody cover but in the case of this book... The hype is worth it. I join the hype train! 

All should read The Love Hypothesis as it fabulously joyful and gives you all the feelings! 

Well Matched by Jen DeLuca

Single mother April Parker has lived in Willow Creek for twelve years with a wall around her heart. On the verge of being an empty nester, she's decided to move on from her quaint little town, and asks her friend Mitch for his help with some home improvement projects to get her house ready to sell.

Mitch Malone is known for being the life of every party, but mostly for the attire, he wears to the local Renaissance Faire -- a kilt (and not much else) that shows off his muscled form to perfection. While he agrees to help April, he needs a favor too: she'll pretend to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family dinner, so that he can avoid the lectures about settling down and having a more "serious" career than high school coach and gym teacher. April reluctantly agrees, but when dinner turns into a weekend trip, it becomes hard to tell what's real and what's been just for show. But when the weekend ends, so must their fake relationship.

As summer begins, Faire returns to Willow Creek, and April volunteers for the first time. When Mitch's family shows up unexpectedly, April pretends to be Mitch's girlfriend again... something that doesn't feel so fake anymore. Despite their obvious connection, April insists they've just been putting on an act. But when there's the chance for something real, she has to decide whether to change her plans -- and open her heart -- for the kilt-wearing hunk who might just be the love of her life.

I love escaping to the Ren-Faire with Jen DeLuca and was very excited to get my hands on Well Matched as Mitch, that wonderful beefcake of a PE teacher with a heart of gold, won me over in the very first book of the series and it wasn't hard to work out that with April was where he was going to end up! I was so ready to see him settle down and for April to finally get hers... But the book just didn't quite manage to meet my expectations.

Mitch was lovelier than ever. We really got to know him for more than the carefree ladies' man in this book and he was just perfect. 

But April... April was April. She'd been hurt, yes, but her pig-headed refusal to contemplate a change to the plans she'd been making in the face of something wonderful was absolutely infuriating. Her inability to trust that Mitch could be her person... Her fixation on the age gap. So many things irritated me about how she went about the entire relationship with Mitch, and how she treated him, that it took the shine off what could have been a fabulous read. 

Now, that sounds all very negative but the simple fact is that I still enjoyed the book. The characters, the setting, the chemistry, the banter - they were all great. Yes, I was irritated by how things went sometimes and by April's choices but that's life! People are sometimes irritating and irrational. The story still worked out well and left me smiling. I still recommend it. I still consider it a four-star read. It just isn't a favourite, you know? And that is absolutely fine.