Tag Archives: Ali hazelwood

Review: Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

Posted on by
Reply

This follows the pattern of Ali Hazelwood’s other academic romances, but if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Rue is a brilliant scientist who is doing research to prolong the shelf life of food. Eli is part of an Equity firm that has bought the loan of her company. They first meet on an app for hookups, and the attraction is immediate, which only complicates things because Eli is trying to ruin Rue’s mentor. They both have their issues. This book deals with serious topics of food insecurities, neglect, and abuse. All play a role in why they both try so hard not to admit what they are in love. What I love about Ali’s books and many of the romance novels that I have read is that Eli is always so patient. Consent is important in every relationship. He fully admits he wants more from her, but respects her boundaries. As their relationship grows and secrets start to come out about others and each other, Rue begins to open herself up to new things. She starts to trust Eli, but also herself in stating what she wants and how she wants it. As for the big reveal of who the “big bad” is, if there is one in this book. Minor spoilers, but it is pretty obvious from the beginning. It reminded me of something Kate has said about her time in Grad School. While they were women in her field, who have become successful, they haven’t done much to form paths for the women that came after them. Rue’s mentor does help Rue. There is no denying that, but when push comes to shove. She only cares about herself and will sacrifice anyone, no matter how close she is to them, to save herself. Things do have a happy ending because this is, after all, a romance, but not the ending. We will see more of Rue and Eli in the sequel.

What I’m Reading Now: Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood Read by Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke

Posted on by
Reply

Our book club is celebrating Fantasy Summer.June’s theme is Love is Love is Love. I am reading Not in Love mainly because I have to return it to the library by June 9th. It’s not a fantasy, but itfits the love component.

Review: Love, Theoretically and Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Posted on by
Reply

I read these two books back to back and since even though they are not technically related to each other I am assuming they take place in the same universe. I know that Love, Theortically and the first book in Ali Hazelwood’s first STEM Romance The Love Hypothesis because Olive and Adam do make a quick cameo. Love, Theoretically follows Elise, a adjunct professor barely getting by. She is interviewing for a tenure track position at MIT but 1 problem. Jack is a physicist professor on the hiring committee and he hates her. It doesn’t help that he thinks she is dating his younger brother. Adjuct professors do not make a lot of money and to help pay the bills she is paid to fake date men. One being Jack’s brother. Not that Jack knows that. I liked this book. Elsie is a great main character that really grows throughout the book. With the help of Jack, Elise finally starts to decide who she wants to be instead of what everyone else wants her to be. I know a little bit about the academia world thanks to Kate and well it sucks. I really sucks. The haves and have nots is such a stark contrast when it comes to professors and the power that mentors have over their mentees. I definitely had a lot of rage moments.

Love on the Brain is the only book in the STEM romance books that doesn’t take place in a University. Bee is a neuroscientist who works for the NIH but gets a chance to lead a project at NASA. The problem is as it always is, her co-lead Levi hates her from their grad school days. When she gets to NASA, her equipment isn’t there. She doesn’t have access to email or even her office. Politics of course is the blame. NASA doesn’t want to share credit. This puts Bee in a bad position because NIH wants results and ready to pull her at any moment. She has to trust Levi will get NASA on board. Despite their shaky start they work well together. And fall in love and all that jazz. Of the three books so far, this is probably my least favorite. Not that I didn’t enjoy it. I did but I didn’t really connect with Levi and Bee as I have with the other couples. That being said I would probably would reread all three books again because they are the perfect escapism.

Beth Favorite’s Books of 2023!

Posted on by
Reply

It’s that time of the year! Where we look back at all of the books we read this year and pick our favorites. These are my favorite books of 2023. They are in no particular order but in order that I read them.

  1. The Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton – The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, The League of Gentlewoman Witches and The Secret Service of Tea and Treason were such a fun trilogy of books I loved all the prim and proper pirates and witches and their flying houses. It has the perfect mix of romance, hijinks and adventure.
  2. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty – Keeping with the pirate theme. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is such a fun story of piracy, adventure and magic. Unlike most books where the protagonist is young and just starting out, Amina is in her 40’s and well established. She has to come out of retirement for this adventure and not only have battle the present but the past. So much fun.
  3. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros – This was the book of the year. I don’t remember the last time that people were excited about the release of a book. The sequel, Iron Flame got the full Midnight release party treatment. Violet has a chronic illness that makes her a poor candidate to be a dragon rider but she’s forced to join by her mom. In a mixture of Hunger Games and Harry Potter. Violet will become a rider if only she can survive, which in this school is not a given. Did I mention there are dragons?
  4. Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade – Spoiler Alert and it’s sequel All the Feels are delightful. This is such a nerd romance. It’s mixture of romance, fandoms and fan fics is irresistible. Who doesn’t dream of meeting a handsome actor and falling in love? Marcus and April are the perfect couple. It’s also so great to have a plus size romantic lead. To often we are forgotten about so it’s great to finally get the guy at the end.
  5. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – This was another TikTok find. I am a sucker for enemies to lover trope and I guess also the relationship of convenience trope. It was was such a fun read and I was invested from the beginning. I can’t wait to read more from Ali Hazelwood.

Those were mine. I want to hear what books you loved this year! Maybe they will be mine in 2024!

Review: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Posted on by
1

I am glad that I didn’t know that this started out as a Reylo fanfic because I think that would have ruined it for me. And that would have been a shame because I really enjoyed this book. It was very cute. I wasn’t sure about the whole Professor/PHD student romance at first because that could be fraught with red flags but I thought it was handled well.

Olive is a Phd student who out of nowhere kisses Professor Adam Carlsen to convince her best friend Anh that she is over her ex. She plans a fake relationship with Adam in hopes that Anh will feel okay dating her ex. Adam goes along with it because well Stanford is withholding some of his financing because they believe he’s about to leave. So they make plans to date for a period of time but of course they fall in love. In between their witty banter and back and fourth’s Olive is also looking for funding. Her mentor is retiring and is already kinda checked out. So she is seeking new labs to keep working on her research. Of course this comes with a whole bunch of complications, mostly stemming from she is a woman in the STEM field.

It’s pretty clear from the get go that Olive and Adam have chemistry. That it’s not just a work proposition that is keeping them together. They help each other help and help each other grow. I really liked reading them as a couple. If I had one qualm about was how it ended. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that the slimy guy gets it but it also felt rushed to me. Other than that I found it to be delightful and I look forward to reading more Ali’s books.