10 Light-Hearted Romance Books Like The Love Hypothesis

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What started as Star Wars fanfiction reimagining a romance between Kylo and Rey turned into one of the most hyped books of 2021.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood tells the story of Olive Smith, a biology Ph.D. candidate who doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships. When Olive’s ex-boyfriend Jeremy and her best friend Anh start showing an interest in each other, Anh refuses to date Jeremy out of loyalty to Olive.

In order to convince Anh that she’s moved on, Olive lies about dating someone else. Her charade leads her into a fake relationship with Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor and well-known jerk.

But when an important science conference goes haywire, Adam surprises Olive with his unyielding support. Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion, and Olive realizes that putting her heart on the line is more complicated than any of her past hypotheses on love.

Books Like The Love Hypothesis

Below are 10 books like The Love Hypothesis that feature similar themes of academia, enemies-to-lovers romances, and more.

1. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Poppy and Alex have never had much in common, yet somehow, they became the best of friends after a fateful shared car ride many years ago.

For most of the year, they live far apart. But every summer for 10 years, they met up for a weeklong vacation together—that is, until they ruined everything two years ago.

When someone asks Poppy when she was last truly happy, she knows it was on that final trip with Alex. She convinces Alex to take one more vacation together so she can make it right. But can she get around the one big truth that has always stood in the middle of their seemingly perfect friendship?

2. Some Kind of Magic by Mary Ann Marlowe

Before leaving her lab, biochemist Eden Sinclair unwittingly spritzes herself with a concoction that enhances pheromones.

She also doesn’t realize that the cute, grungy-looking guy she meets at a gig that evening is international rock star Adam Copeland—until she’s already spent the night in his bed.

Eden’s used to being set up on disastrous dates by her mom, and now suddenly, she’s on the arm of a gorgeous celebrity who loves how down-to-earth and honest she is. But the only way to know how Adam truly feels is to ditch the perfume—and risk being ditched in turn.

3. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

At her twin sister’s wedding in Hawaii, Olive Torres is not pleased to spend the day the best man—and her nemesis—Ethan Thomas.

When everyone in the wedding party gets food poisoning except Olive and Ethan, a free honeymoon is sudenly up for grabs—and Olive will be damned if Ethan gets to enjoy paradise all on his own.

Agreeing to a temporary truce, the two head for Maui. But the funny thing is, the more Olive pretends to be the luckiest woman alive, the more she feels she might be.

4. The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

Catalina Martín desperately needs a date to her sister’s upcoming wedding in Spain. Everyone she knows—including her ex and his fiancée—are eager to meet her American boyfriend. Only problem is, he doesn’t exist.

Catalina has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the ocean and able to fool her raucous family. Surprisingly, Catalina’s colleague, Aaron Blackford, offers to step in. Catalina would rather refuse: Aaron may be tall and handsome, but she’s also never met a more aggravating, blood-boiling, and insufferable man.

As the wedding draws nearer and Catalina’s desperation peaks, Aaron looks like her best option. The more time Catalina spend with him, the more she realizes he might not be as terrible in the real world as he is at the office.

5. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane is a math wiz—she comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases, a job that’s given her more money than she knows what to do with One thing she lacks is experience in the dating department.

Determined to get some practice, Stella seeks the help of a professional. She hires escort Michael Phan, a Vietnamese and Swedish stunner who can’t afford to turn down her offer.

Michael agrees to help Stella check off all the boxes on her lesson plan, and before long, Stella craves not only his kisses, but also all the other things he makes her feel.

6. The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics expert who works constantly just to keep her and her daughter afloat.

When she hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company, Jess decides to put her trust the numbers.

Jess’s test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number Jess can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña as a stuck-up, stubborn man who is most definitely not her soulmate.

GeneticAlly offers to pay Jess, just to give Dr. Peña a chance and test the efficacy of the technology. As the two are dragged from one event to the next, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the science behind a soulmate than she thought.

7. The Sweetest Fix by Tessa Bailey

Reese dreams of making it as a Broadway star, but so far she has only graced the used car parking lots of rural Wisconsin.

Then a miracle happens: Reese wins an audition with Bernard Bexley, Broadway’s most respected dance choreographer. But when disaster strikes and she misses the audition, Reese makes a plan to seek out Bernard’s son and beg for his help.

She never expected sparks to fly between her and the baker. Now that her heart is involved, Reese refuses to use Leo to her advantage; but as fate pulls them closer and closer together, her original motives can only stay hidden for so long.

8. Love at First by Kate Clayborn

Sixteen years ago, teenager Will Sterling heard the girl of his dreams. The voice of that lovely, warm-voiced stranger has stayed in his memory all this time, even though he’s put so much of his past behind him.

An unexpected inheritance has brought Will back to that same address, where he plans to offload his new property and get back to his life as an overworked doctor. Then he encounters a woman, two balconies above, who’s uncannily familiar.

Nora is determined not to let Will’s plans or their whispered pre-dawn conversations ruin her quirky, close-knit building, She sets out to foil his efforts with a little sabotage, but beneath the surface of their feud is an undeniable connection.

9. You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

After a messy public breakup, soap star Jasmine Lin Rodriguez returns home to New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy. Jasmine is determined to keep her personal life out of the headlines, but then a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez. 

Fearing that his career is close to dying, Ashton needs to prove his acting chops to American audiences. That means generating smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine.

With their careers at stake, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsing leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera—and the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.

10. Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

Naomi ran away from her wedding and to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled with fists and beer.

But Naomi’s twin hasn’t changed at all; after helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with the niece she never knew she had. Now Naomi’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home—just an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

Knox usually avoids high-maintenance women, but since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, he figures the least he can do is help her out of her jam—but that plan soon runs the risk of real danger.

Is There a Sequel to The Love Hypothesis?

There is no sequel to The Love Hypothesis. However, author Ali Hazelwood has several books set to be released in 2022 with similar themes. Like The Love Hypothesis, these romances are also set in academia.

Coming later this year are: Under One Roof (May 3, 2022); Stuck with You (June 7, 2022); Below Zero (July 5, 2022); and Love on the Brain (August 23, 2022).

Have you read The Love Hypothesis? Tell us what you thought in the comments below!

 

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