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The Love Hypothesis

$16.00 USD

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TikTok sensation • STEM rom-com • fake dating • grumpy “lab tyrant” professor x PhD candidate • forced proximity (conferences/labs) • he falls harder • slow-burn chemistry • movie coming soon

Perfect for readers of:

STEM rom-coms with smart heroines + swoony, grumpy heroes
Fake dating that turns painfully real
Workplace/academia romance with lots of banter
Readers who loved The Hating Game–style tension (but in a lab coat)

Spice: 3/5

Flirty slow burn with a solid payoff (steamy, but not wall-to-wall explicit).

The vibe (Shopify-ready)

Olive Smith is a third-year PhD candidate who doesn’t believe in lasting love—at least not for herself. But her best friend Anh does, and Olive is determined to prove she’s totally, definitely dating and headed toward a happily ever after. The problem? Scientists don’t accept vibes as evidence. They want data.

So Olive does what any panicking biologist would do: she kisses the first man she sees.

Unfortunately (or… fortunately), that man is Adam Carlsen—Stanford’s young hotshot professor and infamous “lab tyrant.” He’s brilliant, intimidating, and widely known for being an ass… which is exactly why Olive can’t believe it when Adam agrees to be her fake boyfriend and keep the whole thing under wraps.

But when a major science conference goes off the rails and Olive’s career ends up on the Bunsen burner, Adam shows up with unexpected support—and unexpected abs. Suddenly their little experiment starts feeling less like a controlled study and more like a full-blown chemical reaction. Because the only thing messier than a hypothesis on love is putting your own heart under the microscope.

Tropes & tags

Fake dating
STEM/academia romance (Stanford)
Grumpy professor x sunshine-ish PhD candidate
“He’s a jerk to everyone but her” energy
Conference chaos / career stakes
Slow burn → sparks
TikTok viral / Instant NYT bestseller
Movie coming soon (Amazon MGM Studios) Join us for our Watch Party!

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