Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood

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The 2nd book I picked up for the Romance Takeover Readathon - Light v. Dark round was Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood. This is the first book in her STEMinist Novellas series. Under One Roof worked perfectly to cover romcom and forced proximity for the readathon. I also was able to use it for Summer of Swoon to cover the grumpy sunshine prompt and Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo to cover the title has a number prompt.

After Mara's doctorate mentor passes away, she's leaves her half of a house in DC to Mara. The other half is owned by her nephew Liam. Liam is a corporate lawyer for a company that is known to not have enviromental friendly policies. Mara is an environmental engineer, so of course this rubs her wrong before they even meet. Liam tries to buy Mara out, but she decides to stay despite them not getting along. As they become friends, after some squabbles, they start to really learn who each other are.

This is a cute trope centered novella. I enjoyed my time reading this and thought for a novella it was paced pretty well. I also liked that when we got to the end it wasn't a magical "let's get married" but more of a let's have a serious relationship and keep moving forward. It just felt a lot more natural. This wasn't a full five-stars for me though, mostly because of Mara. She felt very childish at times, especially with being almost 30-years old. I didn't understand her actions at times and her excuse to stay in the house was quite a bit flimsy. What really bothered me is when she doesn't accept a package for Liam from UPS after she deduces it's probably something important. Just not okay. Otherwise, once they became friendly I enjoyed the way their relationship evolved into deeper feelings.

This was a decent start to this novella series and I'm certainly intrigued to read more. I think this book helped reset my expectations for these since the only other book I've read by Ali is The Love Hypothesis (which is her only other published book as of now). I can't wait to pick up the other two trope-tasitc novellas and think they'll be a perfect pick-me-up or palette cleanser.

Have you read Under One Roof?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Under One Roof, Ali Hazelwood, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 112 pages, published in 2022, traditionally published

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is not only a new release (out last Tues, Sept 14th), but also her debut novel. There was a lot of hype leading up to release, especially with Reylo (the fan pairing of Kyle Ren and Rey from the new Star Wars trilogy) being the inspiration. I applied this to the prompt of new release for Fall in Love.

Olive is a PHD candidate and working late one night in the lab. She had told her best friend she was on a date, but she's also in the building. To hide her lie, she kisses the first person she runs into in the hall. Adam is known as the ass of the professors, constantly being strict with students on during their committee reviews. To keep up the rouse, they start fake-dating.

OH MY GOSH! Guys, the hype is real. I was super nervous going into this because of how much hype this is getting. I first saw it a few months ago from someone I follow on bookstagram that has similar tastes. I ended up preordering the book, which is odd for me. I usually only preorder books from series that I'm completely hooked into or from my favorite authors. I just knew I wanted to support this story though, being that it's a STEM female author writing about female STEM and the less glamorous side of science. I loved the idea and wanted to support it.

This book guys, this book. I stayed up until waaaaay past my bedtime to finish it in one setting. I just couldn't put it down. There was a lot of science, which was so perfect. For two characters whose life revolves around science 80+ hours a week, I'm glad that it wasn't just glossed over. I also loved the conversations had about women in STEM and just academia versus going into the industry. I knew there was a difference, but didn't quite understand the full debate between choosing which route to go. I loved learning more about that world. Growing up I always enjoyed my STEM classes, so this was so much fun.

Let's get to the characters though. Olive, oh sweet Olive. I was not expecting to connect to her so much. Even now writing this I'm tearing up just thinking about how similar some of her thoughts were, especially related to her mom passing. There were several moments I needed to take a breath because something she said or thought hit so close to my own thoughts. I just can't believe how much of myself I ended up seeing in Olive. She had me crying and laughing and was everything I didn't know I wanted. Adam was the perfect grumpy scientist and I loved how he was so amused and drawn to Olive. I loved the way that their relationship progressed and how natural it felt. I also loved how much Adam cared for Olive and yet they both were holding back from each other. Mutual pining during fake-dating is such catnip for me.

I also loved the third act conflict and how it played out. Yes there was the end of their term for the dating, but I completely understood how and why Olive decided not to push for more. It hurt my heart, but I understood it. I also loved how amazing her friends were and Adam's friend as well. It just was so well done I didn't want it to end. Was this book perfect, no. I don't care. It hit me in all the right places and really gave me what I needed from a rom-com contemporary romance.

I still can't believe this is Ali's debut novel. She does say in her author blurb that she's written before, but mainly scientific papers. Her blurb cracks me up and I've completely enjoyed following her on instagram. She's also a crocheter, so I love seeing all her works, especially the sciencey ones. At the end of the book is a preview of her second novel, Love on the Brain. It's set to come out sometime next year and I can't wait. It looks like it'll be set at NASA in Houston which is totally my jam. There is a lot of hype around this book, but I have to say it lived up to it for me. If you are into science and romance, definitely pick this book up.

Have you read The Love Hypothesis?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 384 pages, published in 2021