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.

Two socially awkward scientists fake-dating? Sign me up!

I loved the perfectly flawed characters in this book. Olive and Adam both have the best of intentions–she cares about her friends’ happiness and he wants to encourage students to be the best scientists they can be–but neither of them are very skilled at accomplishing those goals. In fact, they stumble a lot. I love that about them.

I also love the forgiveness the characters show toward each other whenever their best intentions fail miserably (which they do).

My only beef with the book is the graphically explicit sex scene. I generally favor less play-by-play action.

If you’re uncomfortable with detailed sex scenes, you’ll want to skip this book. But if you love classice Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bulluck rom-coms and you’re okay with the sex (or if you’re okay skimming/skipping it), I highly recommend this book.

R-rated for swearing and sex. Get your copy here!

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