As you are looking for the best books like The Love Hypothesis, I am assuming you absolutely loved reading Ali Hazelwood’s popular novel. You want to read something similar, and that’s what this list is all about!
The Love Hypothesis is about Olive, who doesn’t have a very good love life, but this is because she doesn’t want to bother with it. Her friend Anh intends to rectify this, so Olive tries to make her friend believe that her love life is great! To further her lie, Olive enlists the help of Adam, her coworker. For some reason, he agrees to fake date her.
Olive and Adam try to fool Anh and everyone around them into thinking that they are really dating and are desperately in love with one another. It works, and everyone falls for it. The problem is Olive and Adam are starting to develop feelings for each other. It won’t take long for their fake dating to turn into something way more real.
The author of this engaging book is Ali Hazelwood, who certainly puts her personal life into her fiction novels. She is an Italian neuroscience professor who was born in Italy and lives in many places all over the world. In her books, you will find women in STEM careers. The Love Hypothesis features such a character, so it’s great to see her real life influencing her fiction!
So, if you want to read books similar to The Love Hypothesis and fall in love again with the romance genre, here are some recommendations to help you out of your reading slump this year!
Best Books like The Love Hypothesis (2023)
1. It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Piper Bellinger has been forced to relocate to Westport, Washington, where her late father owned a dive bar. This is a far cry from how she used to be. Once upon a time, Piper used to be a socialite who was constantly followed by the paparazzi. It comes to a screeching halt when her stepfather suddenly cuts her off because he believes she is getting out of control.
She and her sister arrive in Westport, unsure what to do with themselves. In this town, she meets Brendan, a fisherman with whom she instantly clashes. He thinks she is a fish out of the water, and Piper decides to prove him and her stepfather wrong!
The more time Piper spends in Westport, the more she realizes she likes living here… and being around Brendan. Soon Piper finds herself torn between her old life and new life.
2. The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Catalina Martin’s sister is getting married soon, and naturally, as her sister, she is invited. She needs a date, and if the wedding had happened before she broke up with her boyfriend, she wouldn’t have had to look far. The issue is Catalina’s ex-boyfriend is now engaged and is going to her sister’s wedding to add to her shame.
Now Catalina is scrambling to find someone to go to her sister’s wedding in Spain and be her date. The man who offers to help her out is Aaron Blackford, her coworker. He’s handsome but also a jerk, so the last thing she wants is to be stuck spending time with him in Spain.
Eventually, Catalina has no choice but to take Aaron up on his offer because she can’t find anyone else. It turns out that outside of the office, Aaron is a pretty decent guy.
3. Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
Love on the Brain is another novel by Ali Hazelwood that focuses on Bee Königswasser, who is involved in STEM. She is a scientist who takes her job very seriously. It’s a great job if you ignore the fact that she has to work alongside Lee, her arch-nemesis, whom she hasn’t gotten along with since grad school.
Levi Ward is very handsome but has been cold towards her since the moment they met. Bee is happy to keep a distance from him. Then when her things at work start going missing and her other employees start ignoring her, Levi’s attitude changes. It’s like the man is being nice to her, which is very hard for this scientist to make sense of.
With Levi now being nice to her, Bee starts to see a different side of him. It’s a side that makes her fall hard, but would she act on her feelings? Probably, not!
4. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
They say that opposites attract, and this applies not only to romantic relationships but also friendships. Alex and Poppy are two people who fall under this definition. The two couldn’t be more different, but they are great friends. Poppy is more outgoing and on the wild side, while Alex is quiet and a homebody.
After meeting one summer, the two make sure to get together for one week in the summer. It’s something they have been doing for a decade together, but then they had a falling out and stopped speaking with each other.
It’s been two years since that falling out, and Poppy is at her unhappiest. The last time she was happy was when she was with Alex, so she reaches out to him to see if they could take a trip again. To Poppy’s surprise, he says yes.
This gives the two a chance to finally talk about what happened, but will it lead to a resolution or break them apart forever?
5. The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
Jess Davis hasn’t had particularly good luck with men in her life. It started when her father abandoned her before birth and continued when her daughter’s father noped out because fatherhood just wasn’t his thing. To support herself and her daughter, she works in data and statistics and prefers to stay away from dating entirely.
Then Jess hears about this new matchmaking program. It matches people based on their DNA and is supposed to be pretty accurate. She signs up because she trusts numbers; if the numbers say it’s true, then it must be me!
When she is matched with a 98 percent compatibility to Dr. River Pena, the creator of GeneticAlly, she is thrown for a loop. She’s met this man before and thinks he is a stubborn, snobby jerk. There is no way someone like him could be her soulmate.
GeneticAlly ends up giving Jess an offer. If she gets to know River, then she’ll get money. This will help boost the company, and Jess will no longer be struggling. She accepts but wonders what the heck she is getting herself into.
6. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman work as assistants to the CEOs of a publishing company. The two are coworkers who hate each other. They’ve never gotten along, and this is for several reasons. Lucy finds Joshua to be a pessimistic jerk who wouldn’t know what fun was if it bit him in the butt. On the other hand, Joshua finds Lucy too bubbly and outgoing.
Sometimes, differences can bridge gaps, but other times they can push people apart. The two come to a head when they find themselves up for the same promotion. It only makes things worse between them… until Lucy wonders if she does hate Joshua and if the feeling is mutual.
There is something there between them, after all. Well, that or they are just playing with each other. This is definitely one of the best books like The Love Hypothesis that you need to read!
7. Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Chloe Brown has a problem. It isn’t that she is a computer geek who is usually trapped inside her parent’s house, never able to go out. She suffers from a chronic illness, which made her produce six things that would help her have a more exciting life.
However, it’s easier said than done. Chloe doesn’t know how to start tackling her list, so she asks Redford ‘Red’ Morgan to help her tackle this list. She knows him because she’s spent a lot of time watching him, and why wouldn’t she? Red is an extremely attractive artist who works as a handyman by day and has tattoos and a motorcycle.
The two start to get close once they begin spending time together. It makes Chloe want to know more about the mysterious man who has captivated her interest. Her only question is: is the feeling mutual?
8. Take A Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
Danika Brown hasn’t had a particularly good history with dating and relationships. Outside of her romantic life, she’s doing great. She has a great job and is making good money, but her personal life leaves much to be desired.
Despite Danika’s hesitance towards romance, she does still have urges. It’s why she wants a friend with benefits, which eventually comes in the form of Zafir Ansari, a security guard and ex-rugby player. He ends up helping her during a workplace fire drill, and a video gets taken and goes viral.
The internet starts shipping the two of them. They end up faking a relationship in public, which gives Dani a plan to seduce Zafir and make him her FWB. The problem is, Zafir wants to get involved romantically. It makes for a complicated situation that Dani never wanted or expected.
9. Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
Act your age, Eve Brown’s family keeps saying. You need to grow up, they love to tell her. See, Eve doesn’t need to be told these things. She knows she is a walking ball of chaos, but it’s just how it is. Either take or leave it.
This chaos ends up affecting another person when Eve Brown hits someone with her car. She didn’t intend to hit Jacob Wayne, owner of the bed and breakfast she happened to interview at. Sure, he told Eve that the position of chef would never be hers, but she never intended to hit him with her car.
With Jacob’s arm now broken and his business understaffed, Eve offers to help. I mean, it’s only fair after she unintentionally hit him with her car. The two couldn’t be more different, but as they like to say, opposites do attract.
10. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Alex Claremont Diaz hasn’t had the most average childhood. For one, his mother is the President of the United States. He spends most of his time running around the White House with his sister and the Vice President’s granddaughter. Together, the trio has a lot of fun, and it’s also great PR for his mother, Ellen Claremont.
Besides friends, Alex also has an enemy in Henry, who is a part of the British royal family. After the fight in a very public way, his mother tries to create a fake friendship between the two boys to soothe tensions. The reason for this? Well, her reelection campaign, for one.
Alex has no choice but to spend time with Henry, but when their relationship turns into something more, it leaves him at a loss of what to do and how to proceed.
11. Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey
Next up on the list of books similar to The Love Hypothesis is Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey, which features two people fake dating that ends up developing into something real!
Georgette Castle works as a child party planner, and she loves it! Her family owns a home renovation business, so they were a little disappointed when she chose not to follow in their footsteps. Due to these issues, Georgette decides to give herself what is called a glow. She’ll get more attention to her business, fix her looks and wardrobe, and finally get a love life.
To boost her reputation, she creates a fake relationship with Travis Ford, a former baseball star who is now flipping houses. To Georgette’s surprise, he agrees to fake date her. It will shock Georgette’s family and hopefully help Travis get a new job.
What starts as a fake relationship ends up turning into something more. When feelings are involved, things can get complicated, so the future ahead will not be easy for Georgette and Travis.
12. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Stella Lane is a thirty autistic woman who doesn’t understand people or love. What she understands is math. Her job involves using math to develop algorithms to predict customer purchases.
Despite her disinterest in love, she is curious as any person would be. To get practice at the physical aspects of love (like kissing and sex), she hires an escort named Michael Phan, who has obvious experience in this department. He is a paid escort, after all.
After they start practicing, Stella begins to enjoy herself and likes it when Michael touches her. The more time they spend together, the more she realizes she might be in love with Michael. Something strange for a woman who prefers numbers over people.
13. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Book Lovers is one of Emily Henry’s popular books, which can, without a doubt, be considered one of the best books like The Love Hypothesis!
Nora loves books and has even made a career out of it as a literary agent… one who doesn’t pull any punches. However, her life is work, work, work. Libby, her sister, wants her to come to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, for a month-long vacation. It doesn’t take long for Nora to agree to accompany her sister on this trip.
Everything is going well until Nora ends up bumping into Charlie Lastra not once but multiple times. This is a problem because she knows Charlie Lastra. He is a book editor from the city, and Nora doesn’t have a good impression of him.
It seems that no matter how hard Nora tries, she can’t escape work… or Charlie, Is it a coincidence, or is fate pushing them together?
14. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Olive and her twin sister Ami couldn’t be more different. She is very unlucky in every sense of the word, while Ami is lucky and always seems to benefit from things. When Ami announces she is getting married and that Ethan is her fiancé’s best man, Olive is torn. This is a problem because Ethan is her nemesis.
So now Olive has to deal with Ethan… that is until the entire wedding party gets food poisoning except her and Ethan. This leaves a free 10-day trip to Maui up for grabs. Olive and Ethan agree to get along while on the trip because who would turn down a free trip?!
It should be no problem for the two to play a fake couple on a honeymoon. That is until real feelings start to get involved.
15. Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese
Only When It’s Us is an enemies-to-lovers book focusing on Willa and Ryder, who don’t like each other. For Willa, the hatred goes back to a class in college when she desperately needed lecture notes to study. The only one whom she could get them from was Ryder. He not only refused to help her but straight up didn’t even answer her in the first place. This made her determined to get not only those notes but also revenge.
Ryder dislikes Willa because he believes she has always looked down on him. Ever since they met, she’s given him dirty looks and seems to think he is scum or something. This is why he refuses to help her in their class. It’s his starting revenge on Willa, who is going to bring him down.
16. You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria
Jasmine Lin Rodriguez is a soap opera star who is going through a rough time right now. After breaking up with her boyfriend, the paparazzi went crazy with the story. To clear her head, Jasmine accepts a job in a bilingual romantic comedy that will star a telenovela star named Ashton Suarez.
Ashton’s goal in accepting this job is to get his career up and running in the United States. To make sure this movie is a success, Jasmine and Ashton try to practice in private to increase their chemistry with one another. One thing leads to another, and the chemistry between them does spill onto the big screen.
When looking for books like The Love Hypothesis, you should definitely consider reading You Had Me at Hola, as it features two people who start a fake relationship of sorts that end up developing into something real!
17. Restore Me by J.L. Seegars
Slone Kent and Dominic Alexander have a problem with one another. For one, Dominic is Slone’s late husband’s best friend. He’s also a huge jerk and has always made her life a living hell from the moment they met.
Dominic Alexander’s problem with Slone is that he finds her amazing. He’s always had feelings for her from the moment they met a decade ago, but she was his best friend’s wife. This meant that Slone was off-limits, and he had to do whatever he could to make sure she didn’t find out his true feelings.
One night changes everything. Dominic starts to be nice to Sloane, and suddenly she begins to feel differently about her late husband’s best friend.
18. Beach Read by Emily Henry
One common illness that can strike a writer at any moment is the dreaded writer’s block. Currently, Augustus Everett, a famous literary fiction author, and January Andrews, an equally renowned romance novelist, are suffering from this.
They find themselves neighbors in side-by-side beach houses. The two authors are, therefore, neighbors for three months in an attempt to try to get their creative juices flowing again.
January and Augustus strike up a strange deal one evening to help solve their writer’s block. They will write in each other’s genres and see what happens. Not only will they save their failing careers, but they might also find themselves falling in love.
19. Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade
This novel focuses on Marcus Caster-Rupp and April Whittier. Marcus is a popular actor on the TV show Gods of the Gates. He plays as Aeneas and enjoys a lot of success. What people don’t know is that in his spare time, he is a fanfiction writer writing fanfic about his show. This is because he is frustrated with where the writers have taken the characters.
Then there is April, who is a massive fan of the show. She writes fanfic and even does cosplays. When she posts a creation featuring the popular character Lavinia, her picture goes viral for both good and bad reasons. Marcus sees the picture and decides to ask her out just to spite all the haters and critics.
Marcus ends up falling hard for April, but he fears that it might tear them apart when she learns of his secret fanfic account.
20. Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
A person’s wedding day is to be a special occasion, but for Naomi, this isn’t the case. She’s left her fiancé at the altar and is on her way to see her estranged twin sister, who needs help. When she arrives in town, her sister quickly returns to ruining her life, and she does this by stealing her car and crashing it.
This proves to be a problem because Naomi’s sister Tina has a child who has no one but to take care of her except Naomi.
Watching all of this is Knox, a barber who lives in the town. He feels sorry for Naomi and figures he will help her out. This is big for him because he prefers to keep to himself. However, once he helps her, he is sure he’ll be left alone again…, or so Knox hopes.
21. Love at First by Kate Clayborn
Next up on the list of books like The Love Hypothesis, we have Love at First by Kate Clayborn featuring two people who are drawn to each other!
Will Sterling believes he did fall in love one day sixteen years ago when he was a teenager. He heard a stranger’s lovely voice coming from the balcony below. Since then, he’s thought of that stranger fondly. He finds himself back in the same apartment complex temporarily all those years later for family reasons, and his mind keeps going back to that girl he heard.
Nora Clarke isn’t thrilled when Will Sterling returns, and he is quick to notice. Will feels like he recognizes her but is unable to pinpoint it. During his time there, the two start to bond, though she seems reluctant to let this bond grow. The connection between them is obvious to Will. To Nora, not so much.
22. Make It Sweet by Kristen Callihan
Make it Sweet focuses on Emma, who is a popular actress on the show Dark Castle. She plays Anya and is loved by many. Then they kill off her character, and she finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her. It’s a double whammy, which is why Anya decides to go to Rosemont, California, an estate where she can catch her breath.
There she meets Lucian Osmond, the owner’s grandson whom she is instantly attracted to. Lucian prefers to keep to himself, so Emma decides to leave him be. The two are fine with ignoring each other until that growing attraction becomes too big to ignore.
23. A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn
This novel is similar to Pretty Woman, only more ridiculous and hilarious. A young woman is not doing great in love or life, and her enemy, whom she, unfortunately, worked for, fired her, leaving her desperate and poor.
One evening while she is walking about Beverly Hills, she meets Huxley Cane. He’s also going through it. A business deal of his has blown up in his face, and he needs some way out of it. A few hours later, and listening to the man tell her all his problems, this young woman ends up agreeing to be this man’s Pretty Woman, just not the hooker part.
It may seem like a crazy thing to do, but people do desperate things to make some money. And this seems like a great way to make money… until the woman falls in love with him, that is.
Conclusion
These are the top books similar to The Love Hypothesis, the fantastic and uber-popular book by Ali Hazelwood. I don’t expect you to read them all, but some books on the list are bound to stand out to you if you enjoyed reading The Love Hypothesis.
So, what are you waiting for? Get going, pick one of the featured books, and start reading! With all these books, you’ll be sure never to have a dull moment anytime soon.
Also Read: Best Books like Where the Crawdads Sing