Have you ever thought to yourself that you want to read a STEM romance novel? Probably not,but you should! Ali Hazelwood has provided us with many options! After her first novel, The Love Hypothesis, debuted in 2021, it went viral on TikTok catapulting readers into the genre of STEM romance. If you love a good STEM joke, then you will get a lot throughout the books. Not only are these books cute and fun reads, but each book also describes real challenges that women face in STEM work environments. Ali Hazelwood uses these books as a way for women in STEM to relate to each other and know that they are not alone while encouraging changes aimed at inclusivity in these fields. Her ability to combine adorable romances with knowledge of various STEM fields all while addressing issues women face is incredible.
Ali Hazelwood currently has six books: Loathe to Love You, Check & Mate, The Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain, Love Theoretically, and Bride. You do not have to read these books in a particular order but if you are looking to maximize enjoyment then I have a recommendation. I suggest reading The Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain, and Love Theoretically in this order. Some characters make appearances throughout these books, so if you want to understand the context and get updates on some of your favorite characters, then I suggest reading in that order. As for the other three books, these are standalone novels and can be read at any time. Having read all her novels, here are my rankings of least favorite to most favorite.
Loathe to Love You
This book is a collection of three novellas. Each book follows a female engineer’s path to finding love. If you like the forced proximity trope then these are the stories for you. They are quick and cute reads that are entertaining. Since the stories are shorter there is little character development therefore, I could not rank them higher. If you want to get into romance and Ali Hazelwood books, then this would be a great one to start with.
Check & Mate
Who knew chess could be so entertaining in a book? I certainly did not! MalloryGreenleaf is sucked back into the chess world when her friend desperately needs a fourth player for the tournament. Mallory winds up beating the world champion of chess drawing attention to her chess abilities. The story follows Mallory’s complicated history with chess and her path to finding her chess romance. This is an entertaining novel that had me laughing out loud. The only downside to the novel is it is more driven to the young adult audience, so parts of the romance are a little cheesy. It was still a great read.
The Love Hypothesis
Ali Hazelwood’s first novel is The Love Hypothesis. The book follows Olive, a PhD candidate, and Adam, a professor at her university. Olive kisses Adam out of nowhere to ensure her friend Anh sees she has moved on from her previous relationship. After news spreads of the kiss the two wind up continuing their fake dating. Will this fake romance turn into a real relationship? This is a grumpy meets sunshine and fake dating story that thoroughly entertains you. This was the first novel by this author that I read and clearly, it made me want to read them all.
Love on the Brain
Bee is a Marie Curie-loving neuroscientist who just landed her dream job co-leading aproject at NASA. The problem is that her archnemesis, Levi, from graduate school is her co-lead. The first day on the job is rocky, to say the least. She does not get her equipment, the almost entirely male staff does not listen to her, and her career is suffering. To Bee’s surprise, Levi seems to become an ally. Will she be able to move past her horrible previous relationship to see where things can go with her new ally? To say I love this book is an understatement! There were so many twists and turns with a shocking ending. Plus who does not love an enemies-to-lovers romance?
Love, Theoretically
Elsie is a theoretical physicist stuck in adjunct jobs. To make extra money to get by Elsie works as a fake girlfriend to those in need at family functions and other events. When her dream physics position opens at MIT, Elsie jumps at it. Her interview is going well until an unexpected person, Jack, shows up at her interview. Jack just so happens to be the brother of hermost frequent fake-boyfriend. Jack is skeptical of Elsie since he does not know she is a physicist. Will Elsie be able to push past this to get the job of her dreams? Will she ever be able to find love for herself? This story is the perfect combination of enemies to lovers and fake dating. It was so cute with the best banter. Out of all of the STEM romance books this one was my favorite.
Bride
Now to my favorite Ali Hazelwood book of all time, Bride. Ironically my favorite book of hers is the one that is not a STEM romance. This is her newest book and her first paranormal romance. The book follows Misery, a vampire, who must marry Lowe, a werewolf. The purpose of this marriage creates a truce between the two groups but Misery has her reasons to agree to this marriage. Misery has questions that need answering and will stop at nothing to get them. Will Misery be able to survive this dangerous relationship? This has everything you want in a paranormal romance. The book is so cute you will giggle out loud. I definitely hope that Ali Hazelwood writes more paranormal romance books.
I encourage you all to run and read every Ali Hazelwood book! For those who have finished all of these, do not worry, a new book is coming on June 11, 2024, titled Not in Love. This new STEM romance novel follows Rue, a biotech engineer, and her forbidden romance. I cannot wait to get back to the STEM romance genre this summer!