the instant new york times bestseller and tiktok sensation as seen on the view a buzzfeed best summer read of 2021 when a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman's carefully calculated theories on love into chaos. 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.