Lyric is a scientist diligently working to crack what she has coined “The Sizzle Paradox.” She hopes to find the scientific reasons behind couples working both on a physical and emotional level. Meanwhile, her roommate and best friend Kian is finishing his own thesis. When Lyric receives feedback from her adviser that she needs to do better, Kian agrees to fake date her in order to give her dating practice. Lyric becomes invested in helping Kian find a new girlfriend. As the clock ticks closer to graduation, will Lyric be able to crack The Sizzle Paradox in time? 

The Sizzle Paradox worked beautifully in theory and in reality felt rough. The premise was great and I initially really enjoyed Kian and Lyric’s friendship. They have a fantastic friendship and have known each other for years, helping each other through the trials of academia. When Lyric became focused on helping Kian get a date, this is where things began to feel a little off. Not only did it take an extremely long time for Kian and Lyric to acknowledge feelings about each other, there was far too much time spent on them trying to set each other up with other people. This made the ending feel rushed and not earned. 

I did appreciate that there were many great side characters, such as Lyric’s family and their found family of college friends. Again, the premise was great, but I struggled with the execution. While it takes Lyric a long time to crack The Sizzle Paradox, for readers it may feel frustrating since the answer will likely be very obvious to them. I will definitely still check out whatever Lily Menon writes next and hope that she continues to explore adult romance! Thank you to Lily Menon, St. Martin’s Griffin, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.