The Sizzle Paradox
A Novel
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
For fans of The Kiss Quotient and The Love Hypothesis, The Sizzle Paradox is the next sparkling romantic comedy by Lily Menon.
Lyric Bishop feels like a fraud – she’s studying sexual chemistry in romantic partners and what makes for a successful long-term relationship, only she can’t seem to figure it out in her own dating life. The science is sound, but how can she give her expert opinion with no real-world experience? In order to complete her doctoral thesis, she must crack the Sizzle Paradox – it seems the more sexually attractive she finds a guy, the less likely it is to come with an emotional connection; but why? – and to do that she must get the help she desperately needs.
Kian Montgomery, her best friend, roommate, and fellow grad student, has no trouble bringing both romance and sizzle to his own relationships. When he offers to tutor Lyric on dating tactics to find a good match, she’s certain it will solve her problems, and in exchange she agrees to set long-term-commitment-averse Kian up with someone different to give his romantic life a much-needed shakeup.
But once the two progress with their "tutoring sessions," they start to feel less like the academic exercise they were supposed to be as real feelings develop. Which is a problem, because Lyric and Kian are best friends and absolutely, irrefutably nothing else... Right?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Menon's unconvincing sophomore adult novel (after Make Up Break Up) breaks love down to a science. Lyric Bishop is an experimental psychology PhD candidate studying the physical and emotional chemistry between romantic partners. Her research, combined with her disappointing love life, has led her to create the Sizzle Paradox Scale, which shows that the more sexually attracted she is to someone, the less likely they are to be romantically compatible. Five years into her research, however, she's feeling uninspired and unable to relate to the material. Her roommate and best friend, serial monogamist Kian Montgomery, is on the last leg of his own environmental chemistry PhD and is burnt out on casual dating. The pair decide to help each other, with Lyric setting Kian up with women outside of his typical type and Kian teaching Lyric better dating etiquette. Inevitably, this "tutoring" sends their friendship teetering toward something more. The strong bond between Lyric and Kian is palpable, but the stilted writing and improbable depiction of academia make it difficult to get into this one. Only Menon's die-hard fans need check this out.
