Book Review

3 Bite-Sized Rom-Coms For All Your Forced Proximity Trope Needs — The STEMinist Novellas by Ali Hazelwood {Series Mini Review}

STEMinist novellas

The STEMinist Novellas by Ali Hazelwood

Genre: Adult – Romance – Contemporary – Novella

BOOKS IN SERIES:

  • Under One Roof (Book #1) – Release date February 8th 2022 – 4,5 stars
  • Stuck With You (Book #2) – Release date March 8th 2022 – 3,5 stars
  • Below Zero (Book #3) – Release date April 5th 2022 – 4,5 stars

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WHY YOU NEED TO READ THESE NOVELLAS:

After loving Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis, I simply HAD to dive into her new audio novellas! Even though I’m usually not into novellas, these sounded too good and I loved The Love Hypothesis too much to do anything else. And I adored them so much.

Why would I recommend you to read these novellas? Honestly, if you loved The Love Hypothesis, chances are pretty high you’ll also love these novellas. They have a lot of things and tropes in common and if you know you love these tropes, I’d just suggest to dive right in:

  • Quirky female main character who works in STEM
  • Big & brooding but kind-hearted male main character
  • Forced proximity
  • Chemistry and steamy scenes
  • A lot of sciencey goodness
  • Friendship

MINI REVIEW PER BOOK:

Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood

A scientist should never cohabitate with her annoyingly hot nemesis – it leads to combustion.

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn….

As an environmental engineer, Mara knows all about the delicate nature of ecosystems. They require balance. And leaving the thermostat alone. And not stealing someone else’s food. And other rules Liam, her detestable big-oil lawyer of a roommate, knows nothing about. Okay, sure, technically she’s the interloper. Liam was already entrenched in his aunt’s house like some glowering grumpy giant when Mara moved in, with his big muscles and kissable mouth just sitting there on the couch tempting respectable scientists to the dark side…but Helena was her mentor and Mara’s not about to move out and give up her inheritance without a fight.

The problem is, living with someone means getting to know them. And the more Mara finds out about Liam, the harder it is to loathe him…and the easier it is to love him.

My Thoughts:

Under One Roof was an AMAZING start to this novella series. It’s probably also my absolute favorite of the three because it has so many elements I love. There is of course the forced proximity as Mara and Liam are forced to live together. Neither of them was overjoyed about it, so their ‘battling’ and banter was so much fun to read about. And though it is a novella and thus shorter than a full-length novel, I feel like this one featured the most slow-burn as Mara and Liam grow a friendship before becoming something more and the chemistry was OFF THE CHARTS. Also, we have an ace character and this is always such a win for me! If I had to pick one of the three novellas I’d want a full-length novel for, I’d pick this one.

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Stuck With You by Ali Hazelwood

Nothing like a little rivalry between scientists to take love to the next level.

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…

Logically, Sadie knows that civil engineers are supposed to build bridges. However, as a woman of STEM she also understands that variables can change, and when you are stuck for hours in a tiny New York elevator with the man who broke your heart, you earn the right to burn that brawny, blond bridge to the ground. Erik can apologize all he wants, but to quote her rebel leader—she’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee.

Not even the most sophisticated of Sadie’s superstitious rituals could have predicted such a disastrous reunion. But while she refuses to acknowledge the siren call of Erik’s steely forearms or the way his voice softens when he offers her his sweater, Sadie can’t help but wonder if there might be more layers to her cold-hearted nemesis than meet the eye. Maybe, possibly, even burned bridges can still be crossed….

My Thoughts:

The second Ali Hazelwood novella was also a very nice listen. Stuck With You featured the ‘stuck in an elevator’ trope and while I did enjoy it, I also loved it the least of all three. Sadie and Erik have what feels like a whirlwind romance. They met and struck up an immediate connection, spent 24 hours together before there is a fallout due to a miscommunication. Then they get stuck in an elevator together. That’s just a very fast romance for me, as I prefer a lot slower burn. But that’s definitely a me-thing. Other than that, this was a very enjoyable listen. I loved the two timelines and slowly discovering what happened during those 24 hours and what went so wrong afterwards.

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Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood

It will take the frosty terrain of the Arctic to show these rival scientists that their chemistry burns hot.

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…

Hannah’s got a bad feeling about this. Not only has the NASA aerospace engineer found herself injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station—but the one person willing to undertake the hazardous rescue mission is her longtime rival.

Ian has been many things to Hannah: the villain who tried to veto her expedition and ruin her career, the man who stars in her most deliciously lurid dreams…but he’s never played the hero. So why is he risking everything to be here? And why does his presence seem just as dangerous to her heart as the coming snowstorm?

My Thoughts:

While I’m sad this novella series is over, I also ADORED the final installment in the series! I also felt like this one featured the most science – while it was present in the other two as well, it felt like more of thing here as we learn about Hannah and how she fell in love with science and NASA and Mars, and we follow her on an experiment in Norway. Of course, that’s where things go wrong and she’s stuck in a crevasse with a twisted ankle, a storm on the way and no one coming to help her. Except her work rival Ian, the person who tried to veto her experiment. This story is also told in dual timelines, which worked really well. I loved Hannah and Ian’s history and I was super invested in the present as well as I wanted to know if Ian would successfully rescue Hannah. Also, this was probably the steamiest of the three. And Ian may be my favorite male lead too – he’s just so sweet and kind and a little awkward but also successful and respectful of Hannah… major swoons. Also, this has a Mara/Liam and Sadie/Erik appearance and it was amazing to see them all again AND to get the sweet friendship scenes.

Overall rating of the series:

Four Stars
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Tell Me:
Have you read the STEMinist novellas?
If yes, what did you think about them?
If not, do you think it’s something you’d like?

Lindsey xoxo

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12 Comments

  1. I struggle to get into audiobooks and I actually have yet to pick up a romance audio 😂 So that’s why I haven’t yet got my hands on these although I’m *very* tempted to try! I can’t wait for the ebooks to come out though and I’ll definitely be reading these ASAP! The first and third sound so good 😍

    1. I love audiobooks but I totally get that they can be quite hard to get into! And a downside to listening to romance audiobooks is when a smutty scene comes up, I’m always super embarrassed sitting in my car (I listen during commutes) and wondering how well people outside of my car can hear what I’m listening too, haha! I think they’ll be out on ebooks soon though, so I hope you’ll enjoy them then!

  2. I love that you did a series review. I wish I would have waited and done that. All of these were such solid novellas. I’m glad we both enjoyed listening to them. Great reviews!

    1. Thanks! Haha, in this case my procrastination helped me since I already listened to all 3 before I even started my review of the first one, so it just worked out that way 🙂 They were all so great though!

  3. I haven’t read them yet. I hope I’ll get to read The Love Hypothesis this month. If I love it, then I’ll read these novellas. 🙂

    1. I hope you’ll love The Love Hypothesis! And if you do, I’m sure these will follow 😉

  4. Stephanie - Bookfever says:

    I just started listening to the audiobook of Under One Roof the other day! 😀

    1. Oh, I hope you’re enjoying Under One Roof!

  5. I can’t wait to read these. I’m honestly not usually big on novellas because they’re too short, but I have a feeling Ali Hazelwood may change my mind about them. 🙂

    1. I’m the same about novellas, but I couldn’t say no to these ones either 🙂 I did love reading them all shortly after one another, it made it feel like one bigger story after all.

  6. I haven’t read these, but they sound really fun! I don’t often read novellas, but they are perfect if you just want to get a quick read in.

    1. They are indeed super fun! I’m not usually into novellas, but I couldn’t say no to these ones 🙂

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