I Haven't Read The Love Hypothesis Yet (But I Know How It Ends)

I haven't read The Love Hypothesis yet (I know, I know), but now that the movie with Lili Reinhart is streaming on Prime Video, it's at the very top of my list. I love a good rom-com, and I'll read pretty much anything Emily Henry, Carley Fortune, or Jasmine Guillory puts out.

So when I looked into whether romance novels are actually good for you, I was a little annoyed to find there isn't much research on romance on its own — which, TBH, doesn't surprise me for a genre mostly written and read by women. There is plenty on reading in general, though. In one randomized trial of nearly 1,000 people, 42% of those who read a book in bed for a week said their sleep improved, compared to 28% of those who didn't.

I believe it, but that's not really why I read romance. I already sleep like a rock (my Oura ring can vouch for me), and a good meet-cute has kept me up late more than a few times because two childhood best friends still hadn't admitted how they felt about each other. Add in faeries and a High Lord or two, and the ACOTAR series nearly hijacked an entire summer.

Clearly, patience has never been one of my virtues. But a good romance gives you anticipation and predictability at the same time, which is oddly comforting. You know from the very first page that they end up together, and the only question is how long it takes them to figure it out.

From Pride & Prejudice to a random novel about a couple whose relationship starts as a cover story (she's his bodyguard, he has a corgi-breeding stalker, don't ask), it's the only kind of waiting I've ever enjoyed.