The Sizzle Paradox: A Novel

by Lily Menon

Overview

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250801241
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/28/2022
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

LILY MENON has always been enamored by romantic comedies and happily-ever-afters in all shapes and sizes. Now she lives in the mountains of Colorado, where she spends her days dreaming up kissing scenes and meet-cutes. When she's bored, she masquerades as New York Times bestselling YA author Sandhya Menon. She is also the author of the adult romances Make Up Break Up and The Sizzle Paradox.
Lily Menon has always been enamored of romantic comedies and happily-ever-afters in all shapes and sizes. Her very first love story, written at age nine, was about a handsome young boy who wooed the heroine with books, chocolates, and a very fat puppy. Now Lily lives with her own handsome boy (who indeed wooed her with books, chocolates, and fat puppies) in the mountains of Colorado, where she spends her days dreaming up kissing scenes and meet-cutes. When she's bored, Lily also masquerades as New York Times bestselling YA author Sandhya Menon. Make Up Break Up is her first adult romance.

Editorial Reviews

04/11/2022

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. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Menon’s latest novel follows the unbeatable rom-com blueprint of laugh-out-loud moments...and sweltering sex scenes... A 5 out of 5 on the romance scale." - Kirkus, starred review

"It’s academic romance perfection." - The Washington Post

Popsugar, "76 Romance Novels For When You Need a Little Spice"

From the Publisher

Abhay Ahluwalia and Brittany Pressley narrate a contemporary romance. Columbia grad students Lyric and Kian have been best friends for seven years. When Lyric’s love life hits a roadblock that threatens to bring her doctoral thesis on love and sexual chemistry to a halt, Kian offers to tutor her in dating. The situation brings to the surface what everyone else has known all along: The pair belong together. The dual narrators tell the story from both Lyric’s and Kian’s points of view. As she clearly differentiates the characters with believable voices and emotions, Pressley’s experience as a narrator is apparent. Though his voice is pleasant, audiobook newcomer Ahluwalia’s awkward pacing, flat tone, and unusual character voices make for an uneven narration that may distract discerning listeners. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2022 - AudioFile

Abhay Ahluwalia and Brittany Pressley narrate a contemporary romance. Columbia grad students Lyric and Kian have been best friends for seven years. When Lyric’s love life hits a roadblock that threatens to bring her doctoral thesis on love and sexual chemistry to a halt, Kian offers to tutor her in dating. The situation brings to the surface what everyone else has known all along: The pair belong together. The dual narrators tell the story from both Lyric’s and Kian’s points of view. As she clearly differentiates the characters with believable voices and emotions, Pressley’s experience as a narrator is apparent. Though his voice is pleasant, audiobook newcomer Ahluwalia’s awkward pacing, flat tone, and unusual character voices make for an uneven narration that may distract discerning listeners. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2022 - AudioFile

★ 2022-03-30
Two best friends fake date to try to discover the perfect formula for love.

Not only is Lyric Bishop unlucky in love, but she’s beginning to feel like a fraud. She’s in her penultimate year at Columbia as an experimental psychology doctoral student, and her focus on sexual chemistry should make her a pro at dating. But other than the fact that she’s a self-proclaimed “picky bitch,” she can’t seem to solve her biggest problem yet: the Sizzle Paradox. Lyric rates her romantic and sexual partners by the Sizzle Paradox Scale—scoring elements like “pre-sex sexual chemistry” or “initiation to kiss”—but the more she’s into a guy, the less chance they have at a healthy, committed relationship, hence the paradox. Everyone thinks that she should date her hot best friend and roommate, Kian Montgomery, but hooking up with him would be a “disaster of civilization-ending proportions.” Lyric and Kian “live and thrive” in the friend zone, and neither of them would ever do anything to ruin their bond. Besides, Kian is a total lady’s man and goes through women like “sheets of paper,” though he’s starting to become bored with the no-strings-attached lifestyle. So when Lyric’s thesis reaches a roadblock, Kian volunteers to tutor her with a few fake dates to help them both crack the Sizzle Paradox once and for all. Menon’s latest novel follows the unbeatable rom-com blueprint of laugh-out-loud moments (“I scowl at him; he doesn’t need to make it sound like I’m some repulsive species of sea cucumber”) and sweltering sex scenes (“Everything about him is an aphrodisiac: his voice that’s barely a rumbling growl in the dark like thunder on a steamy night”). While at times Lyric can prove frustratingly clueless and immature when faced with her romantic prospects, readers will no doubt find her and Kian’s friendship endearing and their blistering chemistry unmistakable.

A 5 out of 5 on the romance scale.

Kirkus Reviews