Stanford University is the dream, and Olive Smith is a third year Ph.D. student living that dream. Until her friend Anh starts to put up a fuss about Olive's lack of long-term relationship. She lies to her best friend, a lie of convenience and one intended to keep Anh from pushing her into a blind date. But that lie requires some quick acting to keep it going.
To keep from getting caught in her lie Olive kisses the first man she sees - the grumpy professor Adam Carlsen. Olive thinks her lie is going to be caught out and Anh will keep up with her matchmaking attempts only for Dr. Carlsen to agree to be her fake-boyfriend.
Their charade feels unusually real to both Olive and Adam and spending time together isn't the terrible and terrifying ordeal Olive thinks it will be. Adam is clever, he supports her in her work and personal life, and he stands by her when a scientific convention goes crazy.
Olive doesn't think this fake relationship will make it because of her background and how she experiences attraction. It takes Adam revealing what she never knew for them to give it a real chance at love.
The setting in STEM is novel with a female scientist as the lead character who wants to earn her way, but is stopped by systemic prejudices. The relationship between professor and student is scrutinized by the university while Adam and Olive's connection is closely inspected by her friends. Their story follows the traditional fake-dating trope featuring scientists with adult themes.
