The Love Hypothesis

 The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, 2021 Berkley Books

     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. 

Never Too Late

Never Too Late by RaeAnne Thayne, 2005 Silhouette

    Kate Spencer recently discovered that the life she lived was a direct result of being kidnapped from her family home at the age of three. Her newly discovered family includes two older brothers, a loving mother, and a generous father. When her brother and best friend have married the bride, Taylor's, older brother comes back into Kate's life. 

     Hunter was a former cop who was falsely convicted of his pregnant girlfriend and her terminally ill mother's murders. Three years in prison have made Hunter believe that he is no longer worthy of compassion or care. 

     Kate and Hunter decide to seek out the woman who kidnapped and raised her in a series of motel rooms across the state of Florida. When Kate was taken from the only mother she had known and placed in a series of foster homes at seven years old she bounced around until the Spencers form a strong bond and the only thing stopping her adoption was her "mother's" refusal. 

     Kate and Hunter drive from Utah to Florida to search for the woman. Along the way, the doctor-in-training and her former-cop escort help a young woman deliver her child, save a blind man from a couple of street thugs then deliver him to his granddaughter's dance recital, and stop a couple of drunk frat boys harassing young women. 

     The two fight their attraction until they decide to give a relationship a try. Their story follows the traditional romance trope for a quick and easy read. 

The Gates of Sleep

 

The Gates of Sleep by Mercedes Lackey, 2002 DAW Books

     Hugh and Alanna Rosewood are happily married and happy to be celebrating the birth of their first child: a daughter named Marina. The two Earth Masters are surprised that their child has water-magic, but their close friend and powerful water-mage, Elizabeth Henstridge, confirms the baby will be a powerful mage. 
     Upon the child's christening, Hugh Rosewood's estranged sister surprises the family. With a thinly-veiled familial connection, Arachne invades her family home, but the schism makes Hugh and Alanna suspicious of her motives. Their fears are founded when Arachne tries to steal away the baby's powers. 
     The Rosewoods' friends, and little Marina's godparents, immediately recognize the curse but are unable to remove it. One of her godmothers' talents as a water-mage allows the Elemental Masters present to subvert Arachne's curse - putting it to sleep. Fearing Arachne will reactivate the curse Hugh and Alanna send Marina with three of her godparents to be raised in secret. 

     Even the Rosewoods have no idea their beloved daughter is raised in Cornwall with pre-Raphaelite artists. Marina loves her aunt and uncles and respects the magic they teach her, but as she nears her eighteenth birthday and the looming deadline of the curse her education in water magic requires additional support. Her fourth godparent--a respected lady--comes to Cornwall under the pretense of research to train the young mage. 

     Although her studies are incomplete Marina is forced to return to her parent's home when they die mysteriously abroad: Arachne has managed to arrange her brother's estate in order to take control of Marina's life. With her aunt and cousin managing the Rosewood heir's every move, Marina has little ability to continue her studies. Their intent becomes more clear and more sinister Marina is unable to contact her godparents and must face alone her new guardian and the curse she still doesn't understand. 

     Marina's story in The Gates of Sleep is a creative retelling of the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale. Set in the world of Lackey's Elemental Masters magic abounds and those who are gifted with magic are both good and evil. This story is more mature than the popular tellings of Sleeping Beauty and includes elements of Satanism and intentional harm to disadvantaged populations. 

Flunked

Flunked by Jen Calonita, 2015 Sourcebooks for Young Readers
 
     Gillian Cobbler lives with her mother, father, and five siblings in a large drafty boot. After Cinderella’s Godmother rips off the glass slipper design (made famous by the princess) all of the kingdom’s orders go her way and Gilly’s father’s shop suffers. To help feed her younger siblings Gilly begins stealing from minor royals.
     When Snow White’s dwarf squad catches Gilly for her third offence it’s off to Fairy Tale Reform School to be taught how to stop her law-breaking ways. Gilly is completely removed from her family for at least three months –and every moment away she worries for their survival.
     At FTRS Gilly meets some fellow students: a fairy locked away for using magic underage and without a license, a young man who seems to hate the royals just as much as Gilly does, and an Ogre with a predilection for jewelry. At Fairy Tale Reform School the teachers are the villains of the fairy tales. The Sea Witch teaches deportment; the Evil Queen teaches psychology and runs therapy sessions; Flora is Cinderella’s step-mother and headmistress; and the Big Bad Wolf – of Little Red Riding Hood fame – teaches history.
     Gilly finds herself making friends as she worries about her family. When the Evil Queen sends her home early, just before the Royal Ball celebrating FTRS’s fifth anniversary all of Gilly’s dreams have come true. But she can’t leave: something about the events leading up to the ball have made Gillian Cobbler suspicious and she is going to figure it out.

     Fairy Tale Reform School’s motto is “Turning villains into heroes” and Gilly, with her friends, is going to make it happen in this introduction for middle-grade readers. Similar stories include Ella Enchanted and the Pennyroyal Academy series.

The Serpent's Shadow

The Serpent's Shadow by Mercedes Lackey, 2001 DAW Books

     England is monumentally different than India and Maya Witherspoon finds it both a blessing and a challenge when she flees her mother's homeland for her father's. Something is chasing the young woman and her Indian household across continents. Maya hopes that hiding among the working poor in London will keep her hidden from the unknown pursuer. 

     Peter Scott is an Elemental Master of Water. His club is a center for the men who protect England from magical threats. He is assigned to find the new and mysterious source of Earth Magic in the depths of London. He discovers the female doctor and her entourage hiding behind a unique shield set by an obvious novice. Peter and his fellow masters are surprised by the shield itself, but the stodgy old men have no inclination to help Maya learn how to manage her power. 

     Better to ask forgiveness than permission--Peter takes it upon himself to teach Maya the basics of western magic and the mastery of Elements. She is powerful but faces opposition at every step as she pursues her goal to be independent and help those who otherwise wouldn't be helped, and to create a home for her little family. It is Peter and his connections who support her and her dream when Maya discovers who and what have been hunting her. 

     The Serpent's Shadow sets a modern young woman in Edwardian England. Her race, gender, and professional occupation are all challenges to the status quo and Maya's passion for helping others earns her just as many friends as her vocation earns enemies. Magic cannot solve all of her problems or grant her wishes, yet Maya knows it will help her as a doctor. 

     Lackey creates a complex mirror of Edwardian England enriched with regional magics as elaborate as the cultures across the world. This is the first of an extensive series exploring retellings of classic stories.