Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new steamy, STEMinist novella… 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? To read Mara and Sadie’s stories look for the novellas Under One Roof and Stuck with You available now from Berkley!

this has every trope i love.

The same things that either thrilled or annoyed you in Under One Roof and Stuck With You will come up again in Below Zero because it feels like they are all the same book, with the same underdeveloped stock characters.

Awkward, petite blonde/brunette/redhead American student or recent grad in the science and technology field? Check. Large blond/brunette Viking-like man of few words but who knows just how to make his love interest weak at the knees? Check. Lightning fast feelings of undying love, and then self-made obstacles that keep the characters apart until a revelation at the end (NON-SPOILER: It was all just a misunderstanding). Check, check, check.

As others have said, it seems that so far, Hazelwood only knows how to write one type of book... instead of three complementary novellas, it felt like I read the same story three times, just dressed up a little differently.

For me, I liked each book a fraction of a star more than the one preceding it; all were at least 1.5 stars below what I rated Hazelwood's full book, The Love Hypothesis.