I have reviewed each of the individual novellas in this collection already, so I won't go into those specifics here. Instead, I will take the opportunity to elucidate on what I notice from the author, Ali Hazelwood, across her works up to this point (September, 2022): what I think is working, what I find challenging, and what I hope to see.
WHAT WORKS:
1) Though it's entirely possible that Hazelwood will run out of STEM contexts for her protagonists to exist in (she HAS already used NASA twice), I think the choice to keep her characters in that space is completely fine. It's a perfectly respectable niche to fill, and so long as the variety is still there in spite of the STEM basis, it will be fine if she stays in that space. I'm okay with authors having a place where they like to live as writers as long as it doesn't render them or their work boring.
2) I also think her decision to be unapologetic in her use of tropes is absolutely fine. I also get why some people are not big fans of this, but I consider it part of the charm of her work, and I think she does a solid job of using them with care and thought without being TOO heavy-handed.
3) I also think she is a largely effective sex-scene writer; there is enough variety and diversity of experience in her works where things stay pretty interesting, and the scenes are usually pretty sincere in their awkwardness without taking away from the stuff we like about a good sex scene in a book. There are some similarities that might get a bit predictable (particularly in regards to the love interests'.... anatomies), but those are arguably all over the romance genre in general, so it feels unfair to fault Hazelwood for them when she is kind of going with what's expected of her. I mean, wouldn't it be a letdown otherwise?
WHAT'S CHALLENGING:
1) To one degree or another, all of her works up to this point (both novels and all three novellas) feature over-the-top communication problems. Even the least guilty of them feels a bit excessive, and it would be nice if the issues moved away from that and moved into something real and tangible. This is especially frustrating when the setup for these challenges is often right there in plain sight in the work, but she skips over them in favor of just having the characters think/talk past each other all of the time. This might be because the more obvious conflicts would present some deep, possibly kind of heavy moral and ethical dilemmas, and I get that, but it would be worth it. After all, most books feature SOMETHING problematic, right?
2) Although I have been pretty forgiving about this aspect up to this point, even I will admit that if her next published work features an oh-so-teeny-girl with oh-so-teeny boobs, all of which the love interests are just oh-so-obsessed with, it will be a bit disheartening. I don't want to diminish that for many smaller women, having small breasts can be a genuine insecurity and I do think it's fine to show that there are guys who are into that, but beyond that, thin is otherwise the beauty standard, and it could get a bit disheartening for readers to rarely see themselves - and by extension, see an appreciation for their body types - in your work. I totally empathize with the dilemma inherent in trying to write from the POV of a marginalized experience/identity you may not have, but that could be a space where consulting with collaborators or friends, or simply looking to works that have featured this kind of thing, could be really helpful.
3) Her "villains," when they exist (moreso in the novels than in the novellas) are easy to spot and are a bit over the top in their villainy, especially in these worlds that are otherwise pretty grounded in reality. I know I shouldn't automatically know he's a villain when I read, "he had blonde hair and blue eyes," but so far, I do, and most readers probably do as well. Not only is this blonde-hair-blue-eyed man slander (lol), but it takes the mystery away right away, which is just too bad. Even regardless of them being easy to spot, they just consistently lack nuance, which is just boring.
WHAT I HOPE TO SEE:
1) A new STEM setting - I am confident this will come, but it's worth mentioning just in case.
2) Diversity among protagonists - She has included diverse characters in supporting roles, and there is some demisexual and bisexual representation in her main romances, which is pretty good (there is also an argument that Liam from "Under One Roof" is neurodivergent, but that is speculation more than anything, which I don't think counts) . That said, it would be great to see body diversity or racial/ethnic diversity in the main love story, either with the love interest or the protagonist (or both). I feel this would alleviate some of the angst that some of her readers (including myself) are starting to feel as they navigate the love/sex scenes in her work.
3) A conflict that doesn't rely on unrealistic levels of miscommunication - There needs to be a real conflict. Not, "he's going to think that I think that he thinks that I think that they told him that," just isn't going to work for much longer (I was hyperbolic there but the point still stands). There are all sorts of reasons that people who are in love can't be together. There are things in life that are fundamentally incompatible with a new romance that could serve as the basis for a real, true-blue conflict. That would be a nice change.
4) "When did you know?" - Though in my other reviews I haven't mentioned this, I think it would be great to get away from the "guy being in love with the girl at first sight" thing for a novel or two. Sure, he can be interested in or attracted to her, but it's not ALWAYS love at first sight. In fact, it usually isn't. It would be really beautiful, I think, to tell a story about two people mutually falling in love at the same time and in the same way. Hell, maybe SHE can fall in love with HIM first. Again, just to ground this in reality a little bit more while still making us swoon.
5) Better, more complicated "villains" or antagonists - Maybe he's a family man with a problematic attitude, not a cad who assaults the protagonist the second he's alone with her. Maybe he's an ambitious career-man who doesn't realize that promoting the love interest means taking him away from the protagonist, and is trying to convince him he'd be better off. Maybe it's something else entirely, or maybe he doesn't exist at all. If there even needs to be a "bad guy," let it be one who presents a more complicated dynamic or conflict rather than a weird random toxic thing that happens that brings the love interests together.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I have been kind of obsessed with "The Love Hypothesis" for what I believe is good reason, and I have been able to find joy in the Ali-verse ever since, even in the works I was less thrilled with by the end. However, I do think there will come a point where some of her habits get old, and she'll need to switch it up in some or all of the above ways. The talent is there, so I hope she can get to that place at some point!