From the publisher:
One bed. One (very awkward) shared past. What could go wrong?
With a fun and steamy twist on the only-one-bed trope, this debut contemporary romance will delight fans of The Love Hypothesis and The Paradise Problem.
Chemistry teacher Ashleigh Hutchinson knows better than anyone that love and lust don’t mix. The feelings come from different hormones, they trigger different responses, and they demand different reactions. Which is why she doesn’t date. She hooks up. No catching-of-feels required.
When Ashleigh is fired from her job without notice, she signs up to participate in a month-long sleep study, which will pay her enough to cover rent while she job hunts. It seems easy enough—until she walks into the clinic and finds herself staring right into the gorgeous eyes of Xander Miller, the only man to have ever tempted her to abandon her no relationships rule.
When Xander and Ashleigh realize the study is only looking for couples, they agree to pretend to be together—which means sleeping in the same bed every night for the next few weeks. How hard can it be to keep their cool under the covers?
With steamy “will they or won’t they” tension and plenty of hilariously awkward moments, Bed Chemistry is sure to appeal to fans of Christina Lauren, Ali Hazelwood, and Meghan Quinn.“[This] debut takes the “there was only one bed” trope to new extremes . . . [With] witty banter and palpable sexual tension. It’s a promising start.” —Publishers Weekly
Ashleigh, a chemistry teacher recently fired from her job, signs up for a month-long sleep study to cover her bills while she searches for new work. At her intake interview, she’s stunned to run into Xander—her college one-night stand whom she promptly ghosted. Xander is there because he struggles with insomnia, while Ashleigh can sleep through anything. When the doctor explains they’re now only accepting couples, the two reluctantly team up and pretend to be in a relationship.
Ashleigh carries a lot of emotional baggage. After her father’s infidelity destroyed her parents’ marriage, her devastated mother reinvented herself as a champion for sex without relationships, penning a bestselling self-help book and landing a Netflix series. Ashleigh adopted her mother’s philosophy, building her life around strict rules: no dating, no entanglements, and absolutely no falling in love. It’s how she keeps her heart safe—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
But spending so much time with Xander rekindles all the feelings she once ran from, and those emotions spill over into constant bickering. When their arguments begin skewing the study’s results, the researchers order them to start doing some fun things together – to date – something Ashleigh wants no part of. Still, she needs the money, so she goes along with the outings Xander plans for them. One thing leads to another, and soon they’re sleeping together again… which brings all of Ashleigh’s long-buried fears crashing to the surface.
Along their journey, the story delivers humor, steamy encounters, and heartfelt growth. The sleep study proves to be a quirky but effective plot device, making this debut both engaging and memorable. It’s a promising start, and I’m eager to see what comes next from this author.
12/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
BED CHEMISTRY by Elizabeth Mckenzie. Alcove Press (December 9, 2025). ISBN: 979-8892423779. 304p.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 