This book was so cute! I love a good enemies to lovers trope and this one didn’t disappoint! Bee’s character was so spunky, witty and smart. I love how even when she got a job for NASA she still didn’t take herself too seriously. And Levi was 100% book boyfriend material. He was so patient and cute with Bee.
The science aspect of this book was so interesting to me. Sometimes it was a bit over my head, but still easy enough to follow along. The strong female vibes in this book were phenomenal. Between Bee and Rocio, we had two independent and bad ass female characters and they had the best friendship. Overall, this book has everything you would want in a RomCom and I definitely recommend!

WOW. Just... WOW.

After The Love Hypothesis, I didn't think I could love an Ali Hazelwood book more. But boy was I wrong!

I LOVED Bee and Levi. I think they had even more chemistry than Olive and Adam, and I couldn't get enough of them. Every interaction they had either made me laugh or swoon. I was rooting for them to get together from page one and I couldn't be happier when it finally happened.

I was also very much interested in the plot of this one. I don't know much about STEM, but I thoroughly enjoyed the discussions the author brought up and the science-y part of things.

Overall, this was very entertaining and I cannot wait to read the next book Ali Hazelwood will come up with.

I absolutely adored this! So clever, hilarious, and sweet. I love Bee and Levi, and I loved following their story! Highly recommend!

Though enjoyable, this book did not have the same magic that The Love Hypothesis did. It was a bit predictable. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it felt almost too much like TLH. If you enjoyed TLH though, it's still enjoyable and worth the read.

I didn't think it was possible to like this one as much as The Love Hypothesis, BUT I DID!!! Seriously I don't know what she puts in her writing, but it is addictive. Yes it's corny, but in the absolutely perfect way. And the science thing is really unique and wonderful, and I just love her books, seriously, so much. Tha k you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

As much as I loved The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood’s debut novel, Love On The Brain was even better. The characters were more well rounded, the supporting characters more interesting, their history intriguing, and the build to their relationship enamoring. Smart, sweet, funny, sexy, and surprising; Love On The Brain was an absolute delight to read.

Bree lives and breathes neuroscience; she’s smart, sassy, quirky, and an expert on all things Marie Curie. Unfortunately her career is stalled because she turned down her dream job after getting her PHD because she found out her best friend was sleeping with her fiancé and she wasn’t the only one. She’s a bit stuck in her job, with a boss who isn’t the best, and she needs a career break. Finding out she won the placement for a special project at NASA is just what she needed until she finds out she is co-lead with Levi who made her first year of grad school miserable.

Levi is determined to make sure the BLINK project goes off without a hitch, it has to as it is his friend’s legacy and that is why he wanted Bree on the project no matter how hard it will be for him to see her again. He comes across as this uncommunicative jerk around Bree but around his team you see a completely different side and Bree sees it as well and it hurts. When it becomes evident she thinks he’s trying to sabotage her she confronts him and she soon finds out that he wants her on the project even though she believes he doesn’t want her around.

I loved that we were treated to Bree’s memories of grad school as she talked with her vagabond sister about her new job and Levi. I could certainly see why she would think Levi doesn’t like her and why she was worried about him trying to have her removed from the project especially since she arrived to an empty office and lab. But, we also treated to Levi’s longing looks, the way he censure’s himself around her, and the absolute distaste as he mentions her husband to a colleague who asks Bree out.

As this is going on we are treated to her assistant Reike who has a bit of a morbid personality and has a keen dislike turned affection for Levi’s assistant Kaylee, a bit of a Elle Woods type, and therefore Reike’s complete opposite. There were a lot of moving parts to this story; politics and funding of the project, Levi’s combative family, an ex-girlfriend and her child, Bree’s childhood trauma that has made her weary of relationships, Bree’s Twitter side project @whatwouldMariedo a place for women in STEM to share and support one another, the fight against GRE, not to mention the phantom cat, and a sinister plot to make the BLINK project fail. This book has so much more “meat” to it than its predecessor and yes that’s a bit of a play on words as both the main characters are vegan and because of the full and rich plot that’s why I loved it more. Despite everything else going on the relationship wasn’t lost in it; we see Bree begin to see the real Levi, we see Levi opening up more to Bree, and we see them become partners in every sense of the word.

With an interesting plot, characters that were flawed but likeable, a few obstacles to overcome, and a relationships years in the making; I found Love OnThe Brain to be a perfect romance.

I really enjoyed The Love Hypothesis and was super jazzed to read Love on the Brain, so thank you to @BerkleyPub for the NetGalley review copy. I am very divided on my feelings about this book. I love that Hazelwood writes about women in STEM fields getting some action, and I’m a fan of an enemies to lovers plot trope. BUT… this felt overall felt like a less funny repetition of a lot of TLH.

Things I Loved:

- The use of Sausage Referencing™ to describe how so many men (in STEM and really everywhere) require other men to validate women’s contributions and insights. See also: Cockcluster™ and WurstFest™ (LOL)
- The Goth + Glitter Girl romance between Rocío and Kaylee. I’d really like to read that book!
- The cats.
- Bee’s tattoos of all the places she’s lived. The last one she gets made me have an emotion.
- Bee’s @ whatwouldmariedo Twitter account and her Marie Curie super-fandom.

Things I Did Not Love:

- Giant Man/Tiny Woman (again)
- Bee's confirmation bias that Levi "hated" her
- Bee needing Levi to stand up for her constantly and not handling stuff on her own.
- The repetition.

To sum up:

Did I love this book? No.
Did I hate this book? No.
Will I read another book by Hazelwood? Yes.
Will I lose my mind if the next book is about another Brooding Giant Man and Quirky Tiny Woman? Yes.

I enjoyed it but I couldn't believe that Bee was so unaware to what was going on with Levi. And the fiancee that treated her like trash? Why didn't she walk away! This novel was more frustration making for me.

Love love loved! The enemies to lovers trope is one of my favorites and this one did not disappoint. I thought it was just as good as (maybe even better??) than The Love Hypothesis!

Brilliant yet unconventional (see: purple hair) neuroscientist Bee Königswasser has not enjoyed the career success she anticipated. Instead, she’s working at the NIH for a troll of a misogynist. She’s able to cope through international calls with her itinerant twin sister as well as the Twitter account she secretly runs, @whatwouldmariedo, a place to commiserate about women’s experiences in STEM fields.

She just might get her own lab, though, now that NASA has offered her a dream position, leading BLINK, a neuro-engineering project building a helmet to enhance astronauts’ concentration in space. Bee’s overjoyed until she realizes that she’ll have a co-lead: Levi Ward. A few years ahead of her in graduate school, Levi was her archnemesis, refusing to work on projects with her, even cautioning her former fiancé about her.

But just like Marie would do, Bee, along with her caustic research assistant Rocío, heads to Houston with expecting the best, but preparing for the worst. Bee’s imagined worst, though, didn’t come close to the disaster that awaited her. Her equipment didn’t arrive, her keycard didn’t work, and Levi ignored her emails. It was graduate school all over again. Levi, though, isn’t the archnemesis she remembered. He even advocates for her, which give her the opportunity to muse on his handsome features and very tall frame. Yet even if these enemies can come together, their project will have them spinning in different orbits in a matter of months.

I loved a lot about the books: it’s another of Hazelwood’s STEMinist™ novels, with a fun, irreverent heroine, and a dreamy(x10) love interest. Not only is Bee vegan, so is Levi, In Texas! And not only does Bee love cats, Levi has a cat! The excerpts from @whatwouldmariedo illuminate the very real problems women face in the STEM fields, and a query about the GRE leads to a #fairgraduateadmissionsmovement. (Down with standardized tests!) The book also has a small mystery that leads to some adrenaline-filled scenes.

As smart as Bee is, though, she was frustratingly obtuse about the signals Levi was sending. Furthermore, like some of the LI’s in Hazelwood’s novellas, Levi has a big d*ck, a subject of much rumination on Bee’s part, especially in contrast to how very tiny she is inside and out. Finally, Levi and Bee had a dinner with his family that brought up issues, but these were never subsequently addressed much less resolved.
Hazelwood’s formula seems to be very successful for her, and this is a fun read if not that different from her previous work. If you enjoyed her prior novel and novellas, you’ll likely enjoy LOVE ON THE BRAIN. In the future, I hope she takes more risks and breaks out of her writing comfort zone.

ove on the brain? yeah... I loved it.

hazelwood's writing isn't for everyone but me? I'll eat it up!

bee and levi have to be my favorite characters she has written so far. I loved how oblivious bee was to levi's feelings. the way levi would describe bee? no men could compare. felt like I could relate to them so much and honestly it felt so enjoyable reading them.

when I say he FELL first... yeah that man fell over heels.

the background characters? loved them so much. they did not want me want to punch them like in the love hypothesis.

this is a little spicer than her first book and just the perfect amount.

her books seem to be the same sort of characters but in different fonts and I don't mind it. don't understand the unnecessary hate her and her books get.

For anyone who loved The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood’s second full-length romance is going to hit all of the same notes!
Not a professor and grad student this time, but colleagues who—as far as Bee knows—hate each other. This has one of the best microtropes ever: when she thinks he’s hated her but really he’s been pining for yeeeears. Ugh, so good.
There are a lot of the same dynamics here, the tall and smol, the sexism in STEM, the precariousness of grant-funded research. There’s also an interesting social media/You’ve Got Mail-ish piece that I found fun even if it nearly gave me Twitter-related stress hives.

Hot science romance. If that’s what you want then this is for you. The characters are quirky and likeable. The celebration of intelligence is appreciated and the best part of this book. The sexual humor and situations are cringy. The predictability is frustrating. If you’re looking for a sexually charged Hallmark movie then this is it. This book is just not for this reader though I really appreciate the setting and all of the STEM! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Amusing with the right amount of tension! This one is so full of science goodness. Even though the characters are millennials, they really resonated as Gen x with the music and rebellious attitudes.

I really, really, really wanted to love this book. I was a huge fan of Hazelwood's previous book, and thought it was so smart and told a different kind of love story than what readers are used to. Unfortunately, this book did not do that.

Everything about this was predictable. I couldn't even bring myself to like the main character, because she was the epitome of a strong seeming women who made incredibly weak choices throughout. I wish I liked it more,

Love on the Brain is Ali Hazelwood's second full length romcom starring women in STEM and I devoured it. It's an utter winner!


The heroine, Bee, is a neuroscientist who just got offered her dream job to work on a project at NASA. There’s just one little problem. She’ll be co-leading the project with Levi Ward, an engineer and her nemesis from her grad school days.


Bee is a petite vegan with purple hair, septum piercing, and brilliant in her field. She's not interested in love--she sees it as just something to cause pain. Her parents died young and she and her twin were bounced around between different extended family members. Added to that, two years ago, her best friend had an affair with Bee's ex-fiancé right when she was graduating. She's so relationship averse that though she loves cats, she's afraid to get one of her own because she doesn’t want to risk losing a creature she'd love. She limits herself to loving other people's cats while living a loveless and thus risk free life on her own. Plus she loves her work. She says she's like Marie Curie after the death of her husband, Pierre.


“What never ever abandoned Dr. Curie in all her years? Her curiosity. Her discoveries. Her accomplishments.
Science. Science is where it’s at.”


When Bee and her assistant, Rocío, arrive at NASA it's a disaster. None of her equipment was ordered, she doesn’t have access to the lab or emails and the staff ignores her. She decides to ask Levi to work with her to discover what is going on.  They are working on a project called BLINK, designing a new helmet for astronauts. I loved this part and couldn’t wait to find out how their work would turn out. Their banter is funny and flirty and their attraction is smokin' hot.


Levi grew up with a cold family that wanted him to go into the military. He used to struggle with his communication skills but it has improved with therapy. He has a knack for solving problems and is popular with his team and his boss. He just struggles around Bee, giving the impression he dislikes her. But everything is not as it seems. He is a big guy--in body and heart--who finds he enjoys rescuing Bee when she faints when she sees spiders or roadkill and--this was funny--when he knocks her out of the of toppling boxes in the lab. He also helps her with her couch to 5k training program but, really, the wonderful thing Levi does is support Bee professionally.


Bee is the best. She uses her talents and voice to advocate for other women in STEM by creating a community through an anonymous Academic Twitter account, @WhatWouldMarieDo. It becomes a place where women could go to discuss concerns and share advice. She also develops an online friendship with a popular account on Academic Twitter, @Schmacademics, who is a guy that’s supportive of women in STEM. Everything about Bee worked for me--she's smart, funny, and determined.


I really enjoyed the humor in this read, especially that about the cats! Levi has to manually express his cat, Schrödinger's anal glands (Levi’s pretty sweet) and then there’s a mysterious cat that visits Bee in her office. I love science and I liked how she intertwined telling Madame Curie’s story with her own.  I was also intrigued by the mystery of who was sabotaging the BLINK project. The tension in the story is perfect and, wonderfully, I was surprised by the villain.


I had a few quibbles. Bee’s hesitance to commit to a relationship with Levi dragged on too long. There's also a love scene where they don't use a condom, wait, what, really? Bee's fainting at roadkill and spiders seemed over the top after a while.


But these are niggles. Overall, the story is super creative with funny dialogue and fabulous quirky side characters.  I loved that it was a STEM romcom and showcases how scientists like Bee are able to find solutions and make a difference. This was my first book by the author but it will not be my last. I look forward to picking up The Love Hypothesis next!

I love the strong, intelligent, independent women that live within the pages of Hazelwood’s novels. I love the fact that Bee is all that while being a bit of an odd ball, with her purple hair, piercings and tattoos. I’ve been really loving books featuring women in STEM because I think that representation holds such a strong message for female readers, especially young ones. I think there is a lot to learn from Bee’s experiences when it comes to mistreatment and a lack of recognition in the workplace, as well as missed opportunities due to the actions of others. In hindsight, things work out for her but I feel like that storyline is too prevalent in society.

I’ve also really been loving books where the male lead is interested first, which this story has no shortage of 😍 the only frustrating part in this particular story is the fact that Levi essentially let Bee leave his life with no intention or attempt to keep in contact or express his feelings. I can understand and appreciate his communication issues in grad school which hindered their relationship, but the man should have looked her up before she so conveniently fell into his life again!

The tidbits of family drama, from both Bee and Levi, really strengthened their characters. I also really enjoyed the mini mystery that was explained at the end of the book. There was some foresight as to who was behind it but I did not predict the extent to which it would go.

Thank you to @penguinrandomhouse and @netgalley for allowing me access to this story prior to its publication. This book is available now!

Loved loved loved. I love Ali Hazelwood’s books, they’re cute, funny, quirky and hot. I love the slow burn and the oblivious heroine. Levi was super swoony and Bee was a hoot. Definitely recommend!

Thank you so much PRH International for giving me the opportunity to read the book!!🥰

You don't know how long it took me to write this review, I couldn't find the words to explain everything this book has made me feel!!😩

I have loved it completely, from beginning to end, I have enjoyed it very much, it was a very entertaining read and AHHHHH, the characters are the bestttt😍😍

I don't know what Ali puts into her books but they are too addictive and perfect!! 💖💖
And if you still haven't decided to read it, do it, you won't regret it, you'll laugh, you'll die of love, and obviously you'll read the spicy scenes!!🫣
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No saben cuanto me he demorado en escribir esta reseña, no encontraba las palabras para explicarles todo lo que este libro me ha hecho sentir!!😩

Lo he amado completamente, desde principio a fin, lo he disfrutado muchísimo, fue una lectura muy entretenida y AHHHHH, los personajes son lo mejorrrr😍😍

No se que le pone Ali a sus libros pero son demasiado adictivos y perfectos!!💖💖
Y si aún no se deciden a leerlo, háganloooo, no se arrepentirán, se van a reír, a morir de amor, y obvio van a leer las escenas spicy!!🫣

I love Ali Hazelwood's books. They're lively, fun, and full of great characters and relationships - both friendships and romances.