Would only recommend to purchase for large libraries with high-circulating romance sections. This book checks-off the woman in STEM box, and that's about it. Truly one of the most unlikeable female leads I've ever read. Bee is the worst. Whiny, unobservant, obnoxiously arrogant, dismissive of others feelings, easy to offend, stubbornly ignorant, hyper focused on the inequalities of women, all while demeaning the feelings and contributions of cis white men. Why do we need to tear down men in order to build women up? For someone who so obviously sees nothing of worth in men, I’m curious why she’s attracted to one that embodies the physical masculine ideal? A shame, because when Bee is not being obnoxious, the banter between leads isn’t half bad. The underlying bitterness just ruins this book. Cannot recommend to purchase.

*thank you Penguin Random House & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review*
2.75 Stars

If you really loved this book, scroll away this isn’t for you.

This book was enjoyable to a certain degree but it pissed me off. So let me make a list of what I liked and what I didn’t:

What I liked:
- Levi! for me he is better than Adam. So protective, tall , cat lover , Star Wars lover and hot.
- Girl boss in stem. I loved and I loved the science talk so much it was entertaining. The focus on intelligent, brilliant women is great!
- Rocio! My love. I aspire to be her. She is so funny and a mode.
- The spicy scenes were good and much better than TLH

What I didn’t like:
- Bee is very quirky. She reminds me of Jess in new girl with her rambling and awkwardness. However it was too much to the point that I found her very irritating
- Explain to me HOW Levi and Bee have chemistry as friends but not as a “couple”????? The math isn’t matching.
- a lot of cringy things were said. At some points (maybe even more than some) I felt that the editor needed another editor to check their work because I was baffled how some scenes are written in the book.
- It’s a lot similar to the love hypothesis. The “angst”, the miscommunication trope, the characters. Basically self-plagiarism.
- What is the obsession with the MMC being tall and built like a mountain? Did I had to be mentioned many times ?? “
- From chapter 20 till the end was completely out of place and was weird. The big plot twist ? Come on that was dumb.

I came to the conclusion that Ali Hazelwood’s books are not for me. They are all the same. As much as I enjoyed the book there were many things I didn’t enjoy that’s why I settled on 2.75 stars. If you are a fan of TLH and Ali’s other works, then you might enjoy this book more than me.

I loved this book! It didn't go above and beyond like The Love Hypothesis did, but man oh man did I swoon while reading this book.

Levi is a dream guy, he is sweet, smart, caring, and honestly perfect. I loved Bee so much and loved her sass throughout the pages. The tension between her and Levi was out of this world and the sarcasm between the two is what I live for. The dynamic between the two really came to live inbetween the pages of this book. The romance was stellar and I loved the geeky side to both of them and this book!

I really loved the side characters as well and I will forever be a fan of full fledged side characters who mean something in the book. Side characters are just as important as main characters. Rocio was one of those characters who I just absolutely adored.

While I didn't fall head over heels for this book like I did with The Love Hypothesis it was still such a great romance!

It's amazing, I love every second of this book to bits, it's funny, relatable , I love the tension between Levi and Bee, Rocio it's iconic and it's just *chef kiss*

I absolutely loved every single second of this book. It was lighthearted and funny and everything I needed right now. I laughed out loud on several occasions. The dead pan, dry sense of humor was absolutely wonderful. I did sometimes wish that Bee would just let Levi talk, but I also appreciate that that’s not her nature, she word vomits and babbles and it just kind of endeared her to me even more in the end… and Levi is an absolute cinnamon roll of a man?? I love him.

I loved this more than The Love Hypothesis.

Thank you Berkeley romance and Netgalley for this eARC

I wanted to love this book so much. I really loved The Love Hypothesis. I did not love the novellas but thought maybe that’s just me. I don’t love novellas. I’m sure I’ll love the full length book. Spoilers ahead so read on only if you choose. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

When I first started picking it up - I was excited to be back in a female STEM book. But it quickly started to feel too familiar to me - like I was reading v2 of TLH. I was finding myself putting it down and just not picking it back up. So I decided maybe it was the format and switched to audiobook. That did at least help me finish it but whew, I think I should have just put it down.

In one word my issue with this book was - Bee. Our heroine. I know people can be very smart in some aspects of their life and totally oblivious in others but COME ON. I have to believe Bee would have been able to put things together more clearly - like recognizing earlier that Levi was her Twitter friend. Also how does she become a neuroscientist when she sobs over every animal dead on the side of the road? She made it through animal dissections? And do we need her to LITERALLY swoon into Levi’s arms at the sight of ANYTHING even a spider??? Ugh. Also - I want Bee to get therapy. She had a lot of things in her life and her fear of commitment makes a lot of sense. I want her to work through it with professional help and not just “magically cured by the love of the right man.” Please.

Then we have THAT ENDING. So Guy not only messes up the work project but also manages to get her secret Twitter account blown up (just as a little side project when he noticed it right there) but also shows up with a gun when she goes back to the office to check on things?? And she only knew to go check because of watching security footage for the possibly imaginary work cat that only Bee ever sees???? But not to worry - OF COURSE - Levi will swoop in to save her. Insert all the eye rolls. No thank you for me.

Thank you Berkley Romance for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I ended up really enjoying Love on the Brain...but I have a lot of thoughts that go with it. Was it a cute rom-com? Yes. Do I recommend it? Yes. Will I read everything Ali Hazelwood writes? Obviously...why would you ask me that.

BUT...in my humble opinion, Love on the Brain was pretty much The Love Hypothesis 2.0. Between both books, I can't tell Bee and Olive apart. Nor could I tell Levi apart from Adam. Both sets of characters from both books are cut from the same cloth (i.e. they were both Reylo fanfic originally). And honestly, that's FINE but it made for a deja-vu like reading experience.

My main criticism of LOTB is that I predicted the entire plot for the rest of the book by the end of chapter 2. We don't get Levi's POV in this story yet I knew exactly how he felt. There was no sense of mystery and that kind of bugged me. Yes I know all rom-coms have an HEA but that's not the point.

Also, our MC Bee was so obtuse about Levi having feelings for her I wanted to smack her through my kindle. I'M SORRY BUT YOU ARE A LITERAL NEUROSCIENTIST FOR NASA...I KNOW YOU'RE A NERD BEE BUT YOU ARE ALMOST 30 YEARS OLD. YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN SOMEONE HAS A CRUSH ON YOU. WE'RE NOT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL ANYMORE. *sigh*

Anyways, the steam was great. I just wish LOTB stood out a little more from Ali's other work and other romances I've read. Not life changing but would still recommend.

Ali Hazelwood write the cutest romantic comedies ever! I love the characters, specifically the Nerdy Darcy-esque men. I have the least scientific brain ever, but I love the academia setting of this series. I will definitely be returning to this book as well as the first for warm and fuzzies

Wow Ali Hazelwood really really loves writing about women in STEM and I REALLY enjoy reading about female protagonists in this field, it was great in The Love Hypothesis and it was great again here. Did this have the grumpy/sunshine trope again? Yes. Did I love it? YES. It’s a fun trope to read, and it’ll be a bad day when I stop enjoying it as much as I do. Bee and Levi were just so sweet together and I was entertained watching their dynamic unfold. I’m not sure if I liked this as much as TLH but it was a fun read nonetheless.

Love on the Brain was so wonderful. I think I enjoyed it even more than Love Hypothesis.

I loved Levi and Bee. Bee especially was just such a great character. She was so smart and warm, and I respected her. I loved how real she was and how she had insecurities even though she knew how intelligent she was. Oh, and Levi! He is the perfect romantic lead. He believed in Bee and was her biggest fan the whole time.

I loved that this story had a bit of mystery too. While the main focus was Bee and Levi, there were also some very entertaining side stories. I thought Love on the Brain was just a little more fun.

These books mean so much to me. Growing up as the daughter of a woman in STEM, I love how they shine a light on the sexism women face every day. And while Hazelwood doe it in an endearing way, I do hope the readers understand this happens!

We received this ARC in exchange for a whole and honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for allowing us to read this ARC.

Bee Königswasser is given the ultimate opportunity. To prove herself as one of the leading neuroscientists on a new project that NASA is working on. She is excited to finally prove her worth until she finds out that she will be working with her worst nightmare. Levi Ward. Once Bee arrives at NASA it is made very clear to her that she is not welcome. With equipment not arriving, emails going missing, and meeting invites being lost she begins to fight for her right to be there with her biggest advocate LEVI! As these two put aside their differences it is soon apparent that love may very well be on the brain for both of them.

Overall we rated this book about 3.5 stars. It left us as readers wanting more. This was the first full Ali Hazelwood novel that we have read and having not been impressed by Below Zero but hearing the hype for The Love Hypothesis, we were excited to give this a try.

This book felt like it had a good idea but it wasn’t fully fleshed out. This book was built to be the classic miscommunication trope. However, the miscommunication could have been solved with a few clicks on the internet or just having a conversation with anyone who knew Bee prior to her arriving at NASA.

There was a whole plot about her secret online identity that felt like it served no purpose. It was easy to figure out who she was really talking to the whole time, which it was still unclear if we were supposed to know who it was and that this was a tongue in cheek writing or if it was supposed to be an actual surprise.

We found both Bee and Levi to be very one dimensional characters who needed a little more depth to them to make them fully fledged out characters.

As readers we can see where this book appeals to a lot of readers but overall, it wasn’t our cup of tea.

If you would like to hear us talk about this book in more in depth please check out our podcast channel on Spotify or apple podcasts. We are Justonemorepage podcast. This episode will be going live on 8/28/2022.

You can find all of our socials at this link as well:. https://linktr.ee/JOMPage

Not my usual style of book, but I know several customers who will eat this up! I liked her Twitter account but wish there was more about the helmet innovation.

“The real villain…is loss. Grief. The intrinsic transience of human relationships. The real villain is love: an unstable isotope, constantly undergoing spontaneous nuclear decay.”

A STEMinist rom-com where a scientist is forced to work alongside her nemesis—with explosive results.

Woohoooo for another fabulous women in STEM book from Ali Hazelwood, who is now an absolute auto-buy author for me. I absolutely adored The Love Hypothesis! And this one, while maybe not quite as awesome, was still an enjoyable read full of nerdy science and engineering talk, smart as hell women, and sexy sexy love making.

My only gripe, and it’s a small one, is the sheer number of times the word vegan was in this story. I get it. They’re vegan. Ugh. But I digress. I loved this story and would buy a pack of greeting cards if she wrote them. Keep these awesome, sexy, and smart female empowerment stories coming!

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE ON THE BRAIN is the first book that I’ve read by Ali Hazelwood. Although a bit predictable, I found this to be a quick, enjoyable, rom-com.

Definitely pick this one up if you enjoy…
-Academic settings
-Women in STEM
-Workplace romance
-Nemeses-to-lovers
-Witty banter

I loved The Love Hypothesis so much, and I wasn't sure this would be as good.
I was wrong, I loved this even more. I felt a little more in touch with these characters. And I really fell in love with Schrödinger. Levi also stole my heart when compared to Adam Carlsen.

I really was hoping this one would redeem Hazelwood for me, but I quit reading around the 20% mark. I adored the Love Hypothesis but I found Love on the Brain to be lacking. We were never given a chance to forget how enormous Levi is, as we are reminded at least twice a chapter of his large stature. We’re also never given a chance (at least not in the first 5 chapters) to like Levi. I found the “hero” to be completely insufferable, rude, callous, unprofessional, and sometimes downright mean. I didn’t believe anything would make me feel differently and it was painful to read.

Funny, romantic, but also a scathing commentary on the struggles of women in STEM, this book is a quick, entertaining read. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, a steamy love connection, and women to cheer for!

I enjoyed Hazelwood’s first novel- STEM women need more attention. Love on the Brain is another women in STEM rom-com novel with some great twists!

Bee loves Marie Curie and neuroscience. Taking a job working with NASA would be a no-brainer to her…except when Levi Ward is involved.

I loved the miscommunication that comes out of this trope. The innocence of Bee and her perspective of college with Levi. I equally love Levi’s patience with Bee, how his actions weren’t at all what Bee thought they were, and did I mention how patient he was?? Also, his dedication to the project he and Bee were co-leaders on- such a beautiful moment for his friend.

The Twitter side conversation was just chef’s kiss perfection. I suspected it right away and truly enjoyed watching that play out.

I enjoyed the ending and its surprise twist- it definitely came out of left field!

There was only ONE line that was cringe worthy…if you read it you will know it and it made for GREAT book discussions afterwards! LOL

Another great women in STEM rom-com novel by Ali Hazelwood- she’s becoming the queen of this genre.

Bee Königswasser, a neuroscientist, is beyond thrilled when she lands her dream job working on a neuroengineering project at NASA. That is, until she finds out her grad school nemesis, Levi Ward, is working on the same project. Will they be able to put aside their differences or will their project crash and burn?

This book was utterly adorable, witty, and swoony! I loved Bee and her Marie Curie obsession! And Levi was just amazing! Their chemistry was seriously off the charts! Even though I didn’t understand all of the science speak, I was fascinated by the descriptions of the astronaut helmet project they were working on at NASA. I’ve always been intrigued by space and astronauts! I thought the “You’ve Got Mail” vibes were super fun too! There were unfortunately some parts that made me cringe, but overall, I really loved this delightfully quirky enemies to lovers STEMinist romcom!

Release Day Review: Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood (3.5 stars— many thanks to @berkleypub and @netgalley for a free ARC)

I wanted to love this book so badly!

It was fine, decent, ok — but it didn’t give me all the feels or sweep me off my feet with charm like The Love Hypothesis did.

I think part of the let-down is that Hazelwood’s debut felt fresh and unique, but after reading that, Love on the Brain, and the novellas, it seems safe to say she’s not branching out from her original formula. This was a lot like reading TLH without the magical fall atmosphere and campus setting.

That said, the characters are cute enough and I chuckled several times. And I really liked the You’ve Got Mail-inspired part of the story.

Hazelwood also continues to draw attention to biases in academia and STEM, this time using academic Twitter as a plot device, and I found that to be fairly engaging and enlightening.

Love on the Brain was one of my most-anticipated books of the year — and if it’s one of yours, just keep your expectations in check. While I thought The Love Hypothesis was something special, Love on the Brain was more of an average, run-of-the-mill romcom.

Definitely still read it — just don’t expect it to capture your heart in quite the same way Adam and Olive and their love story did.