At 40%, I declared this one a DNF for me and skimmed to the end. I am all for women in science, but I could not read (and/or listen - thank you @prhaudio) anymore of the female MC go weak in her knees over the Levi's biceps/height/physical appearance. I get it, she's attracted to him, but it was too much and too repetitive. The plot also became predictable and I found myself reading only for the Marie Curie tidbits and science facts.

The Love Hypothesis was one of my favorite books last year so Love on the Brain was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. I was nervous about reading it because I was so worried it would fall flat for me after how much I had it hyped up in my head.

Like The Love Hypothesis, it features women in STEM which I love. It also has witty/sarcastic banter that I gobble up in rom-com books.

I shouldn't have been worried about it not living up to the hype, because I thoroughly enjoyed it even though the ending got a littttttle out there wild.

This one has enemies to lovers and workplace romance tropes.

Triggers: cheating, misogyny, death of parents, swearing, open door romance, toxic workplace

I received a complimentary advanced copy of LOVE ON THE BRAIN by Ali Hazelwood. Thank you to Berkley Publishing and PRH Audio for the chance to provide an honest review.

LOVE ON THE BRAIN follows Bee, a young woman who idolizes Marie Curie and is working hard to make a name for herself in a male dominated field. She is offered a fantastic opportunity to be the lead on a neuroengineering project with NASA that she can’t turn down. Problem is that she is only going to be a co-lead. The other co-lead is Levi. She once attended school with Levi and he absolutely detested her and refused to work with her.

Bee has managed to avoid Levi for years, but the time has come for them to have a reckoning. As the new woman on site, she’s reliant on Levi for a lot of access critical to her successfully doing her job, but he is shutting her down at every opportunity from unreturned emails to a basic lack of access to the building. As more and more goes wrong and her job is in the balance, Bee must find a way to get things back online.

This was a fun read! It highly relies on miscommunication which I do tend to struggle with, but there were enough factors at play where the miscommunication was understandable that I felt that it worked in this case. Certainly the reader has more insights into the reality of the situation, but the characters had some plausible deniability for thinking as they did.

I did enjoy the STEM setup for this one and Bee’s take (and that of some of the other characters as well) on the very male dominated environment. Bee is a person who isn’t easily adapted to a regimented corporate life like Levi from her eccentric hair colors to her fierce personality and it was fun to see that at play within the NASA setting.

Ali Hazelwood is a gifted author that's what I will start with. I don't think anyone has ever made STEM and nerds also so hot and steamy at the same time. I loved this book. I finished it within 24 hours, and now even though I am a voracious reader that's a record even for me! I loved it. I love Bee and Levi, I loved everything about this book. The STEM representation, the real life issues that women face in thw workplace, Bee's issues with abondonment and family. The steam and angst build up between Bee and Levi. I am a goner!
Highly recommend, 5 plus stars if I can give it that!

I absolutely loved this by Ali Hazelwood! As a women in science myself, I so appreciate the authentic perspective the author brings to this setting. And the chemistry between the two characters was off the charts. A stellar read!

This was just OK for me. I'm worried Hazelwood's "The Love Hypothesis" was a one-hit wonder.

The writing style is what we've come to expect from Hazelwood, a bit zany, frenetic, and intense. I was entertained and captivated the entire time, even though I spent plenty of time cringing in secondhand embarrassment and rolling my eyes at some of the theatrics.

Other Hazelwood hallmarks: she's super tiny and he's super big and he's a genius who can do whatever he wants in his career field. you get the drift.

The climax is a bit unhinged; way too serious and dark than fit the tone of the rest of the book.

Also, the references to Anal Secretion needed to be cut in half. So annoying.


CW: gun violence, sexism, sexual harassments, sexual content, medical content.

When a neuroscientist gets assigned to co-lead a project with her nemesis, she'll have to find a way to keep things professional, or risk losing her job--and her heart.

Fans of Hazelwood's debut The Love Hypothesis will find another, very on-brand Rom Com to fall in love with. She uses the same tropes (enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance, perfect hero who's been secretly in love with the heroine since forever) and tops it off with her signature, laugh-out-loud STEM banter. One of few novelists in the genre writing in first person, Hazelwood effectively cultivates a distinct voice from her first novel, and while keeping us out of her hero's head prevents us from becoming as intimately connected to his interior thoughts as a third-person, dual POV romance would, the focus on her heroine allows for a prominent subplot tackling sexism in STEM. A queer BIPOC romance subplot fills out the story and calls attention to the implicit racism in higher education admissions. Highly recommended to fans of the genre and tropes.

I am one of the few that never read Hazelwood’s other books. But when I read the description for this one, I had to get it.

I’m so glad I did. This one is such a delightful read. It’s full of great banter, chemistry between the characters (pun intended 😄) and simply a great deviation from what I’ve read in the past. I loved Hazelwood’s writing style and the flow of her work.

I highly recommend d grabbing a copy of this one. I think it will be one that keeps your heart happy. Happy reading!

Thank you to Berkley Romance for an advance readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked Th Love Hypothesis and was hoping to love this one just as much. Sadly, I did not. It was still somewhat enjoyable, but it was also predictable and a bit immature. If I had to read one more time how big Levi was and how tiny Bee was, I might just lose it. If was too much.

I’m all for women in STEM and am glad that there are more romances featuring this, but if you aren’t in it or know Science, this one was a little tough to read. I found myself skimming those sections. Plus, you will know more about Marie Curie than you ever thought possible.

There are more sexy scenes in this book if you are looking for more steam. But, there is one very cringey line said by Levi towards the end of the book that just didn’t fit his character. It was an “eewwww” moment for me when I read it.

Though I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped, it won’t stop me from reading more from this author.

I don't know how to begin to express how much I loved LOVE ON THE BRAIN by Ali Hazelwood.

A brilliant, pierced, confident, nerdy, tattooed, vegan, adorable main character? Ahhh, my kryptonite!

Every word, every scene is just so freaking perfect. There's a "creepy" death obsessed friend. A modern day take on You've Got Mail. A cat that no one else sees. And of course the most perfect romantic couple in the history of romantic coupling.

I'm not cool enough to add a random keyboard smash here but if I was, this is where it would go: ss;jdfjh;asdfkasjkdf

Did I mention that I love this book?

Love on the brain is one of my most anticipated reads this year and all I can say is that it was all worth the wait. This book exceeded all my expectations. I am extremely fortunate to have a copy of the e-ARC, and it is fantastic. The level of enjoyment I felt while reading this is beyond words. I was completely engrossed in it from the first line, and it was a page-turner. The characters were delightful and I instantly fell in love with them. Moreover, it talked about important topics and issues such as gender inequality and toxic masculinity. The romance here was about two academic rivals, Bee and Levi. Bee is a badass neuroscientist with a lovely and fun personality, I loved her character so much. Levi, on the other hand is your typical broody and grumpy love interest which turns out to be a softie. I couldn’t wait to meet him and he was just amazing and swoon-worthy. I totally fell in love with him from the beginning. The story started when Bee got the chance to work on her dream project but the catch is she had to co-lead the project with her arch nemesis during grad school, Levi . They weren’t in contact with each other for so long thus having a few misunderstandings about themselves. They struggled to adjust with working together because of that until they were able to clear such misunderstandings, I loved how the romance between them progressed naturally from being enemies to friends and then lovers. The chemistry between them was perfect and the angst ... wow. I actually loved it more than The Love Hypothesis XD.. Read it y'áll! It's totally worth it!
Huge thanks to PRH International for sending me an ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved this book. I devoured The Love Hypothesis, but I enjoyed this one even more. The characters were lovable and well developed, and the spicy scenes were perfect.

I am a big fan of Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis, so it's no surprise I was extremely keen to find out if Love on the Brain would deliver the same fast paced romantic-romp-in-the-science-lab feels. And it did!

My biggest takeaway about this book is both a pro and a con, and I think whether Love on the Brain hits right will depend on reader expectations. I wanted *more* like The Love Hypothesis - and I got it. Love on the Brain scratches the same itch, with similar characters, relationship dynamics, and sometimes even similar dialogue and scenes. It's the same, but more intense and with even more heightened emotions. That's exactly what I was craving, and there's a reason I read it in big gulps.

At the same time, there's a specific formula at play here, and anyone expecting a very different contemporary scientific romance from Hazelwood's last novel may be disappointed.

Another thing I want to point out is that I love the setting of this book. It's awesome to see women in STEM highlighted. And I feel like the politics, backbreaking work, and hustle of STEM fields is pretty accurately conveyed in Love on the Brain. Young researchers and scientists just never know if they're going to get a break, and how do you balance the demanding career and uncertain living situations with maintaining friendships and relationships? I think this topic is what continues to fuel this series and make the characters and stories so interesting.

Man, ohhh man. I LOVED this👆🏻book!

Bee is a badass neuroscientist who is chosen by NASA as a lead investigator of BLINK, one of their most prestigious neuroengineering projects. She could not be happier - until she finds out she will be co leading the project with her old grad school nemesis.

Just like any classic rom com, this one was cheesy and predictable and made me swoony uncontrollably. I loved every minute of it. I’m a sucker for quirky heroines, hilarious secondary characters and protective heroes who clearly fall first.

There are definitely a lot of similarities between this book and TLH. Did I mind? Not one fluffing bit. I am of the mindset that romances will always have similarities to one another.

Bee is just as quirky & clueless as Olive was. There were several moments where I wanted nothing more than to shake that woman silly for not seeing what I could clearly see. Levi is so similar to Adam in how he has been secretly pinning for Bee all while ignoring her in the name of survival. Miscommunication was also a big theme throughout the first half of the book, but this was a situation where the good far outweighed the bad.

One big difference between The Love Hypothesis & Love on the Brain is the SPICE! LOTB has THREE open door scenes that completely blew me away. Idk if it was because I wasn’t expecting them in comparison to TLH, but I found the spice here to be top tier. The connection I felt between the two MCs was pure perfection. Side note, this one had one of the most delicious he goes down on her scenes I’ve read in a long time. Well done, Ali! 👏🏻👏🏻

Thank you to Berkley Romance & Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book and I fought with each other. I wanted to much to love it. I love the cover. I love Levi. I did not like all of the science. I did not love all of the Marie Curie history. I loved their romance. I loved the tension. I even liked NASA and brains in space. But Bee and her stubbornness and ALL of the lack of communication in this story frustrated me through the whole book.

It turned at 50% when the romance ramped up, but WHEW was it work to get there. If you loved Love Hypothesis so much, you are going to love this one. The romance and especially Levi were both fantastic. The side characters were a delight. I loved them. The cats were adorable. I just felt so distracted (and a little bored) by the science and the Curie and her hard headed communication issues.

I adored The Love Hypothesis and was excited to read the next in the series. Unfortunately, Love on the Brain did not live up to my expectations.

Let’s start with the good: I do like that the series features super-smart female scientists. I thought Bee had a pretty interesting back story, and I generally like the grump/sunshine trope.

Now for the bad: I felt like the plot was VERY similar to The Love Hypothesis. I know romance novels follow a pattern but this book didn’t seem to change it up very much. I did not care for the descriptions of the characters (Levi’s ahem, *member* being way too big for Bee elicited a huge eye roll). I felt like Levi’s treatment of Bee because he had a crush on her was weird, and Bee and Levi just did not seem to connect well, and their relationship was ultimately unbelievable. The weird part at the end with Bee being held at gunpoint seemed jammed in and weird in what up until this point had been a fairly fluffy romance.

All in all, this book just did not work for me. I struggled to connect with the characters and ultimately felt like they just did not work together. I’ll be interested to see if other readers who also loved the first book in the series feel the same.

I was really excited about this one, but when I first started reading it I began to fear that this was basically The Love Hypothesis in a different font…

That ridiculous notion flew out the window quickly, as this was all its own! First of all, Ali brings quite a bit more steam in this one which I was NOT mad at! This was just, all around, such a great read that (in my opinion) should garner just as much hype as it’s predecessor.

This book focused a lot more on feminism and women’s rights in such a male dominated science (and just the work force in general). I loved the Marie Curie stanning, too.

Bee and her work made me so happy. And her work relationship with Rocío, her research assistant, was a constant source of laughter from me. The hatred between Bee and Levi that you just know will result in such angsty release was impeccable, also.

There was not a single thing about this book that I didn’t love.

If you loved The Love Hypothesis, you will love this one too.. maybe even more!

I absolutely loved this book. The MCs were so much fun to read about, and I adored the male MC. Levi and Bee were such a treat!

This book had witty banter and was just so enjoyable. I found myself laughing out loud so many times. It took gave me everything I love about a romance (relatable characters, enemies to lovers, fun romance) and turned it in to a book I just didn’t want to put down. I wanted to reread it as soon as I finished it!

I loved The Love Hypothesis. For a while, it was my top favorite romance, but Love on the Brain might have just taken its place. I loved every second of this book, and the ending was just so much better than TLH.

I feel like there are some predictable parts in the book, but I don’t think it took away from the overall story. I just personally really enjoyed this one. I could go on forever about this book!

Overall, if you like a fun quirky romance that will make you feel good, and laugh out loud - this is for you.

Ali Hazelwood is quickly becoming a new favorite! Love on the Brain is JUST AS good as its predecessor, The Love Hypothesis. I loved all the "You've Got Mail" vibes, and I really enjoy Hazelwood's writing style. Bee and Levi will make you smile! Thanks, Netgalley, for my arc.

I adored Hazelwood's Love Hypothesis, so I was over the moon excited to read this one. Verdict? It was ok. The chemistry between Bee and Levi fell a little flat for me and the miscommunication trope was waaaaay overused. Just talk to each other already! Goodness, they are both supposed to be top ranking scientists in their fields and they act like junior high kids who can't maintain adult dialogue. All that said, while I didn't love it as much as Hypothesis, it still had the rockstar feminist vibe that kept me reading into the night. I love a strong women in STEM novel and Hazelwood delivers on that.