This was everything I was hoping for and more.

Love on the Brain managed to focus on Bee’s career, the NASA project, women and sexism in STEM, feminism, and so much more, all whilst throughly developing a super cute romance between two extremely likeable characters.

Bee Königswasser, our lead, was very relatable and loveable from the beginning, from her obsession with Marie Curie to how she wasn’t afraid to speak out against workplace discrimination, to how absolutely everything went wrong for her at any chance.

And that is how I would explain the majority of this novel: everything, every single thing, went wrong. Imagine the worst thing that could happen at any moment, and you’d probably still end up surprised.

Levi Ward, the love interest, is practically the miscommunication trope incarnate, but in the best way possible. He was also so protective over Bee, even when they weren’t together, it was so cute. And don’t even get me started on the tension, the longing, the yearning. The banter too, oh my god, I could go on about their relationship for hours.

The plot was pretty interesting as well, even though I admittedly did not understand any of the science aspects of it. Betrayal and fake identities are two of my favourite tropes, even though these particular side plots were kind of cliché and predictable, I loved them. Love on the Brain was written perfectly.

If you enjoyed The Love Hypothesis as much as I did, I guarantee you’ll adore this book too.

Thank you Netgalley & Berkley Publishing for this ARC!

This title missed the mark for me as a follow up. The reliance on the miscommunication trope was too heavy handed. I understood the focus on the leads being enemies but it began to be unrealistic due to the lack of conversations between the two characters. Maybe a dual POV would have smoothed out those kinks. I did enjoy the science representation and back stories. The problems the lead faced as a female in the workforce were realistic and concerning.

Looking for another swoon worthy enemies to lovers STEMist tale? Look no further than Love on the Brain, Ali Hazelwood once again combines science and love and gives us a leading man (Levi) that we can all adore. Fans of the Love Hypothesis will love this nerdy romcom.

As a woman working in industry science, you have no idea how much I love these books. Seeing situations that so many of us face in STEM careers is refreshing. Not only is the science great, but the romance is just as steamy. Ali's stories are believable, and makes my STEM heart swoon with nerdy science love goodness.

Bee Königswasser has dreamt of the day when she can run her own lab, so she couldn't be more thrilled when she lands her dream job at NASA. That is until she finds out she'll be co-leads on the neuroengineering project with her graduate school nemesis. Bee can make friends with a brick wall, but the one person she's never been able to crack is Levi Ward. For reasons unknown to Bee, Levi has disliked her from the moment they met. Bee is determined to keep her head down and spend the next three months being professionally civil, but if only being around Levi didn't make her head fuzzy.

When Bee and her assistant arrive at NASA to find nothing but roadblocks and red tape awaiting them, Bee knows Levi must be behind the delay. But when she confronts her hulking co-lead, she finds him sympathetic to her plight. And what's more confusing is Levi continuously backing her ideas and plans up in meetings and staring at her with those intensely green eyes of his. Could it be there's more to Levi than Bee gave him credit for?

I've enjoyed everything that Hazelwood's put out, and this was no exception. Like in her previous works, all the talk of science and engineering go way over my head, but I still found myself taken by the story. Mostly, that has to do with her characters. I love how unabashedly geeky they all are. Bee was quirky, and I liked her love of Marie Curie and cat puns. Levi was sweet and a little broody. Watching them bond over cats, vegan food, and Star Wars was adorable. I thought they worked so well together, but I don't think this should be classified as enemies-to-lovers as it was more of a miscommunication. My only critiques were that certain scenes felt too similar to The Love Hypothesis, and I thought the third act conflict was a bit over-the-top. Other than that, I thought this was so fun.

i adored the love hypothesis, also by ali hazelwood, and am a stem major myself, so i have been super excited for this to be released on netgalley. This book was an absolute win for me. I read it over the course of a couple of really busy days, and couldn't stop. I'm still trying to figure out which of Hazelwood's books I love more because they're both so special to me!

I've already preordered this. Pacing is great. romance is top tier. miscommunication trope is used in the least cringey way possible with the basic plotline.

Full disclosure I definitely requested this title fully on a whim and unsure of whether or not it was really for me as a reader.

I did pick up Hazelwood's debut before reading this despite the fact that they didn't seem to be related in any meaningful way, just to sort of set expectations about what I might get out of their sophomore run. Honestly the jury is still out on whether that was a good idea.

As for this book, I did have a good time. Another disclosure feels necessary but I like to think of myself a single POV denier in the realm of romance, particularly when you have two characters that are set up to be rivals. Here though I think Hazelwood did a better job of using the plots outside of the romance to drive the romance yes, but also give insight into Levi as a person and where his mind was at. It also helped that characters outside of our protagonist Bee thought Levi and her had beef, it made the main character seem like they weren't simply being delusional in the first part of the book and made the realization that Levi had never hated her more authentic.

That said, some of the math wasn't really mathing for me. Some of the plotline with Levi's dead best friend and that friend's widow who was also Levi's ex-girlfriend that he broke up with because he met Bee only he never told Bee about his feelings... that felt unnecessarily convoluted and nonsensical given how Levi never went about acting on his feelings... It felt more like a set up to the melodrama that happened in the last third of the book with the showdown at the NASA building where everyone was working.

Again though, I did have a good time. Here I thought the side characters felt more vibrant and three dimensional [ if there is ever a Kaylee/Rocío book sign me up to read it because yes please ]. I enjoyed going on this journey with Levi and Bee, I enjoyed the project that they were working on and how that got just as much care and development as the romance did. Altogether I just had a much better time with this story and these characters and am happy to have gotten myself to actually pick this one up and given it a shot.

3.5
i was lucky enough to read a digital arc of this book and i really liked it! obviously i loveee a women in STEM but personally i didn't really care for the protagonist nor the love interest. however the story was still super cute!!
thank you!!

I loved every second of my reading. Bee and Levi are powerful characters with so much potential to add to a story. Guess what? ALI DID JUST THAT!
Things to know beforehand:
1. You're going to SQUEEZE your toes on so many parts because Levi Ward is... I'll let you find out.
2. Sleep? We don't know her, you will not want to stop reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ali Hazelwood for the eARC in exchange for an honest review (and my undying love and loyalty to Miss Hazelwood).

Um this was amazing. I LIKED The Love Hypothesis, but I LOVED Love on the Brain. It’s nerdier, spicer, super adorable, with lots of banter.

I looooved Levi. I thought he was a great love interest. He has trauma that he doesn’t hide behind and instead works through, expresses himself and his needs well, and is a wholly mature individual. It was such a nice relief as I find too often that love interests are immature or toxic with a few good romantic lines to sway you.

Bee was a great narrator. She has trauma too, and how she handles it is realistic. Her personality is shining, she’s hilarious, and so brilliant.

Their love story was rocky but so good. I loved their slow burn progression, I loved Levi’s patience, I loved them together in general. It just ticked every box.

The ending was a fun surprise with a bout of action! Overall I think this might be one of my favourite romcoms ever.

Definitely give this a chance when it releases in August!

In Ali Hazelwood's LOVE ON THE BRAIN ladies in STEM meets enemies to lovers and it is *chef's kiss.*

I can enthusiastically recommend this romance for it's three-dimensional characters, interesting plot, and extreme swoon factor. This was a one sitting read for me and my only note is that it's a shame I can only read this book for the first time once. New fans and lovers of THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS alike are sure to fall in love with Bee and Levi. It would be impossible for me to love this book more.

. i thoroughly enjoyed this book. it has all the same lovely trope-y goodness that <i>the love hypothesis</i> had with just as charismatic characters. and I found myself interested in the scientific plot of the book just as well as the relationship building between our two leads.

it’s been almost a month since I finished this so my review will be lacking but I’ll mentioned the few things that I loved.
-VEGAN MCs!!!!!!
-CAT LOVING MCs!!!!!!
-queer representation
-one MC has been pining for the other for a <i>long</i> time

there’s a lot of other things to love about this book. i will say, just in general, i way more enjoyed <i>the love hypothesis</i>. i just believe it has the perfect formula. i think that <i>love on the brain</i> just didn’t craft as good of a formula. it’s still fantastic! it only slightly lacks on certain areas.

my only complaint that I can remember is I found myself not as invested in their relationship around the 75% mark of the book. by that point, I felt as if there wasn’t enough spark or high stakes or excitement to keep me intrigued. i was obviously very happy by the end, and I do believe that this is a solid 4 star read for me.

i mean the fact that I found a book about vegans(!!!!!) falling in love and they both love cats!!!!!!! that about right there did it for me.

I love Ali Hazelwood’s rom coms and they are so great because the stories are told so well and the characters have time to build their relationship in the story- I love how we have such a beautifully romantic story to read- it does get quite hot and steamy once you reach a certain point but it does not take over the entire novel- we feel we know the characters so well. 3/5 - great story with a lot of steam at the end.

Content: graphic language and sexual situations

The really fascinating thing about Hazelwood's books is that she develops relationships so well that she absolutely does not need the sex. You can skip right past those parts and still get the powerful effect of her love stories. I was concerned at first that Bee and Levi would meld with Olive and Adam like it was a Love Hypothesis retold. I needn't have worried. Hazelwood is a master of romance. Even if you're not a smart girl.

Loved it! Fantastic characters with charm, loved the sciencey stuff. I don't know that there needs to be a big evil villain in every book -- hopefully not all of Ali Hazelwood's books will have one -- but it does make for some drama.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
Publication date: August 23, 2022
Berkley Publishing Group

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 stars

I loved this one! Dare I say - I may or may not have liked it even better than The Love Hypothesis. Readers who loved Ali Hazelwood’s first book, will definitely be a fan of Love on the Brain.

Love on the Brain tells the story of Bee, a woman trying to make her own way in the STEM world full of men. When she finds herself on a job with her graduate school nemesis, Levi, Bee feels like the whole world is against her. As the job goes on, and the miscommunications start to clear up, Levi and Bee find they may not differ as much as they initially thought.

I LOVED Levi. He is a character that won’t leave my brain for a while. I also felt like this was a pretty well done enemies to lovers/hate to love trope. Heavy on miscommunication, but it all worked well for me. This story featured a variety of my favorite tropes, including: workplace romance, enemies to lovers, and it’s always been you.

I have given this book a rating of 4.5 stars for a story that I loved and would definitely recommend to others. I took off half of a star for the explicit content. This one has multiple open door scenes that were a little much for my preferences and held me back from a perfect 5 star, but overall I loved this one!

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for this ARC.

Ali Hazelwood always nails the swoony, funny, and embarrassing feelings associated with crushes. I love her feminist, women in STEM perspective, it always makes her characters so relatable.

"What would Marie Curie do?" is the code that Bee lives by. She is a talented engineer, goes for her goals, does her best to stand up for herself in a male dominated field. She's landed her dream gig working on a special NASA project, the downside is that her co-lead, Levi, seems to always be in her way. As the two work through snags on the project and in their communication, they progress from reluctant allies to friends, and maybe to even more? As with The Love Hypothesis, this is another sexy and smart win from Ali Hazelwood.

I loved this story line, I loved the characters.

I mean who doesn’t love yummy, tall & protective book beau?

I loved that we got more spice in this one by Ali Hazelwood! We love an author that listens to us!

I love how relatable Ali Hazelwood makes her characters. It makes it a lot easier to connect with the book and just stay interested!

I have enjoyed all of Ali Hazelwood books. It is nice to see the main character in the book be a female scientist and she all they have to do to survive in that world. Bee is so excited to start work on a project with NASA until she finds out that one of her ex classmates who she believes has always hated her is co lead on the project. Bee has to do twice as much to try and get where she is and has to deal with men who don't want her to succeed. You find out that Bee is stronger and smarter then everyone thinks she is. This is a good book on how women can succeed even when everything is against them.