Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
I have to say that after reading this that I know for sure that I really just love Ali Hazelwood! I fell in love with Bee and Levi. These characters were so well-rounded and their relationship was so great. This story had a lot more going on than just a typical romance and I loved it! The viral Twitter account (beginnings of a revolution in grad schools and the conversations between Marie and Schmac), the mysterious technological glitches in emails and files, Levi's close relationships and family, and a subplot romance (similar to the subplot romance in The Love Hypothesis with Malcolm/Holden--- which, I still wish we could get a novella at least of their love story). Also, I really didn't see the plot twist coming in this one which is really saying a lot because I'm usually able to guess things pretty quickly.

(I was lucky enough to be sent an eARC of this book, but all opinions are my own!)

NON SPOILER

10000000000 stars!!

This book was fucking AMAZING.

I loved it even more than The Love Hypothesis and I didn’t think that was possible. 💕
—
This book focused on Bee Königswasser, a neuroscientist (how freaking COOL!) and her journey on a new project with NASA.
She moves to Houston to embark on this collaboration, to create a helmet that controls the brain activity of astronauts (again, HOW COOL!). Her co-lead is a NASA engineer, Levi Ward, with whom she went to grad school with, but made it known to everyone, including her, that he couldn’t stand her.

When she arrives at NASA she quickly realizes the staff ignoring her, her equipment missing and Levi not being super pleasant to her… shocker.
But what happens once Levi and Bee work in such close quarters that they have no choice but to be friendly with one another?
—
I feel like as the book went on I was learning so many cool facts and learning more about the life of Marie Curie, which I had zero knowledge on before I read this.
Ali Hazelwood does an amazing job at incorporating interesting facts, humor, a spicy enemies to lovers romance, and so much more.

I also loved the fact that the main character, Bee, had a Nonna. This was the first book that I have ever read where someone has a Nonna, like I do, and it just made me connect with the main character a lot more.

I am loving these women in STEM books. It is so neat to read about such a different aspect you aren’t used to.

LEVI WARD. That’s all I have to say. LEVI. FUCKING. WARD.
This fictional man had me smiling at the book SO MANY TIMES. I loved him.
In my top 3 favourite fictional men. I love.

I so wish this book was out right now so everyone could love and enjoy this book. But! You’ll have to wait till August 😈😅

Ya'll!!! If you loved The Love Hypothesis then you will–definitely, surely, very much, agreed, 100%!!–love Love On The Brain!! I think Ali Hazelwood's writing improved with this book and every scene is just so good and not a boring part read!

I love Bee's character, I know women in general get degraded for being a woman and Bee's character was such an epitome of a strong woman in STEM. I commend her for her strong personality and everything in between. No matter what life throws at us, we come back stronger and never give up. No matter what the people say, as long as we love what we're doing, their opinions don't matter at all. I love how Bee's character is somewhat different from the books I've read, she's the first character I've encountered to being described as having body piercings, and the cool hair colors. AND she doesn't give a f–

Levi–oh, Levi– this dude I thought I would end up hating. But turns out, he's better. HAHA. I really love it when the guy falls in love first. And Levi loved Bee first. He was always the one watching out for her and taking care of her and making sure people do not end up hurting the person he loves. Levi might seem like a cold person on the outside, but really, he's just having a hard time explaining himself that people–Bee–misinterpret. And it might have been obvious that SHMAC was Levi. *screech* I love all the words coming out from Levi's mouth. He's a beautiful human being and I will protect him with my life. I love him!!

Overall, I absolutely adored this book 101%! Although it's still similar to The Love Hypothesis in terms of Science setting, it's still an overall refreshing story of a neuroscientist and an engineer. Who knew these two would be so compatible with each other? LOVED IT! Thank you, Ali!!

I was beyond excited to read this book! Omg I love when a romance is just that...a romance! I love that I can trust Ali Hazelwood with a romcitic story and the smut!!! I'm here for it!!! Yesss!! Now I do feel like some of the convict was unnecessary and pulled me away a bit but either way I feel like this was a great read! I can't wait for more from this author.

Grad school nemeses Levi and Bee meet again years later, where they are to co-lead an NIH and NASA funded project involving neurostimulation in astronaut helmets. Convinced that Levi hates her guts, Bee somehow manages to see that Levi has many layers. Now seeing him in a different light, she has difficulty wrapping her brain not only on the project at hand, but the conundrum of that which is Dr. Levi Ward. With obstacles thrown in her way, from unfair treatment of female scientists to a Twitter explosion to their project imploding, what else is there for Bee to lose? Or perhaps, to fight for?

Hazelwood strikes again with a bingeworthy, STEaMy, laugh out loud funny, and whip smart standalone romance! I loved Bee, everything she stood by and for, the many quirks to her personality—her insane cat puns, her WWMD Twitter account, and her syncopal episodes. And the way Levi complimented her was just perfection. I was a huge fan of Adam, and with that, it was a no brainer (hah!) that I’d absolutely love Levi, too. Plus, my neuro-loving heart was all for the mechanics behind the science. The writing was literally like a stream of consciousness, it just flowed. The dialogue was hilarious without it being overdone or corny and that had to be one of my many favorite parts. Overall, a fab read and def recommend if you loved THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS.

This might be my favorite book of the year!
I can confirm that I did not sleep at all when reading this book! I devoured this story!

I absolutely adored the main characters! I loved the dynamic between Bee and Levi so much! The only thing I hate about Ali Hazelwood books is that I have to wait until like 60% of the book to get to the really good stuff, but once you get there, it’s a rollercoaster!

Ali is such a great writer and is able to pull out so many emotions in me when reading her novels! She might be my 2nd favourite romance author after Colleen Hoover!

And of course, it wouldn’t be an excellent romance novel without a little plot twist! If you love romance, emotions, plot twists, and an academic setting – this book is for you! Highly highly recommend!!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an electronic ARC of this book via NetGalley. As usual, my reviews are my honest and unbiased opinions.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5

𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: Contemporary romance
𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩: eARC

𝙁𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚:
“It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a community of women trying to mind their own business must be in want of a random man’s opinion.”

“I can be fearless. I can be as fearless and honest as you are. If you will teach me.”

“You could rip me to shreds, Bee.”

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙:
This book is laugh-out-loud FUNNY!
Strong feminist vibes (go women in STEM!)
Enemies to lovers romance
Loveable side characters
Could not put this book down!

𝙁𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬:
For all of you that loved The Love Hypothesis… you will be OBSESSED with this one too! There are so many sarcastic, witty moments that had me literally laughing out loud. I adore Bee, our FMC, and her feminist commentary and hilarious point of view. She is a relatable, intelligent, empowering MC who has no problem standing up for herself.

Enter Levi Ward: grumpy coworker with swoony green eyes, who just always happens to keep inconveniently popping up in Bee’s life. We learn that Levi has a deeper side than the stoic scientist he appears to be, and slowly Levi and Bee learn they may have more in common than they originally thought. There are definitely more steamy moments in Love on the Brain than The Love Hypothesis (zero complaints here). Schrodinger the cat also deserves all the love for being an amazing animal companion and helping his hoomans find love.

I enjoyed the more serious topics included in this book, including gender inequality and toxic relationships with partners/friends/family. It is wonderful to see so many strong female characters working in STEM and championing equality in the workplace. You guys, get excited for this to release on August 23 because it is INCREDIBLE!

If you were obsessed with THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS, get ready for a new one after you read LOVE ON THE BRAIN. Ali Hazelwood is an unstoppable force in romance and writing about women in STEM. She captures what it’s like to be a woman in academia and industry in a way that will have women feel empowered and seen.

There were so many relatable moments and quirks that I loved about Hazelwood’s new MC’s. Plus, I truly enjoyed how Hazelwood gave a nod to Nobel Prize winner and trailblazer Marie Curie and Bee’s obsession with her. There are so many notable moments throughout the book that made Bee feel as though she were a real person, from her relationship with her twin sister, having to wear a retainer at night, and her inner dialogue plus her twitter account, on being a woman in science, will have readers falling hard for these new characters.

And the love story!!!

There’s so much here and more:

Enemies to lovers
Online friends (who don’t know who they are, but maybe they’ll figure it out eventually 😂)
MC’s love interest goes to therapy
More Spice than in The Love Hypothesis
Adorable Cats

I’ll stop there and let you actually read the book and we can all scream about the romance tropes, twists, turns, and our emotional state we find ourselves after reading.

If you want a book that features women in science and academia, a new book boyfriend to daydream about, a couple of adorable cats, and belly laugh-falling-off-my-couch moments, make sure to pick up a copy of LOVE ON THE BRAIN.

Happy Reading ~ Cece

Love on the Brain is Ali Hazelwood’s latest full-sized smash-hit RomCom - and lest you wonder if it holds a candle to The Love Hypothesis, if so wonderfully does! Filled with a STEM-y protagonist, a misunderstood seemingly moody male counterpart, a hysterically out-of-left-field supporting best friend and so, so many heartwarming and funny details. (There are two cats that you can’t help but adore in this one!)

I absolutely loved this book - I couldn’t help but root for the the two main characters as well as their critical project for NASA. I felt that the misunderstanding trope was authentically used throughout, rather than used at a peak moment, and Hazelwood continues to right some of the funniest and cutest banter that makes this a compulsive read!

I think this has to be one of my least favorite Ali Hazelwood to date. Which isn't saying much because I've given her past novels/novellas a 4-5 stars, easily. I think this is a complete personal problem though as I was too close to the subject matter. My boyfriend is a contractor with NASA at the Johnson Space Center so any fact that was brought up in this book about the position I had to check with him to see if it was true. There were also some geographical references that were just incorrect. (You can't see the Houston skyline from the space center, sorry.) OTHERWISE, it was a lot of fun and I blew through this while I was sitting outside in the pool. It's a great beach read for sure. Steamier than the last book by far. I could've done without the random 'Daddy' moment??? And some of it felt a little cheesy? I definitely had to suspend my disbelief for a few things. But it also had me laughing out loud and I had a fun time overall. I hope the next book Ali Hazelwood writes has a different type of hero. I'm tired of them always being huge. But now I'm just being particular. If you've liked this author's works in the past, you'll like this one.

For those who liked Ali’s first book, this will be right up their ally. Another enemies to lovers set up set in the high tech world of NASA featuring a tall dark and taciturn hero.

Here's my review of Love on the Brain.Thanks for the free book @prhinternational
This book is amazing!
I love the feminist vibes and the talk about how women in STEM are frequently underestimated and undermined! As someone in STEM, I see this way too often and it's one of the most frustating this ever! The GRE is one of the worst things ever and I really enjoyed to see Bee battle that.
Bee is an adorable and very intelligent lead character and I love her POV!
Levi is a sweetheart. I was very hyped for the moment when Bee found out he was Shmac (which to readers is know earlier on, when he talks about his love life) and it didn't disapoint! Levi loves Bee and he'd do anything for her, but since Bee is sort of afraid of love, it causes a lot of problems for them. I felt so bad fpr both of them, but I was really happy when things worked out in their favour!
CATS!!!!<3<3<3<3
I was kinda put off by the main characters hatred of the Dutch corporation that's trying to patent the technology first. I understand that they want to be the ones to invent it, but the way they talk about the European company is way too antagonistic sometimes. At one point Bee prays that she'll do it first so the Dutch can't sell the technology to whatever militia pays the most. As if American companies never do that... It just feels way too exaggerated.
Since halfway through the book I thought that the traitor in the lab would be either Rocío, Kaylee or Guy. Later on, I abandoned the idea that one of the girls would do that when Bee got hacked, since they'd never sabotage the movement to end GRE. So, that leaves Guy. I turned out to be right (I always thought he wal a little sketchy), but I wasn't expecting him to try to kill Bee. He definitely went farther than I though (I though he only wanted money).
I ship Rocío and Kaylee so much! Their relationship is adorable!
If you loved The Love Hyphotesis, then you'll adore Love on the Brain!

TW:sexual assualt mentions, sexual content, sexism and misogny, mentions of racism and homophobia, blackmail, doxxing, attempted murder.

What a fun read! This was my first Ali Hazelwood book and it was so enjoyable. I really enjoyed the neuroscience aspect. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a light, fun read. Levi and Bee are perfect.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5 (rounded up)
🌶🌶🌶.5/5

Ali Hazelwood has quickly become one of my new favorite must read authors and this book didn't disappoint!

Bee is an adorably quirky neuroscientist about to start on her dream project for NASA. The only "problem" is that she will be working with her grad school "nemesis" the absolutely hunky, swoon-worthy Levi (my descriptors not hers).

The miscommunication trope is strong with this one. Levi thinks Bee is married (she's not) and Bee thinks Levi hates her (he doesn't) and it takes longer than it should for the two to figure things out, but when they do...hot dang!

Bee's inner dialogue is hilarious. I couldn't keep track of how many times I giggled out loud. She is a brilliant scientist but absolutely socially oblivious. Denial is an artform for her. I adored her.

Levi is the perfect book boyfriend. He's supportive, smart, good‐looking, patient, funny, kind, good in the sack. Like I have no complaints. He's just the full package. Seriously, where are the real life Levi's?

Besides loving the romance, I also enjoyed the plot. Women in STEM stories are so refreshing. It's not a perspective that is seen a lot. There are a couple of twists/reveals at the end. One is supper obvious, the other not as much (but is a bit outlandish).

Overall, I'd recommend this book to any romance lover. Going into my fave rom-coms pile.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I haven't yet had a chance to read Ali Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis, but after reading Love on the Brain I can't wait to read TLH and the rest of her back catalog! I couldn't put this book down.

I'd like to start off by thanking Ali Hazelwood, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for letting me read the eARC of this amazing sophomore STEMinist novel! I loved The Love Hypothesis when I read it last summer and was eagerly awaiting August for this release. I am so fortunate that I didn't wait until then because I might have exploded from the anticipation. And if you were wondering, I read this book in like 10 hours because I also couldn't stand waiting to find out what would happen next.
I don't think it's possible that Hazelwood could disappoint, so I'll get this out of the way quickly because it's obvious. This is a great fucking book. When done well, romance novels give us so much more than a love story. They are an escape, a fantasy, and--when that rare book does something extremely well--a way to connect with reality. The thing that makes Hazelwood's writing so desirable is that it understands desire from multiple perspectives simultaneously. It considers the feelings of the leading couple in isolation and in a pair. Every moment of feeling just works in this book and makes me feel so many things! The way that good writing is supposed to.
The framing of this novel also worked really well. I live for history lessons and appreciated the care with which the career of Marie Curie propelled the plot and functioned as common ground for characters who aren't carbon copies of the lead. The Twitter influence is also super real to me. I briefly ran a Guy In Your MFA-type satire twitter that, while not wildly popular, did lead to someone stealing my identity and then tweeting about sappy books using my name and a flattering photo of me. Which was honestly kind of generous.
Anyway! Is it tropey? Yes. Enemies-to-lovers, he-falls-first, I-thought-you-were-married, he-doesn't-feel-the-same-way, will-we-won't-we-breakup, skip-to-the-wedding, miscommunication, and the like. These tropes are the building blocks of our time's romance novels. They can hinder a novel from becoming something unique as easily as they can serve as foundation for a narrative that is more powerful than the sum of its parts. This novel does the latter. The baseline assurance that somehow, someway, these people will fall in love is just the thing that gets your foot in the door. As graduated psychology student, I loved all the neuroscience deep-dives that this novel takes so that the experience of reading the novel makes it seem like subtly educational entertainment while remaining engaging. The chapters are divided by structures within the brain and the things they make you think, feel, and do. It helped me resurface my knowledge of the brain and reminded me how much I love learning about this kind of stuff, even though my work now is so distant from that world. This book would definitely help you memorize brain structures before an intro psych exam if any readers out there are looking for an excuse to stop studying and pick up that book they've been dying to read. You have my full, non-accredited seal of approval.
Now for the reasons why I docked this a star (and I really considered letting this stuff slide because I want it on my favorites shelf, but alas! I have to be true to myself). For the most part, Bee was a lovable character with drive and passion unparalleled. She is strong-willed, brilliant, well-traveled, a little tragic, and terrified of getting hurt. I worry that I will sound judgmental and cold-hearted but I feel like she was crying for half of the book? And over like very weird, random things. Like, she cried talking about seeing roadkill and then, when she saw some a hundred pages later, all bets were off. She also discusses Sausage Referencing, which is when you allow male colleagues to hype up your work because it means more to people with power than coming from your own mouth. I think it's an important tool for women in STEM and academia more broadly. But accepting that and moving on feels like a hurtful idea for women who are more than capable of speaking for themselves. Also vegans. That's the end of that sentence. She cried over a possum. Chill. And her fashion sense sounds atrocious. Smart women can dress well and don't have to shop at Target in order to seem down-to-earth and not-vapid. Fashion is substance but we aren't ready to have a self-expression in academia discussion yet and that's ok! We will save it for book three.
As for tropes, this guy literally doesn't exist. Levi as a person is kind of a surreal character who could only have been written by a woman, as so many leading men in romance novels are wont to be. But him especially so. He does so many things that are outlandish to me as a single, depressinlgly-dating, early-twenty-something. Things that are almost borderline obsessive and crazy because he barely knew her before they didn't speak for years. And concerning the misunderstandings trope, I prefer a "that didn't come out right" to a "oops! did I just say that out loud?" because while I say a lot of stupid stuff, I always know when something has come out of my mouth.
This novel is steamy-smart with lesbian representation and a couple of slick cats who each end up saving the day in their own cunningly feline way. It's one of those romance novels that feels like it was written for me or maybe even about me, minus the septum piercing, purple hair, Star Wars, and bad dressing. If you loved her first book, don't miss this one. I'll conclude by issuing another round of thank-yous to all of the people who made this review possible and ask that you follow my goodreads for more reviews (I average about 3/week) and join me on my journey to read 100 books this year! I'm launching an Instagram and TikTok later this month and look forward to sharing my reviews in new formats!

I’m not going to lie, I had HIGH expectations coming into this book. The love hypothesis was *chefs kiss*. And a lot of times, authors second books aren’t the best.
I’m happy to report….. THIS WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE CASES. Love on the Brain was everything I’d hoped it’d be and more.
I loved every single one of the characters and side characters. Their vibrant personalities added so much to the storyline.
The story line it’s self is so good. So unique and interesting, with twists and turns. Kept me engaged the entire time.
And of course, the main characters were perfect and amazing and sexy and quirky and fun. The sexual tension absolutely killed me and I was shouting at the book to just let them kiss. But alas, it was literally all worth it. I couldn’t stop reading this book until I was done. I already want to read it again!!

Thank you SO SO MUCH to Berkley and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated releases for the year, and man did it follow through. I was late to the Love Hypothesis game, and it was one of those books for me that I regretted not reading sooner because I would have loved it sooner. I'm not ashamed to say that I begged for an ARC of this.

Bee and Levi were INCREDIBLE and had me hooked from the first page. I'm a woman in STEM myself, and to say that I connect with these characters is a huge understatement. Reading about Bee's struggles in academia was not necessarily something I personally could relate to, but was a very familiar story to me. The way Ali Hazelwood incorporates the science so effortlessly into her romance plots makes me so insanely happy, and the fact that her scientist characters have a PERSONALITY and aren't just stuffed-shirt nerd stereotypes....sigh. I will read anything this woman writes.

Enough of the gush-fest, though. This enemies-but-not-really-to-lovers plotline was slightly similar to that of The Love Hypothesis, but honestly, it works so well for both of them that I don't even care. The characters are so distinct, and loveable, that this is easily going to be one of my go-to comfort reads for a long time. In case you couldn't tell, I gave this five stars and I can't wait to see what Ali Hazelwood comes up with next.

I am having so much fun with Hazelwood's body of works! I have now read everything available, and I think Love on the Brain may be my favorite?

Bee is a purple-haired, pierced and tattooed, badass neuroscientist. She is obsessed with cats and Marie Curie, hosts a feminist women-in-STEM twitter, and is working on a project with NASA. No big deal, right? Her narrative voice was so strong and so unique. Compared to the other four lady narrator's I've encountered in Hazelwood's works, Bee just felt so real!

I will say Hazelwood does lover her enemies-to-lovers trope. If you read all of her works back to back (as I have just done) it may feel slightly tired. But this also happens to be one of my favorite tropes, so I'm sure when I reread this months from now I won't be bothered at all.

Also a small moment to appreciate the love interests that Hazelwood writes. Not a single one of them, Levi included, is a bundle of red flags with an unusually large penis (as I've found is unfortunately common in the romance genre)! How refreshing to have a love interest that is NOT controlling and stalkerish. A round of applause for setting up a healthy romantic relationship.

Another spicy nerd romance from Ali Hazelwood that will make you laugh out loud while melting your heart! This enemy to lovers plot features a neuroscientist and engineer co-leading a high stakes project at NASA. The characters are fun, quirky, and delightfully flawed, and the storyline covers a number of serious topics including bias against women in STEM and fears about commitment. I read this delightful book in one day because I simply could not put it down!