The only reason this isn't a five star book is the sheer DENIAL and OBLIVIOUSNESS of Bee. I love her but girlfriend is here absolutely LYING to herself for like 300 pages straight. At first it was cute but halfway through it lost some of its appeal. Now to quickly compare it with TLH, this book was about 20x spicier, more explicit and I was lowkey sweating, also it was more dramatic for sure. Oh and it 100% raised my expectations in men in STEM. All I get in the lab are balding, 5'3" dudes in their late thirties, I've yet to encounter a 6'4", ripped and drop-dead gorgeous dark haired man like Levi and Adam and I'm getting very impatient (watch me after I read her novellas, I might sue for emotional damage). Anyhow, the romance was amazing, I laughed, I swooned and yet again I was sweating reading some of the scenes. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to see more from Ali Hazelwood in the future!!

I fell in love with this one more than the first in this stem series. But also I now have brain worms related to love on the brain. sos don't need to be saved.

The banter was so good, a lot along the lines of The Love Hypothesis.

Bee and Levi have chemistry it doesn't matter if they are enemies or lovers, the chemistry pops off the pages. The supporting characters made the story for me, it was a lot like re reading hypothesis in the basic formula of the story. Though Bee made me fall in love with her more and I want to be her friend.

If there is one thing to know about me it’s that I am a Ali Hazelwood stan. I have a holy trinity of romance authors and she is one of them. Levi and Bee have such an interesting dynamic that I think really lends itself well it Ali’s sophomore novel. The book felt similar in tone and heart to The Love Hypothesis but didn’t feel too similar or even derivative. It is so refreshing to see books and love stories about ~brainy~ girls. Bee with her colorful hair, genius mind, and killer attitude, was a character I could do easily see myself in. Levi was, well… yummy, in all aspects of the word. Their romance intertwined so pleasingly with the stem work that it just felt right. Also their steamy scenes? I’m sweating. Overall, Love on the Brain was a perfect follow up to the amazing debut that was The Love Hypothesis. Truly, I am surprised that the MLB hasn’t recruited Ali Hazelwood because with her, it’s always a home run!

Also may I just say, if anybody has a Levi laying around that they would like to donate to the charitable cause that is my love life I would be VERY interested…

Getting approved for this ARC on NetGalley was an absolute dream come true! I had super high expectations for this book after loving the Love Hypothesis and I wasn’t disappointed.

Bee is a neuroscientist looking forward to starting her dream job at NASA- until she finds out she will be working alongside her grad school nemesis, Levi. Unfortunately things don’t get better from there as a series of lab mishaps, miscommunications, research politics, and Twitter drama ensues. Will Bee and Levi emerge from their co-leadership with a successful prototype and a truce?

Ok, first of all- things I loved:
- the BANTER
- The supporting characters, especially Bee’s research assistant
- The dialogue around sexism in research
- Slow burn, guy-falls-first romance

My only complaints are that the ending was a bit unbelievable and that there aren’t 9 more of this type of book for me to immediately read.

If you enjoyed the Love Hypothesis or like smart, slow burn, cinnamon roll romances, this is the book for you!

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy!

This was enjoyable enough story. But it wasn’t on the same level as Hazelwood’s debut novel and three novellas.

I can say that I liked this but I didn’t love it. But it’s not going to stop me from picking up Hazelwood’s future books. The entire idea of having STEM romance is brilliant and I literally can’t wait for more.

This book was a revelation. I was worried initially since I loved the authors debut and I am skeptical of sophomore efforts but this was better than the debut. It was so charming and the characters so well drawn and lovely. I could see that Levi was into Bee coming from a mile away and yet the book was so good that I didn't even care. The one quibble I had was that the misunderstanding about Bee being married went on way too long and got a little contrived. Otherwise this was so great and I loved it.

I liked this a lot but it's exactly the same book as The Love Hypothesis. Main character is afraid of commitment because of dead parent, love interest has pined without ever mentioning it for years, very similar miscommunications in both books, similar relationship between the love interest and the villain. This isn't exactly a criticism - I very much enjoyed both books! But just because one is "fake dating" and the other is "enemies to lovers" doesn't mean that the books are different; the tropes are used as cover for what is the same story.

Enemies to lovers between Bee, a neuroscientist, and Levi, an engineer: I was sold at neuroscientist.

I inhaled this book. Though the mystery behind their negative relationships was obvious from the start, and so was the larger mystery, the narrative voice was so much fun that I enjoyed seeing it all play out.

I loved the friendships, including the one that got away, and how that played out. It was terrific fun from the first page to the last.

This was so freaking cute and ridiculously fun.

Rarely does an author's second book hold up to their debut novel, but this one surpasses 'The Love Hypothesis' in writing style, humor, character development, and STEM fun (who would have thought?). I was grinning the whole time I was reading, with the occasional squeal and jump of glee interspersed throughout.

Funny, witty, and delightfully nerdy, I'd read this one again in a heartbeat.

And the character of Rocio alone deserves her own five star rating for making me cackle out loud every time she was on the page. God, I love her.

<i>Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this!</i>

I really enjoyed it. It was a little more difficult to read than the Love Hypothesis because it was REALLY heavy on the STEM knowledge but she really has a way of making you fall in love with her characters after sometime so I ended up really enjoying it.

Got approved for an early copy! A bubble of joy and such a great sophomore book after the Love Hypothesis. I had my face stuck to my phone reading this the last couple of days and just eating it up. The romance was chef's kiss and Levi was perfect in every way. Some of it was honestly predictable, and some of it was similar to the Love Hypothesis(have not read the short stories) misunderstandings-wise. Did not mind that though because Bee and Levi are so dumb and so cute I love them. I don't know much about science in general, but I never felt lost when they go over the BLINK project and NASA will never not be cool. The description of Houston is hilariously exactly what I expected. The romance and spice was just what I needed this week.
Definitely looking forward to Ali Hazelwood's future projects!
4.5, rounding up

I’m so thankful that I was given an arc of this book! Ali Hazelwood is one of my favorite authors and I absolutely loved The Love Hypothesis, so I went into this one with high expectations and it exceeded them! This is such a cute romance novel with fun tropes and an emphasis on STEM and I loved it.

This book follows Bee, a neuroscientist who begins work on BLINK - a new project at NASA - with her nemesis Levi Ward. I really enjoyed the STEM setting and how passionate Bee is about her work. She isn’t sure why Levi doesn’t like her, but things aren’t always as they seem.

Bee is a relatable character and I thought that she was a really fun narrator. I also loved Levi and he’s quickly become one of my favorite love interests! I loved their relationship and banter. I also really enjoyed the side characters and the storyline! I didn’t expect the ending at all, so that was exciting!

I’ve been thinking and trying to decide if I like TLH or this more and, honestly, they’re tied for me. They’re both great stories and I’m sure if you liked TLH you’ll love this one! Be sure to pick it up when it comes out on August 23rd!

A cute story set in the fantastic world Ali Hazelwood has created. Love on the Brain was a great intro to some fantastic characters and I can't wait for more!

3.5 stars

Listen, Levi is a top-tier book boyfriend and we love him for his absolute devotion to Bee. Even if we don't necessarily understand why he's so devoted to her. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I had a good time with this book for the most part and it was a quick and easy read. I think for me the thing I had the hardest time with was Bee. Her character felt like she was trying way too hard to be the quirky, funny, "I'm not like the other girls" type of heroine and I found it really hard for me to like her. Which was challenging for me because I LOVE heroines and they are what make me fall in love with a book. But she made me want to put this book down because I found it so frustrating to be inside her head. Bee's family background and the way she viewed love was probably the one thing I really liked about her and I wish that we got to know more about her background because it played such a big role in who she was as an adult. Also, I know this is about women in STEM but a lot of this science stuff went WAY over my head and I'm not going to lie, I had to skim some of it because I had no idea what the heck they were talking about or why it was going on for more than two sentences. The chapter titles were literally like looking at gibberish for me, but I know that people who love science and work in the science field will probably deeply appreciate them.

To go back to my first sentence of this review: I loved Levi and I love the "guy falls first" trope, seriously I eat that stuff up. But now that I think about it, I don't actually know why he's so in love with her. As in, I don't think he actually explains to us why he fell so hard for her from the moment he saw her. I guess technically I don't really need to know because I loved their romance regardless and I loved the way that he loved her and helped her learn to love too.

Which leads me to my favorite part of this book: the romance. Yes, it was predictable af. Especially if you've read the author's debut novel which this book is low-key a carbon copy of. It follows almost the exact same formula that The Love Hypothesis had, down to the very end but you know what that's fine. I don't mind a predictable romance if you make me fall for the characters and their romance. And while I wasn't the biggest fan of Bee, I did love her romance journey and her journey to love.

I have to give it to this author, her writing style is very addicting and very easy to read! I for sure will be checking out anything she writes in the future and if you enjoyed her debut novel, you should too!

After reading the Love Hypothesis, I knew that I would have to read whatever Ali Hazelwood published next. I’m not disappointed. While I adored the Love Hypothesis, I enjoyed Love on the Brain even more. The Marie Curie obsession pulled me in from the start. I related to Bee and I enjoyed her narration. This book was enjoyable and once I started it was hard to put it down.

Really enjoyed this one! I think THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS is still my favorite Ali Hazelwood, but this is a very strong sophomore novel! It's all the chemistry and angst you crave in an enemies to lovers romance! She's done it again.

5 Stars!!!

This was such a fun nerdy rom-com! I felt like I connected with this book more than the average reader because I have lived in the area of the story and I have a similar education as the heroine. While I thought this would make me more critical, especially because each chapter title was a part of the brain, and I was fully ready to fact check, I found myself forgetting about that and just devouring one chapter after another.

This was my first Ali Hazelwood book and I absolutely love her writing style! The heroine, Bee, was hilarious and so entertainingly quirky. She was such a beautiful, smart, fun, and strong heroine to read about. Her relationship with the hero, Levi, was so precious and made my heart melt. Also, I loved the cats! Cats are ALWAYS a rating bonus for me :)

I loved this book and would recommend it for someone who wants to read a sun STEM based rom-com!

I read this book as an ARC and gave my review voluntarily.

I loved reading The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, it was one of my favorite books that I read in 2021. So when I saw her new book on NetGalley I couldn't not try to get an arc. I am so happy and grateful that I was able to get one, I read this in between my finals and it was the reason I kept going. As a woman who going to go to grad school, I love reading about women in STEM.

Thoroughly enjoyed this read! I read the book in a single (sick) day, and it was the perfect distraction. Bee was very relatable if a bit dense at times, and her voice felt fresh (although a little annoying by the end - would have loved a chapter or two from Levi’s perspective. Overall, my rating for this is 4 stars instead of 5 purely because of the ending. It just felt so out of right field to turn the confrontation between Bee and Guy into a life or death situation with a gun, and there wasn’t enough explanation as to how Levi got there at exactly the right time. I so wish the book hadn’t taken that slightly unrealistic turn when the rest of it felt so relatable for academia/research! Nonetheless this has been one of my favorite reads all year, and I’m looking forward to rereading it already.