This has been the best Ali Hazelwood book I have read so far! The love story and chemistry between Bee and Levi is believable and steamy. I loved that a cat obsession and vegan lifestyle was included. Hazelwood's writing is addictive and this story is full of love, heartache, and laughter. A true rom-com that has set the precedent for this year's romance reading.

I was one of the many people who adored The Love Hypothesis, so I was really looking forward to diving into this one. Even though the fact that it took me months to finally get to might say otherwise 🙈

This book had big shoes to fill, and unfortunately it didn’t quite get there for me. I still loved the aspects of women in science kicking ass, but other parts just annoyed me.

Was anyone else aware that Bee and Levi were sworn enemies? It almost got to the point where I made it a drinking game whenever she mentioned it, but I probably would have died, so it’s a good idea I didn’t.

I would say *spoiler ahead* but it’s a romcom and it was so clear that the dude had a thing for her from early on, so I feel like I can talk about it. HOW DID SHE NOT CATCH ON? Seriously. His love was oozing from the pages and she’s all, “we’re sworn enemies to the death!” constantly. It drove me batty. If you can’t tell. Which was unfortunate because it took away from a book that was otherwise pretty good!

Levi though. He’s a keeper and I adored his character.

I will most definitely still read Ali’s books because I think she’s a great author. Bee just needed to open her eyes a little bit more.

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for the arc in exchange for my review 💜

Just as cute and sexy as her first book! More romance should be this good.


Thank you, NetGalley for a chance to read this early.

Love on the Brain
Star Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This follows the story of Bee who is a female in the STEM field and is obsessed with anything Marie Curie (LOL). She is offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with NASA co-leading a neuroengineering project. However, what happens when she learns that her co-lead is her old [extremely attractive and tall] grad school archenemy, Levi. Should she accept this opportunity? Of course she will.

Overall thoughts: I think I loved this one even more than The Love Hypothesis. I was quickly hooked by it to the point that I read it all in a day. I thought it was well written and it had just the right amount of spice. Bee’s character was a little annoying to the point of making me roll my eyes at times. How someone so smart could be so oblivious baffled me. Besides her pink hair, tattoos, and a cringy obsession with Marie Curie there wasn't anything too memorable of her character. However, I did enjoy Levi’s character and I thought Rocio [Bee’s assistant] was hilarious. In the end I was fully invested in their relationship and the plot was able to keep me hooked. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a light, fun, enjoyable read, and I would definitely recommend it.

LOVE ON THE BRAIN is a novel in Ali Hazelwood 's STEM-inist Romance Series, which I value especially for their strong Empowered female characters, Scientists, whose devotion to Science is insurmountable, but who consistently face scientific establishments whose mindset is firmly 19th century. Author Ali Hazelwood weaves in comic touches, character tension, budding romances, plus explicit erotica and language.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood is the author's sophomore book after the mega-hit The Love Hypothesis. Readers everywhere went nuts after her first book that showed women in the sciences, medical and engineering fields.
Way to go! She's done it again with an fierce enemies to lovers (hot and steamy) romance that readers will adore!

Didn’t like this one as much as her other one. Not really sure why. Maybe it was they the story moved too fast.

I really enjoyed this book by Ali Hazelwood! I thought it was a cute follow up book from The Love Hypothesis! It had all the stuff I love in a romcom! I enjoyed the enemies to lovers trope, and I still appreciate the science-y aspect to her books. Overall, enjoyed the book and recommend!

I went into this book really hoping to enjoy it at least and I was immediately disappointed.

There are a few Harry Potter mentions early on in this book and I found it so disappointing to see this in a book published in 2022. The mentions felt unnecessary as well.

As a Latina, I personally did not enjoy seeing La Llorona be reduced to "famed feminist ghost." And the fact that this appeared to be Rocio's personality trait as well really bothered me. I would have preferred if the well known myth of La Llorona had been left alone if it was going to be disrespected like this and having the Latinx rep with Rocio also felt disappointing because she wasn't well written either. This really ruined the book for me because I found it just disrespectful to my community.

That aside, the story itself was written poorly and was just so cringe. The parts that were supposed to be "sexy" ended up only giving me secondhand embarrassment. The characters themselves felt like copies of the author's other characters in previous books. It just was not an enjoyable book unfortunately.

I loved <i>Love on the Brain</i> just as much as I loved <i>The Love Hypothesis</i>. <i>Love on the Brain</i> follows Bee Königswasser, a neuroscientist who gets an offer to work with NASA on a project that could take her career to the next level. Bee is over the moon about the project but quickly finds out that she will be co-leading the project with Levi Ward, a fellow scientist who hated Bee in graduate school. Bee gets to Houston with the hopes of the project taking importance over old and confusing feelings, but the project does start off on a rocky start and Bee is forced to confront Levi, but things are not what Bee has assumed.

Ali Hazelwood just has a way of writing romance that just works for me. Yes, <i>Love on the Brain</i> is full of tropes that seem to make it into many of Hazelwood's books BUT THEY WORK. The writing is funny, smart and fun. Bee, Levi, and most side characters are such likable and complex people. As someone who doesn't necessarily seek out books with science themes front and center, <i>Love on the Brain</i> surprised me in how much I liked the science facts and plot Hazelwood writes alongside the romance.

<i>Love on the Brain</i> is a fun and heartfelt enemies-to-lovers romance that is easy to read. If you have read and liked <i>The Love Hypothesis</i> and The STEMinist Novellas, you can't go wrong with <i>Love on the Brain.</i> Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong in my eyes and she is definitely one of my favorite romance authors.

this was a decent romance, very similar to Ali Hazelwoods' other book, Love Hypothesis, and just as steamy and romantic.

LOVE ON THE BRAIN by Ali Hazelwood

MY RATING: I really liked it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY:
Bee is a female in STEM, so she's already up against a lot of stereotypes and pressure. She gets the chance to work for NASA on a new project, but her co-lead is her grad-school enemy and a big jerk. He seems out to make Bee fail the project from the start, but Bee isn't going to back down easily.

MY THOUGHTS:
I thought this was a fun, easy romance read. It felt like the perfect length and never felt like it was dragging. I thought there was the perfect amount of plot to mix with the romance. It was super easy to follow and I loved Levi's character! I think I would have loved him more if we had gotten some chapters from his POV - especially with Penny in the picture! I read someone's review that they felt this was the same as THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS, but it's been a while since I read that one, so I didn't feel that way! I thought it was a fun, light romance perfect for February!

Ohhh such a wonderful books! I had so much fun with Ali Hazelwood’s Sophomore full length novel!! These two characters worked so well together and was just a joy to watch! The banter is top notch! The spicy scenes! Amazing! And it was just an overall fun read! The ending got a little crazy but I still loved it and I cannot wait to read her newest book soon!

I start my review by giving big applause to the brilliant person who created this amazing cover! And the second one comes from the brilliant brain cells of the author!

This is absolutely the sweetest, quirkiest, smartest, geekiest, sexiest, and STEMinest romance I’ve ever read!

Marie Curie fan girl, devoted Jedi, purple-haired, ultra-smart Bee Königswasser, and her nemeses brooding, know-it-all, reserved Levi Ward who has the greenest hypnotizing eyes and their fiery, explosive chemistry hook me up! I loved them so much!

Enemies to lovers and friends to lovers themes meet “You’ve got mail” blended in second chances with so much brainy, nerdy references that made me giggle at least a hundred times!

Heartbroken Bee, who was raised by different relatives, bounced from one extended family member to another, and lived in a dozen countries! It’s so normal for her to want a secure, stable life that she can put down roots. She’s the opposite of her sister Reike who travels worldwide, experiencing different lifestyles.

And Bee thought she’s finally found the love of her life: Tim might be the ONE she could live happily ever after with but she finds out he’s having an affair with her best friend.

But now she got a dreamy job offer: she will work at freaking NASA to lead a neuro-engineering project: she’s going to work on astronaut helmets! Yes! But when she realizes she’s going to work with grad school arch-nemesis Levi Ward: tall, dark-haired, piercing green eyes, a brainy Adonis, she curses her luck!

And as soon as she arrives at her workspace: she finds out she doesn’t have one: because there’s a shipment problem with her equipment and the clock is ticking, her superiors force her to show them some scientific results about her project, the very same project she cannot start. And Levi still gives her the cold shoulder, never returning her emails, criticizing her fashion style!

She has to confront that man who turns her life into hell by telling him how he makes her feel for years!

But what if Levi is not the villain of this story and the only thing he wants to do this accomplish their mission by working as equal colleagues? What if Levi’s awkward manners around her don’t mean he despises her?

Well: I loved the big espionage/action-packed mystery part of the story. Both Levi and Bee were so lovable characters. They keep savoring their happy ending of miscommunication but I loved how their characters evolved!

There are some similarities with Adam and Olive’s story ( Love Hypothesis): how both couples misunderstand each other, how the hero saves the day, and the hotel room romance parts! But I liked this formula a lot and this book really burned my brain cells with the smartest references: it’s truly so much fun to live inside Bee’s brain and read her whirlwind thoughts, admire her extra nerdy perspective, her vivid, sarcastic tone!

I think that this was a great story and was well written. Given that The Love Hypothesis was a 5-star read from me, I had really high hopes for this book. I was a little let down as I felt like I was reading the same story again, but I still enjoyed it regardless.

If you loved The Love Hypothesis, you’ll die over this book. Levi is one of the *swooniest* book boyfriends I’ve ever read. I devoured this book in less than two days. In a summer where I read SO many 5 star books, this one stands out. It was incredible. Hazelwood is an auto buy author now. I adore her work!

This was a great book with a great twist at the end! I seriously did not see that coming! Looking forward to more from Hazelwood.

Ahead of reading this book, I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. That said, the main character Bee was one of the most dense characters in a romance novel that I've ever encountered. And her obsession with Levi's stature was really annoying. Her every other word or thought referenced the size of his body, hands, etc. For goodness sake, it's not a personality trait.

Levi was equally infuriating. Repressed feelings are fine, but there were times that he and Bee both came off has really immature. This made it hard for me to believe that either one of them were adults. They read more like teenagers.

Lastly, parts of the book's ending felt rushed. That said, thanks for the arc. I can without a doubt say that Ali Hazelwood's writing just isn't for me

After The Love Hypothesis hype, there’s no doubt this book is going to be highly anticipated by many! I was one of those people who absolutely adored The Love Hypothesis and maybe it created high expectations, but ultimately I found that I didn’t love this book quite as much.

I’ll start with the good! I love the women in STEM rep and the academic setting. The science-y aspects were interesting and not too difficult to follow along. I also liked Bee’s passion for neuroscience and the Marie Curie references were fun. On top of that, we have lots of humorous one liners, banter, and cat puns!

Getting to the not as good: First, there’s Levi or rather the description of him that sounds like a knock off Adam. Nothing on Levi himself as I still adored him, but the writing wasn’t unique to really set the two apart in my eyes. Though he did have his sweet moments and obviously cared a lot about his work and the people that matter most to him. But this is also where things got murky.

Bee and Levi never started off on the right foot five years ago which is fine. But their present predicament and supposed “hatred” for each other is ENTIRELY due to miscommunication. And when Levi tries to explain himself and COMMUNICATE what happened, Bee doesn’t give him the chance and the cycle continues to drag.

Bee’s character was another thing I struggled with. There was the incredible scientist fighting for herself, her projects, and women in STEM which was fantastic. But then, there was the personal/ romantic side. While she did experience previous trauma and an unconventional upbringing, her inner monologue in undermining her later relationship with Levi and the fact she always made assumptions about him got tiresome.

Also, one of the ending scenes had literal action which felt a bit odd, but wasn’t terrible.

I feel like I’ll be more in the minority on this one because I can still see why people will rave about it! Just maybe my expectations were too high or I’ve become a super harsh critic? But I will still read more Ali Hazelwood and will look forward to the next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝘼 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙎𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙢-𝙘𝙤𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨—𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙨.

📍 Read if you like:
• STEM Romcoms
• Miscommunication
• NASA Settings
• You’ve Got Mail
• Nerdy References

I struggled with rating this book, part of me wanted to give it three stars but I feel like Levi deserves better. I loved The Love Hypothesis… but after reading Ali Hazelwood four times after TLH I’m starting to realize her stories are way too similar.

I love the idea of these stories focusing on women in STEM, but unfortunately, they all seem like copycats and way too repetitive.

In Love on the Brain, the romance wasn’t as great as in TLH but I still really loved Levi’s character.

One of my biggest issues with this was the miscommunication trope. I get it would work for some readers, but it didn’t for me. I mean this book is everywhere… is it overhyped? Honestly, yes!

Also, one of the bigger issues I had was with how many times Bee mentioned how tall Levi was… we get it, he’s tall. I personally think he deserved better - I said it 🥱

I know three and a half stars may be too genuine, but it’s okay. The story was there, it was fun and Levi made it better. Bee was at times annoying, but how awesome for her to get the NASA opportunity.

I honestly don’t know what this review is, but I’m writing it while being extremely tired. I may have been too harsh so let me mention the positives: NASA setting, women in STEM, steamy romance, sweet romantic moments, enemies to lovers and friends to lovers, nerdy references, giggles, quirky, and ofc Levi.