Love on the Brain certified for me that any Ali Hazlewood book is an automatic purchase!

Ali has the ability to write these characters that each have such unique personalities and quirks that I feel so connected to them, even if our interests don't always match up (cough cough I'm a dog person). Bee is this strong, smart protagonist, who is so fearful of grief and pain that she closes herself off to any new deep connections. She loves cats, Star Wars, and Alanis Morissette's music. But, she struggles to find stability and make a name for herself in her field. Bee's complexity and experience makes this book such an easy and interesting read.

I also loved the You've Got Mail trope. Any book with Meg Ryan rom-com movie references automatically has my heart, and this was no exception. I really enjoyed seeing this trope play out in a modern way that makes sense for the characters and I loved getting to see Levi's perspective without having a dual pov!

This slow-burn, nemesis-to-lovers story was so good! And I'm so excited to buy a physical copy in August!!

Harlequin Junkie Top Pick!

Utter perfection. Love on the Brain stole my heart, expanded my mind, made me laugh out loud, and had me falling in love with not only Ali Hazelwood's writing all over again, but with a whole new set of amazing characters.

I truly am so in love with Ali Hazelwood's writing. Fairly obsessed with it, actually, after reading this standalone sophomore release in the Love Hypothesis series. Love on the Brain was a delightful mix of academia humor by people I'd so want to hang out with, had scorching hot love scenes, perfectly placed pop culture references, and a romance that was sexy–as well as being years in the making. It was also a charming novel that kept me reading *well* past my bedtime and forgoing exercise, social media checks, and possibly even forgetting to brush my hair. (Oops! I should apologize to my husband for that scary sight! lol) Was it worth the hit to my rest and hygiene? Absolutely.

While this was told from our awesome heroine Bee's POV, I think readers will love both main characters, even if we didn't get first-hand insights into Levi's thoughts. Because, seriously, Bee and Levi were the best. They were brainiacs with a terrific sense of humor who were flawed in relatable, likable ways, and just soul-deep *good* people. The enemies-to-lovers aspect still worked in their case where Levi and Bee were former colleagues with some bad blood between them who were now (sort of) competing while working on the NASA project. And the supposed animosity made their conversations as memorable as they were hilarious.

It was cute as all get-out with some adorably awkward moments mixed in as Bee, in all her glorious feminist feistiness, navigated the Boy's Club she was thrown into. It wasn't overdone. But she got her point across and proved she deserved to be there on her own merit. Levi's role in everything, well… Let's just say that looks could be deceiving and there was a whole lot more going on in his brilliant, lovely mind than the project. To me, he became a swoon-worthy hero who made a huge impact on Bee's life in many ways. Same goes for Bee–she stood up for Levi and became his person amongst the chaos in his world.

I have no idea how Hazelwood will be able to top this duo but I absolutely can't wait to read whatever comes next!

Thanks NetGalley for the eARC! Ali Hazelwood undoubtedly has another smash hit on her hands! I enjoyed The Love Hypothesis and enjoyed this one even more. Similar set up of two scientists, one presuming the other hated them, but the closeness of working on a project together builds so much more tension. With Love on the Brain I can say there were no slow moments to skim through. All of the subplots are engaging, Rocio (and other minor characters) are a delight. If I have one criticism it’s that the ending felt higher drama than the story set me up for, but I went with it and it was enjoyable.

Ali Hazelwood is officially one of my favorite authors. I loved The Love Hypothesis, and I love Love on the Brain even more. This book is funny, smart, entertaining, and hot af. Bee is a wonderful MC to get to know, and Levi was the perfect love interest. I devoured this book in less than a day! Ali does a wonderful job writing books that are super easy and fun to read. 5/5 stars!!!

If I had to point out a criticism of this book, it would probably be that Levi is almost an exact replica of Adam from TLH. Not that I think it's a bad thing, because I love Adam, but there's definitely a lot of similarities between the two characters, and I can potentially see where readers might complain about that. I will not though, because large, muscular, genius hot love interests who are obsessed (in a non-creepy way) with the MC are exactly my jam. Levi was *chef's kiss*

Ali Hazelwood is a mastermind of pining! The sheer tension is beautiful! Perfect for fans of romance with a chunk of science talk!

I loved this even more than The Love Hypothesis. Bee’s voice is captivating—witty and relatable and incredibly hard to tear yourself away from. And Levi was such a swoony love interest. Equal parts hilarious and sexy, I highly recommend!

Ali Hazelwood has achieved repeatability with Love on the Brain! If you enjoyed The Love Hypotheses, you will adore this story of scientists working at NASA. Absolutely a delight with enemies-to-lovers, desperate pining, and the best homage to Shop Around the Corner I’ve read. A fantastic STEMinist result and a winning solution.

5/5 stars (50 stars if I can get away with it)

Ali's sophomore novel sticks the landing, continuing her trend of smart writing, loving romance, and undeniable heat. These characters, unlike TLH, were new to me and I fell in love with them instantly. It's the perfect feel-good romance novel and I'll forever pick up any book written by Ali.

If you thought Adam Carlson was a dreamboat, just wait until you meet Levi Ward! Anyone that enjoyed “The Love Hypothesis”is going to absolutely LOVE “Love on the Brain”!

Bee is a neuroscientist who has an amazing opportunity to work at NASA, but she will be working with her college rival, Levi. She is so sure that Levi hates her that she doesn’t think it’s going to work out, but sometimes science isn’t exact and there are miscalculations…

If I could I give this book more than 5 stars I would. Ali Hazelwood is a very talented author. She really knows how to make you feel and takes you on a fun journey. I loved Bee and Levi. Seeing their journey was an absolute blast and I smiled throughout the whole book. There were many funny moments, but there were also many moments that make you contemplate your own life. I might be biased a little because Marie Curie is one of my favorite people and the references made to her throughout the book were so amazing!

I found everything about this book to be excellent: the premise, the tension, the falling out, the climax, the epilogue!! Oh the epilogue. Hazelwood makes me want to live inside her books. I really can’t get enough!

Sidenote: if I didn’t run a high school library I would *totally* buy this book for a public or university library.

While I had mixed feelings about The Love Hypothesis and thus was slightly cautious about, though still interested in, reading Hazelwood’s second book, Love on the Brain completely blew all my expectations out of the water. This book has singlehandedly reignited my faith in the heterosexual romance genre. It was such a fun and enjoyable read.

Bee and Levi were both fantastic protagonists and their romance was very sweet (plus, as a bonus that surprised me, there were no awkwardly written sex scenes that I usually have to take time to recover from in these types of romance novels). I loved the side sapphic relationship as well. Rocío reminded me of April from Parks and Rec which was very entertaining. I definitely would not mind a standalone novel about her and Kaylee. I want to read more about them.

My main critique would be that some things were predictable, but in the end, none of that predictability hurt the story. To be honest, I mainly read this for the romance so if I wasn’t on the edge of my seat in surprise at any point, I am okay with that.

Overall, Love on the Brain was an unexpected gem. I had a blast reading it and finished the book in less than 24 hours. I’ll definitely have to purchase a physical copy once it is released.

this was good but not as good as the first book, i wasn’t that interested in the plot of this book. i did like the romance more but at times i found myself bored also it was really annoying how the characters in this book talked.

Love on the Brain is a delightful, successful sophomore novel from author Ali Hazelwood! The chemistry between engineer Levi and neuroscientist Bee is off the charts! Hazelwood’s growth as a writer is showcased brilliantly here - more consistent pacing, less reliance on fanfic tropes, and a more fully fleshed out heroine make this a strong novel that fans of her debut and new readers alike will devour. A must read for any trad-pub contemporary romance fan.

Ali Hazelwood's second novel is just as much of a gem as her first. The same magic is in "Love on the Brain" as it was in "The Love Hypothesis." There is so much quick wit, humor, romance, and STEM goodness throughout this book. Hazelwood has an easy way of capturing the reader's interest and keeping them glued to the book until they can read it in one sitting! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Having loved The Love Hypothesis, to the point I hand sold it every chance I got, I was ecstatic to see this become available to request. As this was one of my most anticipated rates of the year, I was a little apprehensive going into this book, as I had high expectations and I didn’t want to be disappointed. Alas, I should never doubt Ms.Hazelwood and her ability to craft the perfect romance. What I personally loved the most about Love on The Brain was how Hazelwood was able to perfectly articulate the feelings of being a female in a male dominated field, and incorporate this experience in a beautiful love story. It seemed as if she was talking from experience and I believe a lot of readers will be able to relate to Bee and her struggles to establish herself in STEM. Unlike “The Love Hypothesis”, it takes a bit longer for our two love interests to come together (in a sense), but longing and the relationship that is built makes it worth it. I love how Bee, like Olive, is a smart heroine, who is driven by her passion for what she does. Bee is quirky and fun and so relatable that you can’t help loving her, insecurities and all. Levi, is the perfect hero. Once you start to understand where he came from and you piece together the history of his unrequited love for Bee, you can’t help but root for him. Perhaps, I’m just a sucker for love interests written by females, but Levi is the kind of character you hope to fall in love with in your own life. The plot itself was engaging and while it learned more into neurology than I expected, the concepts were well explained and fascinating enough that I want to look into this field of research more. While the ending was slightly far fetched, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this book at all! Ali Hazelwood and her works will be on my brain until she releases her next novel, but honestly I’m perfectly content with that.

this was really cute I even pre ordered it to have the physical copy. Cant wait for others to read it

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc!

Ali Hazelwood came back swinging with her second novel, after a huge success with The Love Hypothesis! I sat for 4 hours straight reading this, I could not put it down.

I really loved Bee, the main character in this one, and how she reminds me a little about Olive from TLH. I love that the book focuses a lot on her being a scientist, and a very successful one too. Can't wait for this book to go public!

Love on the Brain was my most highly anticipated book after getting a glimpse of it at the end of The Love Hypothesis and chatting with Ali about what to expect from it.

CW: death of parents (past), misogyny, sexism in the workplace, mentions of workplace sexual harassment, epilepsy in child, attempted murder, gun violence, cheating/gaslighting from ex (past)

THIS BOOK IS BEAUTIFUL. Ali Hazelwood writes STEM love stories beautifully and expresses clearly what it's like to be a woman in a male-dominated field. As a current Biochemsitry PhD candidate, I could FULLY understand what it feels like and while reading this was like "damn, I guess it's not just me."

I loved Bee. She is my new imaginary best friend. I loved her authenticity and her passion. I loved that even though the world beat her down, she was still fighting. She felt so real and I could vividly picture what it would be like to interact with her. Levi, my sweet sweet Levi, who was pining for Bee! The fact that he was fighting for her to be treated as his equal. The misunderstandings happened often, but I could see how they did and I just wanted Bee to realize that Levi loved everything about her.

Together Levi and Bee made perfect sense. They were opposites that had so much in common, it was wild. I loved how Levi talked about having to go to therapy to help him learn how to process his feelings better, I love a man that admits he needed help. The love of science and their work made them a match made in a beaker. I loved that Levi was willing to admit what he did wrong, that he advocated for Bee, that he did his very best to be a better communicator and advocate. I just loved how perfectly they seemed to balance each other out.

Bee's relationship with her sister was beautiful and relatable. Two people can come from the same environment and experiences and end up being totally different in how they react to them. I loved that Ali focused on how there isn't always one right way to react to situations beyond your control. I loved Bee's RA, Rocio, she was amazing and I loved the somewhat parallels of her own love story to that of Bee's. I loved the subplot of abolishing the GRE, especially since most graduate schools no longer require the test.

I'm already planning my first re-read because I just can't get enough of this. Ali is one of my favorite authors and the hold this book already has over me is unmatched.

Thank you to Ali, Berkley, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

AHHH! One million heart eye emojis for Love on the Brain!!! A big thank you to NetGalley, Berkley, and Ali Hazelwood for this advance reader copy. Ali Hazelwood simply has done it again – another amazing and clever female protagonist and book boyfriend to add to my list of faves. If you think no one can compare to Adam Carlsen from The Love Hypothesis, think again….hello Levi Ward. *Cue the hot flame emojis*

Bee was such a refreshing character – she’s ambitious, relatable, passionate about her career, and completely real. When she is offered her dream position (lead on a neuroengineering project), she’s over the moon. Until she realizes who her co-lead is, her arch nemesis: Levi Ward. Believing he despised her in graduate school and is sabotaging her now at work, Bee finds herself getting to know the “real” Levi Ward in this satisfying enemies-to-lovers book.

A surprising addition to reading: I learned a lot about Marie Curie! Ali Hazelwood continues to pave the way with creating rom-coms that incorporate STEM effortlessly. The STEM content in both The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain is refreshingly real – specifically about the harsh reality (and unfairness) of working in a male dominated profession. Already eagerly waiting for what comes next from Ali Hazelwood! When this book releases in August 2022, set aside 4-5 hours because you won’t be able to put this down!

This book was a little slow for about the first 20%. It was kind of hard to get into, but once we got into it, oh goodness, hold your horses! This was smart and sexy and fun. I devoured this book!

thank you so much berkeley for sending me this arc

5/5 stars! ali hazelwood has done it again!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From start to end it always kept my interest peaked, and that’s not some thing I can often say. From the beginning we are obviously introduced to Bee and she has to be one of the more interesting female protagonist I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading the perspective of. I love the way her mind works and how quirky she is she’s also insanely relatable and easy to adore. Bee and Levi’s relationship progression was one of my favorite things about this story. The way the audience new from the jump that he probably has always liked her and her oblivious behavior to it all just did it for me. I’m a sucker for these kind of tropes and this story hit it on the mark every time! I also love that Ali Hazelwood tend to always throw in a conferences in her storylines. I realize this is just a second book but I obviously love that because that allows us to see the force proximity TROPE. Which is executed beautifully in the story, Levi and Bee’s banter is one of my favorite things in this story and honestly I couldn’t get enough of it! I will say some parts of the story were extremely wordy for me, maybe because even though I am a stem major I am an engineer and not a neuroscientist so the constant references to Marie Curie and big science terms sometimes threw me for a loop but that’s just me. I will say what saved the story from getting a 4.5 from me to now getting 5 stars was the ending. I am a whore for climactic endings like that. Like Guy being the bad guy in the end and bringing out a gun??? I enjoyed that so much! I wasn’t expecting that at all that threw me for a loop and I absolutely adored it. I think Ali Hazelwood is one of the first authors I’ve ever seen incorporate such a chaotic ending into a story which you wouldn’t expect anything like that to happen. I really enjoyed reading that it put a smile on my face and honestly did it for me. Also Levi is honestly such a dream, I absolutely adore his character honestly believe he has no flaws the way he’s so hopelessly loved Bee with everything in him! He is a hopeless romantic, just like me and I absolutely love him for it. He also was re-teaching Bee what it felt like to be loved and I just couldn’t get enough of it. All in all I really adore the story if Ali wants to hang out any time she has my attention I will make time for her I absolutely adore her this was amazing.