TW: Parent death, friend death, loss, mental health, sexism, weapons, mention of past cheating and seizures.

Hello, welcome to the Ali Hazelwood instant buy book club! I am here to tell you that she has done it again and this is a NEW FAVOURITE!

Madame, I don't know how you did it, but somehow you turned my most disliked trope, the miscommunication trope, into one of the most beloved this about this book!
We have two incredibly intelligent people who are so dense to realise that they are in love with each other. But, unfortunately, because they are so convinced the other is unavailable, they fall into every miscommunication trap there is. AND I loved every minute of it! It was done so well because we have the Twitter convo, which is the two of them don't know, and it shows how much they are alike and how much the two can be friends; it balances out the tension perfectly!

Ali Hazelwood kept the charm from her last book but kept it fresh with the love our main character has for Marie Currie, sharing her personal history with us that connected to the story and including her in present-day with the Twitter handle, which sparked a great movement. Ali always keeps the balance of love life and love of stem in their books, and the passion makes me love her stories and almost inspires me to go into STEM.

This book was full of awkward sweetness and much MORE spice than the last book and DAMN am I saying it was good! Like it was REALLY GOOD!
You are missing out if you haven't joined the ALI HAZELWOOD TRAIN yet!

❤️Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood for release August 23❤️

“From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis—with explosive results.”

I read this in one sitting and I am alive. You are all going to love this one 😭❤️ Here are just a few things to look forward to:

🧠this one was written in first person which is MY JAM. I loved the voice so so much. Ali truly is a queen of banter and hilarious references
🧠Bee’s character is such a treat. I absolutely adored being inside of her head. I also really sympathized with her and her backstory. It really made for a satisfying character ARC.
🧠Levi- omg. What a perfect hero. The pining. Swoon.
🧠I freakin loved the nerdy, modern You’ve Got Mail aspect to this!!
🧠THE.STEAM (that is all)🔥
🧠thoughtful and smart commentary on the struggles of women in STEM

All in all, this book was everything and more. Ali truly delivered the perfect, swoony follow up to TLH and I cannot wait for everyone to read it ❤️ thank you so much Berkley for this ARC!

Lovable, charming, and steamy! Ali Hazelwood is killing the STEM romance world and Love On The Brain is sure to be another major hit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was my most anticipated read of 2022 and it did not let me down for a single moment.

CW: death of parents (past), cheating/gaslighting ex (past relationship), family tensions, misogyny, side character with epilepsy, attempted murder, gun violence

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f academic rivals
-work place romance
-so much freaking pining
-grumpy/sunshine
-close-proximity
-some You've Got Mail Elements
-obsession with Marie Curie
-an absolute simp
-some cute cats

I adored this book. Ali Hazelwood just excels at writing STEM, two dorks just falling in love, and being a woman in a male dominated field. I love, love, love Bee. So realistic, so authentic, so herself. Damaged by the world, but still fighting on, still passionate. She loves science, her job, and learning, it just breathes off the page. Even better so does Levi.

Levi wasn't perfect, had his own things to get over, but he was such a PINING simp for Bee. Loved everything about her, and it made so much sense every little misunderstanding even as I was screaming at the page at these two idiots who just couldn't see it. The build up, her RA and her own love story that also had me screaming as she bumbled into her own love story. How relatable Bee's relationship was with her sister, how alike and yet different they were. How you can grow up with someone and have the same exact experience with them and have two completely different reactions.

But I really can't get over the relationship between Levi and Bee. On paper they looked like two opposites, but they had so much in common. The care for their work, how much of an advocate Levi was for Bee, willing to admit when he was wrong. Every sweet thing out of his mouth just had me screaming. This HEA ws so well earned even with a bit of suspense in the end.


Relationship disclosure: the author and I are social media mutuals and Ali Hazelwood is a literary romance writing genius and I cannot wait for more from her.

Steam: 3.5 (it's steamier than than LHP friends)

I don’t know how she does it, but Ali Hazelwood delivered again! These characters are so completely likable. They were funny and relatable and so many good things. I loved this book!

I can't express how much I adore this book.

Love on the Brain is an addictive, adorable, and swoon-worthy read. It took everything I loved in The Love Hypothesis (nerdy and relatable characters, a STEM setting, cute romance, and great banter) and added even more.

We follow Bee, a neuroscientist who will be working with NASA on a new project: BLINK. I have to admit, I really loved all of the scientific aspects of this book even more than usual, because BLINK deals with transcranial magnetic stimulation, something I've undergone myself and have never really seen mentioned anywhere else. I might have sent many very excited texts whenever it came up.

Okay, but onto what everyone probably wants to hear about the most: the romance.

It was so perfect!! Levi is an incredible love interest, and by that I mean I am absolutely in love with him. He and Bee went to the same grad school, where his hatred of Bee was known by everyone, for reasons she never quite understood. So when they're forced to co-lead BLINK, Bee must put aside the past to work towards her future. But of course, not everything is what it seems.

Their dynamic was so fun to read, and I just really loved them as a couple. But they aren't the only characters in the book. One character that stole every scene she was in was Rocio, Bee's RA. She was such an entertaining character, I genuinely don't know how to describe her other than the fact that she's iconic.

In the end, this book was even better than I could have ever hoped. I can't stop thinking about it, and I can't wait to see what Ali Hazelwood writes next.

Okay, so when you get blessed with an early copy of Ali Hazelwood anything, you 110% drop everything to read it.

Love on the Brain is a delightful follow-up to The Love Hypothesis, continuing the trend of super smart women in STEM kicking ass and bringing quietly pining down men to their knees in the process. Though Love on the Brain is less laugh-out-loud funny than its predecessor, it brings forth a simmering, Austen-level relationship plagued with delicious misunderstandings and a man who has been pining away from corners of lecture halls and labs for years.

Spoilers below this point! Proceed with caution.

I'm fairly certain this is another book adapted from Ali's Reylo fanfic. However, she does the most work here than in any of her other books thus far to really remove Reylo and any similarities from the text. There are some core elements - mostly in both characters' family issues - that seem to echo Reylo, but I was able to fully enjoy this story without thinking about Star Wars or the fanfic this once was.

However, just because it doesn't echo Star Wars does NOT mean it doesn't echo more literature! Love on the Brain has BIG Pride & Prejudice energy. Levi is just Darcy skulking in the corners, obsessed with Bee and knowing everything about her even under the guise that he hates her. Bee is a modern-day Elizabeth, a smart and quick-witted woman navigating a world of mansplainers and assholes who diminish her work. And let me be clear: the Austen overtones are VERY intentional. Ali quotes or references Pride & Prejudice (particularly the 2005 movie, obviously) often, and it warmed my Janeite heart to see it.

The two have a bit of history - one year where their graduate work overlapped - but Levi made it very clear to Bee that he couldn't stand her. Of course, Bee was also engaged at that time, which has since dissolved due to him being a cheating, manipulative fucker who slept with her best friend, the devastation of which led Bee down a career path she hadn't wanted. When Bee is given the opportunity to join NASA on a project, she's thrilled - until she discovers she is co-leading the project with Levi, her long lost nemesis.

The story and the romance is rife with miscommunication, so if that's not your thing, steer clear. Bee forms opinions without the full picture, and Levi is closed-off, helping the misunderstandings along. Eventually, though, the fate of the project balances their rocky work relationship and the two begin to unravel the assumptions into surprising truths.

There's an added layer of fun to the entire romance. Bee runs an anonymous Twitter account in the honor of her hero, Marie Curie, that creates community for women in STEM to commiserate and assist from across the globe. On her account, she's become good friends with one of her mutuals, a male scientist who helps do the work of making STEM environments less toxic. They've been friends for years, though they have never shared names. It's not hard for readers to guess almost immediately that her anonymous pal is Levi, and we get delightful conversations between them in the midst of their real-time reconnection.

While I don't think this story is as fun as The Love Hypothesis since there's no fake dating (or fanfic-y overtones), Love on the Brain is amazing and stands apart from its predecessor entirely. Out of the embers of Adam and Olive/Reylo, readers will find Bee and Levi to be a breath of fresh air. From perceived enemies to friends and then lovers, this romance is sure to keep you on your toes as you watch walls come down and see all the ways they fit together, two puzzle pieces finally matched. Ali Hazelwood continues to write pure comfort and joy, and I once again am pledging myself a devoted fan. I can't wait for what's next.

STEM babe here to scream at you about this book, you're welcome. Here we get a beautiful enemies to lovers book with some GLORIOUS Act 1 miscommunications that reassure you that people with PhDs can be dumb as heck too. As with her first book, you don't have to know much of anything about engineering or neuroscience to fully enjoy - but there are some added bonuses if you do! This is a story about misogyny, institutional classism, and (of course) LOVE.

As a former NASA intern, the workplace atmosphere rung true. We really do go mad for donuts and it's a total wurstfest in every meeting. And there are SO many people that are stuck in their ways, be it in terms of research or misogyny. But, as Levi so handsomely demonstrated, there are people willing to rethink their ideas for the sake of scientific progress. And on the topic of Levi, the SWOOOOOOONS. A sexy 6'4" engineer who listens to females? Be still my heart.

There's so much going on in this book in the best way, from the You've Got Mail subplot to the lab antics, there's really something for everyone. And for me, I loved all of it.

Some questions I'm left with at the end...
- What was the raccoon incident? I'm SO invested in this!
- Are we not going to talk about Levi's phone passcode? 338338... turn it upside down, PEOPLE.
- Felicette, just... how?

*Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Ali Hazelwood has one of the freshest voices in the romance genre. I’ll happily and confidently say so. It’s hard to follow up an incredible success like The Love Hypothesis, but Hazelwood manages it. And then some.

Love on the Brain is fun, funny, and absolutely heartwarming all at once. Seriously, I want to write ballads about Levi and his unwavering adoration.

Favorite quotes, go:

“The real villain is love: an unstable isotope, constantly undergoing spontaneous nuclear decay.”
- KILLER quote. Right out of the gate. Incredible set up for the story and our heroine.

“I want to try them all. All the kisses Levi Ward is capable of, I want to sample them like fine wine.”
- This is where I thrash.

“‘You could rip me to shreds, Bee.’”
- Do you see? Do you see me losing my mind??

“He stares down at me as though I own him. As though his future hangs from my hands. As though everything he’s ever wanted, I hold it within me.”
- No because I WILL cry and YOU CANNOT STOP ME!

“Lonely people’s brains are shaped differently. And I just want mine to . . . not be. I want a healthy, plump, symmetrical cerebrum. I want it to work diligently, impeccably, like the extraordinary machine it’s supposed to be. I want it to do as it’s told.”
- Also, wow. Just wow. Somewhere between the chemistry of the leads and the laughs, I sometimes forget that this author has a distinct way of knocking the air out my lungs. What a heartfelt moment. What a moment to RELATE to. I love Bee. I love Bee so much.

Overall, what a wonderfully enjoyable experience. I cannot WAIT to have others read this gem of a story, and I wish Ali Hazelwood all the success in future.

This book was such a joy! This author truly has a gift for writing phenomenal banter and narration. I was surprised with how much more steam there was in this book than, Love Hypothesis. The sex scenes were yummy and tender and the connection definitely moved the plot forward. The way Bee and Levi’s relationship developed from nemesis to the most tender love melted my insides. Levi was so swoony and the perfect amount of protective but sweet. Bee was that light in the world we all need. I loved to get a peak into women in stem. This is another hit!

There’s a scene 82% in that had me feeling all types of ways!

if ali hazelwood wrote a million books, i would buy and read all of them 😭
This was so fun and cute and exactly what i needed after this hell of a week. I think i audibly laughed out like 20 times while reading this. There are just so many moments where you just want to squeeee <3
Bee is everything you want in a main characters, she's so smart and i think i learned more about Marie Curie reading this than I have ever learned at school.

and LEVI ?? he is such a cinnamon roll and i love it

also loved the whole you've got mail vibes. wwmcd and schmac are just <i> chefs kiss </i> <3

<s> when will i have a Cute Sexy Handsome Guy ™ </s>

This book scratched so many of my itches & cemented Ali Hazelwood as My Kind of Writer (TM). Let's get my criticisms out of the way up top: 1) I think it was a rocky start and didn't fully kick into gear until ~20% in and 2) the conclusion, while fun & emotionally satisfying, was pretty over the top.
OK, that being said, this was just so fun and exactly what I come to romance for! It had moments that made squee, Bee was plucky & smart, and Levi was a gigantic cinnamon roll underneath his inability to properly function around a woman he likes. I also liked that every misogynistic moment he had where I seriously questioned if he was an irredeemable got addressed to my satisfaction.
This book also made me realize how much I LOVE a "You've Got Mail" type trope! I wasn't expecting that element to the book, but that was probably my favorite element as I waited for WWMCD and Schmac to put the pieces together.
And finally the smut... it was the same fan fiction-y type sexy scene that I love. I know it's not everyone's style for that kind of scene but it is totally my jam. It was also nice seeing them have a period where they were actually together a little bit - so we still got the slow burn element that I adore but it had a little bit more payoff time with them being together (which also meant more sexy time moments than in TLH).
Basically... I read this after a very long and painful work day, and this was the exact book I needed. I am so glad there is more Ali Hazelwood coming this year and she is officially an autoread for me. Her writing, her trope combos, the fact that so many of her stories seem to be centered in STEM type settings - it all just works for me.