This book! Omg where do I begin? This book had me laughing, crying, and swooning. I loved the plot. I love women in STEM! Levi is just amazing I loved him the second he was introduced. I cannot wait for this book to come out so I can sell it to literally every person who walks in the store!

Ali Hazelwood's contemporary romances are a balm to the soul. Both of her stories feature a plucky and brilliant heroine, who dabbles in delightful intellectual spars with swoon-worthy men. Love on the Brain follows the same formula as its predecessor except this one involves NASA, neuroscience, and the takedown of misogynistic trolls on Twitter.

Bee Königswasser has hit a plateau in her career. Giving up a promising career to escape her cheating ex-fiancee and traitor best friend, Bee works for a revolting boss and escapes the drudgeries of life through her What Would Marie Do? Twitter account. However, when NASA offers her the opportunity to lead a neuroscience project, Bee jumps at the chance until she finds out she has to co-lead with Levi Ward, a handsome engineer that has disliked her since college.

There's something absolutely delightful about each of Hazelwood's stories. Whether it is reading in amazement as Olive devours a ridiculous sugary confection while Adam watches in despair or feeling the excitement ooze off the page when Bee makes a breakthrough in the lab, Hazelwood has a way of making you instantly fall in love with her characters. Orphaned and then later abandoned by her wanderlust twin sister, Bee wants to settle down, but she has a deep fear that no one will ever stay. This anxiety courses through the heart of the story and it is rewarding to watch as Bee decides to believe in something else besides neuroscience.

Of course, there's also the bonus that Hazelwood is really good at building tension and delivering exactly what the reader is waiting for. The first book was fantastic, but the spicy scenes, relationship, and ending were better handled in Hazelwood's sophomore novel, which feels more complete and satisfying.

Love on the Brain is the second book in Hazelwood's STEM series and she did not disappoint with her sophomore effort. Bee and Levi are archenemies turned coworkers turned... more. It's a steamy tale of their hate/love, forced proximity relationship. They're both scientists and that science does take a leading role in the book. Much like in The Love Hypothesis, Hazelwood writes smart stories with smart characters without sounding preachy or condescending. I love how she intertwines the science and the romance.

I've seen a few reviews mention that the book felt formulaic and reminiscent of her first novel... and while this is true, I won't fault her for that because. A) "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" and B) aren't most fictional stories formulaic in some way or another?

There was SO much I liked about Love on the Brain and Bee and Levi (and Rocio!), but my one pause comes from the ending. It felt rushed and out of sync with the rest of the book. I think(?) it was meant to feel very climatic, but it didn't come across that way to me... it felt unexpected but not in a "wow! what a plot twist!" kind of way, more like a "this feels out of place" kind of way.

Overall Love on the Brain is a romance must read. Hazelwood's female characters are smart and strong and not afraid to show it. They are unique but not in an un-relatable way. I appreciate that the characters are not the cookie-cutter-stereotypical female/male leads often found in romance novels. Hazelwood may follow a formula in this book, but she does it while staying true to her roots.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

At first, I thought this one was a little slow, but it got better throughout the course of the book, and I really enjoyed it by the end! Ali Hazelwood writes charming, well-rounded characters and witty dialogue.

Love on the Brain was a hugely wonderful and quirky story that brings the beauty of the scientific community into a romantic story of two people who were certain the other hated them and fell in love anyways. I love this book and I love literally everything that Ali Hazelwood writes! She is a treasure and has outdone herself!

Can we actually do 6 stars? I loved The Love Hypothesis so much that I had a feeling I’d like this one. Boy did Ali Hazelwood not disappoint! This was incredible. I’m pretty sold on anything she writes at this point.

Bee Königswasser is a smart, capable neuroscientist doing her best to deal with the pitfalls of a very male-dominated STEM world. When NASA calls and essentially offers her the opportunity of a lifetime, she says yes because, that's what you do. However, after days of celebrating she finds out she will not be leading this project alone but with Levi Ward, the guy who hated her in grad school. Now that she's in Houston, things with NASA are NOT going according to plan. Her main question is: But What Would Marie Curie Do?

Wow I literally don’t know where to start. The Marie Curie facts and twitter were so adorable I just died. Also this quote: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a community of women trying to mind their business must be in want of a random man’s opinion. DIED. Also, can we talk about how Hazelwood does romance tropes better than anyone else? Just DIED. Also, she writes characters that her readers fall in love with and is truly hilarious. She seriously nailed it again. A plus.

Love on the Brain has surpassed every one of my expectations and even had me enjoying a trope I usually despise. Everything was done right, the build up, the subtle clues, the unexpected twist. The academic setting is something I crave in my contemporary novels but don't often see. Love on the Brain not only gives the setting, but doesn't talk down to its audience when the time comes to talk about science.
I'm not a big fan of miscommunication, but wasn't bothered by it as much as usual. I will say the plot often felt like it was following very similarly to Love Hyppthesis at some turns, but in the end was different enough when it mattered.

Ali Hazelwood is quickly moving up my must read list. This was an excellent second entry in her STEM romance series. I love how pro woman they are.

I did not intend to read this book in a day but here we are. I meant to savor it over a few days and instead I need more books like this immediately. Ali Hazelwood writes what I want to see in romance. Loved this book and the characters. Please read this book.

After absolutely loving The Love Hypothesis and including it in my top reads of 2021, I absolutely could not wait to read LOVE ON THE BRAIN, and I cannot thank Ali + Berkley Romance enough for the advance copy. I *MAY* have even liked Bee + Levi more than I liked Olive + Adam and I ADORED them more than I can describe.

Ali's writing style is everything I love in my contemporary romances - witty banter between characters who are charming + a bit nerdy with plenty of pop culture references that make me swoon in a fit of nostalgia. Hazelwood makes me instantly feel connected to her characters and want to rush to see what happens, while simultaneously regretting getting to the end and being done with personalities who always manage to feel more like friends.

This enemies to lovers, close proximity romance gives the best pieces of a woman in STEM who desires to be noticed for her work, and covers topics I think are incredibly important to have more of in any genre. From love in the workplace to the themes of nature vs. nurture, even how we're given credit for the work we do and the expectations we feel from others - Hazelwood writes tough topics into her romances with such ease that it feels real and relatable no matter the topic. I'm not a scientist, but her descriptions make it easy to follow and imagine the settings, and also consider them in a way that I feel seen as well.

As Bee tries to deny her feelings in this delicious slow burn, we get incredible side drama from her ex-fiancee + best friend and the amazing addition of a cast that makes the book FUN. Her twin and their relationship even after a complicated childhood, the crew working on the helmet alongside our MCs, and especially Rocio + Kaylee who I just adored all added to the story in a way that was meaningful and interesting and I LOVED it.

For those of you who enjoy that kinda thing, Hazelwood bumps up the steam in this one and it is delicious, I found Bee and Levi's relationship the perfect build-up and I was cheering them on throughout the whole book - knowing it was coming made it THAT much better for me!

Ali herself is a GEM, and while I am lucky to have become friends with her thanks to social, it does not stop me from telling you she will ALWAYS be someone whose books I have to read, and immediately preorder. To me, her own personality SHINES through her reading, and any book that feels like a friend and makes me THIS happy is a must-read author, and I hope you'll add this one to your TBR!

I was super excited to be able to read this, so thank you for approving me. That being said, my expectations were high and I was a bit disappointed to see that she basically used the same formula she followed in her first book. I even said to my coworker that I wasn't too sure about this. When I hit half way, I realized I was wrong. While there are similarities, I still enjoyed it. I really loved the two main characters and Bee's assistant was one of the best parts. It was entirely predictable but I did enjoy it. I guess if the formula works, why mess with it?

Honestly, when I was approved for this book, I did a little happy dance. I then sat down and read it all in a day and a half. I LOVED Ali Hazelwood's first novel, and Love on the Brain did not disappoint as a follow up! Bee and Levi were both characters I fell in love with and rooted for. Even though so much of the neuroscience was beyond me, it was written in such a way that it didn't matter. I loved the way the anonymous online relationship evolved and balanced the in person relationship that Levi and Bee had.

Ali Hazelwood did it again! She has an ability to make you fall headfirst in love with her characters, and this was no expectation. Bee and Levi's journey from archenemies to friends to lovers is entertaining and enduring, pure magic.

I had to take a few days to really ponder this one before writing my review because there were elements that I adored, but also a few that didn't sit right with me. Here we go...

The humor! Bee is hilarious. Her actions are often cringe-worthy in the best possible way, and her fantasy revenge is the best. She's so wonderfully insecure and awkward and smart. It's the perfect combination to create snort-laughter from the reader. I giggled and face-palmed through the entire book!

This book is smart. I appreciate a story that grows my vocabulary, and Love on the Brain is certainly one of these stories. Look up words that you don't understand. The book becomes all the more enjoyable for it. Bonus: a lot of the humor is smart too. Love it!

There's a definite formula here... I both liked and disliked that this story seems to follow the same sort of pattern as The Love Hypothesis. In no way is it identical. The relationship just faces the same misconceptions as TLH. What's happening is obvious from the start, and the similarities diverted some of my attention from enjoying LOTB to comparing the two books. I suppose you could say that the similarities were a distraction. Did that make sense?

What didn't sit right with me, you ask? Well, there's a very sudden and serious encounter near the end that is oddly glossed-over. It's not the kind of thing that you would easily dismiss, and it came across as too excessive. I don't want to spoil it, but I will say that there was probably a less dramatic alternative. In my opinion, the encounter ruined the flow of the story. Because it was so close to the finale, it sort of brought down my mood for the end of the book. I couldn't quite recover because I was reeling over how easily the matter was dropped. The entire last few chapters ended up feeling slapped together.

At the end of the day, though, my love of the characters and romance were enough to overcome the awkwardness. The MCs are flawed and sweet, and I do have a fondness for a good struggle. Who doesn't love it when a girl gets what she deserves?

Was this book a little predictable? Absolutely. Did I love every second of it? Also Absolutely. Another solid romcom from an author who writes academic characters so well.

This book was definitely spicier than her first one, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The book was a bit formulaic and I wasn't surprised by any of the plot points that were supposed to keep the reader guessing, but I really did enjoy it. Hazelwood knows how to write chemistry between her couples and this one hit the spot.

I really don’t know where to begin. First of all, Ali hazelwood is the type of author that attracts many from everywhere. It’s amazing that I’ve been able to see the slow progression from the very first book she published aka the love hypothesis and I can safely say love on the brain was nothing short of wonderful. The characters were exactly what I know would attract everyone and the writing / plot were phenomenal. I enjoyed everything about this and cannot wait for Ali’s next books! 5/5!

The only reason I didn't devour this book in one sitting is because I wanted to savor it—so I read it in two sittings! There is something so absolutely magical about Ali's writing. I was there with Bee and Levi, they felt like my best friends, and I'm feeling the same kind of adoration and depression I felt when I finished The Love Hypothesis. This is a magnificent, electric read!

Fantastic! Ali Hazelwood does it again with a witty, feminist romance featuring Bee, a neuroscientist obsessed with Marie Curie, and Levi Ward, an engineer who hated Bee in grad school.

Bee get chosen to be the neuroscientist specialist on a NASA project in Huston, TX, but finds out her co-lead is Levi. From the beginning she thinks it could potentially be a disaster, but she hopes that he'll be able to put aside their differences to collaborate on this career changing project. From the beginning he does not ever talk to her or even email her back, and her equipment is somehow mysteriously not appearing even though she requested it weeks ago.

With both themes of You've Got Mail and Pride and Prejudice, Love on the Brain hits all the marks. Bee is a delightfully sarcastic character and the way hers and Levi's relationship unfolds is so good. Also the side characters are stellar! There are a few things you see coming, but I really enjoyed this story so much. I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for and honest review.

Now, where should I begin? The fact that both of Hazelwood’s books kept me up well past midnight when I should definitely be asleep or how much I adore the leads?

I’ll start with the latter, as a woman pursuing academia herself, I have related heavily to both her lead characters. They feel so extremely real, and I’m unsure if I want them to be my best friends or to just be them. They have a fleshed out and unique personalities that make them extremely lovable, yet not flawless. Levi was also great and I ended up enjoying him a lot more than Adam. But I do feel like we got more time with Adam and Olive, we saw their relationship grow in a very different way, and I did feel that Levi and Bee lacked a well established friendship. I’m unsure if this book is shorter than the other one, it felt like it, because I read this one on my iPad and the other one physically- but I did feel that they just needed… a bit more. More time, more talking, more together.

Let me start off by saying Hazelwood’s writing style, characters, relationships, and settings are all phenomenal, I adore both her books. But, I felt this one’s plot was a bit more rushed. I felt like a different conflict between the leads should have developed, or at least something preventing them from being together, to develop their friendship a bit more before moving forward. I wanted more time for Bee to catch up, more time for her to accept and understand her own feelings and emotions, which ultimately would have made their relationship stronger and more emotionally rewarding for the reader in my opinion.

Lastly, and possibly my biggest critique of the book, is the end. I was sold on absolutely everything until the climax, and then it all seemed to be rushed forward. I wanted more, I needed more for it to be a fulfilling ending. The plot twist was hard to take seriously with how rushed and dramatic it was (but it would not be seen as dramatic if it wasn’t as rushed). I have a lot more to say that includes spoilers that I’ll refrain from, but I am so disappointed that I was disappointed with the ending. I wonder if there was a page cap? If the ending was too long before and Hazelwood had to cut it? Nonetheless, the rest of the book was so great, but it lost me at around 90%, which was so disheartening. It’s also hard because a rough beginning is easy to forget, but a disappointing end leaves a deeper lasting impression.

Let me leave this on a positive, if you read and adored the first book like I did, this one will not disappoint. Super witty, romantic, and gushing with love, this is a must read for any com rom fans- or anyone just wanting a fun read.