Switching the university labs from The Love Hypothesis for all the high tech gadgets and gizmos at NASA. Ali Hazelwood’s newest novel, Love On The Brain, Brings all the science talk, banter and steaminess from her original novel to a new location. In truth I found the storyline to be a little too similar to The Love Hypothesis but Love On The Brain remains a fun and engaging read and I can’t wait to read more books by Ali Hazelwood.

Firstly, I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Little Brown and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this novel early. Now on to the review!

After reading The Love Hypothesis, I was enchanted by Ali Hazelwood's take on romance, so I couldn't wait to read Love on the Brain - it was everything I expected and more!

The novel follows Bee, a Marie Skłodowska–Curie obsessed neuroscientist with bright colour hair, and a tremendous love for cats. She takes on her dream job working for NASA when her co-lead turns out to be Levi (a tall, green-eyed, captivating engineer), who also happens to be her nemesis from college. As the two are forced to work together, things don't immediately go according to plan. But as Bee and Levi develop a working relationship, romantic feelings begin to surface, with Bee realising the two have more in common than she expected.

I absolutely adored Bee; she was witty, intelligent and filled with honest vulnerability. While Levi was her perfect counterpart, at first timid but fiercely kind, smart and loving. Their relationship was perfectly balanced between moments of laughter, vulnerability, and tenderness. Also, there are some incredibly written steamy moments in this book - so get ready, you have been warned! ;)

A little spoiler here:

One thing that I disliked, however, was Bee's inability to perceive just how much Levi cared about her ... for such a brilliant woman, this went straight over her head, and I found myself frustrated with her at times. But that's the only negative I have.

In closing, read Love on the Brain! It's the perfect mixture of funny, sexy and heart-warming but most importantly, it shines a spotlight onto powerful women in STEM - which we undoubtedly need more of.

BOOK REVIEW: Love on the Brain by @alihazelwood

5 Stars

I adored Ali Hazelwood's first book The Love Hypothesis and so was desperate to read this book. I was excited but also nervous it wouldn't live up to my expectations but I had NO reason to worry as it was just as good and I adored every sentence!
This book is based on a lead female called Bee who is a Marie Curie obsessed scientist that loves cats, star wars and brightly coloured hair. She is an absolute GEM of a character and I loved her straight away. The balance of smart, witty, vulnerable and adorable was spot on and I kept switching from wanting to be her to wanting to be her best friend.
The lead male is Levi, and OH have I got a new book boyfriend. He is just wonderful and I loved how he slowly came out of his shell and how we got to know more about this wonderful, kind, loving and incredibly intelligent man. The romance was pretty perfect, a lovely mix of adorable, sweet, sexy and funny. The characters just worked so well together! Also the smut was hot and so well written.
The storyline is pretty simple but done so well that it didn't matter as the content was just so smart and hilarious. I find it amazing how Ali Hazelwood packs so much intelligence, humour and quirkiness into her books.
Basically, I loved it and I cannot wait to read more from this author as she is proving to be a romance genius.

Please note that I was #gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

For all cat and Love Hypothesis lovers an absolute must read.
This adorable story has you on your toes all the way through which makes it easy to read in one sitting.

Ali Hazelwood does it again! After adoring The Love Hypothesis, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Love on the Brain and I wasn't disappointed. If anything I think I love Bee and Levi that little bit more?
For me, what made it such a good read was the fact that miscommunication wasn't as heavy in this as it can be in other romances, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. I loved seeing Bee and Levi's relationship develop naturally, and their 'third act conflict' felt realistic for what the characters had been through. Levi may be one of my favourite book boyfriends yet!
Whilst the story did feel somewhat similar to her first novel, and there were plot points which were predictable from the offset, this didn't detract from the reading experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this, racing through in just over a day' and would highly recommend others to pick this one up. I have no doubt fans of Ali Hazelwood will adore this one too.

Another gem from Ali Hazelwood. I didn’t think it would be possible to enjoy this as much as I did The Love Hypothesis, but I did! Stand out themes: women in STEM, feminism including a hot, feminist hero, diversity, spice. Fantastic.

So Ali Hazelwood has now become one of my auto-buy authors! Love on the Brain follows Bee, a brilliant neuroscientist with an obsession for all things Marie Curie and cats. She’s given the job of her dreams, to work on a ground-breaking helmet design for astronauts in NASA. The only catch is that she has to co-lead with her college nemesis, Levi, who seems to have detested her from the minute he met Bee. They end up spending a lot of time together and Bee soon realises they have more in common than she ever thought possible.

I absolutely adored and devoured this book! Talk about a page-turner! I’m late to the Hazelwood fan club but now I get why everyone has been talking about her books.

There are so many gems in this story- a brilliant female protagonist in STEM (check), a number of female characters who aren’t afraid to fight their corner in the male-dominated world of science (check), wit, sass, and humour (Bee serves it by the truckload!), and a miscommunication trope that leads to an enemies to lovers slow-burn romance (check check check!)

With a tall, dark and handsome genius male protagonist like Levi, we all want to be Bee! Plenty of spice but also a story that you become so invested in. I loved the sub-plot of the @whatwouldmariedo Twitter handle run anonymously by Bee. The struggles of women in academia is highlighted here and something that happens all too frequently.

Headstrong characters and fierce personalities, romance and humour- Love On The Brain has it all!

Thanks NetGalley and publishers for the arc. This review will be published in August

After this I definitely have love on the brain, everytime I put this book down till I picked up again I couldn't stop thinking about it.

There's something different about a romance that contains scientists. It's just not your typical romance vibe and I'm totally here for it.

I find guess one thing about this book very early on but it didn't spoil anything about this book for me, in fact wanting to know if I was right and what was going to happen made me keep reading.
My only small gripe is so much happened in the last 15% of the book it was a lot of keep up with but I didn't see the twist coming at all I knew something had to happen just not what.

Bee is an absolute babe, that way she dresses, the colour of her hair, the tattoos and piercings. Levi is an absolute sweetheart, who's the perfect cat dad.

✨Thank you the publisher and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this early. I'm so grateful.✨

So I've just finished this and I already want to re-read it.
The Love Hypothesis was hands down the best romance novel I read in 2021 and Ali Hazelwood has done it again.
Love on the Brain follows Bee, a Marie Curie superfan, cat lover and neuroscientist, as she begins her dream job working for NASA on an incredible space helmet for astronauts. The only issue is that her co-lead is college nemesis, Levi a 6 foot 4 gorgeous engineer. As the two are forced to work together, things aren't going well. Serious communication issues and deeply ingrained sexism with STEM cause conflict for our loveable protagonist. But as Levi and Bee begin to spend more time in each others' company, feelings begin to develop and Bee realises they've got more in common than not.

One of the elements of The Love Hypothesis that I adored was the scientific academic setting and the powerful female character in a field which is typically dominated by men. Love on the Brain delivered this and more. The sub-plot of Bee running her @WhatWouldMarieDo Twitter page added an extra layer of complexity, especially her friendship with @Schmacademics - a message from whom I found myself reading and re-reading and over because it was gooey romance at its absolute best.

This book was steamy and sweet and I thought that the way the characters interacted was fantastic, a supposed enemies to lovers which turns out to be so much more.

A 5 star read that I would recommend to any lover of romance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review the ARC of 'Love on the Brain.'

"You don't even have to admit to yourself that you love me, Bee. God knows I love you enough for the both of us. But I need you to stay. I need you to stick around... I'll follow you, if you ask me to."

I had so much fun reading this book. I smiled, grinned and laughed plenty. I particularly loved that Bee's career was at NASA and centred around space. It's not something you always read about in a romance novel! And as an admirer of astronomy, it was such a refreshing change of environment in books. Bonus points for the archnemesis trope.

Bee was such an admirable protagonist. She was adorably talkative, chatty and bold. She was so realistic and relatable, I could not get enough of her! Bee is one of the most unique and special female characters I have read about and have had the pleasure of meeting, honestly. She's so bright, smart and insanely memorable.

And Levi, oh where do I start with Levi? He makes my heart throb! He's quiet, observant and an amazing listener. You just know that you'd be so comfortable in his presence. I mean he calls Bee 'sweetheart'! Sweetheart. I adored Bee and Levi together. I could not get enough of their moments, it had me so addicted, I finished it way too quickly for that reason alone.

After finishing 'Love on the Brain', I was left with such a warm and tingly feeling in my heart <3

4⭐️ // ARC provided by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to pick up the next 'STEMinist' book from Ali Hazelwood - and this didn't disappoint.

It was a fun read - enemies to lovers, a slow unravelling of each character as they fall for each other, nuanced discussion around being a woman in STEM, and a satisfying ending. It did read a bit like fanfic, but as someone who read a lot of fanfic as a teen, I didn't particularly mind!

Having said that, there were some things I didn't love - the constant 'he's so big / she's so small' trope is so tired, and was also present in TLH - it's not a very feminist take for a self-proclaimed 'STEMinist' book. There are a few 'reveals' that were so very obvious that it was quite frustrating - and the third act dilemma felt a bit too over the top, whilst the rest of the story was more rooted in reality.

Overall though, I had a good time with this one - and I also wanted a little more time dedicated to the side WLW romance as it was so sweet! Perhaps there could be an LGBTQIA+ STEMinist story in the future...?

Now I really enjoyed The Love Hypothesis... and this knocked it out of the park! There's just something about a slightly messy utterly frank purple-haired heroine that just speaks to me.
Bee has an archnemesis in Levi, and let me tell you, if miscommunication isn't one of your favourite tropes you need to reconsider! Hazelwood expertly steers us around these two headstrong and genius characters, and the way they fall into each other, and in love. The romance was delightful, and honestly just a great romp of a story. The villain was a surprise, and brought out a genuine gasp once I got to the end!

Big spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned.



This was a tough read.
We follow Bee who ends up working for NASA alongside her enemy Levi, who apparently hates her. Although he very clearly, doesn’t.

Bee is absolutely insufferable. Every other page she says ‘he hates me’, whilst we have to read very clear text of him stating MULTIPLE times that he doesn’t. At least 2 or 3 times he says ‘I’ve never hated you Bee’ or ‘I could never hate you’ which is acknowledged by Bee at the time, but a few pages later she ends up telling us again that he hates her. I’ll add a few examples, if I include them all I’d be publishing the entire book.

“Aslong as you’re civil & fair at work, you can dislike away.”
“Bee, you don’t understand”
“What dont I understand?
“I don’t dislike you”
“Levi it’s ok. Dislike is a gut reaction. I understand.”

“Look at us” I smile. “It doesn’t even feel like we hate eachother”
“That’s because we don’t”
“Aw, you stopped hating me? …. “Can I say that I hate you?”
He looks away.

“I don’t want to put you out”
“You wouldn’t”
“Plus you hate me”
He briefly closes his eyes in exasperation.
“Is there any non imaginary reason you don’t want to stay at my place Bee”?


If we didn’t know so much about how intelligent Bee is (speaks multiple languages, one of the best in her field as a neuroscientist etc) then I’d picture her as a 12 year old girl based on how she speaks & thinks. Another example being.
…….

“ It’s not date.
But if it were - which it isn’t - it would be the best date of my life.
Of course, because it’s not a date, the point is moot.
But. If it were.
Though it’s not.
Even when, I must admit, it almost feels like one. “

This kind of talk happens a lot throughout the book.

…..

The plot is ok. I do like reading about women in stem but it was massively overshadowed by how annoying Bee is.

I don’t know if the whole Shmac Twitter thing was supposed to be a plot twist at end, but it’s painfully obvious that Shmac is Levi from the very first dm we see between them. So that was just another annoying thing to have to read through as it takes Bee 95% of the book to work it out.

Theres no enemies to lovers trope, nor is there a grumpy/sunshine trope. This is more of a miscommunication trope. But even then I’d say it’s a stretch. It’s more of a “Bee is an idiot” trope who doesn’t take in a word Levi says.

2 stars is because Levi is great. Typical 6’4 male with massive arms and rock hard abs. But I’m not complaining. Rocio (Bee’s assistant) is one of the best characters in this book. I’d much rather have read about her than Bee.

The ending was just .. I don’t know. Out of nowhere. It didn’t have the effect on me that I think it was supposed to.

Gutted that I didn’t enjoy this as I loved the love hypothesis. Thankyou so much to NetGalley & Little Brown Book Group for the E/Arc.

I finally read one of the most anticipated and talks new releases of this 2022 and obviously I'm talking about Ali Hazelwood's Love on the Brain.

Let's start with the plot: Bee Königswasser, a purple-haired neuroscientist lives by a simple code: what would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the opportunity to lead a neuroengineering project (a dream come true after years spent getting bored in academia), Marie would accept without hesitation. Obvious. But the mother of modern physics never had to collaborate with Levi Ward.

Surely Levi is attractive: tall, dark hair and piercing eyes. But Levi had already expressed his feelings for Bee very clearly a few years earlier in graduate school: archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

And when, during the NASA project, everything seems to go wrong and the inconveniences come one after the other Bee could swear she can see a different Levi... more softened and kind, almost in love ... but maybe it's her occipital cortex playing tricks on her.

But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there’s only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?

Already from the plot it is clear that this book has all the potential to be a masterpiece: a rom-com "STEMinist", a sexy scientist, a very cute but also very spicy romance enemies to lovers, a lot of science, nerd characters and also many kittens!!!

The main characters are amazing… I got so obsessed with them that I would do anything for those two!

Bee is a hilarious girl, she loves cats, she is vegan and of course she loves science.

On the other side, our beloved Dr. Levi Ward seems to be the opposite of Bee ... he is grumpy, too serious and hates her, but perhaps the two have more in common than he seems and lemme tell you: Levi is the sweetest cinnamon roll of all cinnamon rolls! It is really a love!

Always talking about the characters, I also appreciated the secondary ones, they seemed to me well characterized and very much nerd… I loved them, even if they did not have much space in the novel (but, to be honest, we only want Levi & Bee).

Moving on to the plot, I was truly amazed! I can confirm that it is not the usual and simple romance novel plot, this plot is very well developed, it is interesting, very funny (in some chapters I did not stop laughing) and I also loved the development of the science/NASA project.

Can I also anticipate that in the final there is an insane plot twist that really leaves me speechless and that I would never have expected in a rom-com book.

Now we come to the answer to the question that you are all asking for: "But is it Spicy"

And here I answer with a big and horny YESSS!!!

There are some chapters that really made me try something and it's also a lot more spicy than The Love Hypothesis, in a nutshell, it's a much hotter upgrade.

I can't tell more because being a book in preview I must remain silent. But I can tell one more thing: if you haven't done it yet, go and pre-order this masterpiece! I can tell you that you will not regret it!

I was really invested by this reading and I must say it has earned a place in my heart; for now I can confirm that it was one of the best reads of 2022 and, as I said before, the thing I loved the most is how the romance and the plot have been balanced ... just perfectly, and Levi and Bee are really special... I love them!

A special thanks to Netgalley and Ali Hazelwood who provided me this wonderful ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts in the review are mine.

Ahhhhh this book was such a good book to read after The Love Hypothesis! I definitely preferred the latter but I still loved this one ❤️ It was funny, cute, much more steamy than The Love Hypothesis and just generally fabulous 🤩

Bee is a scientist who is forced to work with her arch nemesis Levi. Although she has no idea why he hates her so much, she must therefore hate him back because why is he being so rude?! Forced proximity leads to some seriously sexy chemistry 🧪

Things I loved about this book: the chemistry felt real and spicy and it was also amazing to get more insight into the science and academia world. I loved how passionate Bee was in everything that she does, from her work to her hair to animals, she really was a brilliant female love interest to read about. And also the sex, obviously.

🚨 SPOILER ALERT 🚨

Some things I didn’t like however: I didn’t get why Bee was so clueless about why Levi didn’t supposedly like her…it ruined the story slightly for me because Bee is so smart and she’s just acting so very not smart about this. And that’s my only negative point 💃🏽 🕺🏽

If you like funny books that are steamier than your bathroom mirror in the peak of winter - then you’ve got it all here 😈

4.5 stars!
Thank you to the publishers (Penguin) firstly for giving me an e-arc of Love on the Brain after I emailed them and secondly thank you also to Ali Hazelwood for writing this amazing book

After reading The Love Hypothesis and loving it (as lots of others did) and having recently read Under One Roof (which I also loved), I was worried that Ali Hazelwood’s writing wouldn’t live up to The Love Hypothesis’ standards, but I will put my hands up and say ‘I was wrong’.

Love on the Brain, was just as good as The Love Hypothesis in my opinion. Ali Hazelwood manages to write a great story-line and a swoon-worthy enemies-to-lovers romance but still manages to discuss important subjects, reflecting on matters such as women in STEM (as she did in her first book) and the challenges surrounding this, and academic pressures, all whilst making me feel like the dumbest person EVER with all the science talk (literally)!

The two main characters (Bee and Levi) were likeable and relatable, with a good storyline following them throughout. The book follows not only the ‘BLINK’ project but their blossoming relationship outside of the project and through this we learn more about both of their pasts and the challenges they have both faced. Adding to this, there were also likeable side characters all bringing their own thing to the storyline (I loved Rocío and NEED a book about her please and thank you).

I’d 100% recommend Love on the Brain!!


**Can I also just add (DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T LIKE SPOILER-ISH THINGS): I was NOT expecting that bit near the end with a certain character showing their true colours!!! If you know, you know! Just saying, HUGE curveball and a GREAT plot twist!


This book (more than TLH) had me highlighting and quoting non-stop (I had 5 within the first couple of chapters!!) here are some of my favourites:

“(Seriously: why are men?)”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a community of women trying to mind their own business must be in want of a random man’s opinion.”

“(Happy Monday! KEEP CALM AND CURIE ON, FRIENDS)”

“Brain stimulation kicks ass, and anyone who says otherwise shall know her wrath.”

“And you are my home.”


FOR THE PUBLISHERS (if anyone bothers to read this): I did note a few grammatical/spelling errors which I’m hoping will be sorted by the time its released officially! :)

Omg, this book is amazing! Everything about it was so good. I couldn’t stop smiling when I finished it!

Levi- I love him. He’s amazing. And the small things he always did for bee, I love home even more because of them.
Bee- I love her. She’s amazing. Her personality is amazing and I just love how caring she is for Levi.
They’re perfect together.
And the ending had me smiling like a complete and utter fool

Bloody loved this book. Ali Hazelwood is an excellent STEM romance writer, have thoroughly enjoyed both of her books and now currently making my way through the novellas. Excellent tension, acts of service as love which is just the cutest, and many more little things that just make these books a great pleasure to read. One of my top ten for 2022!

Love on the Brain was so much fun and I tore through it. The perfect rom com read, I loved all the characters but especially Bee’s April Ludgate-esque assistant Ro, who made me laugh out loud every time she was on the page. The chemistry between Bee and Levi was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed being swept along in their story. I would say it felt very similar to The Love Hypothesis, hitting so many of the same narrative notes, but this wasn’t really a problem for me because I enjoyed spending time in both books so much - if you enjoyed The Love Hypothesis, you’re guaranteed to fall hard for Love on the Brain.

Love on the brain is an excellent follow up to the superb Love Hypothesis.
Bee is a neuro scientist, Marie Cure super fan and all round badass. But when she lands her dream job at NASA developing helmets for astronauts, she's brought down with a thud when she realises her Co lead on the project is her college arch nemesis Levi.
Enter Levi - a brooding, green eyed genius who is as awkward around Bee as he is smart.
This is a slow burn, geeky, hot romance which you will love, but potentially frustrate you in a 'he hates me, he loves me, he hates me' vibe like the daisy flower game you played as a kid!
I love Ali's writing and I adore the smart women in her books! We need so much more of this!
Though dare I say it there was a tiny bit too much science in this for me, especially in the first third of the book. I think some of the detail could have been removed as it was so specific.
However, Ali definitely has found her own niche here and I can't wait to read her next book!
Thank you so much Little Brown for the gifted e-arc!