Title: Love On The Brain
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Sphere/ Little Brown Book Group
Pages: 368
Release Date: 23 August 2022
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Hello fellow booklovers, today I’m sharing my review of Love On The Brain by Ali Hazelwood.
The TikTok sensation’s newest book is a sexy (and swoon-worthy) STEM, rival to lovers romantic masterpiece—it’s bursting with humour, relatable characters, relevant commentary regarding women in STEM and a heartfelt exploration of love in all it’s many forms.
Synopsis
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.
Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project-a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia-Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.
Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school-archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.
Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it's her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas...devouring her with those eyes. And the possibilities have all her neurons firing.
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?
Review
The Love Hypothesis was one of my favourite books of 2021 so I was a little worried Love On The Brain might not live up to my expectations. I’m soo glad to report that not only did it live up to those expectations, it surpassed them entirely!
We follow Bee, a neuroscientist who, after a childhood full of uncertainty and constant travel just wants to find stability, put down roots and get a cat. But, after a terrible breakup Bee has now devoted her time to her career and after landing a co-leading job at NASA, things really are starting to look up. Until she finds out her co- lead is actually Levi Ward—her nemesis from Grad School!
I absolutely LOVED everything about this steamy, STEM romance! I loved how endearing (and adorably nerdy) all of the characters were and how relatable they all felt; especially Bee’s assistant, Rocío who was definitely one of faves (her scenes were just so entertaining).
I also loved Bee, our purple haired, Star Wars loving neuroscientist with a love for all things Marie Curie. I loved her quirky sense of humour and the emotional journey we experience through her; after witnessing her childhood it’s easy to understand why she fears emotional connection—I really just wanted to give her a big cozy hug.
Levi, Bee’s grad school nemesis was an absolute cinnamon roll of a character (seriously Hazelwood writes some of the best male characters) and the perfect love interest for Bee, I loved how his grumpy, brooding demeanour just seems to melt the more time he spends with Bee (our perpetual day of sunshine) also his love of cats made him 100% hotter. The chemistry and sexual tension between them was off the charts, and I was absolutely obsessed with how much steamier the romance here was than in Hazelwood’s debut.
I also thought Hazelwood did a fantastic job at highlighting the incredibly important (and relevant) issues surrounding the injustice and prejudice within STEM, particularly in regards to women. In fact, having loved this soo much I definitely plan to check out more STEMinist romances (and if your also looking into reading more there’s a couple of lists over on Goodreads full of incredible STEM related romances which includes Hazelwood’s novellas.)
So, if you loved The Love Hypothesis, enemies to lovers or the sunshine/grump trope then your going to fall hopelessly in love with this adorably quirky, and utterly endearing romance—trust me, the serotonin boost from reading this will have you in a state of blissfulness for at least a week (or until your next reread.)
Thanks to Sphere/Little, Brown Book Group UK and Netgalley for the e-arc.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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