‘Love on the Brain’ by Ali Hazelwood: A Worthy Successor to ‘The Love Hypothesis’?

• Title: Love on the Brain
• Author: Ali Hazelwood
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Pub. date: 23 August 2022
• Series: standalone
• Page count: 368
• Genres: adult, contemporary, romance

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.

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 – 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. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school – archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.

But when her equipment starts to go missing and the staff ignore her, Bee could swear she sees Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas… devouring her with those eyes. 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? 

Content warnings: Parental death in a car accident (in the past), death of a friend in a rock climbing accident (in the past), seizure disorder in children, sexism in the workplace, mentions of workplace sexual harassment, firearms & life-threatening situations (that do NOT result in death), explicit & graphic sexual content, cursing & vulgar language

I have been waiting for this book ever since Ali announced it! After I fell head over heels for The Love Hypothesis, I pretty much vowed to read literally anything that Ali wrote, so here we are!

Love on the Brain centers around 2 new STEM main characters: Bee Königswasser who is all purple hair, piercings and Marie Curie-loving broke neuroscientist; and Levi Ward, Bee’s grad school nemesis who is currently leading a NASA neuroengineering project. When Bee gets invited to co-lead this project with Levi it is pretty much the breakthrough project she needs to get herself an independent achievement in the STEM space, but will she be able to actually get work done when Levi keeps annoying her at every turn?

Bee was a pretty likeable character who I genuinely enjoyed getting to know throughout the story. Her relationship with her twin sister, her spunk and flair really made me love her as a main character. I loved that she had pink-purple hair and piercings while holding her own in the misogynist STEM universe.

Levi, on the other hand, did not really have me liking him as much as I thought I would. As a character, he is great with just the right amount of quiet strength and vulnerability I like seeing in my male MCs. But for someone who has read The Love Hypothesis, he reminded me a bit too much of our beloved Dr Adam Carlsen. Ali’s emphasis on his tall physique and his mannerisms just kept sparking unintentional comparisons to her previous male MC, and that just did not do it for me.

Love on the Brain had some exciting and fun quirky moments and I did not expect much in terms of the plot since there is only so far standalone rom-coms can go in terms of plot. It was a fun, escapist plotline with some serious bits thrown in here and there. But I loved seeing how Bee and Levi were together, and that they actually spent quality time in an actual relationship.

As expected, this book was a perfect example of Ali’s fun, whimsical style of writing that just does wonders to rom-coms, in my opinion. I would also say that I noticed a marked improvement in the writing compared to her previous full-length release. There was just better synergy and flow in her writing this time.

Love on the Brain is a fun follow-up to Ali Hazelwood’s debut novel. It had everything I expected: STEM nerds, steamy romance, rivals-to-lovers, and lots of hilarious moments! Other than Levi Ward’s uncanny resemblance to her Adam Carlsen from her previous book, I absolutely enjoyed this escapist rom-com.

More Love on the Brain content: Anne’s review, Lacy’s Q&A with the author, and Lindsey’s review

My favorite thing in the world is to explore traditional romance tropes—and to picture how they’ll play out in academic settings.

Rival scientists falling in love despite their better judgement?

There’s only one cot in the lab?

Fake dating during faculty meeting?

Sign me up!

I’m originally from Italy, lived in Japan and Germany, and eventually moved to the US to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. I recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies me. Oh, the sheer dread of being entrusted with the care of young minds!

When I’m not at work you can find me binge-watching shows with my feline overlords (and my slightly less feline husband), running, or eating candy.

Oh, and I’m a New York Times Bestselling Author.

I’m represented by the amazing Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

Have you read Love on the Brain or will you be picking it up?