Love on the Brain

Ali Hazelwood is the queen of lighthearted, feel-good Stem Rom-Coms! And she rolled out another five-star read-Love on the Brain. Love on the Brain is Hazelwood’s sophomore novel, and it’s just as well paced and hilariously cute as her debut The Love Hypothesis. If you love cute contemporary featuring a pair of idiots in love, you’ll love this one.

Summary:

Bee Königswasser lands an amazing opportunity as a co-leader for a special project at Nasa. The job is to good to pass up, even if it means working with her archnemesis Levi Ward. Bee and Levi met in grad school, but Levi has never liked her. Bee even caught him complaining about her to their mentor. Bee never expects to see Levi again; after all they’ve gone their separate ways and live across the country from each other.

When Bee arrives in Texas, she’s ready to put the past behind her and keeps things professional. But it’s not long before Bee notices passive aggressive comments and vibes amongst her colleagues. Not to mention she’s unable to do amy work because her computer equipment goes missing. Bee concerns are ignored, and Levi seems to be the most understanding.

Bee finds an unlikely ally in Levi, and the more time she spends with him, the more she begins to reconsider him as her nemesis.

Thoughts:

This novel shares many similarities with The Love Hypothesis, and the protagonists have similar personalities, so I could see some readers turned off by this; but it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. To be honest, it was kind of a plus sense I loved how quickly I devoured The Love Hypothesis.

What I enjoyed about this novel is that it made the Stem topics digestible, and it brought to my attention the way different Stem baddies work together in the same field. For example, in this story Bee is an engineer specializing in neuroscience, but Levi’s an engineer and creates the prototype featured in this novel. I really liked this aspect of the novel because Hazelwood did not need to go into the specifics of Levi’s and Bee’s work, but she does- and it makes the novel feel much more realistic.

Additionally I like Bee’s characterization. Not only is she a Stem baddie that contemplates Marie Curie when she’s in doubt she’s also an animal lover and spends most of this novel trying to convince Levi that there’s a wandering Cat that roams Nasa. Bee instantly falls for this cat and leaves out treats in her office for her. When Bee moves to Texas she’s recovering from heartbreak and forced to work with Levi not only tests her emotionally but mentally too. In short, she’s so brave.

While Levi is the guy we are meant to root for from the beginning he makes it a bit challenging. Levi has his own demons but his biggest flaw in this novel is just how bad he is at reading social cues and reading a room. He improves by the end but because of this unawareness that leads to many misunderstandings between him and Bee. That said Levi is very sweet and a gentleman once Bee gives him a chance.

“I’m a good girl, I’m perfect, I’ve been driving him insane, when he first saw me I changed the chemistry of his brain.”

Love on the Brain
Ali Hazelwood

Speaking of romance, it is a slow burn not excruciating slow but well done. Bee denies her feelings for Levi despite her attraction to him and she later convinces herself that all she feels for him is physical attraction.

This makes the final romantic arc that mention sweeter. Spice lovers you won’t be disappointed as there are a few smutty scenes, and they’re quite good.

Hazelwood has a way of making her romance novels both cozy and enticing. The pacing is great, and the little bursts of character development sprinkled in are enough to keep readers engaged.

Plus, I wanted to mention this brilliant subplot Hazelwood writes in. As mentioned, Bee leaves treats for the office cat who only comes out at night, and while this stray keeps to herself, she’s also super friendly when Bee encounters her. I loved this subplot and thought it was a great metaphor for Bee. Bee’s always reminding herself that her time at Nasa is temporary because her contract is not up for renewal, and she dreads returning to the east coast with her vexing boss. Bee’s eager for a fresh start, and like the cat, she’s searching for a home. This novel end with a Happy ever after so I found the resolution super cute and perfect!

I’ve heard other readers were not pleased with Bee’s personality or how similar the plot of this novel is to The Love Hypothesis– but if you’re the type of reader that enjoys some predictability and a tall, dark haired, brooding love interest, you’ll probably eat up Love on the Brain.

content warnings: sexual content, sexism, misogyny, inferentiality, death of a parent, gun violence

Alright book lovers if you haven’t read any Ali Hazelwood novel nows your chance pick one up!

Until next time book lovers I’ll be living in libros,

Gabriela

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