Love on the Brain
Title: Love on the Brain
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Published: 23rd August 2022
Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction Pages: 368 Start Date: 24th August 2022
Finish Date: 25th August 2022
Summary
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, and 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?
Review
Love on the Brain is a workplace romance between two rivals who are now co-leading a project together at NASA, it is an addictive, cute, swoon-worthy read that I could not put down. Even in a STEM world filled with scientific words I do not understand, Ali wrote it in a way that was not that confusing. There was everything I loved from The Love Hypothesis; nerdy and relatable characters, a STEM setting, an adorable romance, and quirky banter but added even more.
Bee is a Marie Curie fan girl, has purple hair, loves Star wars and is ultra smart. She was so quirky and funny but she had a lot of depth to her, she was bounced around families all her childhood and just wanted a stable life to put down roots. Her fears of loving someone and them leaving her were very real and emotional. I definitely felt I could relate to Bee when it came to that, I am always scared of being left. Levi is an incredible love interest, I am obsessed with him. He and Bee went to the same grad school, where his hatred of Bee was known by everyone, for reasons she never quite understood.
Levi is a broody, grumpy engineer but secretly a cinnamon roll who likes cats. You think he hates Bee for unknown reasons but you see the delicious unrequited love on Levi's side which makes his interactions with Bee that make you love him more. He's that obsessed boy who secretly has harboured a super crush on our main female character and he is so quiet and doesn't know what to do with his emotions. Also, the extra spice in this book was a delight and the tension leading up to it was just perfect. On paper, they looked like two opposites, but they had so much in common and when Bee realised it, it brought a smile to my face. The care for their work, how much of an advocate Levi was for Bee in her role, willing to admit when he was wrong. Every sweet thing out of his mouth just had me screaming.
Levi and Bee's dynamic was so fun to read, and I just really loved them as a couple. But they aren't the only characters in the book. One character that stole every scene she was in was Rocio, Bee's RA. She was such an entertaining character, I genuinely don't know how to describe her other than the fact that she's iconic.
My smile never left as soon as I started reading this book. I had such an amazing time reading this and I am incredibly jealous of anyone who reads it for the first time because I want to experience it all over again.
Overall, Love on the Brain was another amazing story by Ali Hazelwood. Ali is so good at setting up her story and characters in a way that builds your anticipation from the very first chapter and makes you binge a book in a day. The plot was interesting and funny. The side characters were great as well and added to the story. There was even a little bit of suspense that was unexpected. Some plot points were similar to The Love Hypothesis but didn't affect the story. Ali writes some amazing tropes and I can't wait to read her next work! The way I want more slow-burn romances with grumpy romance heroes right now so I can read them!!! I'm so in the mood. Thanks, Levi and Bee, you made my day.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️