Review: ‘Love on the Brain’ by Ali Hazelwood
Love on the Brain
by Ali HazelwoodPublished by Berkley on August 23, 2022
SubGenres: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy
Format: AudioBook, Paperback
Pages: 368
Narrator: Brooke Bloomingdale
Length: 11 Hours And 7 Minutes
Source: Library - Libby, Purchased
Audience: 18+/Adult
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A 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?
After reading Love Hypothesis last year and loving it, I was ecstatic to start Love on the Brain. As someone who grew up visiting the Kennedy Space Center and loved watching the space shuttle launches, I couldn’t wait to read a book where the heroine worked closely with NASA.
Bee Königswasser was definitely an interesting character, not only due to her unique name but also the project she was assigned to work on at NASA. I could tell immediately she was a driven character. She took her job and research very seriously. She wouldn’t let anyone stop her from achieving her goals on her project, not even her archnemesis, Levi Ward, from Grad School, who is co-lead on the project. He’s made it known how he feels about Bee, but she’s determined not to have him mess up her chances with NASA.
Just like with the first book, Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain is an almost Enemies to Lovers and Forced Proximity storyline within the Workplace setting. It’s also told only in one POV, so readers don’t get the MMC’s POV. I would have loved to read Levi’s POV, but that’s just a personal preference. I was enjoying the book until I found myself losing interest mid-way with the book because I felt like I was rereading the Love Hypothesis but with a different setting and characters. I really wanted to enjoy this book because I loved the first book by Ali Hazelwood.
This one just didn’t have the same flare due to the repetition of storylines, and I didn’t really care for Bee and Levi’s relationship. Levi was described just like the previous MMC in Love Hypothesis, and Bee was unique and different, but I found her personality a little over the top, especially with certain things. She was a little extreme when it came to certain things outside of working at NASA, especially when she was with Levi after they realized they actually had no issues with one another. I did like Bee to a point, especially when it came to how determined and driven she was with her project. She handled things better than I would of if someone had prevented me from doing my job.
I did appreciate Levi for sticking up for Bee and finally admitting how he felt about her. It is a slow burn, so it takes a bit for these two to get together, which I’m okay with Slow Burn Romances.
I felt the ending was a bit rushed, especially when finding out who was behind trying to jeopardize Bee’s project. There was something else that irked me, but it’s only due to the field I worked on, and something that happened in this book just didn’t add up.
I really wished I would have enjoyed this more because I loved the first book. I may hold off on reading any other books that are similar to these storylines for a bit from Ali Hazelwood. I really think my college-aged daughter is the perfect audience for this book, and maybe she’ll enjoy it more, so I’m handing over the book to her whenever she has time to read it.
Story Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️.5
Steam/Spice: 🌶️
Standalone or Part of Series: Standalone.
Would I recommend this book? This book may get a low rating from me, but that doesn’t mean I won’t recommend it to readers who have read Ali Hazelwood’s books before and enjoy STEM Romance.
Genre/SubGenre(s): Romance | Contemporary Romance
Trope(s)/Element(s): STEM Romance | Enemies to Lovers | Forced Proximity | Workplace Romance
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