Title: Love on the Brain
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Genre: Contemporary romance, romantic comedy
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: 2022
Format: Audiobook
Length: 11 hours

Read if you like: rivals to lovers, enemies to lovers, women in STEM/academia, miscommunications, witty banter, misunderstood MMC

Rating: 

I don’t read a whole lot of contemporary romance, so even though I’ve seen everyone I know get obsessed with Ali Hazelwood, it still took me this long to pick up one of her books. I’m now regretting that because this one was so thoroughly enjoyable that I’m now craving more.

I loved Love on the Brain. I loved the STEM focus and felt like the academic aspects were so achingly accurate at times that you couldn’t help but relate. I felt like the characters were quirky and memorable, and despite the book containing one of my least favourite tropes (miscommunication), I still couldn’t stop listening because I was just so entranced. 

This book was so endlessly endearing that it has me super keen to start reading more of Hazelwood’s works. Love on the Brain was a fantastically lovely romance that has made me feel like perhaps I’m entering a romcom era. I’ll be recommending this to anyone looking for a great contemporary romance, particularly if you’re looking for an audiobook. 

The Book: Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Love on the Brain follows brilliant neuroscientist Bee Konigswasser as she pursues her dream project of leading a research initiative with NASA. Unfortunately for her though, Bee quickly learns that she isn’t leading the project alone—she’s been assigned to lead this cutting-edge research with her arch nemesis Levi Ward. 

Bee and Levi first began to butt heads in graduate school, where Levi consistently brushed Bee off, sometimes in ways that were outright hostile or demeaning. Bee has always attributed this partially to misogynism on Levi’s part, and partly to his irrational hatred of her. Regardless of motive, Levi and Bee have never had an even semi-positive interaction and as a result, she enters the new project with a great deal of frustration and trepidation.

When Bee arrives in Texas to begin working on the NASA project, she’s immediately met with a whole host of issues, including missing equipment, a staff that won’t take her seriously, and a lack of support from management. Bee’s career has been on a downward spiral since she gave up a prestigious position while going through a nasty split with her ex-fiancé, and so she’s desperate to make this project work to save her career. Despite what she anticipates as she runs into these issues, she begins to find a staunch ally in Levi. As they both work through the various issues that are working against their project being a success, Bee is forced to confront the notion that perhaps Levi isn’t a total jerk, and when she does, she no longer knows what to expect or where to go from there. 

The Review

My goodness, this book was adorable. Even just thinking back on the experience of reading it, I can feel all the butterflies coming back into my stomach. 

First off, I loved the setting, and I felt like Hazelwood did a great job of making it feel authentic. As someone who has worked in academia for about a decade (albeit on the business side), there were a lot of aspects that felt relatable. It immediately made me feel immersed and invested in both the world Hazelwood was building and the characters within it. 

Speaking of characters, Bee and Levi were wonderful to get to know, even if there were moments where Bee felt so clueless I almost wanted to punch her. I thought they were quirky and flawed and lovely and it was such a joy to see their relationship evolve and grow alongside their growth arcs. Also, the slow burn between them and then the blaze that grew from it was fantastically satisfying. I couldn’t help but root for them the whole way through. 

I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the plot twist towards the end had a significant escalation that had me anxiously listening, desperate to hear how things would turn out. A lot of elements of this book I predicted in advance (which is not a bad thing, I still found it immensely enjoyable), but the explosion at the end went beyond what I was anticipating. It was thrilling and exciting and brought things together perfectly. 

I very much enjoyed my first Hazelwood novel, enough that I’m already excited to start another. This was a super solid contemporary romance/romcom and I can’t recommend it enough for those interested in this genre, particularly if you have an interest in STEM/academia as well.