Bee Königswasser, a purple-haired scientist and Marie Curie enthusiast, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she’s offered the lead on a neuroengineering project at NASA…the only problem? Her co-lead is her handsome grad school archnemesis, engineer Levi Ward. After a rocky start, involving a fainting incident, missing equipment, ignored emails, and cold shoulders, Bee and Levi form a truce when they learn that one of their competitors is working on a similar project. Forced proximity and common interests has Bee and Levi opening-up, spending more time together, and clearing up old misunderstandings. But when their working relationship starts to turn into something more, Bee, who has experienced a lot of heartbreak and loss in the past, is scared to commit. Can Levi convince Bee to give love another chance? Love on the Brain is a STEM-themed romantic comedy that uses the “enemies to lovers”, forced proximity, and workplace romance tropes. It deals with some difficult topics including cheating, loss of parents, parental/ familial conflict, loneliness, fear of loss/ abandonment, and female inequality in the workplace/ sciences. I also appreciated that Love on the Brain addressed the inadequacy and unfairness of standardized testing. This book is ideal for romance lovers as, in addition to Bee’s primary love story, there is also a secondary LGBTQ+ love story featuring Bee’s co-worker Rocío. Furthermore, I highly recommend Love on the Brain to fans of Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert, The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort, The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese, as well as Hazelwood’s debut novel, The Love Hypothesis. In my opinion, the moral of Love on the Brain is summed up nicely by Alfred Tennyson: “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”. Firstly, I thought that Love on the Brain was even better (and steamier) than The Love Hypothesis! Furthermore, Love on the Brain hooked me right from page 1 and I honestly did not want to put this book down. Like Olive in The Love Hypothesis, Bee in Love on the Brain is a nerdy yet fierce woman in STEM who isn’t afraid to smash the patriarchy. Additionally, I loved how Bee, with her Marie Curie twitter account, purple hair and piercings, aspiring cat lady energy, and animal-friendly values, was very unique and cool. Bee’s “enemies to lovers” romance with Levi, whom I though was such a swoon-worthy cinnamon roll, was close to perfection and I was relieved that Bee’s story ended in a happily ever after. I found that the NASA, space, technological, and neuroscience elements present in this story were very unique and interesting; I felt like they were adequately explained without going into too many details that distracted from the romantic storyline.
In conclusion, this steamy and unique romantic comedy was a highly enjoyable and engaging read that I would definitely consider rereading and recommending (or even gifting) to a friend. I cannot wait to read more of Hazelwood’s work - I’m really looking forward to the upcoming releases of her STEMinist novellas in ebook format! Will you be picking up a copy of Love on the Brain when it releases on August 23rd? Links:
Click HERE to add Love on the Brain to your "Goodreads" TBR!
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February 2024
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