Review: Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Love on the Brain is my second read by Ali Hazelwood. I was totally taken with The Love Hypothesis and couldn’t wait to dive into more of her work! This one follows Bee, a neuroscientist working on a project with NASA that happens to involve her sworn enemy, Levi. Levi was always cold to her in grad school and seemed actively disgusted when she was around. Bee thinks that it was because he hated her, but nothing (of course) could be further from the truth.

Like The Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain is well-written. This one is in first-person voice and Bee’s narration is cute and generally fun. I like that she is a bit alternative. She has piercings and tattoos and dyes her hair fun colors. Nerd culture also plays a role here, with both of the main characters being Star Wars fans. And Bee’s assistant is a full-on Goth girl. I like seeing characters with interests outside of the mainstream, although the assistant at times was a bit much.

Another plus of the story (for me) is that there is an ever-so-slight mystery. Bee’s work on the project is being sabotaged by someone and it leads to a dramatic confrontation. I do like contemporary romance, but sometimes things do get a little dull when conflicts are all internal or are misunderstandings, and the third act conflict is definitely one of the most dramatic that I have read in a while.

However, this one had a few things that just…annoyed me. Bee’s traits were a little too silly and unbelievable. She faints all the time due to an undiagnosed medical condition. And she also cries every single time that she sees roadkill. It’s just too much for me. I don’t really go for delicate heroines. Additionally, Levi is a little samey compared to Adam from The Love Hypothesis. He is also a big muscular, dark-haired hunk, and while there are plenty of those, Levi’s interests don’t seem that dissimilar to Adam’s. Being vegan isn’t really an interest and his other personality trait seems to be having a cat. (And speaking of the cat, another pet peeve of mine was how often the characters mentioned the phrase “anal glands.” Not cute. Not funny.) I dunno, just kind of felt like I had seen it before, and it was also weird that Levi was just SO in love with Bee that he couldn’t bear to look at her. And he hadn’t been with anyone else in the years it had been since he saw her last because he was just so in love with this woman he barely knew? Yeah, that’s pretty weird and creepy, buddy.

And then, spoiler alert here, but you probably figured it out on page one It also turns out that Bee has an anonymous science online presence and has been unknowingly corresponding with Levi, who also has an anon account. But how Bee DID NOT FIGURE OUT she was talking to Levi sooner drove me crazy. It was just incredibly obvious from what he said almost immediately and Bee comes off like a total idiot. We all know that there are plot elements that stretch credulity in romance novels, but this was just too far for me.

Overall, though, it was a pleasing read. There are a few spice scenes that were okay. I am not totally a fan of how Ali Hazelwood writes her spicy stuff, but they aren’t bad, just maybe a bit too much for me. I am going to give this one ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. It’s pretty readable, light-hearted, and the pacing is good. I think Ali Hazelwood’s prose is also cute enough to balance out some of my minor complaints!