Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood. 4.25 stars, STEM RomCom, 354 pages, 2022

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?

from Goodreads

After reading The Love Hypothesis last month, it took me no time at all to realize that I would be reading more from her. It was fun, smart, and romantic. What’s not to love?

Love on the Brain is very similar to TLH. It’s set in academia, has offbeat heroines and stoic heroes (unless there’s sex and then all bets are off), and an obvious attraction seen by the reader even though the heroine misses it. But, in all of the ways that TLH went over the top and sometimes missed the mark, this one didn’t. It’s a more mature story, complete with cats and near death experiences.

Bee and Levi are working on a project for NASA and they have a history. Bee runs a site for women in science to vent their frustrations. What happens when Bee’s worst day involves both parts of her life.

I’ll be moving on to my next Hazelwood romcom soon and I can’t wait!

“Fun fact about me: I am a fairly mellow person, but I happen to have a very violent fantasy life. Maybe it’s an overactive amygdala. Maybe it’s too much estrogen. Maybe it’s the lack of parental role models in my formative years. I honestly don’t know what the cause is, but the fact remains: I sometimes daydream about murdering people. By “sometimes,” I mean often. And by “people,” I mean Levi Ward. I have my first vivid reverie on my third day at NASA, when I imagine offing him with poison.” from Love on the Brain