Love On The Brain Published by Berkley Books on August 2022
Genres: Adult Fiction, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon Goodreads
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?
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?
Oh be still my nerdy heart!
I am obsessed with The Love Hypothesis so I was over the moon to be approved for a review copy of Love On The Brain.
Hazelwood doesn’t disappoint.
I love Bee. She is intelligent and an ace in her field. I like her inner challenges. She seemed very authentic to me, being a woman in a male dominate field. Levi is top of his game. He is co-leading this new team with her and of course she thinks he hates her. (He doesn’t.) And she thinks he’s sabotaging her. (He isn’t.) It’s a game of miscommunication but not in a frustrating why won’t they talk sort of way. It was easy to root for Bee and believe her POV, even when I knew there must be more to it than she’s seeing.
And sure, Levi is handsome and misunderstood. But that adds to his charm. I’m a sucker for a broody, serious, genius of a leading man. I love Levi’s personality, he is so obviously smitten with Bee and she is so not ready to accept that.
The external challenges they faced seemed real and frustrating. I have never worked in that area, but I can imagine those things happen a lot. Hazelwood does a wonderful job of creating authentic characters and placing them in settings that feel emotionally real and worldly. She either has experience or she does research/knows people who are in those fields because the problems and hurdles the scientist jump through seem well described. For me, this added a lot of additional charm to the book. I’m instantly immersed in their world and I know nothing about science, academia or brain research. (I went to music school for god’s sakes.)
Overall Love On The Brain is a wonderful follow up to her debut. She’s auto buy for me now. And those covers?! I’ll be buying a physical copy to put right up next to The Love Hyptothesis.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
I liked but didn’t love The Love Hypothesis. This one is on my library wait list though. And yes, I love all of the covers!