Ali Hazelwood is a new favorite author. She sets her contemporary rom-coms in the world where women are fighting to be heard in the STEM fields (Science, Tech, Engineering, and Math). Her newest novel, Love on the Brain, introduces us to Bee Konigswasser, a PhD in neuroscience, who is invited to work on her dream project designing a helmet for NASA astronauts. This allows her to escape her not so dreamy life which includes a stalled career (misogynistic boss and co-workers included) and solitary existence. The only catch is that the engineering lead on the project is Levi Ward, a man who hated her when they were in the same PhD program.
The project encounters unexpected bumps and Bee must decide whether to trust Levi to be her ally or risk failure. As you might expect, the characters are smart, endearing, nerdy, and sometimes socially awkward. With nerd pop culture references running throughout the narrative, the story is a fast read that vacillates between hilarious situations, poignant scenes, and soul crushing misunderstandings. It also has fabulous secondary characters that I want to see stories about in the future.
As you may expect, it all ends with a HEA but not before there is a blow-up situation that may bring everything Bee worked for personally and professionally tumbling down. Hazelwood makes nerd love cool!
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?
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