Love on the Brain

Love on the Brain is a romance novel and follows the conventions typical of the genre: It has a couple at its center, is narrated from the perspective of the female protagonist, and is mainly focuses on the development of the couple’s romantic relationship. Because the novel is a romantic comedy, humor plays an important role in plot development: The meet cute, in which a cat knocks over some equipment, causing Bee to fall into Levi’s arms, signals a lighthearted tone. Despite the ups and downs the couple faces, they and everyone else around them, experience a happy ending to their story.

The novel features the “enemies-to-lovers” trope, in which Bee and Levi are presented as grad school nemeses at the outset. Hazelwood uses the “stuck-together” trope, forcing the two to be unavoidably thrown together in a situation not entirely of their choosing. The situation heightens conflict and provides opportunities for their relationship to develop; because they have a history, they must confront the past to move forward.

The main tropes echo in the storylines of secondary characters, creating narrative symmetry, and situations commonly used in romantic writing bring the couples closer together—for instance, one incident sees Bee stuck in a situation where she is forced to call Levi for help, allowing him to be presented as a knight in shining armor.