Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Brohm

Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Brohm
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to Atria Books via NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Neuroscientist Dr. Frances Silberstein has success on the brain. As a grad student, she was offered a job by her brilliant boyfriend, but determined to make it on her own, she turned it—and him—down. Now, stuck in postdoc purgatory with no job security and no personal life to speak of, Frances is desperate to make a breakthrough. Her best shot is a summer conference packed with her field’s leading scientists. The only problem? It’s organized by her ex, who has found the success that’s eluded her. But backing out is not an option, because Frances desperately needs to network to save her career.

Enter Dr. Lewis North: her perceptive, meticulous, and inconveniently attractive rival. When their academic sniping gets mistaken for flirtatious chemistry, Frances doesn’t deny it—putting her integrity and career on the line. As soon as her prefrontal cortex is operational again, Frances realizes she needs to keep up the charade, or risk everything she’s worked for. Faking data is out of the question, but fake dating? That might just be the solution she needs.

But as Lewis starts to make her reward centers spark and a major setback has Frances questioning everything, she must confront what she’s willing to chase—for love, for science, and for the future she thought she wanted.
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As someone who has a laboratory science degree and learned long ago to embrace the nerdy side of my personality, I could tell immediately this book would be right up my alley, so I jumped at the chance to read it when I was offered an advanced electronic copy. I have to say that Brohm's debut novel did not disappoint. It had just enough science in it without getting too technical to go over most readers' heads, and the couple at the heart of the story were likable right away. There were some of the usual tropes that make modern romance novels fun, and I am not at all opposed to these tried and true plot points, so I will almost always enjoy a fake dating storyline. There was just enough conflict in it to keep things from feeling too predictable, and there were a couple of interesting side stories that lent themselves to the overall flow of the book. Overall, this was an enjoyable addition to my reading list, and I hope that this author continues to give us more of these STEM romances. I will definitely be looking out for them!

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