Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Brohm Publishes-2/3/26

 

This was a cute love story with a scientific fake lovers twist.  Dr. Frances is struggling to make it in the academic world.  She is brilliant and does great work but she has faced many challenges to get her research funding especially in a male dominated profession.   She decides to attend a conference in New York but her ex-boyfriends will be there.  Once there she meets up with her ex's current girlfriend and runs into her current nemesis, Dr. Lewis North.  He is constantly criticizing her work and seems to have it out for her.  In a very awkward exchange Frances implies that she and Lewis are dating. She is now stuck in the lie because she will  risk her academic integrity which could cause career suicide if it gets out. Lewis goes along with it and as you can guess sparks begin to fly as the fake dating turns into more.  

There was a lot to like with this story. I enjoyed the dynamic between Frances and Lewis.  I also enjoyed learning more about their field of study.. I also liked the growth that I saw with the characters as a whole.  What I did not enjoy was near the end of the book the conflict between Frances and her sister.  It seemed to come out of left-field and took away from the direction of where the story was headed.  I also felt at times that the story was too wordy.  There were times where I just wanted the chapter to end so I could move on with the story.  Overall though, I did enjoy this and there was really good chemistry between the characters.