I gave this one a whirl and honestly it just wasn’t for me. The writing was good, but the story line was just so unrealistic. I was cringing at the setup. But if you don’t mind awkward plots and like stem romances this is probably a good one for you!

3.5 stars

I liked the plot of this one (love a couple in STEM) and I enjoyed the fake dating to real dating arc of the main characters. There were also a few things a bit frustrating - I wanted more detail/actual conversations instead of glazing over things at what felt like important parts of the plot, and I didn’t love how unwilling to compromise Frances was the last 30%ish of the book.

Overall, it was a good read though

I loved the science setting of this story but a part of me felt this story dragged a bit. The FMC was a bit annoying but it was acknowledged somewhat in the book so I don’t think it was not intended. The author does a great job at writing in detail but at times it did feel like there was too much detail on every little bit. That kept me away from the story it felt so it was a bit discouraging at times when you just want to know what happens. However, I would still say this was a great book and give it 3/5 stars.

Omg, I was hooked in that first chapter! The first thing my grad school advisor said to us before we graduated was to never book a plane ticket with your Dr. designation because if there’s an emergency on the flight, they will seek you out first, and we aren’t that kind of doctor! But just like those memes where the flight attendant asks for your kind of doctor to help with an abstract deadline, she comes to the rescue for her academic rival. Excellent opening!
Here are a couple of STEM romances with similar vibes to compare: Missed connection by Denise Williams and Love on the brain by Ali Hazelwood.
Lewis is an emotionally and academically supportive king, and we love him for it. Frances is on the struggle bus with her life and career choices. I did cry a lot in the third act, but what I loved was the time and work Frances took after the conflict to figure herself out and become her own hero. She don’t need no man, but she still wants Lewis, and I just loved that. It was well written, it had a good plot and character arc, and the spice was good as well.

This is so crazy but when I was young I had a concussion-induced (very) temporary memory loss while playing rugby and during my undergrad I had a very short time with using fMRI for research so this book was honestly right up my alley. I'm so glad this book is my first ever NetGalley review!

As someone in STEM, I really enjoyed the book. The characters are just-the-right-amount of nerdy and rides that fine line of being endearing instead of unrelatable with their nerdiness very well. Personally, I feel like sometimes STEM romance authors try too hard to show that the characters are smart and loses the readers in the process but that's not the case in this book! I love that both the FMC and MMC are clearly flawed and makes mistakes but they are both able to own up to the fact that they aren't perfect. It makes them both relatable and likable. I loved the fact that Frances acknowledges her shortcomings and spends a part of the book trying to be better and figuring herself out. The book also represents very real issues of being in academia well.

While I love it when the MMC pines for the FMC as much as the next reader, I loved watching Frances fall for Lewis and yearn for him even before she knew his thoughts about her. I was so excited for Frances because I knew the reveal of Lewis' feelings was going to be ~so good~.

If you loved The Love Hypothesis for its STEM setting but kind of (really really) hated the fact that Adam was a PI and Olive was a grad student the way I did, this book might honestly be your fix. I don't mean to compare but I just wanted to say that in case it helps anyone decide whether they want to read it or not.

I don't know if this would be helpful but there were a lot of space errors where two words were attached together when there should be a space between them. (e.g. if you command + F "isworried" I highlighted the first one I saw to let whoever know but there were many more space-missing after that one). I'm not sure if it's due to my kindle and its setting but just wanted to point it out in case it needs to be fixed before publication date!

I love Ali Hazelwood’s work so I thought I’d give this a chance and I really enjoyed it. Frances and Lewis are rivals after she is not credited on a paper. I think a lot of their relationship starts off on miscommunication but after clearing things up they realize that they work great together. Then again we see a third act breakup because of miscommunication. Despite that, I liked Frances growth and her seeking out help by going to therapy. Lewis admired her from the beginning and was also very straight forward by telling her that he liked her. I really liked this book and I would recommend it!! Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

Amazing book loved the characters and plot. I couldn't stop reading I stayed up all night. I loved the book so much thank you for the arc.

This was a cute little romance set in an academic setting (I love nerds being nerds) that have a little rivals to lovers situation. AND a fake-dating situation. And we all know I love that (both of those).

I can see how people who like Ali Hazelwood STEM books would enjoy this, but I didn't find that this had quite the same depth or oomph as those.

I think what really made this not a stellar book for me was the third act break-up, I just don't find myself to be a fan of those. And I especially don't enjoy them when they heavily rely on miscommunication, so if you don't love those, you have been warned.

Overall, this was a super quick read. And I did enjoy it. These characters are cute and likable, I think they just needed a but more chemistry to really make me fall in love alongside them. I really think so many people are going to enjoy this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is perfect for rivals to lovers who also enjoy Ali Hazelwood's STEM romance. Lewis and Frances are the textbook definition of rivals. Mix in a little fake dating, and this is a perfect romance book.

I enjoyed the representation of mental health that Frances portrayed. Not only was she experiencing anxiety/panic attacks, and she had to learn how to address her issues. I feel like there was quite a bit of growth from both characters throughout the book as they worked on themselves and their relationship. Lewis and Frances' relationship slowly shifted from rivals to friends due to multiple situations where able to support each other.

I appreciated the dynamic between Frances and her sister, and I appreciated the realistic shift in their relationship after her sister addressed her concerns. It felt like Frances was making progress in multiple dimensions in her life.

One issue I had was that they avoided communicating with each other which made their issues bigger than they had to be. If he had communicated from the beginning why her name wasn't on the article or that he got the grant, she would not have had as big of feelings about it because the feeling of betrayal wouldn't have been felt as strongly.

This was a cute story about two people in an academic setting who start off as enemies and turn into lovers. Their original conflict of Lewis not crediting Frances on a paper she contributed to, was what fueled the first part of the story. But Lewis gets a chance to explain when they are forced into fake dating for a two week long conference.

Frances and Lewis’ tension and push and pull was great for the first half of the book and I thought the pacing was great. My favorite part of the book was when Lewis admits his feelings instead of avoiding talking about them. I full on thought they were going to get physical without discussing any true feelings but Lewis surprised me and just came out with it.

What i didn’t enjoy was all of the academic talk. I enjoy people nerd-ing out about their passions but I found myself skimming at times. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the second conflict in the book which leads to the third act issue. Frances broke up with her ex because she felt that her career would be credited all to him and that her accolades would always be because she was ‘with’ the boss. Which made sense but she was very stubborn about this towards the end and Lewis did everything and then some to prevent her from feeling this way but she just didn’t wanna see it.

Overall a good story and I’d definitely read something by this author again. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading this book but something just left me wanting more maybe another book to continue their story

It was entertaining. Love Ali Hazlewood and it was very much giving her vibe of a book. I think I found the fake dating in this book a bit too unrealistic as it just didn’t really make sense to me. All in all it was cute and entertaining!

This was super cute! Very reminiscent of Ali Hazelwood. The romance was adorable and I liked the FMCs journey of self discovery. Would definitely recommend!

If you're a big fan of Ali Hazelwood's early novels, then Love and Other Brain Experiments is the book for you. At times, I felt like this story was part of the greater Ali-verse, and I'm thankful that we're getting more women in STEM-based books published, because girls and women need to know that they are just as capable as men!

I'm giving this 3 stars because I absolutely despise a third-act breakup, especially when based on miscommunication, and unfortunately we did get one in an otherwise fairly charming novel about two scientists falling in love, and I also was, at times, a little overwhelmed by the amount of exposition the author wrote, but I am a sucker for rivals-to-lovers and strong family dynamics, and I did have a good time reading it apart from the breakup.

All in all, if you're looking for more books similar to The Love Hypothesis, put Love and Other Brain Experiments on your radar!

This was super cute! A good read if you like Ali hazelwood. The characters were likable, the conflict believable. I did think some of the side characters took away from the plot too much, but I still really enjoyed it.

5 stars.

I adored this book — it gave me serious Ali Hazelwood and Emily Henry vibes in the best way. Quirky, cute, and surprisingly profound, especially in how it explores the importance of communication in relationships.

This one’s got it all: enemies to lovers, fake dating, and a STEM backdrop that feels smart without being overdone. It’s witty, funny, and full of heart. You’ll fall head-over-lab-coat for Frances and Lewis and find yourself cheering them on every step of the way.

An absolute gem — don’t sleep on this one.

loved this romance of two people who have both been in academia and finally meet up and fall in love. love this fake dating to real romance. loved that he supported her and understood her brain and wanted something with her. loved her sister and meeting his family.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for a copy of *Love and Other Brain Experiments* by Hannah Brohm🧠❤️

This was an absolutely adorable read and such a great debut novel! Congratulations Hannah! It's a perfect book for lovers of nerdy, s.t.e.m. romance. Ali Hazelwood fans will definitely enjoy this book full of nerdy jokes, banter and heat between our MCs. Frances and Lewis both have challenges to overcome and their journey and personal growth are a big part of the story. They learn to communicate openly and with honesty as they get closer and I was so very much here for it. Science is definitely woven all throughout the storyline and really brings our characters together. It's great!

🧠 fake-dating
🧠 rivals to lovers
🧠 slow burn
🧠 he fell for her smarts
🧠 he likes to clean her glasses🤓 (sounds random but... swoon!)
🧠 personal growth
🧠 international characters

did i understand any of the science? no. but did I absolute adore the other chemistry (sorry for the pun, i kinda had to)? ABSOLUTELY. I’m a sucker for nerds. STEM is sexy.

Shout out to Netgalley and Atria Books for letting me get my grubby hands on this early!!

2.5/5 for this NetGalley arc. I think I would have understood the depth of the conflict more if knew