Love and Other Brain Experiments

Debut author Brohm draws from her background in neuroscience for this cute if somewhat slow contemporary. Neuroscientist Frances Silberstein travels to New York to attend a summer program organized by her ex, Jacob, hoping to make connections in case her grant funding falls through. When she arrives at the same time as her academic nemesis, Lewis North, who once failed to credit her on a research paper, Jacob’s postdoctoral researcher-turned-fiancee, Vivienne, mistakenly assumes that the pair are in a relationship. Frances is too flustered to correct her right away, and then fears she will seem like a liar if the truth gets out, potentially damaging her professional reputation. So the pair agree to fake date for the duration of the conference. Inevitably, attraction ignites, the lines between reality and pretend blur, and the truth behind Lewis’s failure to credit Frances’s work is revealed. Throughout, Brohm offers abundant details about the frustrations and politics of academia, all of which feel authentic but which occasionally distract from the thrust of the novel. Still, the angst between Frances and Lewis is delicious and the focus on STEM will appeal to fans of Ali Hazelwood. (Feb.)