Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Brohm – That’s What I’m Talking About…

Audiobook review: Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Brohm

I really enjoyed Love and Other Brain Experiments. Pretending to be in a relationship helps save Frances’s credibility and gives Lewis a barrier between his family and himself. The story feels familiar, especially to those like me who enjoy authors like Ali Hazelwood. The narrator does a wonderful job expressing emotion. Brentan’s performance made listening to the book a joy. 

The book spends time developing Frances and Lewis’s friendship, with some starts and stops. I appreciated that after four years of conflict, Francis is open to hear out Lewis, but is cautious and continues to be hurt by what happened in the past. However, it is very one-sided since we only have the first person POV of Francis. The author conveys some of what Lewis is presumably thinking and feeling both from his direct words, but also in Francis’s observations of Lewis’s actions and reactions. However, at times I was overwhelmed by Francis’s emotions and neediness and would have loved for some balance, i.e. Lewis’s POV. 

The couple works well together. Francis can only see black and white when it comes to her research and career. She tends to be narrow minded, missing the big picture. Lewis helps balance this and allows her to feel a bit freer. I love how the couple learns to communicate, expressing their big emotions, dreams, and fears. And I guess that’s why I was a bit upset with how things go sideways. 

I loved that certain aspects of Frances and Lewis’s romance that could have caused issues did not, with the author bypassing some predictability. However, I was disappointed that Brohm utilizes an overused plot device to cause the third act breakup. As I was listening, it felt like weak storytelling and used for the sake of drama. However, I can also see that it was used to help Francis hit bottom and re-evaluate what is important in her life. Luckily she gets some tough love from her sister and eventually figures it out. 

Narration: The story is shared via the first person of Frances. Brentan’s voice is youthful and age-appropriate. She does a great job expressing emotion, such as fear on an airplane or anger over perceived slights, well. Brendan deepens her performance for males, even making Lewis’s voice a little scratchy. Her voice is strong. Dialogue is altered based on gender and regional background, including a variety of accents, making each character unique. 

In the end, Love and Other Brain Experiments is a solid, enjoyable romance, made even better due to the narration. 

My Ratings
Story: B
Narration: A

Jen

About the Book:

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 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.

Author: Hannah Brohm
Narrator: Carlotta Brentan
Series: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Audiobook Release Date: February 3, 2026
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
Source: publisher
Audio Speed: 1.2x