Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Christina Lauren
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: May 18th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents–who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno–Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard…and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands. At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98% compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Pena. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Pena. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess–who is barely making ends meet–is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could make GeneticAlly a mint in stock prices, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist–and the science behind a soulmate–than she thought.

Funny, warm, and full of heart, The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.

A NEW FAV.

My love of CL books goes up and down. But I can easily say this is one of my top favorites of their books. I adored this one y’all. So if you’ve been hesitant too, I think this one is worth checking out.

I love the unique plot. I honestly don’t know how believable it is (genetics/romance/etc.) but that didn’t bother me one bit. I thought it would actually be pretty cool if something like the DNADuo was available. It was incredibly nerdy listening to Jess and River discuss statistics and genetics and I loved it. As someone who is allergic to math, I didn’t quite follow everything, but that doesn’t take away from the story.

River was such a cinnamon roll!! Oh goodness, just the sweetest. I love the dates he and Jess went on and the clear chemistry between them. Then his relationship with Jess’s daughter, Juno, was ADORABLE. I love a great single parent story and this one is it. I also thought Jess’s friendship with Fizzy was perfect. They were truly best friends and I couldn’t get enough of the support that went both ways between them. Fizzy was hilarious and brought such a great vibe to the book.

One aspect in most romances is that final conflict, which can bust a book or make a book. You can kind of assume what’s going to happen in this story, and even when it did I wanted to keep reading because I still HAD TO KNOW what was going to happen next. I thought the drama was a nice touch and that there was an honest conversation and acknowledgement of wrong doing in the end. I love how Jess and River came back together for their relationship, regardless of what had happened.

Overall audience notes:

• Contemporary Romance
• Language: some strong
• Romance: kisses to open and closed door scenes (brief, this is a lower steam CL book)
• Trigger/Content Warnings: a loved one with a substance abuse problem

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