The Book:
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
Published May 18th 2021 by Gallery Books
Date read: May 19, 2021
The Characters:
Jess, daughter Juno, best friend Fizzy
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
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 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.
The Review:
I started reading Christina Lauren back when their Beautiful series came out, and have been a huge fan ever since. I’ll read anything they write, but I’ve been loving the DNA theme lately so I was especially excited for this one. I binge-listened to the audiobook as soon as it became available, and it didn’t disappoint. I loved that they got into the sciencey side of the app, and even learned that Lauren has a background in neuroscience!
Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and this book did the theme very well. C&L are known for their steam, but this one was a little different in that it focused more on Jess’s attention to her family. It felt more grown-up and real-life than some of their previous books (don’t get me wrong though, I absolutely love their cheesier romances too!).
As always in C&L’s novels, the characters were incredible. Fizzy was my favorite. Both leads were so relatable, and I loved Jess’s daughter Juno.
The audiobook production was so great–thank you to Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC! Patti Muren narrates a couple of C&L’s books, and always does an amazing job. I was so happy to have an audio copy of this book so that I could listen to it the day it came out.
It’s interesting that they didn’t write from River’s perspective as well–I feel like a lot of books have two POV’s. In a Holidaze didn’t either, though, now that I think about it. No complaints here, it just stood out to me!
Lovers of these authors and of DNA stories will both enjoy this book. It certainly lived up to the hype for me!
