Adult, ARC review, book review

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren (ARC Review)

Title: The Soulmate Equation
Author: Christina Lauren
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Gallery Books (Simon & Schuster)
Date published: May 18, 2021

A complimentary digital copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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.

⤖ My Review ⬻

I absolutely loved Christina Lauren’s Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating and Dirty Rowdy Thing, and definitely enjoyed Dating You/Hating You. The Christina Lauren book that I read before this one (The Unhoneymooners), however, was definitely not for me, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Soulmate Equation

I am happy to say, now that I’ve read The Soulmate Equation, that I loved the first half (maybe even up to the 3/4 mark). I don’t generally read romance books featuring single parents, but I absolutely loved Jess as a character as well as her daughter Juno. I also loved how they interacted with each other!

I wasn’t too sure about River at first, or about the chemistry between him and Jess. But once I was a few chapters in, I was definitely on board. The sexual tension was almost palpable! I was definitely rooting for Jess and River to get together.

A photograph taken by Flavia the Bibliophile of a white iPad laying on a white fur rug that is placed over a dark wood floor. The iPad is facing up and displaying the cover of the book The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren.

And I also enjoyed the whole science, genetics, statistics aspect of this story. I don’t know much about any of those subjects, but based on my small amount of knowledge, I felt that the authors made all of it feel quite believable!

I loved the characters, and I loved most of the story! The reason I say “most of” (and I mentioned the halfway or 3/4 point earlier) is that after that point, I wasn’t as interested or invested in what was happening. I guess certain things (including how things were wrapped up) fell a little short.

That aside however, the parts that I enjoyed, I enjoyed a lot (to explain my rating below). And I’m sure that there are many readers out there who loved The Soulmate Equation from start to finish. My experience, and my review, (as all experiences and reviews) are relative.

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced seventeen New York Times bestselling 

Christina Lauren, the authors of The Soulmate Equation

novels. Their books have been translated into 30+ languages. (Some of these books have kissing. Some of these books have A LOT of kissing.)

⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻

⤖ Let's Chat ⬻

Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!

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