Member Reviews
Really enjoyed this cute enemies to lovers romcom!
This is my first Christina Lauren book and I really liked it! Jess and Dr. River are so cute together! I enjoyed their journey from horrible first impressions to a deep, loving relationship, though at times it did feel rushed. I like how the couple found common ground and were able to learn how to communicate together.
Jess and her daughter were SO SWEET and I loved the way she always supported and encouraged her daughter. And FIZZY is the best friend we all deserve.
Loved the humor in the this story, and the characters that gave it heart. Wish there was more steamy moments, but overall this is a fantastic romcom to enjoy as summer creeps closer.
Thank you Netgally for this free ebook arc in exchange for an honest review.
I am a big fan Christina Lauren’s work, so of course I was super excited to hear they had a new book coming out. I was doubly excited when I read the blurb and saw it had similar vibes to The One by John Marrs. Or so I thought. Both books deal with the premise of finding your Soulmate through DNA testing, but that is pretty much where the similarities end.
Jess is a Santa Barbara based statistician, single mom, and best friend to a quirky author. When she and her best friend, Fizzy, hear about an up and coming DNA matchmaking company their curiosity, and a chance meeting with the company’s founder, River Pena, leads them to sending in their DNA samples in hopes of finding true love...or at least a more active dating life. Next thing she knows Jess is matched with none other than Dr. Pena, and a whirlwind of meetings, dates, and press appearances ensues. Does our DNA actually determine who we fall in love with, and can Jess really find love and true happiness in the most unexpected place?
With a handful of Christina Lauren books already under my belt, I have to say that this is one of their best to date! I love the premise, I love that Jess is an independent single mom, and as always I love the diversity in the characters throughout the book. There were a couple of sub plots that seemed unnecessary, but maybe that is just me wishfully hoping for more steamy parts. This book is light and fun—a perfect romcom.
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced ebook in exchange for my review.
I had a hard time getting into this book. I like Christina Lauren as authors, but every other book of theirs, I have a hard time getting into.
It pains me to write this, but I did not like this one at all. I did not connect with any of the characters so therefore the entire thing felt soulless to me. I typically adore Christina Lauren books but this one was a miss for me.
Christina Lauren have done it again with this one. Absolutely loved this and then chemistry between the hero and heroine.
I have become quite a fan of Christina Lauren. She writes a lovely rom-com very in tune with today's crazy world. In The Soulmate Equation, Jess is living her life day by day with her daughter Juno. She decided she would just live her life for her child and worry about herself when Juno was raised. Luckily, her best friend, Fizzy knows her all too well and is able to make Jess break out of her boring day to day. Together, the girls send in their saliva to see if they can be matched in the latest dating fad; being match genetically to your soulmate. In to the coffee shop is "Americano", River Pena. Sparks fly, but not the sparks of love with their first meeting. Unbelievable results come from Jess's results. She made a 98% match to someone......but could he really be her soulmate?
Lauren keeps the story interesting the whole book and leaves you wanting a little more of Jess's story. The writing is easy to follow and the chapters flow very nicely. I will once again be looking for Christina Lauren's other works and will be recommending The SoulMate Equation to others. Special thanks to NetGalley, Christina Lauren, and Gallery Books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren is one of the best books that I have read this year. Their books are so unique and written so well that you just fly through them. This is about Jess who is a single mother and not into dating since she has had her seven year old. I actually related to her a lot since I am a single mother of an 11 year old. She also has a best friend, Fizzy who is the comic relief in this story and a great addition. She is Jess' quirky best friend. Then of course there is River, the super hot quiet scientist who is involved in a company GeneticAlly. At GeneticAlly they match you up with your soulmate based on DNA. Jess and River end up with a supposed 98% score. She has no interest in him so this is enemies to lovers which is always fun. Eventually they offer her money to date him and the romance goes from there. I loved that at 85% of the book everything is absolutely perfect only for their to be a great twist and drama.
The characters, plot and writing is great in the book. I would definitely recommend it even to people who are not normally romance readers.
I really enjoyed this new book by Christina Lauren. Sometimes their books are hit or miss for me, but I found this one engaging with a unique plot. I liked the premise of a DNA matching dating app. I've never read a book with a similar plot so it was refreshing to find this read. I like Jess and River and their story and chemistry was well-written. I also liked the you only get Jess's POV. I sometimes prefer that to the dual POV that seems to be more common in romance books. Overall, a great read with great romance!
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this latest offering from Christina Lauren (In A Holidaze really didn't do it for me). The premise of a soulmate-finding DNA dating service was fun and interesting and I liked all the characters, even if it took Jess and River a little while to grow on me. They had well-written chemistry though, and I was charmed by all the secondary characters in Jess's life.
The Soulmate Equation By Christina Lauren
Publisher - Gallery Books
Publish Date- 18 May 2021
Rating - 4.25/5 Stars
***Thank you to Netgalley, Gallery Books, and of course, Christina Lauren for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Let me start off by saying, this is probably one of my FAVOURITE books by Christina Lauren. I devoured it! I felt the premise was actually, different! a lot of rom coms focus on a plotline - point A — B — C — etc and I felt that the team of Christina Lauren did a great job of doing this but also including such an original concept into the mix. In A Holidaze had this as well, and I feel like their books just keep getting better! I loved River and Jess’s story and I really enjoyed the fact that Jess was a single mom.
By far, the best character in this book (and that is saying a lot because they are all awesome) is Juno. I adored her. Every single thing she said I laughed out loud. I adored her grandparents as well. Fizzy is truly a great supporting character and the fact that she writes romance novels was a great add in. Her note taken of Jess and River’s love story and how she would write it in the plots she wants for a real book hahaha!
The reason this guy does not get 5 stars from me is for these three things - I really found myself getting confused with all the J names: Jess, Juno, Joanne, and Jamie. I know it was important to do so as it connected the family, but it slightly threw me off and made me have to go back a few times exactly which character was speaking. I also wish we could have had a dual character POV with River. I think it would have helped flush out his character arc of getting lost in his head and understanding it more. I also wanted more! I wanted to see the fallout of the evil science guys (hehe) in the company. I wanted a big scene of Jess and them as well.
This is a huge recommendation from me! I adored it and cannot recommend it enough! I cannot wait for the next CL book!
Loved the concept for this one, but I feel like this really fell flat for me.
I used to love Christina Lauren's books, they are one of the first things that really got me into reading romance.
I feel like the last couple of books don't have the same impact and are rather repetitive.
Let me start by saying when a new Christina Lauren book is being published, I WILL be reading it. Yes, they are predictable and formulaic. But I LOVE them. There is something so comforting knowing that I am going to read a book with a happy ending that I will gobble up every twist and turn it takes to get there.
When I read the description for The Soulmate Equation I exceptionally interested because I had recently read “The One” by John Marrs, which also involved a dating app that was based on genetics. So, I was curious to see what this dynamic duo would with a similar plot point.
Overall, I enjoyed The Soulmate Equation very much. As usual, it was cute, fun and I went through a roller coaster of emotions. In fact, this book may have been the most frustrating for me. I will try not to give too much away, but there will be a few spoilers. Quickly, some science/ technical lingo and jokes went over my head, but it didn’t impact the way I felt towards the book. The relationship between Jess and River, the main characters, changed on a dime, which fine, I didn’t love it, but I moved on quickly.
My real point of contention was with some of the interactions between Jess and some of the employees of GeneticAlly, River’s company. I know there has to be conflict in a book for the characters to evolve, but for the first half, I was flat-out angry. After (SPOILERS HERE) GeneticAlly finds out that Jess is a 98% genetic match with River, the heads of the company more or less throw out all standard protocols. They invite Jess into their offices, not warning Jess that she’s walking into a company meeting (a company that she does NOT work for), and they break very personal information about her results in front of this group of strangers, which seems to violate some form of privacy laws. Then after she has chosen to delete the company’s app, signaling she did not want to be involved with the company, the CEO shows up, in his car, on her walk home from work, which feels very creepy and inappropriate. I mean how did he know where to find her, unless he looked up her personal info. Shockingly she does not end the whole thing there but agrees to go to dinner with him. Facepalm. And yet again they have misled her and there are multiple people at the restaurant waiting for them to arrive. The gall of this company to assume she would show up was infuriating. Those were just some of the instances, and honestly, I wasn’t sure who I was angrier with Jess for going along with the whole thing, or the arrogance of the higher-ups at this company. I understand that some of this frustration and anger may have been the point later on in the book. But at the time it made me want to throw in the towel. Obviously, I had very strong feelings about these interactions, but by the end, I was totally invested.
So, would I suggest reading it if you are already a Christina Lauren fan, yes absolutely! Like me, I am sure you will enjoy it by the end and be eagerly awaiting the next one. However, if this is your first book by them, maybe wait and read it sometime down the road after you have read some of the others. Overall I would give it 3.5 Stars. Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC.
I think this is my second favorite Christina Lauren book after Twice in A Blue Moon. It was a little heavier than their other books but not by much.
It was fast-paced just like their other books and hard to put down. I loved Jess and River! And Fizzy always hilarious. I marked several passages that made me laugh out loud.
I think you'll enjoy this if you enjoy all of their other books. I knew I was going to enjoy it, so much so, that I went ahead and pre-ordered it even though I had this eARC thanks to Netgalley and Gallery books.
This was absolutely adorable, and probably has risen to the top as one of my CLo favorites! I can’t wait for this title to come out to snag some copies for my friends.
Jess Davis is a single mom who loves crunching numbers almost as much as she loves her daughter Juno and her grandparents. They are her entire world and honestly, she doesn't have a lot of desire to step back into the dating world. It's just so much work. Then Jess and her best friend, Fizzy, hear about GenticAlly, a new dating site that predicts love through your DNA. Matchmaking through genetics and numbers? Jess could get behind that. But it's not until she's had a particularly bad, lonely day that she agrees to send in a sample. Suddenly she finds out she's matched with GeneticAlly's founder, Dr. River Pena at an unheard sky-high percentage of 98% compatibility. However, Jess is immediately skeptical because she knows River. And he's a pompous jerk. But River and GeneticAlly have a proposition for Jess. Go out with River, get to know him, and they'll pay her for her time. For struggling Jess, this is something she has to consider. As the two go to dinner and do press for GeneticAlly, Jess starts to see a different side of River--one that makes her wonder if there's something to this DNA matching idea after all.
"Her life, which essentially existed in a four-block radius, was exceedingly manageable as it was."
Oh this book was so good!! I love Christina Lauren's books, and I was already intrigued by the idea of a DNA matchmaking book. Well, THE SOULMATE EQUATION did not disappoint! It's sweet and funny and interesting--I loved it!
SOULMATE has wonderful banter--that patented CLo banter--between River and Jess, but also Jess and Fizzy. Jess is a statistician and Fizzy a romance writer and they spend many of their days in a coffee shop, "working." Their friendship is next level good and freaking hilarious. Honestly, it's one of the best parts of the book. So is Jess' relationship with her grandparents, who basically raised her after her mom, who struggled with addiction, left. And then there's Juno, the cute precocious kid, who shows up asking funny questions and making you chuckle. The cast of characters is top notch, for sure. I loved how well Jess' family was woven into the story.
As for River and Jess, their chemistry is superb. They start off on the wrong foot, with River coming across as a jerk, but it's not anything too terrible, which is good, because I can't handle the "hate to love" scenarios when the "hate" seems impossible for anyone to actually overcome. Instead, River is a nuanced character with his own backstory and personality. He's consumed by the science of relationships but too busy being a genius doctor workaholic to have one. And sweet Jess, you can't help but root for her: the tired mom who lacks the energy to even try to date anymore. There's lots of science and numbers, but nothing crazy for us non-mathematicians, and honestly, the genetics aspect is pretty fascinating. (Is this really possible, world?) I saw a bit of the big twist plot point coming, but it in no way diminished my enjoyment of the story.
Overall, this was a great read. Funny, witty, and heartfelt. Great couple with awesome chemistry. Wonderful cast of characters (Fizzy needs her own book!). The entire book made me smile--definitely recommend!
The Soulmate Equation asks the age old question, What would you do to find your soulmate? This nerdy romance has two characters who love the sequences and numbers to finding answers but can this ultimately lead to a love-match?
River, the scientist, is the founder of a DNA compatibility matchmaking test that is billed to change dating as we know it today. He is moody, shy, handsome and immersed in the work to validate the results and grow his business. Jess, the statistician, has sworn off love as her life is filled with the day-to-day of motherhood and self-employment. On a whim, Jess takes the test and soon find herself matched with River achieving the ultimate status for the results - 98% match. But is the data accurate? Can they truly be destined to find love with each other?
The Soulmate Equation is a fast, fun read with laugh-out-loud moments. The supporting cast of characters brings real value to this book. We all need a Fizzy in our lives!
Publishes May 18, 2021 - Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for a courtesy copy for an honest review.
I really like Christina Lauren books. I'm not always the biggest romance fan, but these books hit the right spot. The plot was a bit predictable but I still enjoyed coming along for the ride. Reminded me sort of of the plot of The One by John Marrs, but a romance instead!
3.5/5 - Thank you so much to Netgalley and Gallery Books for the arc of The Soulmate Equation! GIVE ME ALL THE CHRISTINA LAUREN!
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What I love about The Soulmate Equation:
- The premise! This is such a fun idea - basically the story is centered around a match-making app that allows DNA to dictate compatibility. I loved the whole "science" behind the app and could see it happening in real life!
- Leading man River Pena! New book boyfriend alert, y'all! This man is a bonafide hottie with a brain to boot!
- ALL THE GILMORE GIRL vibes! I got a lot of them and I was here for it!
- The friendship between our MC, Jess, and her bff Fizzy. This is friendship goals. I love seeing women supporting women!
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While this isn't my favorite CLo book, I still found it extremely entertaining with so many lol moments and good chemistry between the mains. If you love rom-coms and Christina Lauren, definitely do not skip this book!
Christina Lauren books as always a win for me, and The Soulmate Equation was no different. I read this in one sitting, staying up way past my bedtime. Jess and River were such a fun couple, and Juno was adorable.
First of all, thank you to Galley for the eARC of this in exchange for an honest review!
Jess Davis is a freelance statistician and a single mother to Juno with the support of her grandparents. She spends her weekday morning in a coffee shop with her best friend, Fizzy. In walks ‘Americano’ the quiet brooding man who apparently is the scientist between the up-and-coming app GeneticAlly.An app that matches you with DNA testing to find the most compatible matches.
Fizzy buys Jess a kit for her birthday after River (Americano) offers to take them on a tour, and she’s contacted when she gets a 98% match to none other than American himself. With money tight and her love life nonexistent, Jess decides to play along and see if this match is real.
MY goodness I loved everything about this! I loved Jess and River, Juno and the little family Jess has. I love Fizzy’s sass and how she’s constantly documenting conversations for her romance books. I love that River is respectful of Jess’ decisions and that they attraction and relationship are a slow build.
The smut was nice, the kisses were hot, and overall, this was a cozy feelgood science rom com. Absolutely recommend!