The Soulmate Equation is a lot like Christina Kauren’s other books, it pulls you in right from the beginning. I didn’t know much about this book going into it, but loved it from the start. I recommend checking this one out.

This book was just really fun to read. Jess was a strong and smart female character, and River was an adorably awkward love interest. Their romance was both sweet and sizzling. Their relationship was the perfect blend of charming and humorous. I enjoyed the slow development of their relationship especially the moments with Jess's daughter, Juno. The book is a fun, flirty read, and I can't wait to read the next book from these authors.

When single-mom Jess finds out her apparent genetic soulmate is one of the founders of the DNA matchmaking company she used, she knows it can’t be true. After all, she knows the founder—and she knows he’s a complete jerk. But is there more to this scientist than meets the eye?

Witty, predictable, fast, cute—I could go on. It’s exactly what you’re looking for in a romance novel and I loved every minute of it. I devoured this in one night! The characters are all very compelling and relatable. The emotions jump off the page. The story, while predictable, contained enough nuance to be original and engaging. I loved so many of the little twists. And while a few loose ends bothered me, they were few and far between.

Definitely recommended!

Thank you to Gallery Books for providing me with an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review!

If I could give half stars, I would give this 3.5/5 stars (rounding up to 4 because I think a lot of people would love this book). I thought it was super cute. I loved that we got a woman in STEM as our heroine, but honestly, I felt like we never got to know our hero. River’s past was hinted at, but never really fleshed out. One memory of his dad being a jerk was not enough for me.
I loved Fizzy. She was hilarious and would love a book about her (even though I don’t typically like books about books).
Overall, pretty good, but not my favorite from this author.

3.5 maybe??? Long story short, this was not my fav by a long shot, too much (impressive) science talk that went over my head and made me feel QUITE dumb, and the romance between Jess and River fell a little flat, but I did love the characters and I giggled quite a bit so it balanced out.

I liked Jess and River as individuals, and I like that we had a heroine in STEM, but there was just something ... off about this whole story. I'm not quite sure what it was, and it very well could be that most of the plot hinged on me understanding science when I barely passed my AP physics exams and Stats class put me to sleep in high school, so a lot of what I needed to read I had to go back over a few times because the material just wasn't sinking it. Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely impressive, but I also don't want to feel like I'm reading a science textbook when I'm reading my romance novel so it did make me a little twitchy. And frustrated that I had to keep rereading and was getting so caught up in this stuff.

All of this emphasis on the science also made the romance a little lackluster for me and it felt crammed into the end. It felt incredibly rushed, weirdly inauthentic, and just like neither of them really wanted this but assumed they did? Maybe? They were cute, and they definitely had some super sweet scenes together and I loved watching them get to know one another (the photoshoot!! I loved the photoshoot!), but I wish I had gotten more of that, and less of the nitty gritty science. I also absolutely adored River with Jess's daughter, and thought that it added another layer to him, but overall I was just kinda meh about the two of them together.

Would die for Fizzy though. She was a DELIGHT.

And look, I definitely did laugh, and it had the trademark CLo charm, but I found myself thinking of their other books and the characters I've loved more (like Josh and Hazel) and that's not what I want to be doing while I'm reading an author's new release. But as I said, it was definitely sweet, absolutely funny, and had some very tender and heartwarming moments. And Jess did have some solid growth (River too!) and I love those moments, so I guess overall it balanced? I wasn't overwhelmed, I wasn't quite underwhelmed, I was simply ... whelmed.

Ah well. Better luck next time!

Thank you to Gallery and Netgalley for my review copy!

When I started The Soulmate Equation I was pretty quickly convinced it was going to be very cliched. Jess, a single mom, joins a new DNA-based matchmaking company and gets an insanely high match with none other than the company’s founder himself, River Pena. I may have rolled my eyes. BUT, this story was actually very sweet and I was super pleasantly surprised.

I loved Juno, Jess’s daughter, and the depth the story took into their relationship and crafting Juno as a well-rounded character. She added a level of complexity to the story that not all romance books have. Jess’s best friend, Fizzy, was an amazing addition as well. She was hilariously extroverted and over the top and completely unafraid to speak her mind and push Jess to do things she wasn’t totally comfortable with -- in the most supportive way.

There was a twist in this story that caught me off guard, and I couldn’t guess where the narrative was going to end up after that. This kept me fully engaged even through that scenes that did fill a little stereotypically romance-y.

Jess and River’s relationship felt like it blossomed organically and I loved that they bonded over being statisticians. This was a really lovely story and a quick read that made me smile.

I really enjoyed In a Holidaze by the writing duo of Christina (&) Lauren, so I was happy to get an ARC for this one as well. The data science and genetics aspects added a different dimension to the story, which made it interesting and made me realize I need to brush up on those topics! It might still be in the fantasy realm to have genetic testing for matchmaking, but does it really require suspending disbelief more than accepting the typical love interest who is ridiculously good-looking, rich, educated, single, and interested in the protagonist? The cast of supporting characters is also a lot of fun... can we get a Fizzy novel? Please and thank you!

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

What if love was in your DNA? That's what the team at GeneticAlly believed. After submitting her sample in a moment of weakness, Jess found herself matched to none other than River, the prickly founder of the company. They not only matched, they matched at a historic 98%. Will Jess be able to see beyond River's gruff exterior and give him a chance to win her heart?

Christina Lauren never disappoints me! As a science geek, I was immediately hooked by this premise, but all those signature CLo elements were there too. Great characters - check. Witty dialog - check. Lots of warmth and charm - check. A heartwarming romance - check. This one checked all the boxes for me.

I have a special affection for single-mom heroines. Being a single mom myself, I find I relate to them in a special way and really understand their concerns when it comes to relationships. But there was a lot more to Jess than just being Juno's mom. She was a single mom by choice, who had a complicated relationship with her own mother. Jess was lucky enough to be blessed with phenomenal grandparents who raised her, but she still built walls around her heart for protection. That was a tough obstacle for River, but he managed to get through.

River was rather wonderful, once you got to know him. He might have seemed like a stereo-typical scientist, but he also had experiences from his past which shaped him in a big way. His love for his sisters and his grandmother showcased his softer side, and seeing him with Juno melted my heart.

Speaking of Juno, she was one of the characters who made this story even more wonderful. Juno was a fun little kid, who injected lots of sweetness and joy into this tale. Jess' grandparents were also a source of smiles and "aww shucks" moments for me. Then there was Fizzy, Jess' best friend. She was a hoot! Her ties to the romance industry added another layer of fun to the story, and she provided lots of humor as well.

This romance took time to ramp up, but it was pure bliss for me once they got there. The pairing was a bit unexpected, but the chemistry was undeniable. Jess and River shared so many great moments on the road to their HEA, and I treasured them all.

Overall: Another CLo hit for me! It was sciencey, sweet, and packed with lots of feel-good moments, which left me hoping for a sequel.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for an arc of The Soulmate Equation for my honest review. I am a huge Christina Lauren fan and even more a rom com fan. To say this is their best release to date still isn’t doing it justice.

The plot in theory isn’t all that unique but the characters were altogether their own. Jess is a highly relatable protagonist being a 30 year old, broke, single mother. River is less relatable being an extremely attractive scientist.

I literally smiled the entire time I read this book except for the time I cried and the other time I was a little sad. Jess and River’s chemistry actually sizzled off the pages and I could almost touch it. The scenes were delicious and I largely ignored every adult responsibly for a whole day to read this.

Released on May 18th, 2021 and you need it.

The characters will grab you and not let you go. A full range of emotions will hit you from laughter to heartbreak. Plus a lot to talk about. When the book was finished, I wanted more!

If you could find your soulmate by having your blood tested(DNA), would you believe it? Embrace it or ignore it? When a new company discovers the way to do this, Jess Davis gets her test done after going with her best friend to the company after meeting the scientist behind the new dating app. The delight here is in Jess deciding between belief or disbelief, all the while getting to know River Pena, the scientist.

Jess Davis is a single mother of an adorable little girl. She lives with her daughter in the apartment complex owned and operated by her grandparents. She has a mother that is more like a wild child sister-one that borrows money constantly from Jess and treats her like a bank for want of a better word. Her grandparents are good to her and babysits. Her best friend, Fizzy, is a popular romance writer and is out to find the love of her life if possible, while Jess sits back and lets her-as long as she doesn’t have to deal with all that anymore. When they meet the scientist that invented new dating technology at their local coffee shop one morning, he invites them to come and see the process. Jess is the skeptic of the two, but has the test run anyway. Then her results come back with her matching with River(the scientist), well actually more than matching. They have a 98% match that is almost unheard of, but Jess is not really interested. River’s company is more than interested and offers Jess a lot of money to work for them, otherwise known as dating River.

I really liked Jess as the heroine and wanted her to find the love of her life, even if she is against it every step of the way-at least initially. River may be a dreamy sort of hero in the looks category, but he’s kind of a geeky almost stick in the mud. He’s not really interested in Jess-until he is. Being thrown together at parties and events designed to bring in more investors, brings a new awareness between the two and a friendship of sorts. I loved seeing River come out of his shell and become interested in Jess. I also enjoyed seeing him get to know Jess’s daughter.

All is not perfect in this story as life never really is. Things happen, as well as a twist and through it all I kept rooting for this couple. The thing is, will problems as big as they faced in this new relationship pull them apart or strengthen what they could have in the end? I enjoyed seeing it run its course and loved every minute of the story. I found the book to have a unique premise in a world of so many of the same stories, just told a different way. Believe me, this is a good thing. Some good side characters like her friend Fizzy and her grandparents just added to this amazing story.

I had a great time reading this book as is my usual with this writing duo. I would highly recommend it to adult contemporary romance readers.

FYI-Review will post on or near release date on DelightedReader.com

I enjoyed Christina Lauren's past books and this one was just ok for me. Single mom trying to balance everything and trying to start dating after putting that aside to raise her daughter. Jess tries out a new dating app that is based off of DNA (I have a hard time believing this one so I think that is what largely started me off only liking the book and not loving the book). Her match is the founder and grumpy grump so she takes a chance.

Do you wonder if your soulmate is out there? Have you met them? Are you with them? Would you take a DNA test to find out? This book is so cute! So many times I found myself smiling while reading as I was following River and Jess. It's predictable as most romcoms are, but a sweet story that I would recommend.

This is going to be incredibly popular! This was a charming, light read, and it will be perfect for summer. Jess is a statistician and a single mom, devoted to her daughter, her grandparents and her best friend. Romance has been on the back burner for a while now. Dr. River Pena is a genetic scientist and the founder of GeneticAlly, a brand new company that hopes to match people up with their soulmate by analyzing markers in their DNA. Jess and River are matched by GeneticAlly, but of course they can't stand each other. They agree to try spending time together to see how it goes, and I think you know what happens.

This was cute, and fun, with snappy dialogue and great characters. Admittedly, there is a vague creepy factor to how Jess and River start going out, but I thought the author was pretty careful with it. I really liked it.

Jess Davis is a single mom, who hasn’t dated much, or really at all, since her daughter was born. That changes when Jess hears about a new dating website called GeneticAlly. GeneticAlly is a website that rates your compatibility based on a number of different things found in your DNA. One night when Jess is feeling a little down she decides to send in her sample. The next day she gets informed that she made a 98% match. (The highest match that has ever been found.) Which can’t be right, can it? Especially because her match is the uptight, stuck up man she sees on the daily at her favorite coffee shop. Oh and he’s also the founder of GeneticAlly. GeneticAlly has a proposition for Jess, get to know River and they’ll pay her. As a struggling single mother, she decides she can’t turn this down. Maybe there’s more to River than meets the eye. Can this man really be her soulmate?

Christina Lauren has done it again. This book was so good. I loved every single one of our characters and the premise of the book was quite unique. I loved how the DNA dating website worked. I’ve only read one other book that’s had anything similar. That book was a thriller and dealt with the DNA matching quite differently though. So I loved Christina Lauren’s take. The Soulmate Equation was ridiculously cute and swoon worthy. I highly recommend checking this book out if you love a rom-com that will also get you thinking. I still can’t decided if I would ever want to sign up for a website like this.

A delightfully cute confection, The Soulmate Equation checks the sweet and charming spots.

Jessica Davis is a hard working single mother who is used to relying on herself and her small and close knit support system to help her raise her seven-year-old daughter Juno. She’s barely keeping afloat and has no time to date.

When her best friend Fizzy gets her a sample kit from a new, up and coming DNA-based matchmaking company she gives in and sends it in not really expecting a good match, much less a 98% soulmate compatible one. Especially not to the moody, antisocial hot guy who’s been coming to her local coffee shop every day for the past two years.

It’s hard to believe the data, but the GeneticaAlly board makes her an offer she can’t refuse: get to know the man behind the science, Dr. River Peña, and they pay her. Will they be able to verify the research?

The Christina Lauren writing duo has once again produces an original and appealing romance that’s brimming with heart and charm.

All the characters, main and secondary, were great. Jessica is smart, and even though she had many doubts it was easy to root for her. River is shy who comes off as cold, is absolutely swoon worthy. Fizzy, Jessica’s BFF is terrific, I would love to be her friend, Jessica’s grandparents and daughter are absolutely lovely.

The attraction and romance between Jess and River is definitely a slow burn. It took a while, for Jess especially, to get on board with the possibility of them but I enjoyed watching them fumble through their forced courtship, getting to know each other and then watch them fall.

The Soulmate Equation is a standalone contemporary romance by Christina Lauren. It is a sweet romantic escape told from the heroine’s point of view, and has a happy ending. No cliffhanger.

SO CUTE. Christina Lauren's novels are often hit or miss with me, but this one really resonated. All of their characters, both the two protagonists and all of the side characters are so dynamic and interesting. I would be delighted to read further books about any of them. The plot is a little suspension-of-disbelief-requiring just in terms of the science, and it definitely has hits of that new Netflix show (but with significantly less murder). If you're willing to roll with it, the science honestly isn't that important and the chemistry in this book is phenom. Definitely going to be a great beach read this summer!

Loved this romance! It was slower to start than I thought it would, but that didn't make it one iota less enjoyable. Jess was engaging as our heroine, and the story was perfectly charming and heartwarming.

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
Contemporary romance stand-alone. Enemies to lovers troupe.

River Pena Owens an innovative dating company. Compatibility is determined by DNA pairings. Jess has no interest in dating until her daughter is much older but a bad day has her impulsively submitting a sample for a potential match. Surprise! A match is made.

I loved the feel of the chemistry between all the players. The friends were amusing playing off each other. The mother daughter relationship was warm and endearing. The mother and grandparents together were sweet and heartfelt. The hero and heroine were initially antagonist and turned cautiously friendly, then more. In full, a charming family romance.

Excerpts I thought were fun and indicative of the story feel:
“Let me guess,” Jess said, “you’re the meetings guy.”
He smiled, nodding. “Endless investor meetings.”
“Send the hot scientist in, right?” she said, and immediately wanted to swallow her fist.
He laughed down at his tray of supplies, motioned for her to sit, and holy crap, it was suddenly seven hundred degrees in the lab.”

Excerpt:
IT WAS NORMALLY a ten-minute walk from Twiggs to the University Heights library. They made it in six.
Fizzy stopped on the sidewalk just outside, hands on her knees. “Holy s***. Why did I pick such a sedentary job? When the zombies come, I am screwed.”

I received a copy of this from NetGalley. I also purchased a copy to share.

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I love these authors a ton and they always publish books that I enjoy so much. And this was another great book of theirs! I thought this book was a great strangers/dislike to falling in love and it was really well done. The way that the relationship developed between River and Jess was immensely heart warming and I really loved both their interactions with Juno. It was enchanting to see their love story unfolding. Even more, it was so interesting to see Jess's journey to accepting help from her loved ones and also to accepting herself. River was so painfully shy and earnest, I loved his character. Honestly all the characters were quirky and hilarious - Fizzy especially and I loved that she was a romance author. I also loved that the story featured Jess cutting off a toxic relationship with a relative. I think too often books manage to turn things around and things magically work out somehow. But sometimes a toxic relationship is just that and needs to end. I thought it was a really brave thing to do. Overall I thought it was a great love story and I really enjoyed it!