Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I liked the concept of the matchmaking science that was made in this book. It was so interesting to read about. I also really liked the romance between River and Jess. I feel like we should have seen more of their romance, though, and I really would have liked to have had a dual POV, I feel like that could of made this book better because it would allow readers to understand River more. I flew through this book and it was such a fun read.

I have read many Christina Lauren books, and I have to say, The Soulmate Equation is now one of my favorites! It’s laugh-out-loud funny, and of course super cute!
I loved Jesse. She is probably one of my all-time favorite Christina Lauren characters, she’s smart and capable and funny as hell! The things she says to River, so hilarious. I loved that she always stood up for herself and called people out. River is the perfect straight man to Jesse’s antics, he’s stoic and serious and so when Jesse gets him to crack a smile it feels like we’ve all won! These two together are fantastic. I loved every scene they were in together and loved seeing them fall in love!
I don’t love a single-parent trope, I don’t hate it, but generally, they are not my favorite. What I loved about this one, is while Juno was a presence, she wasn’t as in your face as kids are in other single-parent books I’ve read. I think they did a great job of finding a balance of when to use her and when it made sense. Fizzy is an amazing side character! I loved her and would love for her to get her own book!
This was also a very original plot. The genetics dating app could have easily been a hard-to-understand and convoluted plot device. There was just enough “science talk” to make this believable and also bearable. I liked that both River and Jess were extremely intelligent people and I like where they took the plot. The conflict was well thought out and made sense for the story and the characters.
The Soulmate Equation was a wonderful read. I highly recommend this one!

Christina Lauren has done it again! I would buy anything they write without even reading a description of the book! I haven't found a book of theirs that isn't 5 STARS. If I am ever browsing a book store and some poor soul looks lost and needs a book recommendation THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS CHRISTINA LAUREN. If this is the first time you have heard of Christina Lauren (these two amazing female best friends who write together), you will not be disappointed. I'm actually jealous of you because you then get to fall down the wonderful rabbit hole of all of their past books (and don't forget the Beautiful series). They write some of my favorite tropes: one bed, second-chance romance, haters-to-lovers, and more. They offer something for every romance reader out there. But beware - after you are done with each one of their books you will fall into a slight book-depression because you don't think you will ever find another book as good as the one you just read. They stay with you forever and give you ALL THE FEELS. It's hard to find authors as good as these two women! And no, I was not paid for this review. I am just a *tiny bit* obsessed. :)

Christina Lauren is my favorite duo, and I love their books. I really enjoyed The Soulmate Equation, but it didn't enjoy it quite as much as their older books. I really liked the idea of the book, and I did not see the twist coming at the end.

3.5 stars/5 stars

Let me start by saying this quite possibly could be my favorite Christina Lauren book to date! I thoroughly enjoyed this read and will recommend it to everyone.

This book had me laughing out loud throughout and I think Fizzy is my favorite side character on the planet!

The romance in this book was also realistic and I really enjoyed the story of Jess and River.

If you love a book with romance, family and friendship, do yourself a favor and pick this book up when it releases on May 18th!

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Duo Christina Lauren never fails to deliver a delightful rom com.

The Soulmate Equation may just be one of my top favorites by them. The characters are so unapologetic themselves. You can't help, but fall in love with them and their quirky personalities. I would not be opposed to seeing a book about Fizzy in the near future!

Because of how I am, I over-focused on the plot and analyzed a bit too much into it, so that left me with one too many questions; however, for the sake of it being a rom com, it completely did it's job and has won my heart over.

There's so much to love about this book that I cannot recommend it enough: lovable and relatable characters, charming, SO MANY LAUGH OUT LOUD moments, and overall just a heartwarming and adorable novel. It is addictive and I could not read it fast enough!

Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review!

As always the team of Christian Lauren gives you a great story.
Cute, and funny even if it was a bit predictable
Loved the chemistry between the two characters, and the entire premise of finding your
soul mate from a DNA test.
Not only are the main characters entertaining and fun, but the story is full of fun and loveable secondary characters. I especially enjoyed Juno, the daughter of Jess. She and her best friend Fizzy gave me some
of my favorite moments in the book.

My biggest complaint in the book was some of the technical words when it came to River and Jess speaking
about their careers when way over my head.

Another highly entertaining romance from Christina Lauren! This fast read was charming and funny.
Jess is a freelance statistician who loves numbers and data and is a single Mom raising a seven year old daughter. After hearing about a start up company that purports to help singles find their soulmate via DNA, Jess’s best friend Fizzy convinces Jess to see who she matches with. Her test however, shows a 98% compatibility with one of the company’s founders, Dr. River Pena. As these too reluctantly agree to get to know each other, sparks begin to fly.
The idea of a link between genetics and soulmates was an original and intriguing premise. And the cast of likeable characters and sense of the importance of family really added to the story. Although the romance was slow to start, Jess and River have tons of chemistry and heat that keeps the reader engaged and invested. A highly anticipated read that did not disappoint!

Christina Lauren does it again! I don’t think there has been a book written by this duo that I haven’t enjoyed. The Soulmate Equation is such a fun and charming summer read. My only complaint is I wasn’t by a pool when I read it!

I absolutely loved every single minute of this journey. Nerdy geneticist? check! Nerdy statistician? check! Precocious child? check. Best friend who just rocks? check. Funny? check. Romantic? check. This story checked all my rom-com boxes but not only that. It checked my heart in my throat, fist around my heart angst loving heart as well. Not a ton of angst, but just enough in the "holy heck, how do they come back from this" way. River is single minded and it shows in how he treats people (not purposely cruelly just cold). Jess just wants to live a good life, taking care of her daughter and not become her mother. These two should never come together much less work. But fate and circumstance has them spending time together and both will learn that sometimes, what you want is not necessarily what you need. Fizzy is a character that I need a book about all on her own. I laughed out loud so many times, hubby was getting a bit perturbed lol. And I absolutely adore puns and the science puns delighted me to no end. Sweet, sexy, intriguing and funny.

What a fun read this is! The last thing- the very last thing- Jess expected was that a spit sample given to GeneticAlly would match her to its founder, Dr. River Pena. See, she's met him at a coffeeshop and knows he's grouchy. An offer from the company to date him comes with cash and she always needs funds so...Well, rom-com fans know what's going to happen. What's different about this, though, is Jess who is raising her daughter Juno with her grandparents and coping with her mother, who has had and continues to have issues, She's delightful, as is Fizzy, her friend who urges her forward at each turn. River might be the classic man with a steel facade and a big heart. I liked that this also used a topical scientific issue as an impetus for the love story. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read that made me smile.

Before I started reading Christina Lauren’s novels, I was not the biggest fan of romance books. With their lovable characters, often hilarious banter, and addictive storylines, they won me over and now I can’t get enough of their books. Their latest, The Soulmate Equation, is the tenth book I’ve read from them and I’m happy to say it’s one of my favorites yet.

The story follows Jess Davis, who is a freelance statistician. Her passion is crunching numbers all day. Abandoned by her mother at a young age and raised by her grandparents, Jess is now a single mom raising a 7-year-old daughter. Between her career and her daughter, Jess has no time or interest in dating. I really liked Jess right away. She’s a STEM girl, which I loved, and I also loved both her devotion to her adorable daughter, Juno, and her fierce sense of independence. All of that said, I also loved that her curiosity about the data and the science behind a new DNA-based dating app called GeneticAlly leads her to actually submit a sample of her DNA to see if it actually works. Even though she’s all about science and numbers, when she is found to be 98% compatible with another subject in the database, she is skeptical, especially because she has actually met the guy and can’t stand him!

The guy is Dr. River Pena, the sexy scientist who is the brains behind the GeneticAlly app. Jess makes a snap judgment about River because she sees him at the local coffee shop every day and he doesn’t speak to anyone. She thinks he’s arrogant, rude, and obnoxious, but as she starts to get to know him, she realizes she may have been a bit hasty and overly harsh in her initial assessment. I loved watching Jess get to know River. It becomes clear that what she deemed arrogant and rude was actually just him being shy and awkward. The more they talk and interact, the more Jess starts to wonder if there’s any merit to that 98% compatibility score. As much as I liked Jess, I have to say that I flat out adored everything about River, especially the way he interacts with Jess’ daughter, Juno, when he meets her. They are adorable together, which made it impossible not to root for a happy ending for River and Jess since it would mean a father figure for Juno as well.

The actual DNA science and how that worked was a little over my head at times, but I didn’t care. I was so into Jess and River and their journey that I flew through the pages, smiling all the way. With The Soulmate Equation, I think it’s safe to say Christina Lauren have another hit on their hands for romance fans.

Christina Lauren do it again! Yet another amazing romance to add to their growing collection of contemporary romance classics. This soulmate love story is low angst, high chemistry and a touch of enemies to lovers. I adored it all. The main characters are wonderful. They have given us yet another book boyfriend to swoon over for which we will be forever grateful.

So I am not one for a single parent romance. I don’t like children being used as plot points or twists in their parents love story. But apparently I just haven’t met the right single parent romances. CLo does this so so well. Juno is adorable and smart and charismatic and you can’t help but want more of her in the story! All of the secondary characters are fantastic: Fizzy, the grandparents, they are all wonderful. We also need more Fizzy! I think I just wanted this book to go on and on!

While I still think that The Unhoneymooners is my favorite CLo, this is definitely in the running for the top 3! I highly recommend this book to my romance lovers of all types! This is a great summer read!

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5

This book was a sweet vanilla latte of a romance. The hard-working, financially struggling single mom meets the aloof developer of an up-and-coming dating app which uses DNA to pair couples, and they are matched to be almost-perfect soulmates...by said app.

The romance progressed as expected, but the little moments as Jess and River began falling each other were absolutely swoon-worthy! All of characters were well-developed, but my favorite was Jess's best friend Fizzy! She provided much-needed lightening up to the tone of this book.

I also really liked how smart both of our leads were, but I think that because both characters had pretty serious personalities, there wasn't much comedy. But there are some fun scenes, mostly involving Fizzy. The discussions between the couple felt not so much like witty banter, but more like deep, guarded revelations they made to each other, which I still loved, but they weren't light-hearted.

The way River handled the unexpected revelation at the end felt a little out if character for him, especially with how his relationship with Jess was at that time. Also, everything was just so neatly and quickly wrapped up, I was a little surprised when it ended.

Overall, I enjoyed Jess and River' journey and their sweet love story.

An entertaining and heartwarming read! The Soulmate Equation may just give us a glimpse of dating in the future! I loved how Christina Lauren wrote this one and I can only imagine that something like this COULD exist in the future!

Jessica Davis (Jess) is a freelance statistician and a single mother. She was raised by her grandparents and, even with their help with her daughter, she barely has it together. Her best friend, Fizzy, and Jess meet at a local coffee shop everyday where at exactly 8:24AM (everyday) a man they refer to as "Americano" enters. The man turns out to be Dr. River Pena, co-founder of a company who matches people based on their DNA. On impulse, Jess sends in her sample.

When she finds out she matched with someone at a 98% level, she can't believe it. When it turns out to be River, she is even more floored. The two of them didn't start off on the right foot. When GeneticAlly wants to pay Jess to spend time with River to see if the numbers are correct, she can't turn it down. Soon, Jess will start wondering if their feelings are real or are they fabricated, because the numbers say they should be a match.

This started out a little slow for me and sometimes I got a little lost with the science talk, but it turned out to be a sweet read. I loved Juno, Jess' daughter, and Fizzy was just the best. Everyone needs a Fizzy in their life! I haven't had much luck with this duo authors' recent works, but I can say that I really enjoyed this one. I would have loved to have River's point of view. That might have upped it a star.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

Jess is a single mom who is not looking for love, but then she and her best friend, Fizzy, meet River, the founder of GeneticAlly, the DNA matchmaking company. He is rude and arrogant, but Fizzy wants to try it out as ‘research’ for her next romance novel, so Jess reluctantly joins her. Their samples are taken and soon after they receive their matches. Who will her match be and will he be her soulmate?
It started a bit slow for me with the science and DNA lingo, but the idea of a matchmaking company that uses DNA to find your soulmate, how original! Although predictable, it was light, fun and enjoyable and a book I would recommend to others. Thanks to NetGalley for a digital arc of this novel.

DNA and dating/soulmate matching sites/apps seem to be all the rage these days in books. Heck, if you can find out your ancestry from a DNA Swab, whey not find your soulmate?

Statistician and single mom, Jess has not dated since her daughter, Juno, was born. But her best friend, Fizzy wants to put an end to that. BTW, Fizzy is the best! We all need a Fizzy in our lives! With Fizzy's encouragement, Jess submits here sample and is soon called into GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company. There she learns she has been matched to Americano, err, I mean Dr. River Pena. He is hot, he is sexy, and he is smart like her! No wonder he is her perfect match! But is he? Numbers do not lie, do they? Is she ready to dive back into the dating pool? Will there be sparks? Will he be ready to dive in that dating pool as well?

Every time I pick up a Christina Lauren book, I wonder why I have not read more of their work. I have enjoyed every single book that I have read by this dynamic writing duo. This book is no exception. It was fun, witty, smart, heartwarming and had likeable characters with depth, emotion, and intelligence. Both characters have a strong connection to their family which was a nice touch. I mention that as many contemporary romance books have characters who have family issues, or no family and go off to other countries where they find love. Not that I have a problem with them but… It was nice to read a book where a single mom is dealing with real life issues such as raising a child, worrying about paying the bills and who will watch her child while she goes on dates. While River, works too much and must find a balance for dating in his life. That is my long-winded way of saying the characters and their lives felt realistic.

This was a delightful book that left me smiling.

Note to self - READ MORE CHRISTINA LAUREN!

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I've loved my Christina Lauren reads in the past, but this one didn't appeal to me as much. The tone felt more overly earnest than rompy, and the main character, Jess, was extremely hard for me to empathize with. I don't know that there's anything wrong with her per se, but basically everything she thought and did was the opposite of what I would do and think. Jess is one of those characters who is portrayed as a works-too-hard, never-does-a-thing-for-herself, martyr of a single mother, and for some reason that character type grates on me. I also think this perspective of her fed into my reading of the general tone as being too earnest. Some readers really enjoy this type of book, but I'd caution anyone looking for a straight up fun romp.

My other main problem was the actual premise of the book: a combination of OkCupid and 23andMe functioning as a dating service to pair people up based on their DNA alignment. Okay, by itself, it's fine. But everyone in the book took it SO SERIOUSLY. It sort of bothered me that not one person in the book ever expressed true skepticism of what a match could mean. When Jess is matched insanely high with the company's founder, River, their skepticism is not aimed at what a high match could mean for them but at the results themselves.

However, this brings me to the best part of the book, which is the love interest, River. He probably has the best dialogue of any character in the book and is genuinely interesting to read about, along with seeming like a realistically good mate. Also, there's some touching on the topic of telenovelas that makes me think fans of Jane the Virgin will absolutely love this book (Jess actually reminds me a bit of Jane, if she had a child).

I am not a fan of romance novels but I had heard good things about The Unhoneymooners and In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren so decided to give her newest a chance. Sadly, I still don't like romance novels... They are just so predictable! Two people hate each other at the beginning, and then guess what happens... Anyway, the premise reminded me of the book The One by John Marrs, as they both use DNA samples to match up couples. (But of course a very different vibe!) The concept is cool, but I didn't love Jess or River and it was too cheesy for me.