I read this after reading and not vibing with Lunar Love, and I have to say I enjoyed this slightly more, but it also wasn't entirely for me.

This book again started off so strong, but then everything quickly fizzled out for me. There were certainly charming moments, but the writing overall didn't work for me, and I found myself zoning out.

wow I loved this story so much! Rooney is such a lovely, good-spirited, kind and clever character! and Jack is such a sweetheart, I just loved the way he and Rooney are so drawn together and how he just accepts his instant attraction to her and explores it.

I loved their whole relationship, from start to finish! they seem so opposite at first, but they find, through Rooney’s perspective of fate, how seamlessly they fit together, it is so special to read it! I loved how their first night in the city plays out, so adventurous and wanting on both ends, accepting fate and also choosing to go along with it. and then when their work brings them together again. seeing how choosing to be together, to take a leap and trust the other person as they wholly are, is part of trusting fate and all its nuanced promises.

I loved the representation of this story, reading about culture and history riddled through a lovely romance story! it speaks so true to life of how who we are and what we believe being central to our own personal love stories. I loved the messages of trust, faith, love, and acceptance all throughout this story. everything about it is absolutely lovely, beautiful, and entrancing.

thank you for the arc!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for an arc of Red String Theory. A cute chicklit story with an artist, Rooney, and a NASA engineer, Jack. They meet randomly in NYC one night and Jack gives Rooney his number, but she inputs it wrong and then a year later, they end up working together in LA. So maybe a second chance romance or a friends to lovers, but either way it’s a fun read and you get to learn a little about the Chinese culture with the Red String Theory. Rooney’s believes in it and fate, while Jack is more calculated and does not. This book was recently published and you should go grab it today. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#redstringtheory #chineseculture #goa #stringartist #redstringgirl #rsg #netgalley #foreverpublishing

Struggled with this one some. The pace felt slow and I just couldn’t see Jack as the MC. He felt boring. The romance felt rushed and didn’t have much substance. I did really like scenes with Rooney, Jack and the team. One in particular was super fun (although all were good).

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I've always been a strong believer in fate, and the idea of the "red string theory" is one I also put plenty of stock in rather fondly. I read Lauren's debut novel, Lunar Love, this same time last year and loved how much emphasis there was on both the Chinese and Asian-American communities as a whole. I thoroughly enjoyed Lunar Love, and Lauren's newest novel - Red String Theory - had me feeling much of the same! I love seeing the growth in Jessen as an author between the two books, and found the story itself to be very sweet and charming (dare I say even wholesome!). I would definitely recommend this one out to others and will continue to watch out for more of Lauren's work in the future!

I just truly adored every aspect of this book!!! From the fate aspect, to the culturally diverse representation, to the STEAM feature. Lauren Jessen is a master at bringing real, raw, and relatable characters to life. Rooney and Jack are so perfectly imperfect. Their relationship had so many great elements of mystery, authenticity, and fun. I loved the little fate challenges and how they both accepted each other for who they were.

Lots of tear filled, heartwarming, and chills-inducing moments. I found myself so emotional reading this book. If you believe in the red string theory or in fate playing a pivotal role in life, you'll LOVE this one!

As soon as I saw the title of this book I knew I wanted to read it. I, like Rooney, believe that there is a thread that connects us to the ones we are meant to meet. Jack is a scientist and a lot more skeptical about things. He meets Rooney by chance at a print shop the day that her Entangled exhibit debuts, and also gets shut down. He doesn't believe in all of the things she believes in, but he knows that them meeting up over and over again that day means she is probably supposed to be in his life in some way.
As the months pass and they keep in contact, living on opposite sides of the country and thinking about each other constantly, the two have very different ideas about what should happen. Jack's parents never chose him. They left him and he still deals with that. Rooney's mom showed her the world and also exposed her to the Red Thread of Fate. This fable has been what inspired her art and more importantly, her life. She knows that Jack is her thread, but Jack doesn't want her because she feels like its meant to be. He wants her because she chooses him above anyone else.
She is traveling for her art and he is up for a promotion and he just can't take the chance that she will leave him too. I really related to this book on a deep level because I feel like the red thread can lead you to the most amazing people, but it's possible that they are not meant to stay there. Each day is a choice, choosing to love someone over anything else, not just cause you are soulmates, but because you want to be in that love.
Thank you to Lauren Kung Jessen, Forever and Netgalley for an early copy.

I absolutely adored Red String Theory, it's delightful and charming. Rooney and Jack were so perfect. I love Rooney's deep belief in fate and signs and the Chinese astrology elements. Jack is of course the opposite and believes that we make things happen in life through, nothing is fate. Watching them come together, it's romantic and a little whimsical and the perfect feel good read.

So glad I picked this up when I was cozied up during a snowstorm! Talk about fate, it was so charming and like a warm hug.

Rooney and Jack’s introduction was so good, reminiscent of a Nora Ephron movie, those nights where you stay up talking life with friends and the anticipation of something good.

I loved the exploration of fate versus choice. I would say I fall more on Jack’s side, believing more in choice and science. All of the NASA discussion was so cool to me. But I thought Lauren Kung Jessen wrote about art and fate so well, and there were thought provoking lines about both fate and choice.

Thank you Forever for the copy through NetGalley!

When I heard Lauren Kung Jessen had another book coming out, I ran to Netgalley and was thrilled to have gotten it! And it did not disappoint!!

This book is full of so many cute moments. I loved the juxtaposition between Roony being so whimsical and Jack being so logical. I will admit occasionally I just wanted him to just chill and believe in fate lol, but also that was the driving conflict of the novel, so very much necessary.

There were so many moments where I could see the stars aligning, and each one was so satisfying.

A contemporary romance set at Nasa was super interesting and felt like a peak behind somewhere I personally don't know much about. Plus, I loved that it was a different setting from most romances, it's was a nice change. The balance between fate and science made me think on a bunch of things like fate vs. choice in terms of romance and talent. What really is fate, and what is choice?

Overall, it was a super fun romance with late nights in NYC and Nasa gardens, with great character development and story ARC.

Thank you to Lauren Kung Jessen, Forever and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Red String Theory is a sweet romance that explores the idea of fate and how much we should believe in it. This is a perfect closed door romance for anyone who:

• believes in fate
• wants a dialogue heavy book with deep conversations
• loves it when science meets art
• is a fan of Lunar Love (LOVED the cameo from Olivia and Bennett!)

Thank you to Forever and Netgalley for the electronic arc of Red String Theory. All views are my own.

While I was so excited for this book, I unfortunately DNF'd at 50%. I really like Rooney, but I struggled to connect with Jack and found him a bit boring. There also was very little chemistry between him and Rooney. I may pick up again, but overall I just wasn't excited to pick this one up.

I loved every second of this slow burn ode to the concept of love being a verb. It had everything: fate, family dynamics, identity crises, light angst, humor, and is just all around a warm bath of a book.

RED STRING THEORY is a dual-POV romance about an artist who strongly believes in fate and a tech wizard who doesn't. I struggled a lot with the narrative voices of the characters in this book. I didn't find them compelling and was unable to get into the story because of this. I could tell that the FMC was meant to be spunky and creative, but I didn't feel that in her narration. This book wasn't right for me, but may appeal to other readers.

As for what this book is about, Red String Theory follows Rooney, an artist, who was born to an artist mother and she has therefore decided to keep her art career anonymous as Red String Girl. There's a Chinese myth about how everyone has a string mate and that has particularly stood out to her and shaped and directed her life and her art. She has this chance meeting with Jack, they separate, and then SURPRISE, they reconnect later that night at a party they've both been invited to. Jack meanwhile, is a scientist who doesn't really believe in fate and the two of them wind up having these really lovely conversations throughout this book.

I don't want to spoil anything about how the plot unfolds so I'll just say that it's really lovely all of these conversations about fate versus free will and the ability to make your own choices. I love the friendships formed in here and I really enjoyed each of the side characters. The art conversations in here were honestly kind of fun, which was a pleasant surprise because I am the kind of person who doesn't feel like she gets art. So Lauren Kung Jessen's ability to translate art from the page to my brain was incredible and I really appreciated it. I also appreciated the cameo from Jessen's Lunar Love characters, although I stand by, I really wanted her follow up to be Chloe's estranged friend. Maybe next time.

I really enjoyed Red String Theory. No sophomore slump in sight for Lauren Kung Jessen. I’m certainly a fan and will read any of her future releases. I really liked the characters and the storyline, definitely would recommend to romance readers.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this one as much as I thought I would. The characters were really flat - Rooney's entire personality, career, philosophy, and interests revolve around the red string story, and I don't know how many times Jack was described as being corporate, wearing a suit, not having any faith or trust, being stand-offish, etc. It made it too hard for me to really root for their relationship when I didn't feel like I could connect with either of the characters.

That being said, the language of the text was well-written, and it was a cute premise. It's not the worst thing I've read, it just wasn't for me.

Rooney and Jack meet on one magical day in NYC. It seems like fate keeps pushing them together, and they go on an adventure together through the city. They have so much fun together, and at the end of the night, Rooney gets Jack's number. However, the number she calls doesn't work, and she spends time searching for him. Jack searches for Rooney, but they both can't find the other one. Jack goes home to LA, where he works as an engineer for NASA. Rooney is an artist, and she has a creative block, which prevents her from being able to make anything.

When Rooney gets an exciting opportunity to be an artist for NASA, she takes it and heads to LA for a year. She is surprised when she sees Jack because she didn't know that he worked there. As they reconnect, they decide to remain friends as they work the project together, but will this situation last?

I liked to learn about the lantern festival and Lunar New Year. I really enjoyed learning about NASA and the mission that they were working on. I also enjoyed the connection between Rooney and Jack. I wanted more of it, and I really kept waiting for more romance.

Overall, this was a very sweet story. Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an ARC of this book.

i really enjoyed the red string theory! rooney and jack cross paths multiple times one day in new york, but a incorrectly typed phone number has them scrambling to find the other person again. there were times were this one was a little long for me but i found it so fun and whimsical tying together science and fate!

This review was made possible via an ARC through NetGalley

Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen is a contemporary romance where Rooney, an artist and the anonymous Red String Girl, has a single night of fun with Jack, a NASA scientist, and their two worlds collide in an artist x scientist fight against their obvious connection.

I loved how this combined the red string of fate in East Asian folklore with string theory, a theoretical framework in physics not only in the title but also as a major theme of the work. We very often separate art from science, but the two actually have some commonalities. It’s nice to see that highlighted in ways that also showcase culture, history, and in topics related to what is happening now and the future.

Rooney’s character arc was one of my favorites in contemporary romance. I loved how she wanted to carve a place for herself independent of her mother while also being a literal piece of her mother’s art in some ways. It exemplifies that idea we hear that some parents view their children as extensions of themselves in Rooney being an extension of her mother’s artistry.

Jack was extremely relatable to me because I, too, am awkward with coworkers and struggle to connect to the people around me and I, too, do not like office parties or office politics and would rather just focus on my work. But even if I relate, Red String Theory highlights the human elements in office work and why it is so important to have connections with others.

I would recommend this to fans of opposites attract contemporary romance, readers who are unfamiliar with contemporary romance and are willing to give it a try, and readers who are looking for scientist x artist romances.