Review: The Soulmate Equation

I knew May was going to be filled with a lot of rom coms and I kicked things off with the queens of the genre. The Soulmate Equation is Christina Lauren's latest novel and I found it to be absolutely delightful. I laughed and swooned and cringed and loved every second of it.

Here's the book's description:

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.

I never know exactly what I'm going to get with Lauren's novels. I always enjoy them but there's definitely a scale on my enjoyment level. The Soulmate Equation? It's joined Roomies and The Unhoneymooners right at the top of the scale. It might have been partly a case of "right book, right time" but mostly it was just because this was a damn good book. It doesn't take itself too seriously but it's not a mindless read, either. It hit the balance of what I love in a rom com and I was sad when it was all over.

The data and science in the novel seem a bit far fetched but if you just kind of roll with it, you'll be incredibly entertained. You can gloss over the science if you want or you can soak up every detail. Either way, you'll still get a lot out of the storyline. I mean, how can you not be intrigued by finding your soulmate through your DNA?

Speaking of soulmates, one River Pena is pretty damn swoonworthy. He's such a grump to start but I knew, a little before Jess did, that he probably wasn't the asshat he was appearing to be. The more Jess (and the reader) got to know him, the more you couldn't help but fall in love with him. The sexual attraction was real and I couldn't wait for them to finally give into that attraction. Fireworks! I've heard quite a few people already request a Dr. Pena of their very own. I totally get it.

The secondary characters in this story are great. Juno was an absolute delight and I, someone who is not a kid fan, would love to babysit her for a day and do all sorts of fun stuff with her. She'd probably ask me a million questions that I would not know the answer to (seriously, the kid is smart!) but we'd have a great time. Jess's grandparents are so solid and dependable and wonderful and there was a scary moment when I thought things would go so badly. Because I loved Jess so much, I was so glad that she had people like her grandparents in her life. And Fizzy! Oh my word, Jess's best friend was AMAZING. She needs her own book. She's a romance author and is so smart and funny and is searching for her own soulmate, one fling at a time. Having a main character with so many people around her is always great because it helps solidify their amazingness.

The Soulmate Equation was so fun to read. It had smarts and heart and those are two of the most important things I want in my romantic comedies. Christina Lauren have given readers yet another entertaining contemporary read that I think will be in many hands over the summer!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*