The Soulmate Equation: The perfect rom-com from the bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners

Lighthearted and fluffy in the best way.Gorgeous meet-cute, low-level angst/drama at the appropriate stage, swoon-worthy leading characters and some excellent incorporation of 2020 real world developments- Fizzy on zoom was a delight!I read it cover to cover in a couple of hours and brightened my afternoon- highly recommend to romance fans!

⚠️cw: mentions of addiction⚠️Statistician Jess's love life is non-existent. When she learns about a new technology that uses DNA to find long-term relationship matches, she's sceptical. On a whim, she submits her sample. When her match comes back as the founder of the company, Dr River Peña, she's baffled. Sure, he's hot. But the seemingly aloof, grumpy geneticist couldn't be The One. Could he?What I loved from the start was how they were both so adorably flawed. River was a single-minded workaholic but with a secret cinnamon roll layer. I particularly empathised with Jess as a single parent. Her concern about introducing someone new to Juno was well-written, and I loved the organic way River and Juno met. Juno was hilarious and well-observed as an inquisitive seven-year-old. I enjoyed the STEM aspects of the story, particularly early on. I also enjoyed the little Easter egg with the ballet teacher. The supporting characters were fun, and I loved Fizzy. I was relieved that the conflict wasn't drawn out too much, and I particularly appreciated that River acknowledged he needed to do better. This story had all the heart I expect from the authors, but it somehow fell a tiny bit short in physical chemistry. Clearly, there was an attraction between River and Jess. The story really built up the physical chemistry aspect early on. But the actual intimacy felt half-hearted and rushed (which felt weird having read a lot of other books by these authors). I don't need explicit intimacy in a book to enjoy a story, but the lack here felt rather anticlimactic.Still, it was a sweet story, and I loved the ending. I'm so looking forward to reading Fizzy's story next. Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️Heat Rating: 🔥.5Emotional Rating: 😂💓😂😉🙈😂💓😢😂🙈😬😂🥰💓🥰😉😍🥰😂🙈😉🥰💓😍🥰😢💓😍😂🥰😍💓😒💔🤬💓💔😢💓🥰

Did anyone ever tell you you could find your soulmate based on your DNA? Well according to Dr River Pena, the scientist behind the dating app GeneticAlly, apparently you can! A spit sample is all it takes, and then the company analyses your DNA and matches you with other people on the database according to your genetic compatibility.The biggest shock comes when the creator River himself matches with Jess, a single mum, at the highest ever compatibility known to the company of 98%! And now this 'diamond match' has to play along with a relationship to boost publicity for GeneticAlly - problem is, River and Jess could not be more different, Jess has been seeing River at the coffee shop for ages and when they have their first encounter it certainly isn't friendly, and River is so grumpy. But the more time they spend together, the more sparks to fly, and neither can't help but wonder if it really is to do with their DNA...Also Jess's daughter Juno is so adorable and incredibly wise - the advice she gives Jess sometimes is <3 and the way River is with Juno is just so heart-melting. He is so SWOONY, oh and love Jess's grandparents, and Jess's hilarious best friend Fizzy <3This is seriously a must-read for all rom com lovers!

So there are things to love about this book and things not to.Let's start with the love:Main character is an independent woman making her own way in lifeSupportive and amazing BFFFunny and sassy daughterRaised by the best Grandparents a girl could wish forSurly male lead but we all know he's a big softy underneathInteresting premise for meeting your love interestLets now move on to the not so great things:Plot twist around the main story - I cannot think that this wouldn't have been regulated and as such been a reportable event with multiple public retractions and possibly the end of it allThe writing was a bit puke worthy romantic in places - ok for others - not my bag thoughLets talk spice - now back in the day CL used to write the hottest stories (beautiful stranger anyone? - hot and emotional) - now I get we are talking mass market publication here and that means watering stuff down but to be quite frank there is an absolutely bizarre scene that appears to contain a blowee but it's been hacked with a machete to the point that it makes no sense and I had to reread the section 3 times as it felt like I'd skipped part of the book. Now seriously publishers, us long term readers were here from the start with all of the spice, we aren't going to wilt like the ladies in the 1920's if you tell us she wrapped her lips around his you know what (edited for zon)Unnecessary drama - we had the main drama - did we really need the mum as well? In all honesty I found the mum parts made me want to give the daughter a kick for being such a walkover. And if the grandparents took her in before and looked out for her, why aren't they still aware that mum's causing trouble?In short, give me more of Pena being broody but lovableGive me more hot Pena with Jess and get me invested in them as a coupleDitto sweet Pena and Jess and family time with Juno - again the small things we saw were great but I wanted more.Give me more sassy Fizzy, maybe something more about the inspirations for her writing - those bits were golden and brought some much needed humour into the book

It was indeed one of the best books I read in the recent times. The whole idea about finding your match through your DNA was mind blowing and it’s been fantastically written. The way the relationship between Jess and River were built, how they steadily moved from almost disliking each other to falling head over heels for each other is amazingly well written. All the other characters like Fizzy, Juno, and the grandparents were also beautifully woven into the main story. I just couldn’t understand why the “average” comment was added in the beginning. Though the character did try to explain it later, somehow I couldn’t understand it nor accept it. But overall it’s a beautiful love story with a perfect happily ever after ending which is not too cliched but is kept sweet and romantic till the end. Giving a well-deserved 5-star for this book.

If you want a great love story, with brain, heart, and low spice, this is for you! Well written love story that has exceptional characters, and moves at a great pace. Highly recommend :)

bom livro

I loved this book. Dr. River Peña was the perfect man, apologizing when he made a mistake. And Jess was so funny and strong and independent and smart, I loved her. The side characters were wonderful too.This book is so heart touching, funny and with real topics. Totally recommend it.

Well written and fun to read