The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
- Alisha Eadle
- Nov 11
- 8 min read
The Soulmate Equation
by Christina Lauren
Published by Gallery Books
Book 1 in the DNA Duo
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.
After all, her father was never around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before her daughter 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 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña. 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 launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.
The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.
Genre
Triggers
Single Parent, Insecure finances
In an effort to pick away at my TBR, I finally picked up The Soulmate Equation.
Considering how much I loved the second book - The True Love Experiment - why it took me so long, I have no idea.
Did I love it?
Yes.
Did I love it as much as The True Love Experiment?
No.
And honestly, I think it's because it wasn't Fizzy's humor shining through the pages. Jess and River stand on their own, however. While not as quirky as fan-favorite Fizzy, they both are enjoyable to read. Jess is easy to relate to.
Single mom, struggling to make ends meet, even with the support of her grandparents.
Then there is River.
Sigh.
I love a grumpy man. There is just something about a woman getting under a man's skin who isn't looking for anything, and not expecting it. That it takes a bit of work to get to the happy ending.
Which is does.
Take work.
Two people, brought together through very unique circumstances, and having to spend time together in the public eye. While their initial meeting wasn't great, as they spend time together, get to know one another, that chemistry bleeds from the page, and makes you begging for more.
Is it a little predictable, despite the uniqueness of their situation?
A bit.
The dynamic team of Christina Lauren's writing, though, makes you forget all that.
The Soulmate Equation has a great story with relatable characters. I didn't just fall in love with Jess and River. The side characters - especially Fizzy - add so much banter and humor to this book. If you haven't read it yet, give it a read. Then pick up The True Love Experiment after. You won't regret it!
Jessica Davis used to think it was an honest-to-God tragedy that only twenty-six percent of women believed in true love. Of course, that was nearly a decade ago, when she couldn't imagine what it felt like to be anything but deeply and passionately obsessed with the man who would one day be her ex. Tonight though, on her third first date in seven years, she was astounded the number was even that high.
Fizzy: "I'm just saying, the clock is ticking."
Fizzy waved vaguely toward Jess's butt.
Fizzy: "That booty won't be high and tight forever, you know."
Jess: "Maybe not, but Tinder isn't going to help me find a quality guy to hold it up, either."
Fizzy: "Where was I?"
Jess kept her eyes on the email in front of her, pretending to read.
Jess: "I think you were about to say that it's my life and that I should do what I think is best."
Fizzy: "We both know that is not something I would say."
Jess: "This is weird,"
she whispered.
Jess: "Are we sure this isn't a front for some organ-harvesting cult?"
She carefully fingered a tidy stack of science journals.
Jess: "They always use the pretty ones as bait."
Fizzy: "Dr. Peña."
Jess: "You have to admit you don't look at Dr. River Peña and think, 'Now, there's a romantic soul.'"
Fizz: "No,"
Fizz conceded,
Fizz: "but I do look at him and think, "I bet he's got a fantastic penis.' Did you see the size of his hands? He could carry me by the head, like a basketball."
A throat cleared, and they looked up to find River Peña standing not two feet away.
Jess: I'm hiding in the bathroom, crying on the toilet,"
she said when Fizzy answered an hour later.
Jess's friends barked out a laugh and an
Fizzy: "Aww, I love it when you ignore boundaries. Usually that's my wheelhouse."
Fizzy: "I'm serious. Listen to me. You're so beautiful, it's stupid. Your eyes? Like, I try to describe that blue in books, and it just sounds cliche. You have the cutest little bod, and literally the best lips. And for free! People usually have to pay for mouths like that."
Jess laughed through a sob.
Fizzy: "If i didn't know you were such a head case, I'd ask you out myself."
Fizzy: "He lives with his sister."
Jess: "Is that an automatic disqualification?"
Fizzy: "I mean, they live together as in they share a bedroom."
She shook her head, clearly not wanting Jess to ask more.
Fizzy: "It's uncharted territory for me. I'm unwilling to explore what it means."
Fizzy: "We had dinner, we had sex."
Fizzy shrugged, summarizing.
Fizzy: "We won't be seeing each other again, though."
As if she remembered something, she picked up her notebook and jotted down a couple of words.
Jess: "What did you just write down?"
Fizzy's lip curled.
Fizzy: "Dick tattoo."
Jess's lip curled, too.
Jess: "What? No."
Fizzy: "Also, he wanted me to talk dirty, so I did, but apparently I went too dirty."
Jess burst out laughing again.
Jess: "You went too dirty for a guy with a dick tattoo? Felicity Chen, my God."
River: "If we were given a score of twenty-two, would you have believed that?"
It was exactly the question she'd asked herself only a handful of days ago.
Jess: "Yes, because that would align with my feelings for you in general. A ninety-eight, to me, implies that we would be drawn to each other. That we would have instantaneous chemistry."
There was a lull that was mercifully interrupted by the waiter bringing bread and cocktails. When they were alone again, David carefully asked,
David: "And you don't?"
Jess: "I generally want to commit a felony when I see him,"
Jess said, a butter knife held in front of her.
Juno: "It was a movie about Billy the Kid."
Jess looked at Pops again.
Jess: "Young Guns?"
she said incredulously.
Jess: "My seven-year-old watched Young Guns?"
Pops: "In my defense,"
he said, still not bothering to glance up,
Pops: "we were watching Frozen again and I fell asleep. When I woke up, she'd changed the channel and got invested. You want me to keep her from learning history?"
Fizzy's voice glimmered with wonder:
Fizzy: "What did you do to him?"
Jess: "We did not -"
Fizzy: "He's smil-"
Jess: "I know,"
Jess snapped.
Jess: "It's weird. Shut up."
She did not shut up.
Fizzy: "When you two actually -"
Leaning in, Jess hissed:
Jess: "Shhhh!"
Fizzy stared after him.
Fizzy: "What just happened?"
Jess: "He bought us coffee."
Jess was extremely casual. Not at all unsettled.
Fizzy: "Calm down, Fizz."
Meanwhile, her brain was shouting in all caps.
Fizzy: "My vagina just unfurled like a flower,"
Fizzy said, still staring at the door.
Jess: "No."
Fizzy: "A fucking flower, Jess."
Jess cupped her forehead in her hands. It was going to be a long day.
Fizzy took the book from her and shoved it back in place.
Fizzy: "Do we really have to do this?"
She looked around.
Fizzy: "This feels oddly naughty."
Jess honestly never expected Fizzy to have a pearl-clutching side.
Jess: "Do you remember when you were writing My Alter Ego and you asked me to hoist my leg behind my head to"
-Jess made air quotes-
Jess: "'see if a normal person could do it'?"
Fizzy frowned, thinking.
Fizzy: "Vaguely."
Jess: "I pulled my hamstring and could barely walk for a week. For you and your book. But you still told Daniel I'd pulled a vaginal muscle in a sex accident. You owe me."
River: "I'd suspect most people comment on your eyes,"
he said quietly, running a fingertip across her collarbone.
River: "That startling, bright blue."
Surely he could feel her heart scaling her windpipe. He didn't seem to remember there was anyone else in the room.
River: "But I prefer your mouth."
Jess: "You do?"
Jess managed.
River: "I do,"
he said, and bent, kissing her forehead.
River: "You don't give those smiles away for free."
Fizzy: "He said that?"
Fizzy whispered, wary of the small but excellent ears in the other room.
Fizzy: "He actually said the words 'I want you in my bed'? Just like that?"
Jess nodded.
Jess: "Steady, ardent, I'm-going-to-fuck-you-until-you-find-religion eye contact"
Fizzy groaned, reaching for her purse, pulling her notebook out, and writing it down.
River: "Natalia texted me already that they both adored you and if I mess this up, they'll neuter me."
Jess grimaced.
Jess: "Please don't mess it up. You have such a big, beautiful-"
River turned and smirked at her.
Jess: "Personality,"
she finished, grinning back.
Jess: "And being neutered would be kind of a downer."
River: "I'm glad you have such a fondness for me personality,"
he said, turning his attention forward again.
Jess: "A soft spot, one might even say."
Fizzy: "That might be the best start to a story I've had in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll finally be able to write something other than sex scenes that transition into aggressive and intentional penile injury."
Jess: "Please don't write a romance starring me and UPS Pat."
Fizzy: "Do you know that penises can be fractured and strangled?"
Fizzy paused.
Fizzy: "But please don't Google it."
Jess: "Is that what I think it is?"
Fizzy: "If what you think it is is the newest Felicity Chen novel, Base Paired, about a hot scientist and a sexy single mom making a love connection through a DNA-based dating app, then yes."
River hovered behind, leaving a curious chin over Jess's shoulder.
River: "Is it as dirty as your other books?"
Fizzy nodded proudly.
Fizzy: "Probably dirtier."
His eyebrows went up.
River: "It's hard to know whether I should be weirded out by that,"
he mused,
River: "or proud."
Reaching around Jess's waist, River took the USB.
River: "I'll start it tonight."
At Jess's look, he added,
River: "Consider it research."
#beta #rich #fakerelationship #forcedproximity #grumpy #enemiestolovers #singleparent #slowburn #workplace