The story has all the right ingredients for a great romcom and was a fun read but it just wasn’t hitting the right spot for me… I wasn’t loving Rory and found Penny to be annoying a big chunk of the time. So as much as I can see how this is a good read and people will love it I know I am not one of those people and it’s through no fault of the book or the author

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and provide my honest review

The Dating Equation by Emily Merrill
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5


This my first time reading a book by Emily Merrill and thankfully it did not disappoint.

Penny and best friend, Rory have created a dating app with a difference called Level. A app that was created to make dating more about the person, than what the person looks like. Alongside launching this app and testing it out for herself, Penny has to a juggle a lot of balls in her day-to-day life.

This was a pleasant and enjoyable romcom. The author did a great job with developing the main characters as well as the secondary characters, all of which were very relatable.

I would recommend The Dating Equation if you’re looking for an easy read filled with lots of laughter.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperNorth for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Only a few pages in, I began falling in love with Penny and Rory, especially from the little insights we get about them - I mean, I can fully believe that Rory’s karaoke song is ‘Copacabana’! It’s mentioned that they studied in Edinburgh which gives ‘One Day’ vibes but as I noted while reading “hopefully with a happier ending”! They, along with their circle of colleagues / friends / family were so lovable but also relatable - I mean who also hasn’t tried to max out their Pret subscription?!

For me, as a huge fan of romcom movies, this book moved at the perfect pace and followed a formula similar to all the greats - in fact, I wish it were also a movie because I know it would immediately become one of my favorites!

At first I found the sheer amount of pop culture references a bit jarring but by the end it became something I loved the most about the book as it made me feel like I was in a London version of Gilmore Girls which is one of my favourite series ever!

Overall, this was a 4 star read for me and I had a great time reading it! This was my first Emily Merrill book and it won’t be my last!

Thank you so much Harper North & Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book! ✨