TLC Book Tours: The DNA of You and Me by Andrea Rothman

Title: The DNA of You and Me
Author: Andrea Rothman
Format: Paperback
Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: March 12, 2019
Source: TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins

What's the Story?:

Goodreads.com: "Emily Apell arrives in Justin McKinnon’s renowned research lab with the single-minded goal of making a breakthrough discovery. But a colleague in the lab, Aeden Doherty, has been working on a similar topic, and his findings threaten to compete with her research.

To Emily’s surprise, her rational mind is unsettled by Aeden, and when they end up working together their animosity turns to physical passion, followed by love. Emily eventually allows herself to envision a future with Aeden, but when he decides to leave the lab it becomes clear to her that she must make a choice. It is only years later, when she is about to receive a prestigious award for the work they did together, that Emily is able to unravel everything that happened between them."

My Two Cents:

In "The DNA of You and Me," Emily comes to New York City from the Midwest to take on a role in a lab doing research that really excites her. She deeply believes that she was born to do the kind of research that she finds herself enveloped in. She is ambitious and she knows that she is good at what she does. When she meets Aeden, she is determined to not let him distract her but she falls for him. Will she choose love over career or career over love or can she find a way to have both?

I really liked that Emily was allowed to be unabashedly in love with her career. It seems all too often that female characters are not allowed to be ambitious or so secure in their desires to be successful (hmm, art meet life, no?). This book weaves in a lot of the author's real life scientific experience, which was great and added a nice flavor to the story. The research that Emily and Aeden were working on was definitely fascinating. I really thought the detail added an air of reality to the story. I was very drawn to learning more about this aspect of the book!

This was an interesting rumination on female success and the choices that women are so often asked to make between their career and love life. The relationship between Emily and Aeden fell a bit flat for me. I wanted to understand the emotional bond between the two of them rather than what seemed like a simple convenience but I suppose convenience is a fine driving factor as well.

Overall, this was a debut author that will be great to watch as she moves forward!