Sara's Review: The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1) by Graeme Simsion

REVIEWER PURCHASE PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Audio

NARRATOR: Dan O'Grady RELEASED: October 1, 2013 GENRE: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE, COMEDY LENGTH: 7 hours and 32 minutes FORMAT: EBOOK, PAPERBACK, AUDIBLE

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An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

The Rosie Project is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges. FIVE BOUNDLESS STARS

This is super cute and funny. Don is a little bit Sheldon Cooper but not self-absorbed and way more lovable, but they share all of those same social challenges. He doesn’t fit in and as much as he tries his brain just works differently. Don is a savant in almost anything he puts his mind to, from bar-tending to dancing. The one area he can’t seem to conquer, dating and woman. I didn’t know what to expect with this story; Don is so awkward and clueless about social norms that I just wanted to wrap him up and take him under my wing. It was hard not to instantly love, this socially challenged man. Rosie coming into his life complete throws his regimented world off axis and Don is left overwhelmed most of the time. There were some aspects of Don’s personality that reminded me of my husband, and It made me love the book even more. It is charming and just gives you that warm glow down to your soul when you read it. I truly loved it, and I am giving it 5 Boundless Stars.