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SoulSearcher
In a world where you can get matched with a soulmate instead of finding one yourself, love should be easy, right? Mila seems to think so.
But when Mila’s SoulSearcher, the device leading her to her soulmate, matches her with a young woman named Rory, Mila is more confused than ever. First of all, Mila hadn’t realized she could be attracted to women before meeting Rory. And secondly, Rory has no interest in a romantic relationship at all.
Despite the concerns, Mila and Rory are drawn to each other. They get along really well, feel comfortable around each other, and even share a passion for rescue dogs. Rory finally found the best friend she had always dreamed of, but Mila keeps secretly hoping it will one day blossom into something romantic.
Were the two of them brought together for a reason? Or did their SoulSearchers do more harm than good?
But when Mila’s SoulSearcher, the device leading her to her soulmate, matches her with a young woman named Rory, Mila is more confused than ever. First of all, Mila hadn’t realized she could be attracted to women before meeting Rory. And secondly, Rory has no interest in a romantic relationship at all.
Despite the concerns, Mila and Rory are drawn to each other. They get along really well, feel comfortable around each other, and even share a passion for rescue dogs. Rory finally found the best friend she had always dreamed of, but Mila keeps secretly hoping it will one day blossom into something romantic.
Were the two of them brought together for a reason? Or did their SoulSearchers do more harm than good?
227 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 9, 2026
About the author
Molly Weinfurter
6 books20 followersMolly Weinfurter is a writer and editor that specializes in young adult fiction and animal-related topics. She moved to Florida to get a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, and has since returned to her home state of Wisconsin. When she's not writing, she's either spending time with her rescue dog or playing Just Dance for hours.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 18, 2026
"ᴏꜰ ᴄᴏᴜʀꜱᴇ, ɪ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ɪꜱ ɪᴍᴘᴏʀᴛᴀɴᴛ ɪɴ ᴀ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱʜɪᴘ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ, ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ɪɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ꜰᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ’ꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ɪᴍᴘᴏʀᴛᴀɴᴛ ᴛʜɪɴɢ.”
— ℝ𝕠𝕣𝕪.
💚 She's a hopeless romantic shelter worker
💚 An ace/aro, baker love interest
💚 First person dual POV
💚 What if ... You can find your soulmate with technology?
💚 Both are dog parents!
💚 A yapper x private person
💚 OM drama
Lucy Valentine meets Fingernails in this book!
Holy spaghetti!! What a delicious little snack 😍🤌 For a book whose top reviews had me hesitating to pick it up, SoulSearcher turned out to be quite an enjoyable read. I won't say I loved it, because there were definitely moments where I could feel a headache creeping in, yk? 💀
The sapphic element was what initially pulled me in, but when I closed the last page, I found myself wondering: does this really count as sapphic when the love interest is both ace and aro? 🤔
Don't expect a cute romance here. Don't expect lovey dovey moments. Definitely don't expect smut. Despite its premise, I don't think SoulSearcher is really a romance novel. It's more about friendship, dogs, and what happens when love turns into obsession.
Meet Mila, a hopeless romantic who's always dreamed of a fairytale love story. Then there's Rory, her soulmate who unfortunately just wants to be her ... Friend.
Oof.
"𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎, 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆'𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔."
This is another case of "if this wasn't sapphic, I wouldn't have picked it up." Mila was such a complex character. At times she came across as selfish, childish, and overly naive. There was moments where I wanted to shake her shoulders or pour her some holy water or whatever. She's the type of person who believes omg love can fix everything 😍😍 to the point where it borders on creepy??? You could probably call her unlikeable.
But people aren't black and white.
If you grew up watching your parents become each other's perfect match, wouldn't you want the same thing for yourself? That's what made Mila work for me. Even when I disagreed with her choices, I understood where they came from. Her desperation for romance wasn't random, it was rooted in the life she'd always imagined for herself and her "Axel".
"𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘.”
Rory, on the other hand, is the more mature one. I have to admit, this is my first time reading a book with an aro protagonist! I don't want to comment on how accurate the rep is, but it made her POV much more interesting!! I understood Rory. I understood her mother's worries. Sometimes, you just can't pick a side.
Not only did the main protagonists shine, but the side characters stole the show too. We have Zaya and Liz, especially Liz!!She's your typical little sister character, except she's not a burden. The one who desperately needs therapy is Mila, while my girl Liz is the embodiment of sanity in this book. In my head, I kept imagining her as Liz from that Kpop girl group lol 😭
“𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌.”
“𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌. 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍, 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒂.”
And ofc, we can't forget the doggos!! Can we talk about how the author writes the dogs here? I could genuinely feel how much she cares about animals through the way she described them and Mila's passion for her job. I wasn't surprised at all when I reached the author's note and learned she's also a foster parent. I've said it before and I'll say it again: animal companions always make books ✨ better ✨
My biggest complaint is that the SoulSearcher lore wasn't explored enough. We still don't know much about how the technology actually works. Is it free or paid? Who created it? Where did it originate? How long has it existed? I would've loved more worldbuilding because the concept itself was fascinating. The writing could also use a little polishing. I noticed certain phrases like "part of me" being repeated quite often. And Rory's job could've been get more spotlight. Still, it wasn't enough to bother me too much.
The heartwarming ending made up for most of my complaints. It also left me wondering if humans could discover their soulmate through technology, would the world actually become a better place?
Well, I know one thing for sure: the people behjnd Tinder and Bumble probably wouldn't be very happy about it 😂
Thank you so much to the author for the free copy, and I apologize for the late review 💚
— ℝ𝕠𝕣𝕪.
💚 She's a hopeless romantic shelter worker
💚 An ace/aro, baker love interest
💚 First person dual POV
💚 What if ... You can find your soulmate with technology?
💚 Both are dog parents!
💚 A yapper x private person
💚 OM drama
Lucy Valentine meets Fingernails in this book!
Holy spaghetti!! What a delicious little snack 😍🤌 For a book whose top reviews had me hesitating to pick it up, SoulSearcher turned out to be quite an enjoyable read. I won't say I loved it, because there were definitely moments where I could feel a headache creeping in, yk? 💀
The sapphic element was what initially pulled me in, but when I closed the last page, I found myself wondering: does this really count as sapphic when the love interest is both ace and aro? 🤔
Don't expect a cute romance here. Don't expect lovey dovey moments. Definitely don't expect smut. Despite its premise, I don't think SoulSearcher is really a romance novel. It's more about friendship, dogs, and what happens when love turns into obsession.
Meet Mila, a hopeless romantic who's always dreamed of a fairytale love story. Then there's Rory, her soulmate who unfortunately just wants to be her ... Friend.
Oof.
"𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎, 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆'𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔."
This is another case of "if this wasn't sapphic, I wouldn't have picked it up." Mila was such a complex character. At times she came across as selfish, childish, and overly naive. There was moments where I wanted to shake her shoulders or pour her some holy water or whatever. She's the type of person who believes omg love can fix everything 😍😍 to the point where it borders on creepy??? You could probably call her unlikeable.
But people aren't black and white.
If you grew up watching your parents become each other's perfect match, wouldn't you want the same thing for yourself? That's what made Mila work for me. Even when I disagreed with her choices, I understood where they came from. Her desperation for romance wasn't random, it was rooted in the life she'd always imagined for herself and her "Axel".
"𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘.”
Rory, on the other hand, is the more mature one. I have to admit, this is my first time reading a book with an aro protagonist! I don't want to comment on how accurate the rep is, but it made her POV much more interesting!! I understood Rory. I understood her mother's worries. Sometimes, you just can't pick a side.
Not only did the main protagonists shine, but the side characters stole the show too. We have Zaya and Liz, especially Liz!!She's your typical little sister character, except she's not a burden. The one who desperately needs therapy is Mila, while my girl Liz is the embodiment of sanity in this book. In my head, I kept imagining her as Liz from that Kpop girl group lol 😭
“𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌.”
“𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌. 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍, 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒂.”
And ofc, we can't forget the doggos!! Can we talk about how the author writes the dogs here? I could genuinely feel how much she cares about animals through the way she described them and Mila's passion for her job. I wasn't surprised at all when I reached the author's note and learned she's also a foster parent. I've said it before and I'll say it again: animal companions always make books ✨ better ✨
My biggest complaint is that the SoulSearcher lore wasn't explored enough. We still don't know much about how the technology actually works. Is it free or paid? Who created it? Where did it originate? How long has it existed? I would've loved more worldbuilding because the concept itself was fascinating. The writing could also use a little polishing. I noticed certain phrases like "part of me" being repeated quite often. And Rory's job could've been get more spotlight. Still, it wasn't enough to bother me too much.
The heartwarming ending made up for most of my complaints. It also left me wondering if humans could discover their soulmate through technology, would the world actually become a better place?
Well, I know one thing for sure: the people behjnd Tinder and Bumble probably wouldn't be very happy about it 😂
Thank you so much to the author for the free copy, and I apologize for the late review 💚
July 6, 2026
This book has an interesting premise, where you can choose to participate in a program to be matched with a soulmate. Mila's character development/regression/development was like watching a train wreck, I just had to keep reading to figure out what happened next! I don't think I have ever read a book with an aro/ace character before, and enjoyed the theme of friendships over relationships.
Review of advance copy received from Author
3.5
I entered this book not knowing there would be explicit aro/ace representation, so I was so excited when SoulSearcher had amazing aro/ace rep!
I am ace myself and was really excited when Rory, one of the main characters, explicitly told Mila that she was not interested in a relationship because she was aromantic and asexual. I don't think I've ever read a book with an aro/ace character, let alone a main character. In my opinion and experience, Weinfurter really nailed the questions and reactions people have to this admission. Adding Zaya as an ace (not aro) side character was a fantastic decision and I loved how different Rory and Zaya's experiences were, despite being on the same spectrum.
My only real issues with the book had to do with the main character Mila and the narration. At times, Mila was very difficult to read (especially when she was being delusional about her relationship with Rory and mistreating Rory or Liz). The narration itself sounds very young, which makes sense since the characters are in their early twenties, however Mila's narration specifically sounded much younger and very naive. At times this made it difficult for me to read, but this could be personal preference.
I enjoyed all the information about dogs that was interspersed throughout the narrative. I am not the biggest dog lover (I still love them though!), but all the dogs in this book were so sweet and I liked all the references to fostering and adoption throughout the story. The dogs are even involved in the climax of this story, which was really sweet.
Ultimately, I loved this book for it not being a romance. I have always thought the idea of soulmates was very exclusive as it leaves out aro/ace people and poly people. Weinfurter challenges this idea by insisting that Rory is aro/ace and her identity is real and will not change, but that does not make her incapable of platonic or familial love and having close relationships with other people.
Despite some issues I had with the book, I do not think this will bother all readers. I personally really enjoyed SoulSearcher. I started it before heading to work and thought about it all day until I got home because I was so interested! I hope this book reaches the people that need to hear it. Your identity is real and you matter.
I received this book for free and am writing this review voluntarily.
I entered this book not knowing there would be explicit aro/ace representation, so I was so excited when SoulSearcher had amazing aro/ace rep!
I am ace myself and was really excited when Rory, one of the main characters, explicitly told Mila that she was not interested in a relationship because she was aromantic and asexual. I don't think I've ever read a book with an aro/ace character, let alone a main character. In my opinion and experience, Weinfurter really nailed the questions and reactions people have to this admission. Adding Zaya as an ace (not aro) side character was a fantastic decision and I loved how different Rory and Zaya's experiences were, despite being on the same spectrum.
My only real issues with the book had to do with the main character Mila and the narration. At times, Mila was very difficult to read (especially when she was being delusional about her relationship with Rory and mistreating Rory or Liz). The narration itself sounds very young, which makes sense since the characters are in their early twenties, however Mila's narration specifically sounded much younger and very naive. At times this made it difficult for me to read, but this could be personal preference.
I enjoyed all the information about dogs that was interspersed throughout the narrative. I am not the biggest dog lover (I still love them though!), but all the dogs in this book were so sweet and I liked all the references to fostering and adoption throughout the story. The dogs are even involved in the climax of this story, which was really sweet.
Ultimately, I loved this book for it not being a romance. I have always thought the idea of soulmates was very exclusive as it leaves out aro/ace people and poly people. Weinfurter challenges this idea by insisting that Rory is aro/ace and her identity is real and will not change, but that does not make her incapable of platonic or familial love and having close relationships with other people.
Despite some issues I had with the book, I do not think this will bother all readers. I personally really enjoyed SoulSearcher. I started it before heading to work and thought about it all day until I got home because I was so interested! I hope this book reaches the people that need to hear it. Your identity is real and you matter.
I received this book for free and am writing this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from Author
2 stars.
SoulSearcher by Molly Weinfurter had an interesting concept at first, what if you could know who your soulmate was using a device that paired you up, and what happens when you don't understand the person it has paired you with. Unfortunately for me that's about where the interesting part ends. I don't really have much to say about it, it was a quick read at least and while I think I understand what the author was trying to say in general it was just done very poorly in relation to the romantic relationships in my opinion. I don't think the split pov added anything to the story and would even go as far as to say that it might have been a better book if we had seen the whole thing from Rory's pov instead of Mila's. People should take care to check the content warnings before reading.
SoulSearcher by Molly Weinfurter had an interesting concept at first, what if you could know who your soulmate was using a device that paired you up, and what happens when you don't understand the person it has paired you with. Unfortunately for me that's about where the interesting part ends. I don't really have much to say about it, it was a quick read at least and while I think I understand what the author was trying to say in general it was just done very poorly in relation to the romantic relationships in my opinion. I don't think the split pov added anything to the story and would even go as far as to say that it might have been a better book if we had seen the whole thing from Rory's pov instead of Mila's. People should take care to check the content warnings before reading.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was super excited about a romance book written about dogs. The "dog" aspects of this book about fostering, humane societies, and breed stigmas were spot on! Ends up being a cute story, but honestly Mila is not the most likeable character. There were multiple times when she was so oblivious or had a one track mind about finding her 'soul mate' that it was hard to sympathize with her. The romance aspect of this book ends up not being a main focus, instead more like a sweet found-family story.
June 9, 2026
SoulSearcher is such a fun, feel-good read! The worldbuilding around the soulmate-finding necklaces is creative and unique, but what really won me over was how much heart the animal rescue storyline brings to the book. The LGBTQ+ representation is handled beautifully and authentically. A perfect read for Pride Month. If you're looking for something warm, inclusive, and full of dogs, pick this one up! I received an advance reader copy and loved every page.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I received an ARC for this book. It first caught my attention because I love the cover (the dog looks so much like my friend’s dog). The book is pretty short, but I thought it was a fun story. As a dog lover myself, it was easy to connect to the characters. Mila was a little annoying at times, but I’m glad she finally showed some growth toward that end.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews