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Don Tillman, a brilliant and very fit geneticist with Asperger's, is tired of not understanding the dating world. So he starts the Wife Project, a questionnaire that he designs which he believes will yield him the most perfectly suitable candidate for the perfect life partner. (Mustn't smoke, must drink little, can't be a vegetarian, must have a certain education level, etc.) Of course, his carefully thought out yet completely tone-deaf plans go askew when the beautiful, quirky, sarcastic Rosie bursts into his office and his life. She's a got a problem that Don, with his expertise, can solve: she never knew who her father was. So he puts the Wife Project on hold and starts spending an awfully lot of time with the attractive, yet totally unsuitable Rosie. Maybe love can't be solved with an algorithm, after all...

I picked up this book after only a cursory read of the blurb on the back, and didn't expect anything one way or the other. So that made it a pleasant surprise when I was blown away by this hilarious, sweet, nerd romance, a story of crossed signals, misunderstandings, and also too-literal understandings. Don's robotic brain makes him literally unable to understand sarcasm, hints, or irony, and he has unappealing habits in the name of efficiency, like eating the same thing every Tuesday. But Simsion makes sure that he is a charming, appealing character with a heart of gold (his recollections of one of his old friends, an elderly lady whom he looked in on even after she went to a nursing home, are particularly touching). That, in addition to his blithe self-effacement ("Fortunately I am accustomed to creating amusement inadvertently," he remarks) and his martial arts and running make it clear why he would be sought-after by women despite his foibles. I enjoyed every page of this screwball romantic comedy, and having just learned there are sequels, am ready for more.