The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang – ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Recommended: sure
For someone looking for a quick read that’s cute enough, for someone who has no idea about autism and this might help be more humanizing for those who have it, someone looking for some detailed and generously frequent sex scenes

Summary:
Stella’s parents are worried that she’s still single in her 30s, and their pleas for grandchildren are making her worry about finding love. Her quirks make her nervous about ever being physically intimate with someone, so she takes the most logical approach: hire a prostitute to be her long-term practice boyfriend. Michael, her new fake-boyfriend, doesn’t want to end up with another stalker on his hands, but can’t resist taking her up on the job. When practice sex turns to feelings, each starts to consider if it’s worth the risk of trying this relationship out for real.

Thoughts:
Uh, well, I did not expect to be knee deep in a detailed sexy scene in the first chapters in the book. She’s hiring a prostitute, and I’m sitting here waiting for the kooky mixup. But nope… he actually shows up and proceeds to seduce her as she asks. Well, at least it was decently written and they didn’t make him a misogynistic ass.

The story was ok, the characters were ok, the romance was ok. What knocked it down to 3 stars for me was the lackluster conflict towards the end. It felt like the standard weak issue where if the people JUST ACTUALLY TALKED TO EACH OTHER, nothing would’ve even been an issue. It’s hard to enjoy the story when I get to here, and I’m like “Oh they’re actually both idiots.”

I did appreciate that her autism wasn’t necessarily her defining characteristic, even though it was a motivator for her in this aspect of her life. But she recognizes that it also makes her who she is, and has positive benefits too, like her ability to focus so clearly on things that helps make her excellent at her work. Overall that seemed very positive, as well as giving insight into how someone with autism can also enjoy sex, social situations, etc. and are just people.

Was it predictable? Kinda, yeah. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, it was a quick “good enough” kind of read. But you’re also not missing out on anything huge if you skip it.

Update – looks like this is going to be made into a movie, which I just can’t imagine. Be prepared for some softcore porn on that screen!!

See the review for the next in the series, The Bride Test!