The Kiss Quotient (The Kiss Quotient, #1)

by Helen Hoang

From the author of The Bride Test comes a romance novel hailed as one of The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Fiction in 2018 and one of Amazon’s Top 100 Books of 2018!

“This is such a fun read and it's also quite original and sexy and sensitive.”—Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author 

“Hoang's writing bursts from the page.”—Buzzfeed

A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.

Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

• ISBN13: 9780451490810
• Publish Date: 5 June 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Berkley
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451490810

Reviews

[neurospicybookworm]

⭐️4.8

[bearley]

This was such a great story with cute romance and important representation of characters on the spectrum.

[scarr]

Incredibly heart-warming and funny while also being very sexy.

[liz089]

This was a very interesting read. Very romantic and cute, lots of sex (in a good way) and well.. I loved the MC and Michael. The whole representation of autistic was very well done, I loved it.

[ibeforem]

This was a perfect, fun read for my vacation!

Stella is a young woman with autism who is convinced that her autism is keeping her from having good sex. With a mother who is hounding her to find a relationship, she tries looking at the problem the best way she knows how -- analytically. Surely, if she is bad at sex, she should find someone who is good at sex to show her what she is doing wrong, and how to do it right. So, Stella hires a sex worker.

Michael is using sex work to supplement his day job salary to help pay for his mother's medical bills. But he isn't sure what to think when Stella asks to hire him for multiple sessions to show him the ropes. Seeing clients more than once isn't supposed to be part of the plan.

What follows is a romance that ticks off the usual plot points, but it's sweet and entertaining and sexy. I definitely will be reading Hoang's next book.

[whisperingchapters]

4.5!!

[Jyc]

★☆ // i was initially into this thinking that it would be a quirky, new adult book and it did start as something pretty interesting. but then it got a bit muddled in the middle then ultimately sputtered out with typical romcom-y resolutions. there were so many things that could have been discussed regarding Stella—a woman with Asperger’s and how she navigates an emotion-filled and oftentimes irrational field of love when her brain and life follows rules and logic down to a tee. there was Michael who is an escort—a considered taboo profession that is frowned upon by the society, which could have been used to discuss filial piety in Asian households. somehow these huge chunks of what make them interesting characters and what should complete the story are relegated to the the background as some sort of minor obstacles in love that could apparently be solved by... courting? what. there’s just so much potential but obviously this writer was not interested in the economics of these circumstances. the end result is a letdown, and frankly i want my hours back.

”This crusade to fix herself was ending right now. She wasn't broken. She saw and interacted with the world in a different way, but that was her. She could change her actions, change her words, change her appearance, but she couldn't change the root of herself. At her core, she would always be autistic. People called it a disorder, but it didn't feel like one. To her, it was simply the way she was.”

[leahrosereads]

I may have read The Bride Test first, but I still loved this just as much! It had a really great main character and a rep I don't see a lot in books (Asperger's). So obviously, I appreciated that.

Wasn't a huge fan of all the miscommunications, but I understood the reasoning behind it, so I definitely can't fault the book.

I can't wait to see what other stories this author comes up with next.

[boghunden]

I really, really enjoyed this book.

I feel kind of bad to laugh at the main character, but she was just so sweet and funny and ugh, I loved her 3 I also really liked Michael, he seemed like a really great fit for her.

The writing style was great. I loved the dialogue, especially Stella's parts. She's just saying what she's thinking - no filter. Stella has Asperger's, and that's one of the things I love about her. She's also very smart, which unfortunately is a thing I don't see too often in romance. I really liked that about her.

Plotwise, there's so much to like! One of my favorite things about this book was the scene where Michael bumps into Elaine. That was just hilarious! Overall, this book had me laughing and smiling.

I had no interest in the author's other book before, but I certainly do now!

[mrs_mander_reads]

Love!