I read ‘The Bride Test’ by this author last month and really enjoyed it. It happened to be the second title in the series so I decided to go back and read the first book before proceeding to the third. Also, this book won the Goodreads 2018 award for best romance novel so my expectations were high.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the same experience as I had with ‘The Bride Test’. Being a debut, it is forgivable especially as her second book shows so much growth in the writing style and character development.
‘The Kiss Quotient’ is about Stella Lane who is Autistic and doesn’t have any luck with dating or sex. She then decides to hire a male escort, Michael who is to teach her how to be a better lover. Michael and Stella begin what is supposed to be a contractual arrangement but end up with feelings for each other.
I found the first 50-100 pages interesting and entertaining but totally found myself rolling my eyes frequently after that. Many parts of this story were unrealistic. The way that Stella kept on changing her mind on what she wanted Michael to do, the fact that Michael turned out to be almost like an antidote to her autism and the way they communicated with quite a lot of profanity especially during their sexual encounters didn’t seem natural to me. I disliked Michael’s evident low self esteem and their constant misinterpretation of each other’s actions and reactions especially for things that were very clear. Also at the end, Michael sudden success after only three months of starting his fashion business with an additional four stores was so unrealistic.
Another aspect of the book I didn’t like were the sexual scenes. At the beginning, it was bearable but as the book progressed it became downright annoying, too graphic and in my opinion “too much”!
On the flip side, I am all for the #ownvoices novels and this one educated me once again about people who are autistic. The author has given a voice to people with this syndrome in the romance genre and hopefully will be a source of encouragement towards self acceptance especially as she is also autistic.
I rate it a 2.5 stars because I struggled to finish this one. I honestly can’t give any recommendations unless you are a sucker for romance novels no matter how boring they cant get.
Published: June 5th, 2018 by Berkely
Pages:333
Genre: Fiction (Romance)
Purchase @ http://www.amazon.com
The Author: Helen Hoang is that shy person who never talks. Until she does. And the worst things fly out of her mouth. She read her first romance novel in eighth grade and has been addicted ever since. In 2016, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in line with what was previously known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Her journey inspired THE KISS QUOTIENT. She currently lives in San Diego, California with her husband, two kids, and pet fish.
