I commend myself on being a voracious reader and try to read as widely as possible, covering as many subjects as my tiny brain can take. But I was yet to read any books on autism or with autistic characters. Then I saw The Kiss Quotient and was in for a surprise and much enlightenment!
At first, when I saw the cover and the title, I misjudged this book expecting it to be like one of those romance-chick lit but got a pleasant surprise. I had had enough of books telling me how 'perfect and beautiful' the lady is or how 'tall, dark and handsome' the man is.
This book was a refreshing change from the usual romance stories. It focused on the lady being autistic, geeky-intelligent and wealthy while her love interest is handsome but with pressing financial concerns. It was his need and search for money that led to their meeting under amorous circumstances.
Stella Lane is a successful mathematician who works with algorithms that predict customers' purchases in a company. She's well paid and wealthy. Money was never an issue. Due to emotional and verbal abuse from a past relationship about her poor sexual experience, she decides to improve her dating experience by hiring a male escort, Michael Phan.
Upon their meeting, Michael notices Stella's behaviour as unusual (but familiar because of his autistic brother) and gets to the bottom of the reason for his hire. This was how Stella's and Michael's partnership was born. You would want to know if Michael succeeded in getting through Stella's barriers as a result of her autism by reading this book.
Beyond the steamy sex scenes (what do you expect of a book where a main character is an escort), this book is a captivating and enlightening romance-comedy. I learned interesting things about autistic people, right from their reactions to people and situations, to their emotions and perception.
The author did a superb job because I fell in love with the main characters: Michael and Stella. I love the slow-paced build up of their romance and love connection. They are well suited as a couple but all was not rosy in their partnership. They faced some issues, particularly the issue of miscommunication due to Stella's condition.
I appreciate that the author enlightened readers about autism and any misconstrued notions surrounding this condition. What's more, I understand the author was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and her experiences inspired this book.
If you want a touching and heartwarming romance-comedy, then I recommend this book. It's well crafted, easy to read and the end was just perfect. You would want to finish it in one sitting!
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This has already been added to my list of books to read. This would be interesting to read, especially getting to learn something too. Thank you ma
Believe me, you will enjoy reading it.
Thanks for your lovely comment. 🙂