“Girls like me intimidate boyfriends away. Girls like me have never been asked out by a single boy. Girls like me have to find their own way, make their own luck. I’ve had to fight for every success in my life, and I’m going to fight for this.”
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is the perfect blend of sweet and steamy.
Stella Lane has a hard time connecting with people, especially men. She doesn’t understand the appeal of French kissing (for her, it’s like a shark getting its teeth cleaned by a pilot fish). The only thing that makes sense to her is math, and she’s only really happy when working at her job, which is creating algorithms to help predict customer’s purchases. Stella realizes the only way she will get better at dating is if she gets lots of practice with kissing and having sex. This leads her to hire Michael Phan, a male escort, who is willing to help her out. Things start to become complicated as the two begin to form a deeper connection beyond their paid partnership and find themselves becoming drawn to each other. Soon Stella starts to realize that love can be the best kind of logic.
Holy smokes, this book is steamy and just so much fun to read! I must admit I am a little late jumping on the bandwagon for this book, but I am here now, and I love it!! I started this book one rainy morning and had it done before bedtime (so much for getting my house cleaned). This book is addictive, just like Michael’s kisses. Helen did such a great job at building the sexual tension between Stella and Michael. I just had to keep reading because I wanted to see what would happen next between these two. I will give readers a warning-this book has lots of detailed sex scenes, so if that is something you aren’t comfortable with, this book might not be for you.
There are so many wonderful things about this book. The story is well-paced and has this gender-reversed Pretty woman feel to it (which I loved). Yes, I know that the storyline is unbelievable and not something that would happen in real life, but books don’t always have to be believable to be enjoyable. I love how Helen focused on the importance of consent. Michael never pressures Stella into doing something that she isn’t comfortable with. In fact, he is often the one to stop things when he notices that Stella is uncomfortable. He also treats her with so much respect and kindness and he is willing to take things at her pace, and never makes her feel bad about being inexperienced in bed. As you can tell, I am a big fan of Michael’s character. I am excited to read the second book in the Kiss Quotient series, The Bride Test.
If you are looking for a fun, addictive steamy read, you need to pick up The Kiss Quotient.