The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
A Romance, 2018 by Berkley, 323 Pages
What I Didn’t Like:
- Spicy. Honestly, I don’t actually have a problem with this, but it’s worth the content warning so you might be more forewarned than I was. I was not expecting the high levels of spice this one brought to the table. Definitely NSFW.
- The implication that autism is something that needs to be (or can be) “cured” in a person rubbed me the wrong way. I’m sure that isn’t what the author was going for, but it’s how it felt for some of the book and that was odd.
- Definitely some misogyny that is typical for the genre. I never really leaned into jealousy and wanting to fight over me is a sexy thing so that was a little irritating. But that’s a personal thing.
What I Did Like:
- This one has gender swapped Pretty Woman vibes (I love that movie) and I’m here for it! Breaking down those gender roles and exploring that dynamic was pretty cool. I like that it took a similar approach in terms of not bashing on the sex worker.
- Fake dating. This is a trope I always enjoy. Two people enter into what is supposed to be an entirely logical agreement and then emotions completely wreck things. I just adore that trope.
- The romance is believable and it does work. They have obvious chemistry and the book seems to know where it’s going very quickly, which is nice. Meanwhile, there are enough cute scenes to keep it interesting.
Who Should Read This One:
- Romance fans, specifically those who like the idea of a fake dating trope for grownups that comes heavy on the spice factor.