Title: The Kiss Quotient

Author: Helen Hoang

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Rating: ★★★★★

Why I read it: Blind Date With a Book hosted by my local library

The Kiss Quotient is an adorably smart and sexy tale following Stella who is on a quest to overcome her inexperience in being intimate, and Michael, the escort she hires to help her who has a few secrets of his own. With a fake dating premise, what’s not to love?

Right off the bat, I loved the author’s writing style. She effortlessly represented the characters’ personalities through the words on the page, without making this a dual-POV. I enjoyed picking up on when I was in Stella’s point of view and when I was in Michael’s, without it being explicitly pointed out to me. This made for an engaging story that weaved through their experiences fluidly. 

Also, nerd-alert moment, I admit I LOVED the font choice. There was something about the way the uppercase “Q” flourished that made my heart sing. My compliments to whomever made this stylistic choice, especially since one of the key supporting characters is named Quan!

With that out of the way, let’s get to what you really want to know…how spicy was it? I am not well versed in the world of spice, so proceed with caution, but I would rate this as a sold 2 out of 5 peppers. Were there spicy elements? Yes! Did it consume the entire book? No. Was it annoying how many there were? Also no. I appreciated how the author could tell when the reader needed a breath of fresh air; a few times she started the scene then cut to a different one and let the characters do their thing in your mind. As someone new(ish) to the romance world, this choice was welcomed.

This story is very much a retelling of Pretty Woman but in such a fun and refreshing way. Stella is adorable, Michael is hopelessly romantic (as much as he tries not to be), and I rooted for them the entire time. At times I was sure I knew where the story was going, but then some twists were thrown in that surprised me! I underestimated this tale, and in the last third of the book, I was rapidly turning pages to see what would happen next. THAT BEING SAID, there were moments of cheesiness that had me rolling my eyes, and during a few of the sexual scenes, some of the terminology made me cringe. But that has to be expected in a romance in some capacity, right? It wasn’t enough to be annoying, and the rest of the book more than made up for these small issues. 

On a personal note, I greatly enjoyed reading a story about an econometrician, as nerdy as that sounds. I am an economist by education (not by profession), and at one point in my life, I took a course in econometrics and absolutely fell in love. In college, when researching careers for my future self, I settled on econometrician as one of my top picks. Unfortunately, I did not do so well in the interviewing process, so that plan did not pan out for me as well as it did for Stella or Janie. Hearing her talk about the data with such passion reignited the flame within me and has me considering a future where I pursue that option again. There are so many paths one can take in life, it’s a wonder how any of us actually end up on the one we’re on. 

Five stars because I enjoyed every second of it and had such a fun time reading it. I also appreciated the autism and Asian American community representation. I learned a lot from this book by doing supplemental research to understand some of the vocabulary. 

This makes two “blind date with a book” selections that have been wildly fun and engaging!

SPOILERS AHEAD, tread lightly!

Philip as a character annoyed me from the start, and I couldn’t connect the dots towards the end of the book as to why Stella was giving him a chance. It felt like his character was only there as a catalyst for conflict (which was successful), and I wish it was a little more thought out as to why he was there and what purpose he held. 

THE THIRD ACT BREAKUP HAD ME WANTING TO SCREAM. I understand why the author did it – there needed to be a way for all of the secrets Stella and Michael were keeping to come to the surface, and what better way to do that than to introduce a third-act breakup that allows for a sequence of miscommunication? For those who are super sensitive to these themes, tread lightly, but for those just in it for a fun read, don’t worry about it as it is still enjoyable even if you want to shake the characters awake and encourage them to pick up the phone and call. 

Last thing I’ll say – Michael’s business at the end of the book is confusing to me. Why was he doing children’s clothing? Did I misunderstand? It’s such a minor point in the grand scheme of things and I did appreciate the happy ending afforded to the reader, so I’ll let this detail slide. 

TL;DR: Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes! It’s so cute and cringe-y in all the right ways. If you want to giggle and kick your feet like a teenager, this book is for you!