The Kiss Quotient / Helen Hoang / 324 pages

Want the steamy romance of Fifty Shades of Grey, but with an actual romantic male lead? Then you need to read The Kiss Quotient. I read this book this past week for the neurodiverse category in the Read Harder Challenge. I was very pleasantly surprised by the engaging plot and characters who completely likable. If you were turned off by Christian Grey's attitude, and want to read something steamy, but with a patient and kind male lead, this is the book I think a lot of us have been waiting for for a long, long time.

Stella is a 30-year old econometrician on the autism spectrum. She delights in crunching numbers and creating algorithms. In Silicon Valley, she has everything except for a boyfriend and children. When her mom pushes her to get out into the dating world, she decides to enlist the help of a male escort who might be able to teach her the finer points of sensuality. Michael is that male escort and is dealing with the aftermath of a father who left the family and a mother whose health has sent her to the hospital multiple times. I completely recommend!