Absolutely adorable! If Rainbow Rowell wrote Sheldon Cooper as a sparky, shy woman, with a dose of steamy romance and a touch of Project Runway, it would look something like Helen Hoang’s debut novel. I am incredibly impatient for her next book in this series!

Stella Lane, a successful single econometrician who has Asperger’s, has been informed by her mother that she is ready for grandchildren. Stella--who would normally appreciate the head’s up to prepare for new situations she doesn’t like or at the very least is uncomfortable in--has a problem. She is horrible when it comes to men. Men don’t like to date her because she’s not feminine enough for them, she says the first thing that comes out of her mouth (and it’s never tactful), and she’s obsessed with work. Oh, and she hates sex. Everything about it. The invasion of personal space, the sweating, the French kissing that reminds her of pilot fish, the overwhelming colognes, and most of all, how she shuts down during the act and hopes they finish soon and leave.


And if she’s not good at sex, she’s hardly going to find that man to provide the grandchildren her mother wants, though she’s not all too sure she wants one of those either. They’re messy, sticky, touchy-feely little creatures. What she’d like is to work in peace 24/7, but apparently that’s socially unacceptable.


However, there’s a co-worker Stella thinks she would like, but he’s not interested in her. And his suggestion to her--completely unasked for, mind you--is to practice having more sex because once she “likes it”, then men will like her. (You’ll be relieved to know this douche-canoe is not who she practices with.)


Still, Stella loves to solve a problem; and she’s willing to solve her problem of hating sex--she just needs to hire a professional. She decides that if she hires someone to have sex with her and teach her the basics, she will feel more confident about attempting to date her co-worker (yes, the douche-canoe). She hires Michael Phan.


Michael has the looks of a K-drama star and some martial arts skills to match; however, it is the kindness in his eyes that prompts Stella to hire him. Michael arrives to meet his client for the evening--sans cologne per request--and is surprised to find Stella needs to hire an escort in the first place. She’s beautiful, smart, sweet, and insanely sexy. Why would she ever need to hire a man? Once back in the hotel room, Michael is even more confused by her need to hire someone.


“You smell this good?”
“Apparently. You’re the first to comment on it.”
“I want this smell all over me.” As the words left her mouth, she worried she’d said the wrong thing. That statement sounded a little too personal, a little too strange. Would he notice how strange she really was?
He bent down so his lips hovered a hairsbreadth away from her ear and whispered, “Are you sure you’re bad at sex?”


But the situation unravels from here; and soon Michael realizes Stella is definitely not his regular sort of client. She will need a much slower hand when it comes to bedroom things. For her he is willing to break his “one-time” rule to give her a month’s worth of lessons. It isn’t long before Stella appreciates Michael’s kisses, his touches and closeness; and he finds himself feeling all sorts of things for a woman who is only ever going to be a temporary arrangement.


I wanted to read this book because it ticked several things for me: it had a diverse Asian American character (I love Jeannie Lin’s historical set novels and wanted a more modern situation) who had Asperger’s (which I had read The Rosie Project and loved--so I was looking forward to how this element would weave in this story); it had the complicated family dynamics that I gravitate to (the grandmother that lives with his family, the high expectations of your career goals from the parents, the constant criticism that everyone you bring home is not good enough); and it had Pretty Woman with a gender flip.


However I nearly abandoned the book three times in the space of the first twenty pages: the mother demanding grandchildren (even under the pretense of telling her now so she has time to prepare) felt grossly insensitive to Stella’s situation. At first I felt like her mother was treating Stella as someone who couldn’t be normal if she didn’t have kids or a man--which was not cool, especially if Stella wasn’t sure she really wanted either of those things. And Stella’s hiring of an escort to practice something she “hated” felt like it was going to be a rapey like book. Fortunately Michael proved himself to be a hero worth waiting for because at no point was he ever going to do anything Stella didn’t want to do; and it wasn’t long in his company, with his patient touches and gentle kisses, that Stella was a lot more interested in doing things that previously and UNDERSTANDABLY were undesirable to her before.


Both Michael and Stella are heartbreaking characters. I couldn’t help but love both of them immediately and love them both throughout the book. Stella’s self-loathing for her personality ‘quirk’ (as I think of it) makes her want to overcome it--or at least hide it at all costs--and the transformation throughout the book as she comes to accept it and how Michael accepts it without ever making her feel less than is the kind of love we all long for. Michael’s reasons for escorting are honorable as well as a way to metaphorically flip the bird to his father who abandoned his family. He needs lots of money, fast and consistently, and technically speaking this takes few hours of his time as he spends the rest of his life hiding his sideline job.


By the end of the book I loved Stella’s mother, as well as all of Michael’s family members (well, except his father who stays a jerk). Much like Pretty Woman, it all works out in the end. They both grow and become better people because of each other. They’re the kind of couple you believe in happily ever after for. Also, this book is hell-la funny. I was reading this book in the tub at one point; and I nearly drowned myself laughing when Stella hands over proposed lesson plans to Michael. If you read this in the tub: you’ve been warned.

5 Star - Top Dish Review by Hellie for The Romance Dish

Just wasn't my cup of tea! Was way too full of cliches; A small cute innocent MC , who is smart smart, rocks at sex but shy and doesn’t know it. The handsome guy who is perfect, smart, caring, athletic and has abs, every stupid you should swoon over. Add insta love to the mix voila.


Also i hate when love cure serious disabilities/illness ugh! And this book had that..

Holy hotness! That goes both for the hero and the heat in The Kiss Quotient.

I’m going to be honest with you, I’ve had this book sitting in my TBR pile for a several months. When I finally read the blurb and realized it was about a gigolo, my interest in it cooled. Just not my idea of romance if you know what I mean. Being a carefree playboy is one thing but getting paid to sleep with women—and sometimes women you don’t particularly like? I could I fall for a hero like that.

Then along came Michael.

After my good friend read The Kiss Quotient and expressed how much she loved the book, I remembered I had it and decided to give it a try. My friend Lori isn’t exactly easy to please. I started reading it and was immediately hooked. The second Michael appeared on the pages, I knew I was in for the long haul. And what a fantastic ride it was.

Stella Lane, our dear heroine, doesn’t really like sex. She’s not good at it. Actually, she’s not good at relationships and she believes it has to do with her Asperger’s because once men find out she’s autistic, they tend not to stick around. She believes that if she can get better at sex, maybe getting and keeping a relationship will be easier. Enter Michael Khan. She discovers his profile on an escort service site and books him.

I fell fathoms deep in love with Michael. Lord that man is hot and so considerate and kind. He’s truly one of those “good” guys parents want their daughters to marry. That he is also drop-dead gorgeous and puts the sex in sexy is an added bonus. Given his current part-time gig as a male escort, it’s understandable why Michael is pretty jaded when it comes to relationships and sex. Experience has taught him—bad experience—that he has to limit his “interactions” with his clients to one. Women have gotten obsessed and stalked him after he stopped seeing them. He doesn’t want a repeat of that. Then along comes beautiful, awkward, blunt sometimes to the point of rudeness Stella. He ends up breaking the rules and takes her on as a long-term client.

Stella and Michael are meant to be together. They just fit. They are simply adorable and boy is the sex scorching hot. I think that’s what surprised me the most about this book. I went into it thinking maybe there’d be a couple of mild to sensual love scenes. Boy was I wrong. I read this with my fan in hand and fluttering wildly. Michael is very good at what he does. 😉 Then of course there’s his backstory. Talk about grabbing you by the heart and squeezing hard. My heart ached for him, for the situation he found himself in. I ached reading about how his father shaped his life. I ached for the career he had to put to the side to take care of his mother. And I dare anyone not to love his family. I will never forget the scene when Stella first meets them. Yikes.

And what can I say about Stella. She’s adorable and so earnest in her quest to become better at sex. That she almost immediately falls for Michael isn’t a surprise but I also loved her determination to initially do everything by the book, or I should say by the list she comes up with. She’s not going to be one of those women who stalk him when their arrangement comes to an end.

What a great cast of characters I got to read about. From Michael’s mother Me to his sisters and Stella’s mother. The dialogue is witty and the interactions between the characters are natural. The black moment had me freaking out just a bit. I should have seen it coming but I didn’t. I really loved that it caught me off guard, and I love that when it was all said and done, I didn’t want their story to be over. I want more of Stella and Michael. I’m officially putting in a request to Ms. Hoang for her to follow up on their relationship in an upcoming book. And kudos to a fantastic debut!

~ Beverley

I found this book amazing. I loved the character development, I really cared about the characters. Excellent writing and it held my attention well.

A fantastic and unique contemporary romance debut, with realistic, well-developed characters and plenty of steamy scenes. Hoang does an incredible job bringing two different characters together in a perfectly plotted courtship.

This was wonderful! A diverse, fun, sexy romance. We recommend this book often on the Wicked Wallflowers Club podcast, and Helen was a delight to interview. Very excited to see what she does next!

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is a 2018 Berkley publication.

A real charmer!

Stella, an Econometrician, has intimacy issues, perhaps a symptom of her Asperger’s. With her mother growing impatient for grandchildren, and after absorbing an ugly comment, which took aim at Stella’s lack of sexual experience, she decides to hire a male escort to ‘teach’ her everything she needs to know about dating and sex.

Michael Phan has never had a client like Stella. She touches a part of him, he keeps barricaded, especially with clients. Her effect on him is so powerful, he agrees to give her lessons on sex and dating, against his better judgment, and breaking every single personal rule of his profession.

However, their business arrangement soon develops into something neither of them could have anticipated. Before long, Stella begins to figure in a new type of equation- love!

Okay, I’ve seen the huge marketing push for the book, and I’ve had many friends on social media and book sites fawning it. From experience I know when a book gets this level of hype it is very important to approach it with a modicum of caution. Even though I was chomping at the bit to start this one, pushing everything else to the wayside if need be, I cooled my engines and let some of the furor die down before I finally allowed myself to read it.

So, did it live up to all that publicity?

I adored this story. It’s unique, featuring a female character who struggles to find her niche in a world that embraces conformity and uniformity. I don’t have Asperger’s syndrome, but I am an extreme introvert, so I could relate to some of the struggles Stella fought to overcome. I immediately warmed to her character and hoped she would find the confidence she had buried inside of her all along.

While I didn’t know how to feel about Michael’s unorthodox occupation, I did LOVE this guy’s gentle patience. It was fun watching Stella crawl under his skin, seeing how he understood her, quirks and all, and how they managed to create a relationship with each other, as Michael slowly draws Stella out. Michael turned out to be a terrific hero, and I might have developed a secret and deliciously sinful crush on him.

That said, the book was still a wee bit over-hyped. While I understand why some felt this one was special and deserved a lot of attention, the format, at its core, is not much different from any other contemporary romance. The writing or prose didn't set it apart from any other books out there, although it is obvious the author knew her subject matter intimately.

What does set it apart is the diversity, and the boldness of placing a character with Asperger’s as a lead in a romantic comedy. The delicate balance of approaching the syndrome with respect and the gravity it deserves, while adding in humor and poignancy, is very well done. From that perspective the story is very original, unique, and refreshing!

Everything you love about romance is here: It's hot and steamy, funny, charming, emotional, and inspiring, with a lovely feel good ending.

However, this one gives voice to those rarely featured in these types of stories. I love that about this book!! I for one, applaud this new angle and approach to contemporary romance, and hope to see more books step away from the standard 'Plain Jane' tropes and branch out into new, mostly unexplored territory, in the romance genre. Books like this one could help the genre shake off a few of its hardwired stigmas and reach a much broader audience.

4.5 stars

An utterly charming romance. Stella is a heroine that I loved to root for; she and Michael have great chemistry and complicated but authentic roadblocks on their way to a happy ending. I especially appreciated the inclusion of a heroine on the spectrum. Looking forward to more books by this author!

The Kiss Quotient was a great remix of an older trope that combined banging, family drama, and learning to have confidence in yourself in one great read. Helen Hoang can feel free to dust off every single romance trope with her fascinating perspective on the world—I'm there for it.

Lovely representation of an autistic main character with a happily ever after. Many of my adult students and readers will love this title for its realness, deep character development, and fresh approach to romance!

With how highly anticipated The Kiss Quotient has been this year, I was so very disappointed that I could not get into it. I know it's more of a me issue than the book being the issue since so many readers are raving about it, but for whatever reason I couldn't fall into the writing. After trying to pick it back up with no success, I'm thinking Helen's writing is just not for me, but I do hope to try a future novel of hers just to make sure,

This book was so ridiculously good!! It was more steam than I normally like, but the rest was so sweet!!! I loved the story and the characters. Couldn't put it down.

One of my favorite books of the year.

I loved the characterization of the two principal characters - and the secondary characters that inhibit their world. Stella is a complex, nuanced heroine, refreshingly different from the everyday 'quirky' contemporary women I meet in most books; Michael is similarly intriguing - flaws and all. Nothing about this pair seems forced or contrived and their difference absolutely enhance their love affair. I felt like I was on a journey as Stella and Michael learned truths about themselves, each other...and their relationship. Ms. Hoang marvelously twists the slow burn relationship trope - physical intimacy gives way to emotional intimacy instead of the more traditional m/f dynamic - and I love the way this author inverts the typical relationship progression.

The setting is brilliantly realized, the story is engaging and compelling, the romance is sexy, startling and...well, the sex scenes are sexy, passionate, and deeply - profoundly - moving.

Everything about this debut is marvelous and I will be back for more! more! more!

After all of the buzz about this book, it had a lot to live up to! And it did. It is a warm, fuzzy, spicy romance with an interesting heroine and, I think, my favorite hero this year.

Very well done, I liked that both Stella and Michael had some issues to work past, and unknowingly helped each other mature. Stella's mainly was that she had zero confidence in her own attraction, while she was doing just fine professionally. Michael's baggage mostly came from self-overguilting at his father's shenanigans.

Stella, who has Asperger’s and an econometrician, prefers to work than to date anyone. She has difficulty in communication, no eye contact and has troubles in social gathering. Michael, an escort, has Vietnamese and Swedish heritage and “dark past”.

The Kiss Quotient is in two POVs. I like it that I get to read both Stella and Michael’s a perspective. I would like to commend Helen Hoang in writing Stella’s POV because it is on point, well-researched. Someone who has Asperger’s is not the same as someone who has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A person with Asperger’s is highly functional, though there are symptoms that are similar to a person with ASD. On the other hand, it’s kind of weird to read Michael’s POV because my husband name is Michael. Anyway, the character development is all right. At some point, it is frustrating that every time Stella is having a great time with Michael she remembers that Michael is her practice boyfriend. But this one is intense. I have read some reviews before that this one is steamy. But NO ONE told me it was super intense steamy.

Also, this book shows Asian family ties. How Michael’s family show strength, love, support and value each other. Also, it’s kinda funny to read Stella’s parents push her to find a boyfriend and marry. They are being supportive and do not want Stella to age alone.

Overall, I enjoy reading this book. It is in good pace, page-turner, jaw-dropping hot guys and highly addictive great story.

THE KISS QUOTIENT is an impressive debut romance. The portrayals of both families felt real and nuanced and injected some much-needed humor into a book that would have otherwise been sex and misunderstandings. The hero is pretty much perfect, but thinks he's bound to be terrible because his dad is. The heroine is also pretty much perfect, but thinks she's terrible because of a society that tells her Asperger's is a bug not a feature.

Another reviewer for my blog read this and was upset by some of the Asperger's portrayal, which I think illustrates the issues OwnVoices authors face with trying to be The One True Voice. It's not like every person who's neuroatypical is the same, but we all expect, when we pick up that book that might actually feature someone like us, to make us feel seen and somehow fulfilled.

I have sensory issues as well, and I do think this book relied on the audience to believe that Michael was somehow able to bypass all her triggers. I also hate kissing with tongue, for example. It feels slimy. Yeah, it sometimes seems like a good idea, in the heat of the moment, but the idea that Stella now loves kissing didn't ring true. I would have liked to see more emphasis throughout on how Michael's ability to be patient and pay attention to cues, to ask her directly what she wanted, was what made things work. Stella's past experiences with men made me cringe, as I've also done that. You give consent, it's not assault, but you're giving someone permission to use your body while you sit there and hope they get it over quickly. I'm not sure what the term for that is, but it's awful and I both appreciate and hated reading the way Stella assumed that was her fault. Misogyny + ASD = a perfect storm.

In the end, I liked the book and I'll be reading the next from Helen Hoang. Do I think this book was perfect? No. Is any book? No. Do I think readers with ASD will be hurt by this book? I'm not sure. My other reviewer was, I wasn't. This was the first time I read a main character in a romance get overstimulated at a club and run out to the street to vomit. That and the fact that Stella isn't "fixed" made me happy.

My assumption is that this, like many portrayals of queerness in fiction, may be generational. My reviewer wanted Stella to embrace her Asperger's. She wanted Stella to have friends, to be proof that an ASD diagnosis isn't the end of the world. But for a lot of people who are now adults, an Asperger's diagnosis really would have been. How recently would a kid have been pulled from school after an autism or Asperger's diagnosis? Pretty recently. And even if not pulled from public school, autism has never been as accepted as it is now (in the United States dominant culture). Families tried to literally beat it out of their children. Is it such a surprise that Stella would have retreated to the safe environs of family and work? None of this makes my reviewer's thoughts less valid, however. She was upset because she's younger and has been working hard to navigate friendship and work and school. She wanted hope and this book didn't give her that.

Anyway, neurotypical people will probably universally love this book. Readers on the spectrum may want to check out some more reviews before cracking it open. As for the Asian American rep, it was lovely and one of the best parts of the book.

THIS BOOK WAS SO FREAKING HOT AND GOOD AND SWEET AND FLUFFY AND EVERYTHING EVERYONE EVER WANTED IN A ROMANCE NOVEL.

Very different from the usual romantic read. This book was both "steamier" than I expected, and also more thoughtful and thought-provoking than the usual. Stella and Michael have great chemistry. I love the exploration of neurodiversity, and it was also welcome to me as a reader that the novel sort of transcends race. We never find out what "different" race Stella is, and I think that is a refreshing change. As a librarian, I recommend this to readers who like romance, but are open minded and enjoy something a little more thoughtful and not so cookie cutter.

What an amazing read! I heard a good bit of hype about this book, so I went into it with an open mind. It was such a heartwarming and fun read and I'm so glad I picked it up. Stella's character is so refreshing and honest and I loved that she wasn't just another typical character. Her internal dialogue was probably my favorite part of the whole novel! She is such an intriguing character and I loved how Hoang really made Stella and Michael's story come to life on the pages.

The Kiss Quotient was an unexpectedly refreshing read and cannot recommend it enough. The characters were fun, the plot was unique, and the writing style was light and easy to read. I would highly recommend this novel to readers who enjoy Christina Lauren novels! Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4/5