Delightful, steamy, and adorable!

filled star filled star filled star filled star filled star
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Sometimes, you hear so much hype for a book that you reach the point where you’re almost afraid to read it, because your hopes are so high that you just know, if it disappoints you even an iota, you’re going to be totally crushed… right? It’s the worst feeling and it can make it so hard to finally pick up that superlatively popular read, because nobody wants to be the only person who hates a book, right?

Nah, I’m just playing with you guys—this book was everything I ever hoped it would be and more. Oh, my gosh, I cannot even describe how much I adored this book! I literally picked it up with the goal of reading a few chapters for my buddy read, and bam!, it was way past my bedtime and I was sitting here in some sort of shocked state, like, “How do I even follow up how freaking perfect that was?!”

Seriously, The Kiss Quotient is worth every single ounce of hype it has received and so much more. The chemistry is on fire, the story is so fun and captivating, and these characters—you can’t help but love them. Stella is incredible. I loved being inside her head, and knowing that it’s own-voice autism rep, I wasn’t surprised by how much of what she said mirrored things my own autistic loved ones have shared with me (as well as feelings I myself have had, having strongly suspected that I am autistic for a very long time but never having sought out a diagnosis).

While Stella is the star, Michael is honestly just as lovable and precious as she is. He’s this biracial Vietnamese/Swedish man, though the only family we meet of his is the Vietnamese side, and they are all so lovable and wonderful, even down to his obnoxious sisters. I loved every scene in his mother’s home, I loved his dedication to his mother and family in general, and I just cherished all of Michael’s motives and inner dialogue so much.

Between the cuteness, the math, the fake dating trope done flawlessly, the steamy sweet moments, and the fantastic focus on consent… I honestly have nothing but good things to say about The Kiss Quotient. Instead of rambling on, I’ll just echo the tons of other people saying if you haven’t read this book, you need to! It’s wonderful, charming, sad, heavy, and sweet, all wrapped up into one emotional little bundle of romance, sex, and family.