THE KISS QUOTIENT

Loved this collaboration with my friends at Groundsea Fitness! Thank you for doing all of the culinary heavy lifting for this photo (read: I watched, learned, and made exactly one spring roll)!

The premise of The Kiss Quotient was sweet and refreshing. Stella, a brilliant young woman with high functioning autistic spectrum disorder, thinks it’s time she had a boyfriend. But between her demanding econometrician job, lack of dating experience and aversion to intimacy, she seeks professional guidance to get her up to speed. Enter Michael, a handsome escort who breaks down the barriers between them and finds himself falling for his new client, who is atypical in the very best kind of way.

This was a quick, fun, steamy romance, an adorable gender reversal for the classic “hooker with a heart of gold” storyline. For a book that is very spicy, I found the characters endearing and thoughtfully developed. If anything, I wanted to get to know them a little better - more about Stella's disability, and how she discovered strategies to overcome her challenges. It would be interesting to see the same story would play out in a different genre! There’s a lot to love about this intriguing gender twist on a Pretty Woman type plot. I would love to know what’s next for these characters - and who will play them in the film adaptation! Any suggestions?

Michael is half Vietnamese, and there is so much delicious sounding Vietnamese food in this book. The preparation of it makes for some of my favorite scenes - lemongrass, bún, and family drama in the kitchen! It also inspired these delicious homemade Vietnamese spring rolls filled with colorful vegetables, crispy tofu and noodles, with almond butter dipping sauce, compliments of @groundseafitness. She also whipped up some incredible sticky and crispy sesame cauliflower. I’m ready for a sequel - just so I can have some of this amazing food again!