yes… another Helen Hoang novel

The Heart Principal – Helen Hoang 

Romance, autism, cancer, survivors, comedy, fiction. 

Rating 10/10

Anna, a violinist, became famous over a video of her art. Now everyone expects her to be the same level of expertise. She seeks therapy to help understand herself. What hits her is that her boyfriend Julian wants to have an open relationship. She agrees to the terms and decides to download and sign up for dating apps. Quan is recovering from surgery for testicular cancer and his brother tells him that he should go back into the dating world. He reopens his old account and finds Anna. Both want just a one night stand. However, fate had something else planned as Anna’s world began to fall apart and Quan wanted to be there for her in every aspect possible. Love can be unexpected and scary as they both learn. 

I’m hooked onto this author’s writing style. This novel I consumed like there was no tomorrow. I absolutely loved this one. Anna finding out that she has autism is a genuine reaction that most women experience since autism in females is very different than in males. It is important to know that finding out as an adult is very tough because coming to the terms of the diagnosis was not easy for Anna but that is a reaction a lot of folks have, especially women. I love that this author addresses these issues with novels and that they are realistic. I love the characters’ interactions, mostly Anna and Quan. I didn’t like her sister who was not being accepting and that’s a very real issue too. Some family members especially within the Asian community aren’t as accepting. They see it as excuses as to not being one’s best that they can be according to their definition. It is with their lifestyle to always be achieving the best and doing the best without complaining. Anna’s sister was like this. Overall, this book or rather this author emotionally destroyed me throughout. I cried and laughed while reading this. I would recommend any of Helen Hoang novels. 

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this was rather interesting…

The Kiss Quotient – Helen Hoang

Romance, Aspergers, autism, fiction. 

Stella needs help and advice in dating and sex. She can’t go through another horrible failed match her mother makes for her. She only has a month to become better at sex and relationships despite them making her uncomfortable. She uses an escort service and is introduced to Michael, the man who would teach her and educate her. Michael needs money and escorting helped pay the medical bills. This job seemed easy but both slowly became more and more involved. Love can be messy and unorganized and that is what Stella learns. 

I hardly read romance novels at all. I’ve been slowly reading more and more of them as of late. I read this synopsis and was intrigued that there was a healthy representation of Aspergers syndrome. There needs to be more books about those with different abilities in fiction and I thought this was perfect. The character Stella felt really real as an actual person and her interactions felt natural. I did tear up a few times because I was rooting for the love to happen with the two. There was a lot of erotic parts that were a bit much but they were important for the plot. I wished that there was one less sexual scene or two but it is what it is. The writing is incredible and this can be read in one sitting for sure.