2.5 stars!

Stella is an econometrician who loves her job but resists promotion because she feels that her interpersonal skills are inadequate for management. She has Asperger's syndrome, and she's never been in a relationship. All of her sexual experiences have been cringeworthy, to say the least, and now her mom is pressuring her to find a boyfriend. To overcome her ineptitude, Stella decides that she needs to learn about sex and dating...from a professional. She hires Michael, an escort, with lessons in mind—lessons that quickly fall by the wayside as feelings take over.

There were some things that I really enjoyed about this book. I love the nuanced representation of someone on the autism spectrum, and I think it's so important to see an Asian male protagonist in a romance novel as well! The love scenes were SUPER steamy, and I enjoyed watching the progression of Stella and Michael's relationship.

Unfortunately, I had a difficult time with the writing style, which struck me as a bit stilted. There's a lot of telling rather than showing, and the characters' inner monologues come across as rather obvious as they have over-the-top realizations about the simplest of things. I was also frustrated by the nature of Stella and Michael's major relationship issue, which is insecurity and misunderstanding borne out of a lack of communication. So much could have been resolved easily if they had just TALKED to each other.

Nevertheless, I breezed through this novel and enjoyed it as a light, summery read.