Welcome to my February warp up! At least I am only three weeks late this time instead of two months. I am getting better. I am still trying to get into a routine that works for me. I read a total of two books this month one physical and one audio.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is the physical book that I read. I was excited to read this book cause not only was it about a neurodiverse female lead, but she also works in a STEM career and she was the one who was wealthier. This book turned stereotypes on their head and that really intrigued me. Stella Lane is an econometrician with Asperger’s and spends all of her time immersed in algorithms. Its her happy place and romance is the furthest thing from her mind. Her mother on the other hand is desperately trying to marry her off to someone, specifically her coworker Philip James. Enter Micheal Phan, a male escort Stella hires to help her get over her sensory issues when it comes to intimacy and sex. Micheal has issues of his own, from his moms health and his on hold dreams, hes a equation that Stella can’t quite crack. Again I was actually quite excited about this book, not only cause of Stella, but also because Helen Hoang has Autism Spectrum Disorder. I was excited to read about a neurodiverse character written by someone who is neurodiverse. Unfortunately I hated this book. It took me nearly a month to read and I gave it one star. It dragged in most places and the characters seemed to be pretty flat. I didn’t feel a connection to any of them. Now I will say the sex scenes in this book were hella steamy! Just those scenes alone would be five stars. I just felt that there was drama where there shouldn’t have been and no drama where there should have been. It was also very insta-lovey for me. I am not a fan of the inst-love trope in YA or adult novels. I also couldn’t believe how quickly Stella got over her sensory issues with intimacy “because it was Micheal”. Now I do not have Asperger’s nor do I know many people who do, but I know people who have similar issues with intimacy and they were not so quick to over come them. Maybe its different if you meet the “right” person or maybe that was Hoangs own experience but I just didn’t quite buy it.

I AM LOVING THIS SERIES! I have been listening to them on Audible and I really love the narrator, Moira Quirk, shes just reads them so perfectly. My favorite character is probably Dimity, mostly because she is this over the top person who just wished to be a real lady, not a spy, and travel the world, but she still goes on all these adventures with Sophronia because that’s her best friend. I do love Sophronia though. She is a perfect mix of femininity and kick assery. In Curtsies and Conspiracies, Sophronia and her friends must figure out who is really behind the schools sudden field trip to London. There is a love triangle brewing in this book between Lord Felix Mersey, Sophronia, and Phineas B. Crow (aka Soap), but I can’t even be mad at it because I honestly love both boys. This is not a case of it is obvious that she prefers one over the other. Maybe its because Sophronia and her friends don’t spend all of their time and energy talking about their romantic interests that I don’t mind that there is a love triangle going on. It also helps that both boys are very different and respect her for who she is. Neither tries to change or control her in any way. Its very refreshing for a YA novel. I also like how she ages up every book instead of the whole series taking place when she is the same age.