Most of us think of February as the romantic month, but August actually holds the official title of Romance Awareness Month.
Do you feel like you don’t know much about the romance genre? Here’s some information from the Romance Writers of America to help:
• Romance novels have two basic elements; they feature a central romance and have a HEA (Happily Ever After).
• Click here to read more about the Romance genre from Romance Writers of America.
• Can include other sub genres, mystery, thriller, adventure, history, etc…
Romance recommendation:
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Why I chose this book:
This is a book I didn’t expect to like. I am not a big romance fan myself, I actually prefer mysteries, but this book was getting a lot of hype and I was curious what it was all about. When I started reading it, I discovered I really liked what the author was doing with this novel. Her characters are realistically portrayed and her writing draws you into their lives. The author is quite remarkable. In 2016, while she was writing The Kiss Quotient, she was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (https://www.helenhoang.com/about-helen-hoang/) and some of her experiences with Asperger's syndrome can be seen in her main character Stella. In an interview with NBC News Hoang states, “When it comes to media, not only is accurate representation needed, but also positive representation so that they know it’s not bad to be different.” Her romance focuses on bridging gaps, promoting acceptance and helping the reader understand what makes her main characters remarkable and unique. The main character of The Kiss Quotient, Stella, has Asperger’s Syndrome. Stella has difficulty relating to people and understanding interpersonal relationships in the same way other people do. Despite her difficulties, she is a brilliant, and most importantly, feeling character struggling to understand relationships, a subject even those without Asperger's Syndrome often struggle to understand.
Description (From the author’s website):
A heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that proves one thing: there’s not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick.
Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases–a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.
It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice–with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan–from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…
As Michael and Stella’s no-nonsense partnership takes them out of the bedroom and into a fulltime practice relationship, being together starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…
Romance Heat Index (see image below):
SPICY
This book registers as VERY SPICY on our Romance Genre Heat Index. Get your fans out…you will need them. It won't be for everyone, but those who don't mind the heat will enjoy this book.
