sexy and sweet

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: What would you do if you were a very well-off and well-respected professional woman who was terrified of dating and sex because you had Asperger's?  Perhaps you would hire an escort to help you become more comfortable with those interpersonal areas of your life.  And what would you do if you were a man who had mountains of debt and responsibilities, but had been told you had a particular talent for sex?  You'd become an escort, naturally.  Thus, the basis for 2018's greatest love story.  Michael and Stella are both characters you root for, to be able to overcome their own shortcomings and power through the things that challenge them.  It gives nothing away to say that they end up together, but the process, oh, the process.  Very steamy and very sweet.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

the hazards of wealth

All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: From the outside, Nina has everything she could ever want.  She has a successful (and rich husband), a son on his way to Princeton, a beautiful home, and time to charity work.  But that's not really who Nina is, as she finds out when scandal strikes, in the form of a picture of a nearly nude girl that her son snapchats to a few friends.  The repurcussions of that force Nina to really examine her life and whether it reflects her values.  Her introspection forms one theme of the story, and the did-he-didn't-he question of who actually sent the picture and what the consequences will be, form another.  Add to that Lyla, the girl in the photo, who has her own story to tell, and her father, and you get a complex, layered book that explores issues of privilige, complicity, and redemption.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.