The Kiss Quotient

Back of Book Summary:

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...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he's making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…

*Spoilers ahead as I am unable to avoid them as I will be discussing the relationship development between the two main characters and how their relational closeness changes throughout the development of their relationship. But, I will not give everything away so if you would like to read you can! To look at their relationship closeness I will be looking at major turning points.*

1. Stella highers Michael

   1. You can not have a relationship without the initial meeting, the relationship can not start without it so this is why this is always my first turning point when it comes to relational closeness

2. Michael teaches her how to kiss

   1. Since Stella has autism she struggles to allow herself to let go and participate in normal relationship-like activities so not only does this bring them closer together physically but for Stella, it brings her closer to him as she has to trust him to allow herself to do this.

3. Michael runs out then comes back and agrees to three more lessons

   1. Stella poses a multi-session deal of which Michael is not fond, so he leaves to cause a negative dip in the relational closeness of the two of them. But, after some thought, he allows 3 more lessons between the two of them which you might think is positive but does bring negative effects because he did change his mind.

4. Second session

   1. The next two turning points are based on quality time, which is a fleeting occasion in a relationship in which the parties suspend their normal business as usual in order to get away when they celebrate with each other in their private world (Baxter 2001). In this first turning point, it is the second session another session that they spend together getting to know one another, even though it is still a contractual thing at this time they are still depending on the bond they have

5. Third session ( Ice cream date and dancing )

   1. This third session is the first one that is like an actual date, which is a large step for Stella, the fact that she is allowing herself out of her comfort zone with Michael brings them closer and makes their relational closeness stronger.

6. Kissed by ex-client

   1. On the date, Michael is kissed by an ex-client which sends Stella into a spiral and hurts their relationship as she was starting to fall for him.

7. Fake relationship proposal

   1. Stella wants to continue the relationship they have so she poses the two fake dates, this brings them closer by kind of putting a label on things.

8. Proposal acceptance

   1. Stella accidentally runs into Michael at his other job after she had not heard from him in a few days, once Michael sees her he can't help but say yes to the fake relationship, because it allows him to explore the feelings he has with her.

9. Dinner with Family

   1. Stella is invited to dinner with Michael's family. With her autism, she does not understand the social norms of eating at others' houses and she accidentally upsets Michael's mom causing her to pull away from Michael because of how embarrassed she was. This also caused Michael to pull away since he didn't understand.

10. Michael puts it together that she had autism

    1. Michael figuring out she has autism allows him to understand her better and brings them closer together

11. Coworker kisses Stella

    1. Stella’s coworker kisses her and Michael finds out, although they are not really together this makes Michael mad and causes him to resent her.

12. Dinner at Stella's parents leads Michael to end things

    1. Michael comes over to Stellas for dinner and has an interaction with Stella’s father which causes him to end things with Stella

13. Stella tries to get over him

    1. I hope to get over him she tries moving on with the same guy that kissed her earlier. She is trying to convince herself it is working

14. Calling non-stop and sending flowers

    1. Michael realizes that their relationship was not just contractual but a true relationship and pushes to try to get her back

15. Getting back together

    1. I think these last two are pretty self-explanatory and the peaks of their relational closeness.

16. Proposal

Overall this relationship had many ups and downs when it came to how close they were and I think it stems from the fact that this relationship started as a contract and evolved into real feelings. This allows for a lot of blurred lines that can cause confusion about how a person should feel.

References:

Baxter, L. A. (2001). Communicatively Remembering Turning Points of Relational Development in Heterosexual Romantic Relationships. Communication Reports, 14(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934210109367732