Helen Hoang - Böcker

Det är dags för Stella att stadga sig. Det tycker i alla fall hennes mamma, som är sugen på att få barnbarn. Men man och barn är inte särskilt lockande för en framgångsrik och förmögen kvinna som Stella, som också råkar ha aspergers. Att analysera data är enkelt, men att dejta är knepigt. För att komma över sin brist på dejtingerfarenhet anlitar Stella en manlig eskort som ska lära henne hur man blir en bra flickvän.

Michael kämpar med räkningarna för sin mammas tuffa cancerbehandling och tjänar extra pengar en kväll i veckan genom att arbeta som eskort. Han träffar aldrig en kund mer än en gång, men när Stella undrar om han kan bli hennes lärare är han frestad att frångå sina principer.

Ju mer tid de tillbringar tillsammans, desto mer faller Michael för den avväpnande och blixtrande intelligenta Stella. Och Stella får lära sig att kärlek inte är någon enkel ekvation.

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… Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he’s making her feel. 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…

From the critically acclaimed author of The Kiss Quotient comes a romantic novel about love that crosses international borders and all boundaries of the heart… Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride. As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection. With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to be perfect in other people's eyes. If Anna ever wants to move forward, she has to learn to listen to her own heart, but that's not easy when her greatest fear has always been disappointing others. Her solution is to create a low-stress environment, with no expectations to fulfill, where she can experiment with being herself and going after what she wants. Translation: Anna is going to embark on a string of one-night stands. The more unacceptable the men, the better. That's where tattooed, motorcycle-riding Quan Diep comes in, but nothing goes according to plan. Their first attempt at a one-night stand fails, as does their second, and their third, until it starts to feel like a real relationship. But when her traditional-minded family disapproves of the relationship and the person she's slowly discovering herself to be, Anna must choose between meeting expectations and finding happiness in who she really is.