This book started out so well and was on the way to being a solid four-star read, but alas, did not work for me in the end. I enjoyed the autistic representation (written by an autistic author), Michael’s family and the portrayal of Vietnamese culture, and Stella. I loved her — she’s such a complex and unique character and had a great character arc. Hated the rest, lol. Stella and Michael’s attraction seemed almost purely physical; I wanted to see a stronger emotional connection, more substance. I was uncomfortable with the way that sex work and sex workers were portrayed at several points. I don’t think the topic of sexual assault was handled very well or really unpacked properly by Stella. Michael says his mother dying would ‘free’ him, framing sick/disabled people as burdens on their family (granted I have no experience with the American healthcare system but surely that’s the real issue here). 

Mostly, though, it was Michael who ruined the book for me. He’s pushy, domineering, overly possessive, and can’t take no for an answer. He literally stalks Stella and follows her home, repeatedly goes after her and presses his romantic attentions on her after she turns him down and tells him to leave her alone MULTIPLE TIMES. That’s not sexy; it’s creepy and scary. Yet when another man won’t take no for an answer, he’s angry even though it’s a very similar kind of behaviour as his own. One is portrayed as wrong and the other OK purely based on who is perpetrating the behaviour. Make it make sense. Not only that but after being sexually assaulted which is obviously very upsetting for Stella, does he offer her support or comfort? No, he feels the need to ‘mark her as his’ as if she’s his property. She initially tells him no to kissing after such a traumatic event and is clearly uncomfortable with it but does he respect that? Of course not, he forces her into it anyway and then fucks her because HE needs it! Fuck Stella’s needs, I guess. 

Of course, he knew she didn’t really want him to leave her alone because he knows better. Same with the sex scenes: he overrides her own wishes (that she states to him clearly) and pushes her into doing things she dislikes and feels uncomfortable with because he apparently knows better than her about her own body. He tells her to dress and do her hair how he likes it rather than how she prefers. She can’t even eat what she wants without him trying to control it. He knows she has a hard time in loud/social situations and she tells him she’d rather go home because she’s tired, but he forces her to go to his large, boisterous family’s house anyway. He’s just forever violating her boundaries even (and especially) when she says she’s uncomfortable with doing something. Yeah, he says all the right things about respecting her consent, but his actions and thoughts don’t line up so it just feels manipulative and patronising. He may be teaching her how to be in a relationship but it’s certainly not a healthy one. The controlling behaviour, questionable consent, and complete disregard for Stella’s agency really put me off and made me feel uneasy. 

There were also a few things that bothered me in terms of writing. Michael is described as looking like a specific celebrity, which is not only a lazy way to describe someone but just something I despise, especially in romance. Much of Michael’s inner monologue comes off as immature with dude-bro style casual misogyny (e.g. ‘the only reason a woman should wear a pencil skirt is to show off her ass’). The book is laden with bizarre lines such as ‘a natural talent for fucking’ (LMAO) and ‘she had the kind of nipples men and babies dreamed about’ (what??). The dirty talk was... not good. 

I can’t believe this book got recommended to me as having a kind, gentle hero and good consent. I am genuinely baffled. If that is what you want then this book is not it. 

Genderbent Pretty Woman??? Autistic representation in the MC??? POC author???  FAKE DATING??? Sign me UPPP! 

I never thought a man named Michael could bring me to my knees but I KNEEL CORRECTED!!😩🥵

-5 stars because the SA/Sexual harassment in this book was always brushed under the rug and never fully realized by the mc. I know her autism was a factor in her seeing it differently, but I feel like it was not cleared up enough and didn’t really send a good message. I also didn’t care for the constant mentioning of Michael’s daddy issues with no clear resolution for that either.

This book was steamy!! 
I really enjoyed it & loved the whole ‘pretty man’ (as apposed go pretty women) vibe. 
My only criticism would be that it did feel like it was about getting as many sex scenes in to the book as possible!! 
Having said that I found Stella and Michael adorable and loved their individual stories and how there insecurities and lack of communication shaped their relationship. 

Did not expect Stella to hire an escort. Story was super cute. Michael setting standards high. Loved seeing representation of autism. 

I thought this was for the most part a solid romance that had me swooning and laughing and sometimes crying throughout. It was so heartfelt! It was not only so nice to see an autistic leading lady, but to know that said leading lady was written by an autistic author just made me so happy. Stella jumps off the page and I can see how her character resonates with so many women on the autism spectrum. The only time I ran into trouble with this book was when it began having the tendency to lean a little too hard into the miscommunication trope. If it made a single appearance, I maybe would have been able to look past it, but it was kind of all over the place and coming up a lot. Overall though, I did love this book and I think if you want to read a unique romance novel with an autistic heroine, this is the one.

The whole premise is kinda stupid but not the worst thing of the book. The heroine is autistic and I found her struggles and her mind to be badly written. Also, the boy falls in love almost instantly, which ruins the whole pining thing. Aaaand the heroine's whole sexual history before Michael is being raped. 
I stopped reading after Michael's family invited the heroine to dinner, meanwhile she was still paying him for sexwork. Wrong on so many levels 🤦‍♀️

DNF at 73%
This book starts on a VERY serious note talking about sexual assault. Actually, the way that SA is described here is shocking, I really didn't see any warning whatsoever and how it happened is written in a more explicit way.
There are major themes such as consent, life as an autistic person, and sex work. HOWEVER, the way that such serious themes were sometimes poorly exploited made me give up on this story.
The story was cute at first, and I was really cheering for the main couple. But as the story progresses, you start wondering if Michael is really as great as Stella makes him seem to be. 
The most basic thing you need to have in a sexual relationship is the safe, sane and consensual rule. The main couple had some issues with some of these aspects, in my opinion. There's no shame in exploring intimacy as a couple, but that has to be made in a safe space, with all people involved being sane and actually consenting. There's no such a thing as "I'm gonna try something even though you said you didn't feel comfortable because I think you're going to like it". Assuming that someone will be ok with something sexual is really dangerous.
 There's also that trope of the love interest - that is described as nearly perfect in every single thing - and the main antagonist who wants to have a romantic relationship with the main character - who is described as perverted and basically an asshole, to be honest. Not a super fan of this trope, but that was more of a personal preference.
I think that the main couple should have had more conversations about what they wanted to try, what they didn't want to try at all and establish more communication between them.
Overall I enjoyed the autistic rep and seeing a male sex worker being honest about how his job makes people dehumanize him to the point where he's seen more as an object than a person. Besides that, the story became repetitive and some major themes didn't get as much attention as I think that they should have.

Wanted it to be 5 stars but tw for

workplace sexual harassment/assault that is never addressed or resolved

and repetitive writing

especially way too many uses of his “flesh” and “her sex”

pulled me out of the story. The main characters were very well written and the chemistry  was great.