My fluffy summer read

I am pretty sure I saw this book recommended on Twitter or something similar, something associated with CBR. I don’t read very much romance, but always want to try something new to me and this seemed like a good summer fluff book.

This book was so fun! The Rosie Project was published in 2013, so I assume lots of people have already read this and I am just late, but I am glad to have found it now. Our lead is an Australian genetics professor named Don Tillman who is exceedingly rigid and analytical, an abject failure at reading social cues. He is looking for a romantic partner, and begins to look seriously using a very detailed questionnaire. He is sidetracked along the way, meeting Rosie and helping her in her quest to identify her biological father.

The plot is not really very surprising – Don finds himself falling in love with what he would consider an incompatible partner; he gets terrible romantic advice from a cad of a friend; there is a big romantic gesture, etc. Simsion initially wrote the treatment for this as a screenplay, and it shows. What’s interesting to me is that Don Tillman seems to be somewhere on the autism spectrum, although he doesn’t seem able to identify it himself. He knows he is not good in social situations and is aware of his particular and unique intellectual gifts. He is immensely self-aware of his feelings and his lack of understanding of those of others, including those he cares about deeply. As he knows he misses lots of social cues, when it comes to sex, he is very open and careful about consent. He makes a conscious effort to change and learn. It was fascinating to read, and it really made me want him to find happiness; despite some comments on Goodreads, Tillman is NOT Sheldon Cooper.

I really enjoyed this. Don Tillman is a fun and different romantic lead, and the object of his affection is a very smart scientist and independent woman. Rosie is witty and compassionate and strong; she seems like the kind of person I would like to know in real life. I am looking forward to getting the second in the series.

CBR10 Bingo: Brain Candy