The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Sorry.  No bare-chested man-hunk on the cover of this book.  Carrie seems to have corned the TFA market on testosterone for the month, so I went ahead with another genre.  I know, I know...but this book DOES have quite an array of covers.  See?  


Adding to the colorful cover choices is a lovely cast of characters, headlined by Don Tillman.  Don is a brilliant but socially awkward genetics professor who sets out to find a mate by creating a 16 page survey to administer to prospective candidates.   The search leads him to Rosie (she fails the survey miserably) which leads to a very unlikely friendship.  Don and Rosie team up to find Rosie's biological dad, but also find themselves falling for each other.   This book is sweet, tender and a bit sad.  Don's never had a second date (most likely because he's a 40-year-old man with autism), Rosie is harboring some major anger toward her stepfather (leading her to want to find her biological father) and Don's only go-to-friends for advice are a loveless couple in an open marriage.  Yikes.

The Rosie Project is a story about love where you least expect it; love in seemingly all the wrong places.  It's also story about acceptance and change, which never gets old in my book.  Throw in some science geekiness and a bit of humor and it works.  The Rosie Project isn't a bare-chested man-hunk steamy type of read, but it is worthwhile just the same.