This is a slightly weird book. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it is a thing. That’s because of the hero, Alex Greene, who’s got some serious secrets. He also lacks social skills, but not in the normal socially-awkward way. No, his confidence is fine. He just behaves weirdly at times, like looking at people slightly too long and intensely when he’s taking their order at the restaurant he works at.

Sandra Fielding is an interesting character herself and the book’s told entirely from her perspective. She’s a psychotherapist in her late twenties who focuses in pediatrics, but she can’t help accidentally delving into adult therapy when she encounters men who clearly need some help. Specifically, she makes all her first dates cry by getting them talking about problems in their lives. She doesn’t do this on purpose, but it has happened on almost every date she’s had over the last three years, each of which happened at the Indian restaurant Alex works at. So she’s a bit physical-affection-starved. She has a Spank Naughty list and Alex the 21-year-old waiter is on it.

They seem to have nothing in common, so I wondered how they’d end up together. But Alex surprises Sandra on their first date by taking her to a taping of Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me! (the NPR current events quiz show). He’s a very smart guy who cares about things that happen in the world (he even reads The Economist—Sandra’s main response was to wonder about why the font was so small, which cracked me up). So there’s obviously more to him than what she sees in the restaurant.

It turns out that he has something to do with bitcoins and that he was a young and very successful hacker with a federal record and a couple of NSA agents constantly watching him. When Sandra gets involved with Alex, she gets tangled up in all that mess, too, which leads to Alex’s very strange dating behavior. For example, he insists she not have her phone with her and tries to take her places that the NSA can’t watch or hear them. They communicate via notes left at the Indian restaurant.

Most of the conflict comes from Sandra’s need to fix people and Alex’s refusal to share with her the pertinent details of his life. Basically, he refuses to change and she has to learn to accept that. This is actually one area where I thought the book could be better. Alex felt slightly underdeveloped to me. Or maybe it’s not that, but I just didn’t think he changed that much in the book, and I felt he should have.

Sandra has a very distinctive voice. For one, she randomly uses the German language for homemade expletives and other purposes.

Sometimes, when I’m alone, I like to speak in German. I can’t actually speak German. I only know a few phrases, but I like to pretend I can. It makes me feel worldly.

My favorite is “shitzerhozen,” which means “shitpants.“ She’s snarky and clever and very honest with herself about her sexuality.

I wondered what his other areas of expertise were and whether they included going downtown.

Yes. That’s right. I went there. Because I’m an oddly prim pervert, and a girl needs some relief.

So the dialogue is great with Sandra involved in it. And the other women in Sandra’s knitting group are as entertaining as they are in the rest of the series.

This is a required read for fans of Reid and anyone who enjoys romances about smart people.