The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

*Spoiler free*

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.

I adored The Kiss Quotient. A lot. And I was really, really looking forward to Hoang’s next book! It sounded like it was going to be really different from TKQ, but since I loved that one so much, I was willing to give anything a shot.

This book is absolutely incredible. It delivers on the cuteness and fluffiness, while also having a great storyline and meaningful messages sewn in. Her writing style is so light, breezy, and easy to read. I was able to fly through and I had a hard time stopping since it was just SO GOOD.

The beginning was a little shaky for me. I felt like pieces were scrambling to fall into place so they could set up the rest of the book. Things just felt really random to me and coincidental just for the plot’s sake. Though, once things settled I didn’t have the same problem again. Once the book really got going, everything flowed really smoothly!

Since The Kiss Quitotent was steamy beyond steamy, I was expecting this book to be the same. But this book didn’t have very many sex scenes! Sure it had a few, but this book focuses more on Khai and Esme’s relationship, their struggles, and their development. I thought it was pretty awesome. And it makes me really pumped for whatever Hoang writes next. I want to see her dominate in everything she decides to write because I think she can do it.

The romance between Khai and Esme was great. They both have their own struggles and they both work through them. Together and separately. They grow together and they grow closer and they learn what it means to be together. It’s not smooth sailing and while they had their issues, it was fantastic to see them work through it.

Both the main characters had their own stories to tell and they are so different. But, they are woven together so amazingly that neither of their development feels hindered by the other. They both managed to tell their stories. And they managed to grow closer together too.

This book just makes me want to squeal with how amazing it was. It deal with somewhat heavier issues, but it’s still really, really fantastic. And it’s adorable and cute and spectacular.

The Bride Test comes out May 7th, 2019! You can add it on Goodreads and pre-order it in the meantime!

Thank you for reading!