The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient, #2)

by Helen Hoang

Goodread's Big Books of Spring 2019 - Romance

'Such a fun read... Original and sexy and sensitive.' Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist, on The Kiss Quotient
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From the bestselling author of The Kiss Quotient

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, 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 refuses to consider a relationship, 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. So when the opportunity arises to go to America and meet a potential husband, she can't turn it down. This could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn't go quite 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.

As Esme's time in the United States dwindles, will Khai let his head catch up with his heart? Will he find the strength to let go, and let love in?

'Refreshingly real.' Marie Claire on The Bride Test

• ASIN: B07NDXWFDZ
• Publish Date: 7 May 2019
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Imprint: Corvus
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 322
• Language: English

Reviews

[ccbookwitch]

Since THE KISS QUOTIENT became a surprise favorite for me earlier in the year, you can imagine how psyched I was to receive an eARC of THE BRIDE TEST. I had super high hopes for this book (maybe that was one of the issues??) but overall, they were not met and I had quite a few problems with it. Let me try to sum up my thoughts:

I really wasn’t sure what the tone of this book was supposed to be. I think it was supposed to be a romantic comedy? But there were certain scenes and aspects of the story that I found upsetting, and I couldn’t be fully invested in the fun tone I think it was possibly supposed to have. I found Khai’s characterization of having no feelings upsetting throughout the book, and the whole concept of their romance just bothered me.
I felt like I couldn’t fully ship the romance, and they had no chemistry. I don’t think I shipped Khai and Esme from the get go because the basis of their relationship happened because Esme felt forced and icky. Their whole relationship felt really forced for me, probably because it kind of was forced on them, but the whole time, even as they got to know each other, I found myself unable to believe that Esme really had feelings for him that weren’t manufactured by the situation. She decided just looking at his picture that she would seduce him, so it was hard to believe in any real feelings for me, especially since Khai was also really reluctant for most of their romance. The whole thing made me feel uncomfortable and weird consent-wise.
Esme’s motivations fell flat for me. At the beginning of the book, it seems like Esme is motivated to go to Khai because of her daughter, Jade, but then talk of Jade seems to fade somewhere in the middle. Though Esme does somewhat talk about feeling guilty for leaving Jade and for lying to Khai about her in the middle of the book, overall I feel like Jade was kind of forgotten about and it became unclear why Esme continued the relationship when Khai was being awful to her.
I didn’t connect with either of the characters. I just felt painfully uncomfortable for them when I was reading, and I do not like secondhand embarrassment when I am reading or watching something. I didn’t feel the same connection I did with them that I did with Stella and Michael, and I didn’t feel as much for either of their characters because I was just so uncomfortable by their actions and the basis for their relationship.
Overall, I had a lot of issues with writing and romance craft stuff in this book. It did not seem as well put together and thought out as THE KISS QUOTIENT, and I definitely didn’t ship the romance as much as with THE KISS QUOTIENT. It is really hard to like a romance novel when you are not a fan of the romance, so unfortunately I will probably not be recommending this one even though I loved its predecessor.

[EBookObsessed]

Delightful! A wonderful follow up to The Kiss Quotient. I can’t wait to read more from Helen Hoang.

The Kiss Quotient was my favorite novel of 2018, and while Khai and Esme can’t supplant my love for Michael and Stella, they certainly worked their charms on me. What is amazing about story writing is that author Helen Hoang states in her author notes at the end of the story that Esme wasn’t originally intended to be the romantic heroine of this story. She was originally intended to be an impediment to Khai’s true love, but Esme charmed Helen charmed as well and the story changed to Esme and Khai. After finishing this marvelous story, I couldn’t imagine it going any other way. Esme was strong and honorable and absolutely perfect for Khai.

In Kiss Quotient, Stella as Asperger Syndrome and Michael learns to work with Stella’s quirks so they can reach a happily ever after, but Michael’s cousin Khai is just a smidge further on the autistic scale. Khai doesn’t believe that he can feel love and because of his stone heart, he has never pursued any type of romantic entanglement. So his mother takes things into her own hands and seeks to find a potential wife for him in Vietnam. She brings My over to California and gives her the summer to convince Khai to marry her. My picks Esmeralda (Esme), as her American name after her daughter’s favorite Disney character. Yes, that is the one lie of omission that brings Esme guilt throughout the story. She hasn’t confessed to Khai or his mother that she has a child. When she was a teen, she was pursued and seduced by a boy who wouldn’t marry her since her family was so poor.

Esme works hard to try to seduce Khai and he is not responsive to her attempts. She tries to make herself useful to him by straightening and doing chores, but he is unhappy with how she is doing things. She feels that her attempts to win Khai’s love are doomed to failure since he doesn’t seem to have any interest in her. When Khai confesses to her that he is autistic, she has no idea of what this means, but when he explains his sensitivity to touch, that she understands. Knowing that this is something Esme would never have guessed if Khai hadn’t told her specifically, she makes him agree to be more open with things that will bother him so she can adjust.

Once they work past this hurdle, Khai and Esme’s relationship begins to grow more intimate, except sex won’t solve all their issues. Esme sees what a kind and wonderful person Khai is and she is quickly growing to love him. But as her time in America begins to come to an end and Khai’s mother needs an answer whether there will be a wedding before Esme’s visa expires, Khai still isn’t willing to believe he could ever love Esme back.

While I liked watching Esme and Khai’s brother Quan work to break through Khai’s belief that he can’t feel emotions like other people, I absolutely adored Esme. In the beginning of the story, the one question she got right that the other candidates didn’t showed that even though Esme was dirt poor, living with her grandmother, mother, and daughter in a one room shack, she wouldn’t act sell her soul or stab Khai in the back for money or to achieve the American Dream. When Khai’s mother chased her down, she finally agreed to meet Khai and would marry him only if she could win his love.

With that opening scene, we could see the depth of Esme’s character. She tried to win Khai’s love but when she feared he wouldn’t love her back, she refused to marry just for a green card and while she continued to strive to win Khai, she took classes at the adult center to learn English and accounting to improve her life. After being tossed aside by the father of her child for an appropriate wife, Esme finds she keeps being passed over. She suffers from low self-esteem, but instead of being a sad sack and allowing life to kick her around, she fights harder every time life kicks her. And when she doesn’t believe Khai will ever love her, she is depressed, but then she starts to investigated how else she could extend her visa. She is very honorable. She cared too much for Khai and wouldn’t use him to stay in the country. Because she believed she had more value than life kept showing her, she wouldn’t accept less than his whole heart.

It was a delightful story and I breezed through it in a day because I simply didn’t want to put it down. If you didn’t get a chance to read The Kiss Quotient last year, do yourself a favor and grab both of these stories. You can thank me later.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[kimbacaffeinate]

I have a son who falls on the spectrum and Hoang captures these beautiful, unique souls wonderfully. From mannerisms to the unique way they view the world. It takes a special kind of soul to see how loving they truly are.

The set up for the romance was delightful. Khai’s mother travels to Vietnam and brings home a bride for him. He must spend the summer with Esme Tran, a mixed-race girl from the slums of Ho Chi Minh City. Esme will have the summer to convince Khai he wants a wife. This could have been awful, instead Hoang gave us strong, lovable characters who shared a chemistry and found something more.

Hoang balanced the obstacles of autism with firsts. New places, living with a stranger, and first times. Even the secret(s) and obstacles to the relationship were done well. I adored The Kiss Quotient, but I loved The Bride Test.

I laughed, cried, screamed in frustration, and stood proud as Esme accomplished thing. I understood and felt for Khai as I would my own son. Siblings, weddings, family and outsiders all helped pull the story along and allowing me to come to care for them all.

Don’t skip the author’s note. *wipes tears* Then buy it for yourself and your friends!

If you are looking for the perfect summer romance, The Bride Test should be in you tote! A cute, hilarious and heartwarming romance! This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Leigha]

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Khai Diep’s emotions (or supposedly lack thereof) are put to the test when he meets his match in this romantic comedy.

Oh boy. I loved last year’s The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hong, but this book leaves me with a lot of mixed feelings. The concept is cute – a loving, if controlling, mother attempts to create a love connection between her autistic son and a single mother. Let the hijinks begin, right? Despite the promising premise, I found the execution to be problematic. First, I did not like Khai’s mom. Her emotional manipulation of the situation left me feeling uncomfortable. Second, I didn’t feel the connection between Khai and Esme. Their individual stories were powerfully, but their romance felt forced and rushed. The ending does little to make me feel connected to them as couple.

At the end of the day, I enjoyed the author’s note at the end of the novel more than I enjoyed the story. That’s a problem. I’m sure many people will read and enjoy this novel. I wish I had been one of them.

tl;dr While the premise is cute, the author’s note at the end of the story left a bigger impression on me than the novel.