This is a pretty good book with a neuro-atypical romantic hero. It is much better than the author's first book in that the neuro-more-typical love interest is a better-rounded, more realistic person. Recommended for all readers of romance with modern settings.

Khai, the hero of The Bride Test, is not interested in love. He's on the spectrum and doesn't think he even can love. His mom, however, wants him to get married, so she goes to Vietnam and brings back Esme for him to marry. I'm not sure that the set up of this book worked for me - I felt uncomfortable with the mail order bride aspect of it. However, I loved Esme, and how hard she worked to make a new life for herself. She is smart and driven and comes to realize her self worth. I also liked Khai, who struggles with being different from everyone else. What I really like about Helen Hoang's books is the way her characters interact - there are often misunderstandings, but they learn to successfully communicate in ways they each need. Esme and Khai are both coming from vastly different places - emotionally, culturally - but they are able to work through those differences. I did want a little more story in this book - the small side plots weren't developed enough for me, and I would've liked to see Esme and Khai in other contexts rather than just together at home or at family weddings. I also felt that the end wrapped up a little too quickly. I didn't like this as much as The Kiss Quotient, but it was a good read and I look forward to whatever Hoang writes next.

Oh my goodness I do not think I could be more excited to get given this book and I don't think I could have read it quicker and it held up to and maybe even surpassed Hoang's first book, "The Kiss Quotient." I raced through this book, fully captivated in the story, the characters, and the problems they were having.

This book focuses on Khai, Michael's cousin from the first book and Esme, a woman from Vietnam who is convinced to come to America by Khai's mother in order to convince him to get married. Khai is also autistic however and has no interest in having a relationship with a woman, or so he thinks. I enjoyed that one of the main character is an immigrant working to learn English and create a better life for her family back home.

Overall this book has engaging characters, some great steamy scenes, a fleshed out story, and it really holds up to the first book.

Hoang has done it again! She created characters I grew to love! This story had a little bit of a slower start than her previous title but still thoroughly enjoyed it.

So, I read this book is less than 24 hours! I can not remember the last time I was this into a book. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. I adored the two main characters and was actually sad to part ways with them. The representation is wonderful and I think this novel has the potential to allow readers to have a better understanding of people on the autism spectrum. I also think it is fantastic that people on the spectrum will see themselves in this book and hopefully will feel understood. There is so much to love about this book- it made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me smile with absolute delight!

Full review on my blog to come.

This book was a surprisingly sweet slow-burn romance. It takes on a lot more issues than I was expecting in such a compact tale: autism, immigration, single parenthood, education, grief, and finances, to name a few. What could have felt overwhelming was handled with a deft hand, bringing these two main characters into a 3D focus.
My/Esme is a struggling single mother, caring for her own mother, grandmother, and child on a hotel housekeeper's salary when fate throws her a curveball, in the form of some crying women in the hotel's bathroom. By being in the right place at the right time, she is offered the opportunity to go to America (from her home Vietnam) to marry a very handsome single young man, Khai (not that he's aware of the arrangement at first). She has the summer to convince him to marry her, or she'll be sent back home.
Khai is different from everyone else; he doesn't feel things the way everyone else does. But he'll do what his mother wants, and he is drawn to Esme, even distracted by her. He doesn't want anything in his life to change, though, and that's all that Esme is bringing to his world.
The Bride Test did a great job exploring the discomfort Khai felt at many things that non-autistic people would not be bothered by. His sensitivity to little things, like the way he is touched, was well-explained to the reader. I also enjoyed seeing the other side, the way that Esme interpreted his responses.
Esme was an awesome independent role model and I really wasn't expecting that. She has goals and dreams that she has been putting on hold to put everyone else first. It was good to see her grow as a character.
Overall, I recommend this romance as more than just a romance, since it explores so much.

First, for some reason I kind of love a forced proximity/arranged marriage trope so I knew I was going to love this book going into it. I didn't realize that I would love it for so much more than the trope. I loved The Kiss Quotient but I gotta say I think I love this one even more. It was so fun and exciting to see these characters learn each other and slowly develop feelings for each other. Esme is such a strong, caring just LOVELY woman, Khai is just the sweetest (even if he thinks he cant feel). I loved this book and can't wait to read it again.

I was given an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

This book seriously tugged at my heart strings! Helen Hoang hit it out of the park again with his sophomore novel, following her first book The Kiss Quotient. The thing about Hoang's romances is that there is so much more at work than just the love story, which is undeniably very good. The Bride Test features Khai, an attractive, successful autistic man who believes he can't feel emotions. Khai's Mom decides to take matters into her own hands and flys to her home country Vietnam to secure a wife for Khai. Who she decides on? Esme, a cleaning lady, who decides this opportunity is her best shot to provide for her family and her young daugther. The mission is to seduce Khai over the summer and if it works, marry him. But in addition to becoming close to Khai, Esme experiences many emotions and lessons by assimilating to a whole new country and culture. And for Khai, his annoyance at the situation his Mom has created fades away when he becomes intrigued by Esme's beauty and optimism and learns he might feel more than he thinks.

I adored Esme. She's fierce, kind, loyal and smart. Her story is empowering and you really root for her. She's the kind of book character I would love to meet in real life.

This is not working for me at all, I didn't feel any chemistry between the main characters and I can't muster up any enthusiasm to continue reading. I'm so disappointed because Hoang's first book was a massive winner for me last year

I'm so happy I got to read this.

I loved the kiss quotient so much and I was so excited to read this one and it didn't disappoint me at all.

I loved the story and the relationship between khai and esme,they were so cute and adorable and I highlighted so many quotes!.

It also made me emotional,reading about them and khai,I just love him so much and I wanna read more of them.

Definitely a 5/5 stars for me

Helen Hoang is a rising star for a reason; her thoughtful, nuanced writing plus red-hot romance are a formula for success. Hoang is incredibly sensitive in her depiction of immigration, autism, and gender dynamics in this book without ever taking the reader out of the story, and by the end I was about ready to burst into happy tears. Khai and Esme are such dynamic characters that they leap off the page and straight into your heart, and scene-stealer Quan has got to be gearing up for his own book, right? The Bride Test not only lives up to the hype and success of The Kiss Quotient, but it also has me totally thrilled for what's next for Hoang.

Much like Hoang's debut The Kiss Quotient, this story had moments of incredible sizzle as well as ones that pulled on my heartstrings. While I enjoyed it very much and read the whole thing in less than 24 hours, I didn't connect with the characters or their particular situations as much as in book one (and yes, I realize how silly that sounds!) A must buy for romance collections in libraries, and a great borrow for me.

A fun, heartwarming romance from Helen Hoang that has you cheering and swooning for the love story. It's a book that will keep you smiling long after the last page. Looking forward to her future titles!

The experience of autism from the male perspective (a more documented POV) wasn't the draw for this book so much as that of Esme's immigrant experience. However, Kai's way of relating his emotional coping skills, and character growth as he comes to recognize that's what they are, still build sympathy for a character who is understandably harder to connect with. The story's assorted relationships - between brothers, mothers and daughters, prospective in-laws, and, of course, the romance that develops between the main characters - are well done and engaging. I also enjoyed seeing more of Kai's and Michael's (from the Kiss Quotient) family and liked how the search for Esme's dad turned out (I briefly feared her dad would turn out to be Michael's philandering father, but happily that wasn't a plot twist).

This book feels like a cross between Crazy Rich Asians and The Kiss Quotient. It's fun to revisit some of the characters from Ms. Hoang's first book, though I felt like some aspects of this book were a little repetitive given the same focus on a character on the Autism spectrum. Nevertheless, I rooted for the characters and hoped they would find their way to each other by the end.

I very much enjoyed this companion to The Kiss Quotient. Although it's the same family, though, this book stands entirely alone. I confess to enjoying this one a little less than the the original. But once I read the author's note at the end, I was a total convert. I really appreciate the efforts that the author put into accurate cultural depictions, especially when it could have just been a fluffy romance.

I really loved Helen Hoang's The Kiss Quotient, and was very excited to read The Bride Test. I was not disappointed in this book! This book stars Khai, Michael's cousin from The Kiss Quotient. Khai is a truly lovable character that doesn't ever see himself capable of any emotions, but we seem him express those emotions throughout the book proving that he is just as strong a human as any other character, autistic or not. I really loved Esme's character as well. Her story was super intriguing and the way the characters interact was phenomenal. I felt heartbreak, and it made me swoon. Helen Hoang is a remarkable author, and I cannot wait for Vy and Quan's story to come out!

Amazingly, this was even better than The Kiss Quotient. I enjoyed so much learning both of these characters' stories. Getting Khai's inner monologue to understand better where he was coming from was very interesting. I also loved the agency that Esme had and her determination to succeed in the US. I wish we had gotten a bit more of Michael and Stella in this book.

My/Esmeralda is a poor Vietnamese single mom scrubbing toilets to earn a living. Khai is a son of Vietnamese immigrants who is on the autism spectrum. Khai’s mom brings My/Esmeralda to California for the summer because she wants her son to have a good, caring, and devoted life. Esmeralda agrees to provide a better life for her daughter. Like in Kiss Quotient, the neurotypical has to help the neurodivergent understand the back-and-forth of what it means to be in a relationship. However, with Esmeralda and Khai, it’s all about the emotions rather than the sex (although Khai is a virgin). In the end of course, all is well and happy, but the journey Esmeralda and Khai take is nothing I’ve seen done in any other romance novel!

The Bride Test is NOT a sequel to The Kiss Quotient. It can definitely be read without or without TKQ.

Like TKQ, the romance is fresh, the sex is tender, the neurodivergent rep is fantastic, and there is a happy ending. Helen Hoang has written another delightful romance that will charm the pants off (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Millennial readers.

Such a fun book. I loved it as much as I loved her first book. The characters were wonderful, the sexual tension was great, and the story was enjoyable.