I loved this book and belive its a must read for everyone. In my opinion its up there with "The Help" in level of important must reads just for the dynamic of seeing for the different pov of a person with "special needs". I don't even think thats the correct term but maybe "other needs" is a better fit. Anyway. Everyone needs to read this.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and the characters were so special. I loved the autistic representation in this book. I feel that it’s something we don’t see enough in books. Khai’s character was experiencing so much and it was helpful to read from his POV so that we can understand him better. I wish there would have been more dialogue regarding his autism. His mom played a big role in the book but there was no character development there and it was frustrating that she wouldn’t talk to Esme about the way her son processed things. Let’s talk about the protagonist, she was so different from what we usually see aka she wasn’t westernized and I appreciated that. She was a bit awkward, she clashed with cultural norms but she was smart, persistent, strong, fierce and it’s what I resonated with most. The big reveal at the end was underwhelming. Obviously we want a happy ending but it was too nearly tied in a bow for me and way too quickly.

I enjoyed the love that developed between our two characters. The Steam in this book was fair - deff an open door romance but it wasn’t the steamiest. 🔥🔥/5 for me.

Esme Tran, a Vietnamese-American single mother living in Vietnam, struggles to support her family. So when an opportunity of flying to America comes, she grabbed it. Her job? Seducing Khai and eventually become his bride. Khai is autistic and he is often misunderstood by other people and sometimes by his own family. He is having a hard time dealing with emotions like grief and love. He agrees to give Esme a chance eventhough he’s sure he can never love her.

I'm definitely part of the minority here. I enjoyed The Kiss Quotient a lot and as much as I wanted to love The Bride Test, I just couldn't. There were some things that didn't quite sit well with me. One of them was how almost everyone is pushing or forcing Khai to do or feel things he's not comfortable with. It actually made me uncomfortable. I also felt like everyone is so nice to Esme. Don't ge me wrong, I liked her determination and the fact the she doesn't rely too much on Khai. She works and goes to school. She's also a very loving mother and daughter. But somehow most of the people around her are fond of her. The chemistry between Khai and Esme didn't work for me so that was my problem. This is a romance novel so I was looking forward to at least enjoy their conversations or feel the sparks. I also thought that the ending was abrupt. I loved the Stella and Michael cameo though! I'm still planning on reading the next book because it's about Quan.

This book was a relaxing, easy story to read. I felt like there were a few ends left hanging that bothered me when I was done.

I did not think I would like this book as much I did. I am a Vietnamese-American who grew up in San Jose. I grew up around a lot of marriage like this and the love is not always real. It’s good to know that the relationship between the two main characters are loving and caring for each other. They are so different but they learn to love each other and accept each other for who they are. I always have mix feeling reading books that are similar background to me but after reading the Kiss Quotient I had to read this book as well and it was a pleasant surprise. A lot of customers that I recommend this book to also came back to tell me that they love both books as well. It was really fun to read and the characters are different than a lot of romances that I read. I am looking forward to the last book.

The past couple of years may have turned me into a slow reader, but that hasn’t stopped me from devouring Helen Hoang’s The Bride Test in one glorious sitting!

Hard to believe, I know, especially since it now takes me at least a week to finish any given book, but here we are.

I tried to pace myself, I really did, but in the end, the book’s fluid pace, arresting characters and giddy romance won over my self-control. (But then again, what’s new, right?)

In The Bride Test, we follow Khai, a reserved workaholic with a strong aversion to women (especially the ones his well-meaning Vietnamese mum sets him up with) and Esme, a hardworking girl from the slums of Ho Chi Minh who has dreams of changing the course of her life.

What happens when their paths cross? Can Khai learn how to love, despite believing that he doesn’t know how to, because of his autism? Is marriage to a virtual stranger the key to Esme’s dreams?

There’s a lot to love about The Bride Test, and to be honest, I enjoyed this one more than The Kiss Quotient. For one, I found the story to be more vivid and it was, overall, more neatly tied together than its predecessor. I found it funnier, too, and more relatable.

One of my favorite parts about The Bride Test is how it succeeds in depicting many important narratives. On one hand, it tells the story of Esme— the “mail-order bride” who jumps at this very odd opportunity to go to America just to make a better life for herself and her family. Esme’s story— albeit told in a light tone in this novel— is not an unfamiliar tale.

See, for many people here in Asia, America is basically paradise. It’s the Garden of Eden. The land of (processed) milk and honey. A ticket out of poverty. That’s why in real life, scores of young Southeast Asian girls throw caution to the wind just to set foot in the States. They’d marry virtual strangers (who are usually several years older than them) just to get a green card and send money back home. These real-life girls have a lot in common with Esme. Esme faced similar struggles and in so doing made these Southeast Asian girls more human to the audience. Esme’s journey even touches base on stuff that one doesn’t normally consider romantic, like the struggles of immigrants, the lives of mixed-race Asian kids with absentee fathers, and being a young parent in a developing country. It’s crazy how one character arc can show all this and I’m so happy that the author pulled it off beautifully.

Then we have Khai, this drop-dead-gorgeous-reluctant-potential-husband who just so happens to have Asperger’s. Again, Hoang does her magic by writing Khai as a fully-fleshed out human being. Sure, we can chalk up his a-la Kpop star good looks to the romance plot of everything, but beyond that, the reader also gets a good view of what it means to be someone with autism in the world today.

Khai is the perfect foil to Esme: he’s an Asian boy who grew up with all the comforts of America, but is still somewhat different from the people around him. I love how the author lets us see how Khai responds to different situations and emotions. Personally, reading about Khai gave me a deeper understanding of how people with Asperger’s deal with things like grief, happiness, and love— and I, again, appreciate how the author wrote his character with much heart and vibrancy.

I enjoyed The Bride Test so much because it wove all the “serious” elements above into a giddy love story. Want an honest-to-goodness Enemies to Lovers trope? It’s here. Moments to swoon over? Covered. Steamy romance? Also covered. As we say in Filipino, it’s kilig to the bones. Hoang injects humor and balances it with just a little bit of angst and heartbreak to create a contemporary masterpiece.

If you loved The Kiss Quotient, you will for sure enjoy The Bride Test. The pace is nice and even, the characters are relatable despite their different circumstances, and the romance simply makes you keep turning the page. Before you know it, you’ve finished the entire thing in one sitting and are now left with this deep feeling of satisfaction. Honestly, the only thing I didn’t like about this book was literally one line. It’s the one that had something to do with debit and credit, but I can forgive this book for that major cringe. It’s still a 5-star romance for me!

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-bride-test-review-book-helen-hoang-the-kiss-quotient-autism-a8945486.html

My soft pandemic brain was Very Into the Kiss Quotient and I was jazzed to read The Bride Test. It was maybe a little bit of a letdown in comparison? I definitely didn't dislike it and I've been recommending Helen Hoang to everyone I know now, but I tell them to start with the Kiss Quotient instead.

Esme Tran is a young Vietnamese woman supporting her family by working as a maid in Ho Chi Minh City when she has a chance encounter with an American woman who offers her the chance of a lifetime. The woman invites her to come spend the summer in California, thinking she might be a good match for her son. Her son Khai is horrified but agrees to the arrangement if his mother promises to never interfere in his life again. Despite their differences (Khai is autistic and believes himself incapable of love; Esme has a 5-year-old daughter she hasn't mentioned), the two find themselves falling for one another.

Hoang has a talent for creating complex and compelling characters, and that is on full display here, in her sophomore novel. The novel is full of the usual tropes readers can find in rom-coms: misunderstandings, attempts to connect, etc., but Hoang breathes new life into them with her capable writing and genuine warmth and humor. Refreshingly, there are other plot points here, too - Esme attends school and discovers that she's smart and loves learning and Khai confronts his own grief from a past trauma - and this adds to the complexity of the novel. I enjoyed this one immensely. A real treat of a read, not to be missed.

The Bride Test is the second book in  The Kiss Quotient series by author Helen Hoang. I loved The Kiss Quotient, so I was super excited to read The Bride Test, and I have to tell you...I loved this book EVEN MORE! The Bride Test is a romantic comedy about two characters that will make you fall head over heels in love with them.  Helen Hoang is now a must read author for me because she knocked it out of the park two times in a row and I am just a little bit in love with her books and characters and romance. This book is everything I want in a romance, and is one that I will easily revisit time and time again just to fall in love once more with Khai and Esme. The books are each standlones but they are linked to characters from the other books. For example, Khai is Michael's cousin.

In The Bride Test, we meet our main characters Khai and Esme. Khai, just like Stella from The Kiss Quotient, is also on the autism spectrum, and he does not think he is capable of feeling romantic love for someone. So when his mom sets him up, he knows it is doomed for failure. Insert Esme. Esme is a hard worker from a poor part of Ho Chi Minh City, so when a well-to-do woman offers her the chance to marry her son in America, she knows she has to give it a shot for her family. Helen Hoang has a fantastic way with characters. I am not really sure how she does it, but I have fallen in love with all of her characters, both primary and secondary. Everyone is so fantastically developed, nuanced, unique and still so darn relatable that I think it is almost impossible to not fall in love with them. Esme is lovely. She tries so hard to get to know Khai and to do things for him that she thinks he will appreciate. She starts out with the intention of doing it to make her fall in love with him, but watching her fall for Khai warmed my heart. And Khai is great as well. I really enjoyed a deep dive in getting to know him throughout the story. He is an awesome guy!

The Bride Test is like sunshine and smiles in a novel. I enjoyed every page of this novel from start to finish, even the ugly and tough parts. It is one of those books that will put a smile on your face, no matter your mood. I also love that The Kiss Quotient series features characters that are on the autism spectrum. Helen Hoang handles this beautifully, Khai and Stella, though both on the spectrum, are nothing alike. This was perfect because it added a realistic element to their relate-ability, because being "on the spectrum" can mean and present itself in so many different ways. Not everyone on the spectrum is the same or acts the same. I am excited to read about more characters like Khai (and Stella from The Kiss Quotient) in romance novels! Overall, this romance was a ton of fun and super satisfying! I would recommend it to everyone because this book was easily one of my favorite reads of the year in the contemporary romance category. It was just so cute and romantic! The secondary characters were also great. This time around, I really enjoyed Quan, Khai's brother. I hope the next book in this series is about him!

Helen Hoang is phenomenal! She has a true gift to write delightful characters who leap off the page and just feel real. She fleshes out her worlds so beautifully and the characterizations are spot on. Loved this book so very much for its nuanced portrayal of daily life.

I really wasn't sure who I felt about this book when I started it. The idea of one of the main character's mom going to get him a "mail-order bride" basically forcing him to get married when he was autistic and didn't believe he could love. I'm not going to lie, the start of the book made me a little uncomfortable, but this is Helen Hoang and I trust her writing. I was right to do so because as the story progressed, I just fell in love with both characters and started to really root for them not only as individuals but as a couple. This ended up being another amazing one of hers. It just solidified why I will always read Helen Hoang's books. I can't wait for the next one!!

After finishing the Kiss Quotient I was very excited to hear that Helen Hoang was writing another book and hoped that it would be Quan's story. After the initial disappointment that Bride Test would feature Quan's brother I was still excited as I love Hoang's writing style and her diverse characters. I then devoured this one...I loved Khai and Esme and enjoyed watching their story unfold. And there was one scene with Khai, Quan and Michael that had me laughing out loud. In true Hoang story this was a really sweet story filled with love, laughter and family. Its was hard to stop reading once I picked it up and just gave me all the happy feels. I'm still eager for Quan's book but until that one comes to be at least I'll have Khai and Michael's stories to re-read.

The Bride Test from the start already introduced me to a very interesting character, Khai. He was a type of character who seems to be composed and organized in everything. The schedules, routines, roundabouts and all that, he can lay it all neatly in his mind. He kept his heart tight as well. I just found myself diving into this brooding, black suit fanatic, and a tax-and-numbers eccentric man. Khai was a head turner, that's the greatest headline in The Bride Test.

Esme coming along to his organized life led him in a total disarray. Suddenly, things turn out differently and eventually she managed to enter Khai's 'stone' heart. One of the things to love about the The Bride Test was the authenticity of the characters. I was welcomed seeing some of the Vietnamese cultures and how it was to move to another country. I can already feel Esme's homesickness in Vietnam when she fly out.

Khai's mother Co Nga, is like a compass in this book. A mother simply knows by heart what is the best option for her children. She sees Esme's/My's pure intention to fall in love with her son, Khai. She knows the right directions to be exact.

The Bride Test wouldn't be complete with all the WEDDINGS you have to attend and see. From the ceremony, dance, exchanging of vows, Khai and Esme slowly sees what their hearts been truly wanting to have. Esme have fallen in love with Khai, but Khai had a battle on his own which he can no longer fight alone.

Khai and Esme's love was a series of setbacks and being drawn into it all over again. I was amused and obsessed with Khai's intention to make Esme happy and just to be by his side. Esme's love to Khai gave me roses and butterlies. A woman who discovered he has fallen in love with a man and who is willing to take a risk at everything, that's simply one of the best and rare kind of love anyone could ever get.

Quan, Khai's older brother, is the MVP here. I LOVED QUAN. He knows when to push the right buttons in Khai's in denial feelings for Esme. Well, maybe push Khai's heart on the edge. He's one of the game-changer in the book. Quan is a straight-forward man and a loving brother and another hottie in a whole package. He pushed Esme and Khai to believe and trust in their love, in what they had shared, and the lessons they had learned in their relationship. I was strucked with Quan's character to be precise.

Helen Hoang's The Bride Test is a kind of a love story of a couple wanting to open up gradually and discovering what they truly are. It's a romantic, sexy, with a slice of life scenery. Falling in love with the characters are so easy, I'm sure you will love them as much as I do.

I loved this story. As far as I'm concerned Helen Hoang is a revelation. She is able to write complicated, almost unsympathetic protagonists because she has the magical ability to make you root for anyone. Another one hit out of the park, which makes me wait in impatient anticipation for her next book.

*I received a review copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

I absolutely adored Helen Hoang's, The Kiss Quotient, and this was another great addition to her series. Full of very likeable characters and an adorable love story, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of the Bride Test.

I enjoyed reading the follow up to The Kiss Quotient. I loved learning about Autism and the complications it may pose in a relationship. Look forward to the third book in the series.

This is a wonderful addition to the cute love story field. I love that the main characters are real and have issues and obstacles to overcome. I haven't read The Kiss Quotient but you'd better believe it is on my TBR now! I consider this an #OwnVoices book since the author, like Khai, has autism spectrum disorder. It is so very refreshing to read about a character with a disability from someone who shares that disability. I will most certainly recommend this book to others, gladly!

Hoang is a fantastic writer who brings diverse characters to the page, challenging the romance reader to see characters who are both racially diverse and non neurotypical as equal candidates for a HEA.

My expectations for this one were sky high going in, and Helen Hoang did not disappoint. Having read her debut novel in one sitting and continually forcing people to read it for months, I was a little nervous The Bride Test wouldn't meet my expectations. But I certainly had nothing to worry about. This contemporary romance wasn't put down till I got through the last page... at 4 in the morning.
With refreshing authenticity, wonderfully developed characters, and a thought-provoking love story, The Bride Test is bound to sweep anyone off their feet.