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.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

A sweet follow-up to one of my favorite debuts. Helen Hoang does a beautiful job of creating characters who feel real -- with honest emotions and problems to face -- while keeping the tone light and sweet overall.

I enjoyed this one, but I didn't love it the way I did THE KISS QUOTIENT. There was something missing that was in the first book. I don't know if it's just that I had a harder time relating to Esme and the way she is trying to trick Khai? I still enjoyed the book and think Helen Hoang is a fantastic author. I love that she features autistic main characters as well and normalizes them. I wanted so much for this book, and while I still recommend it at work, I don't focus on it as I do the first one.

MY RATING: 4/5 STARS
I received an ARC from Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for a honest review. 

You guys! If you're new, I'm a fan of Helen Hoang ever since the coveted The Kiss Quotient released last year. I sound so annoying because literally everyone is a fan of Helen's writing especially since she's a writer of own voices and all the jazz. And like her dirty scenes are always so steamy that I need to not read it in public. I'm so happy for Helen's success this past year with her debut so when I had the opportunity to read The Bride Test, I was ready to go. 

The Bride Test follows Khai who is on the spectrum just like Stella from The Kiss Quotient. He's doing really well being alone by the way. If he hasn't mentioned it already to his brother and overbearing mother, he wants you to know that his set routine of spending evenings alone is exactly what he wants to do forever until maybe he dies. But his mother is not convinced and knows Khai deserves a woman who understands him. Without his knowledge, his mom brings home a nice Vietnamese girl named Esme who spends the summer with him. If he doesn't like her, Esme goes back home to her daughter and mother while also getting the amazing experience of America and also having the opportunity to find her biological father. 

The relationship starts off rough. Khai needs to adjust to Esme's way of things from her cooking to her cleaning the bushes in her backyard in her figure hugging pants, they get along with each other in the end. Khai and Esme develop this lovely relationship but she doesn't really understand what being on the spectrum means so it leads to a lot of miscommunication issues among the couple. The worst happens when Khai doesn't believe he could ever love anyone no matter how amazing they are and how unwell he's doing without said person. 

This book was good. But was it as good as The Kiss Quotient? Maybe I held The Kiss Quotient too high up on a pedestal when I was reading it because of the amazing hype so now I think The Bride Test as to attest to something that was never as great as I thought of in the first place. Or maybe The Kiss Quotient was just that good and while Khai's story was heart-warming, it wasn't as good as Stella and Michael's love story. I can't explain it but it didn't hit the mark perfectly for me but yes, I did cry. I cried when we learned more about Khai's grief and his relationship with his late cousin. 

And of course, I cried more during the author's note. I definitely recommend you guys to read Helen's author's note. It explains so much and why this story was told the way it was. 

MY RECOMMENDATION
REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD THIS.

I don't traditionally read romance, but after reading this second Hoang book and absolutely LOVING it, I'm pretty sure I would read ANYTHING she published at this point. I can't wait for 2021 and book 3!

I really loved this book! I love it when books include autism rep, and this made me smile so much. Esme is such a sweet character that I really came to love, and Khai melted my heart and he worked his way through his journey to learn about the kind of man he is. I found their love story to be inspiring because it's so different from anything I've read. It made me feel hopeful. Very sweet.

I, like so many readers in Romancelandia, fell so hard for The Kiss Quotient. It was one of the sweetest, sexiest and most tender novels from last year. With such high praise, The Bride Test has a lot to live up to.

First off, The Bride Test has a different feel. Where Stella wanted to experience romance in The Kiss Quotient, there's a lack of it in The Bride Test, at least initially. That's because Esme has been foisted upon Khai as a potential bride by his worried and well-meaning mother. Esme agrees to leave Vietnam for the States where she's expected to woo him and if all goes well, the family will be planning a wedding by summer's end. It's a tall order to expect of someone who's never met the potential groom-to-be and who also happens to have no interest whatsoever in getting hitched. Khai has autism which impacts his interpersonal skills so he doesn't get social cues or read people the same way someone who isn't on the autism spectrum would. The only person with whom he ever got on with and who understood him was his cousin. Khai's convinced himself that he's this dark, broken person unworthy of anything good. So he'd rather stick to his routine and be content with the way things are.

I'm a bit confused by Esme. She's sweet and stronger than I could've imagined. You'd have to be if you're going to uproot yourself for a mad plan like this. But she has a lot at stake back home so she can't turn down the offer Khai's mom puts in front of her. She doesn't understand Khai's behaviour and is unaware of his condition. All she can think to do is try to make his very bland bachelor lifestyle less bachelor-y and more home-y. She tries to introduce a little bit of home by introducing traditional Vietnamese things she likes in hopes that they'll catch his attention. I certainly was not expecting some of the other stuff she winds up doing such as assimilating herself into American culture and going to school. This is what I mean about how strong she is. She has no family here and misses those she left behind, but she's making the most while she's in America. And for all his complaining about her, Khai does get used to having her around and wouldn't you know, starts developing feelings though they feel pretty alien to him. Esme not only baffles him and tests him, she's also patient with him which is something that he's not accustomed to.

The Bride Test is like continuing education for me about autism, at least through the lens of Khai's character. Once again, simple interactions that we take for granted are significant for him. As Khai finds his orderly life changing, he's forced to learn to interact in ways he's never had to before. I felt as if I was also learning something new from a different perspective as well. This is what I love so much about Hoang's writing - that she takes these seemingly banal moments and brings deeper meaning to them. There's a scene where Esme gently touches Khai and his reaction is of pain. He can't tolerate soft touches and when he explains what that sensation feels like to her, he brings context to it and with that empathy.

I admire Helen Hoang's honesty in writing about how autism affects daily interactions. Any time an author can break down and illustrate human behaviour into different parts to make us see it in fresh light, is an accomplishment worthy of all the praise. I am so grateful to be able to read a romance that comes with its own set of unique circumstances. It's a bit of a slowburn that gradually gains traction as they start to click. The Bride Test is warm, funny, empowering and ultimately, a gem of a book.

Another fun book from Helen Hoang. It has circulated well at the library and I enjoyed reading it. Helen continues to show that romance should keep expanding with people from all backgrounds and walks of life.

A wonderfully unique romance that checks all the boxes. Hoang gets it. She develops characters us feel for and gives stories you want to read about. There is an honesty in her storytelling that I just love.

Thank you for the eARC

A delightful, wonderful story. I definitely enjoy reading this so much. It will stay in my heart for long

The follow up to Hoang’s smash hit The Kiss Quotient, The Bride Test follows Michael’s autistic cousin Khai who avoids relationships at all costs because he believes he’s not made for love. His mother disagrees, to the point of heading to Vietnam to find Khai a bride. Esme can’t turn the chance to come to America and meet a potential husband but nothing goes as planned. Esme and Khai only have so much time to see if their relationship has a shot. Make sure you read the Author’s Note at the end!

I could not get through this book. I am not prudish about books and do enjoy sex scenes, but the way the word "dick" was thrown around got old fast. I struggled with Hoang's first book but finished it. I will not pick up other books by this author.

I had a hard time reading this book after the greatness of The Kiss Quotient. The main characters are very different from TKQ, which was fine, but some of the actions of the heroine put me off of reading the book. I was cringing for her every time she misunderstood or misinterpreted something. I understand that that's part of life for some people, but it was sort of difficult to read. Hoang's writing and the story overall redeemed it for me.