I genuinely didn't think I could love any book as much as The Kiss Quotient, but The Bride Test was so wonderful. Emotional and sweet, I read it in one sitting.

Full review to come closer to release date.

4.5 stars! I loved this book! I liked Helen Hoang's first book The Kiss Quotient, but this one was even better in my opinion. Khai is autistic and thinks he can never love so his mother arranges for a woman, Esme, to come over from Vietnam to try to win him over. I loved Esme and wanted her to be able to go to school and have a better life and her and Khai were so cute together. These aren't you're typical romance characters which I really enjoyed. They're real and flawed and messy and I loved it. I hope Quan get a book if his own next!

!!!!!!!! I was so afraid that this wouldn't live up to The Kiss Quotient but holy cow I think it might be even better. Esme and Khai are both such incredible protagonists and they're trying so hard and I love them. Khai's POV scenes were absolutely fascinating and even as he's steadfastly denying that he loves Esme his acts of service for her are some of the most romantic things I've ever read. Khai's family is just. Amazing. His mom absolutely came alive on the page -- I could understand how she was very frustrating for Khai to deal with sometimes but she was a force of nature and so supportive of Esme. Quan (who had better get his own book!) was phenomenal. I don't want to give big spoilers but there's a sex education scene in which Quan and Michael are trying to explain some things to Khai and I almost cried laughing. But most of all: Esme is wonderful and I loved everything about her and getting to see her work for her happiness and succeed was so satisfying. Highly, HIGHLY recommend to anyone who likes contemporary romance, as well as any readers looking for an uplifting immigration story (these days I think a lot of us could use one) or an autistic hero written by an autistic author.

This was a quick very sweet read. Khai is autistic and finds it hard to show his feelings or understand how others are feeling about his actions. Khai's mother finds Esme in Vietnam and brings her to America to meet and marry Khai. Esme agree to try so that she can make a better life for her family but she doesn't understand english that well. There are several misunderstandings along the way but it is enjoyable seeing the characters develop. I usually skim the Author's Note but found myself reading the one at the end of this book. Make sure to read it. It's a story all in itself.

I read this book in one sitting and powered through the first hour or two of an onsetting migraine to get as far as I could before I had to take a break to let the excedrin kick in. Worth the pain, worth every minute of it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Okay it was one and a half sittings because I had to wait for the meds to do their work, but my ereader was in my hand the entire time.

Helen Hoang is a master of plot execution. Her knowledge of setting up and inverting (while still paying homage to) beloved tropes to fit her story is truly awesome, and her characters are strong and individual. I don't think I've ever read protagonists like this before, and I will remember them for years.

I have not yet read The Kiss Quotient (I am remedying this directly), so I can't comment on how the stories entwine, but I will say that although we do see the couple from TKQ I did not feel that I was missing out on vital story points because of not having read TKQ. This book stands on its own, gloriously, hilariously, delightfully.

Vietnamese representation!! This is a must read, and is as incredible as The Kiss Quotient. It was everything I wanted for Khai’s story and Esme (just as good as Michael and Stella!!)

Helen Hoang has a second winner here. Great characters rich with culture and patience and love. I love her stories and how they include autistic characters, the world is not a perfect place and everyone needs to learn how to fall in love and deal with grief. Written in her clever style I read this book in one sitting,

The Bride Test was delightful. Reaching many avenues of race, health, customs, traditions, and romance Helen Hoang's novel tickled the funny bone and pulled at the heart strings as complicated feelings were addressed. I loved the book.

Helen Hoang's second novel surpasses by expectations which were very high after The Kiss Quotient. Her heroine, Esme Tran, is vibrant and lovable, and I loved the author's note at the end of the book explaining her inspiration. I look forward to Hoang's next book!

I received an ARC of this book and loved it as much as her first. Such great dialogue and character development! I hate a romance where you can’t puzzle out why the characters are sabotaging their own HEA but Hoang really gives so much depth to her characters that you feel deeply for them and their struggles. I was so caught up in the interesting angles of autism and the immigrant experience. I love that she is helping change the face of romance by creating unique characters that challenge our assumptions about what a romance hero or heroine looks like.

I'm pretty heartbroken that I didn't like this at all. I freaking loved The Kiss Quotient, but this left me feeling cold. It kept trying to sell me on a connection that I absolutely didn't buy, and the whole thing felt very... disingenuous? I can't quite put my finger on it. I'm giving it two stars because it's actually pretty readable, it's just that I thought it lacked nuance (which her first book had in spades).

Thanks to Netgalley for this digital ARC!
I waffled between 3.5 and 4 stars for this book because there was something about the first half that wasn't quite grabbing me. The trope of arranged marriage doesn't always sit right with me but at least Helen Hoang made it more interesting than I expected.
If you're a fan of The Kiss Quotient then you'll really like this one. It has the same kind of feel. I must say that it's refreshing to have an autistic character be a love interest even when they struggle to understand what love means for themselves. Khai will make you frustrated but laugh at the same time. You root for him throughout the book to figure out his own feelings and then groan when he screws it up each time. They say to write from experience and Helen Hoang is definitely doing that with both of her characters. Esme is a great character who grows immensely throughout the story. There's a point where she decides to make big changes for herself because she's what's most important. They definitely both have flaws and it takes a while to unwrap each one to see why they're good for each other. The supporting characters have good depth to them and I really liked Quan. He was a great big brother to Khai. There are definitely some issues and weak points to this story and it's not as good as The Kiss Quotient but I believe this will be another hit for the author.

I read this book before the Kiss Quotient because I had heard mixed reviews on it. With that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed The Bride Test. It was unlike anything i’ve ever read before. I enjoyed Helen Hoang’s writing and the smut scenes were pretty good. It was more of a slow burn romance and I wasn’t mad about it.

I was one of many that were wowed by Helen Hoang's debut "The Kiss Quotient." I'm so happy that she decided to stay in this world by giving Khai his story. If you're looking for a cute, timely, and fun contemporary romance look no further!

Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for this copy to review.

I love Helena Hunting and her diverse characters and storylines! The Kiss Quotient is still my number one but this was a great second book for Hoang. She touches on life as an immigrant as well as life with ASD so well. The romance is steamy and I can't wait to see what she does next!!

This is such a wonderful story. I loved the interaction between all of the characters. The look into the Asian culture was eye opening. I will definitely be looking for more of Helen Hoang's books.

Wow did I love this book! It is just as good as the authors first book. I loved the story line, the characters and of course the love story. I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the eARC of this book!

I was so exited to see what Helen Hoang would do after the <i>Kiss Quotient</i>, which I absolutely loved. The <i>Bride Test</i> is the story of Khai, Michael's cousin from <i>Kiss</i>, a Vietnamese-American tech CEO, who is autistic and believes he can't love, and Esme, a Vietnamese woman brought to California by Khai's mother on the off-chance that she'll want to marry Khai and that she'll be able to find her American father.

This was a lovely story. Esme/My is a great romance heroine. She is kind and loving, but her ambition, intelligence, and bravery really shine through. As other reviewers have noted, Helen Hoang's author's note is a must-read for more insight into her decisions about this character. I liked Khai too, and I was interested to see a different vision of what being autistic looks like than we saw in Hoang's first book, but I think you can tell that this time, Esme is the character Hoang needed to write.

This book fits in well with Hoang's first, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes <i>Kiss Quotient</i> or other contemporary romances like Jasmine Guillory's books. I hope Helen is planning Quan's story next - whatever it is, I will absolutely read it.

I'm so glad Helen Hoang decided to share her writing and bless us with both The Kiss Quotient and now The Bride Test. I'm not sure which book I enjoyed more!

I'm glad I took the time to read the acknowledgments at the end of the book because the insight about Helen's inspiration made this story about ten times more moving and important. I hadn't thought about it until it was pointed out to me (cringe), but the romance world doesn't have nearly enough stories about women who are less than perfect. Sure, there are stories where women have perceived flaws, but they're always trivial - and usually end up being proven wrong but their love interest! Esme was "flawed" in the book world - she barely speaks English, she's a level of poor that's not represented often, and she's uneducated. Not a combo I've seen in many heroines before. And as a reader, I loved her. She was relatable, determined, engaging, and seemed like so much fun. If someone deserved to be depressed or concerned about her life, it was Esme and instead she was always smiling, always happy, and so, so deserving of love.

I already can't wait to read this book again. Esme and Khai's story is one that I hope gets a lot of attention (and I'm sure it will). Helen Hoang has firmly cemented herself as one of my favorite authors. I devour her books and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!