The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

Title: The Bride Test
Author: Helen Hoang
Series: #2 in the Kiss Quotient series
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: LLC Dreamscape Media  (May 7, 2019)
Source: Library Find
Rating: ☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but 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 avoids relationships, 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. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go 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.

With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.

My Thoughts: This was a pretty great book that had my feelers all over the place.

The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else: Esme was a strong independent woman who just wanted better for her child. Better, meaning America, rather than the poor side of Vietnam.  I liked Esme quite a bit but I fell in love with Khai. Over my lifetime I spent 1/4 of it working with people with developmental disabilities some of whom had Autism. I felt Helen Hoang did an amazing job fleshing out Khai and his traits.

I wish Esme would have researched Autism when Khai brought it up. She looked up Accounting when it was mentioned. Her character seemed curious and needed to learn so this oversight seemed odd. Had she researched she would have understood the things Khai did much sooner. Of course the book would have ended a lot sooner without the major epiphany Khai had towards the end. I also wished Esme would have told everyone about her daughter way sooner. As much as she loved Jade I'm just not sure why she would have hidden her. Especially once she determined her and Khai were not suited.

I enjoyed the audio version of this book a lot. Emily Woo Zeller was the narrator and to date this book is the first one I've listened to that she has done. I don't speak Vietnamese and the proper way to pronounce the various names would have tripped me up a lot. I was able to listen at my regular speed which is not quite 2X's the speed.

In a Nutshell: Although this book is the second book in the series, it's the first book I've read by this author. Reading out of order didn't spoil my enjoyment and there doesn't seem to be much connecting the books other than a theme and family. I would definitely recommend this book and will go back and read the first book myself.