The Bride Test definitely lives up to the hype of Hoang’s first book The Kiss Quotient. In this book she deals flawlessly with a main character with autism as he struggles to let a stranger his mother chose as a bride for him get close to him. What ensues is a heartbreaking, humorous, and honest attempt at a relationship between two strangers. Great supporting characters.

After reading The Kiss Quotient, my expectations were high for the sequel. As an autistic woman, I connected with the main character of the first book in a big way and I was glad to see that The Bride Test featured another neurodiverse character. I enjoyed seeing the differences between one autistic character and another as they were not presented as monoliths. The relationship Khai has with his family is fun to read about, especially between him and Quan, and I would have liked to see more of it. I enjoyed getting to know Esme but I felt as if the power balance between her and Khai was off. She was so desperate to change her circumstances that the romance sometimes felt a bit forced. Perhaps that is why this book seemed a little less steamy than it’s predecessor.

All in all, The Bride Test is an enjoyable romance that I will read again and recommend far and wide! More romance featuring autistic and/or non-white protagonists is needed in the publishing world and this is an excellent example of such done well.

Wow. Helen Hoang has done it again! In The Bride Test we meet Khai and Esme. Khai's mom is sick of seeing Khai shut himself off from the world. So, on a trip to Vietnam, she sets off to find him a wife. After a long line of awful interviews, she stumbles across a lovely young woman cleaning the bathrooms. Something about Esme speaks to her and she convinces Esme to come to America to meet her son. Soon Esme finds herself in America, trying to win over a guy in the hopes of not only changing her life, but the life of her whole family. The only problem is, Khai is a hard nut to crack. It doesn't take long for their mutual "trial run" summer to turn into a bond that cannot be broken. The only problem is, Khai is unable to feel emotions and that includes love.

I really liked that we got both POV's in this story. If we didn't get Khai's thoughts on things, he would have been a very easy character to write off and hate. However, you are aware of his inner workings and therefor know that he processes things a lot differently than most people. So, when he reacts a certain way, or says something that could be considered hurtful or tactless, you know that in his mind, he's just being honest or reacting to the situation naturally.

Esme was also someone that you would probably get the wrong idea about if you didn't get her POV. I mean, this random woman shows up in the bathroom and offers to fly her to America in order to seduce and marry her son... and she agrees. Is she in it for the money? Is she only looking to get a green card? At first? I'm sure that was in the front of her mind, considering her, her daughter, her mother, and her grandmother were all huddled up on the floor in front of the stove in order to stay warm at night. However, because we get her POV, we see her shift from trying to please Khai and do things that she thinks would gain her favor, to just being herself and trying to help him out.

I really like that this author not only writes about characters that might find themselves in interesting and taboo situations, but she also incorporates characters who fall along the Autism Spectrum. Stella (in the first book) had Asperger's, and Khai has autism. Both characters view situations differently and both were able to find love in the end (even when they thought it was impossible). While The Kiss Quotient was a bit more on the physical side of things, The Bride Test slowed things down a bit and we got more of an emotional story between two people.

I really enjoyed my time reading The Bride Test. I honestly read it in one sitting because I just couldn't seem to put the book down. While it had a different tempo than The Kiss Quotient, it was still an amazing read. You don't need to read The Kiss Quotient in order to read The Bride Test. Even though Khai and Michael are cousins, their stories don't really intersect at all. So, if The Bride Test sounds like something you'd love, then I highly suggest you grab a copy.

Another cute romance by the author of the Kiss Quotient. The mother or a rich vietnamese and Autistic man goes to Vietnam to find a wife for her son. She brings Esmerelda to the U.S. and gives her 3 months to charm her son into marrying her. Cute love story.

Loooooooved this! I love the way Helen Hoang writes about characters we don't get to see very often.

Helen Hoang does it again. I loved "The Kiss Quotient" and didn't think it was possible to like her work any more than I already did -- and then I read "The Bride Test." It was heart-warming and even somewhat suspenseful, and Helen Hoang writes her characters so beautifully, you'll fall in love with them, too.

Somewhat predictable but an enjoyable, fun read on a Sunday afternoon. I loved the immigrant experience coupled with the melding of two cultures.

Fresh and utterly delightful! I'm probably one of the few who read this second book by Helen Hoang before her hit first book The Kiss Quotient (that's next on the TBR!) but I was thoroughly charmed by a romance that really shouldn't have worked at all in theory. The modern mail order bride is a concept that's hard to fathom but because of Esme and Khai's specific circumstances and personalities, it really worked here. The hero and heroine are both very endearing characters for entirely different reasons. There's a lot of attraction and insta-lust, but kindess and caring do develop (despite a lack of some of the usual genre hallmarks like long bonding conversations sharing their needs/wants/fears etc.) between them and I believed they did love each other by the end even if it was born mainly from attraction and forced proximity. Things did feel a bit rushed at times especially towards the end but in general it was a really lovely read.

Helen Hoang’s writing and style is fantastic, and exactly what I love.

But that alone doesn’t guarantee a hit novel. The story has to work for me as well, and The Bride Test didn’t quite reach the level of The Kiss Quotient.

Because even though I really enjoyed Khai and Esme’s story, it just didn’t resonate with me the same way as her debut novel did.

While reading TBT, I caught myself smiling many times because the interactions between Khai, his family, and Esme were just too awesome to not be appreciated. The author’s talent for writing great scenes and wonderful dialogues needs to be recognized. I really valued Esme’s quiet but also sassy personality, and how well it worked for Khai. Because he certainly wasn’t the easiest person to get to know, and Esme’s patience and kindness towards him was inspiring. She was a truly kind, hard working and genuinely wonderful person.

Khai, a virgin which made sense knowing how he struggled with physical contact, slowly made progress opening up and getting used to the idea of Esme. I really enjoyed his straight forwardness, but otherwise he was a more quiet and introvert character, and their relationship much more slower and an almost understated affair.

There were a couple things I didn’t agree with, and Khai’s big hangup at the end was starting to drag on me. I got slightly bored. And I must admit Esme’s time in America all went way too smoothly, especially her quick and efficient grasp of the english language.

But all of this doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy this novel, it just wasn’t a WOWing kind of book for me.

TBT was a solid performance, with a couple slower parts, but otherwise nothing to sneeze at. The author emphasized the Vietnamese culture much more deeply in this book than in the last. I couldn’t pronounce the names if my life depended on it – lol. But hearing about all the food made me hungry for some egg rolls.

And in the end I can’t wait to read her next books. Her unique and fresh voice is filling a niche and I just wish there were more authors like her.

Like The Kiss Quotient, The Bride Test was a thoroughly enjoyable romance with thought out characters that you root for.

Helen Hoang is such a talented writer. The Bride Test is a fantastic read and I will be talking about it with my patrons for the rest of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Once again, Helen Hoang has managed to put a new spin on contemporary romance. I love that she takes characters that are 'imperfect' and turns them into perfect lead characters. There is a realism in this series that is refreshing.

The only criticism I have is that I found the voice shifted around too much and it was a bit distracting. It wasn't an issue of not knowing who was talking, but still, I found myself bounced around a bit more than I would have liked.

I actually liked THE BRIDE TEST more than THE KISS QUOTIENT, and was happy to see that the author will be writing more books set in the same world. This one reminded me a bit of THE ROSIE PROJECT, but again, I liked this one better! I enjoyed reading a book that I think would qualify as #ownvoices, as the author is also neuro-atypical like some of her characters, and learning more about the Vietnamese culture represented in the familial groups of this story. I purchased multiple copies for my romance collection, and I am sure it will be popular in our community, which is very diverse. Thanks for approving me to read this one. Lately, all my favorite books have been from Berkley!

This book is very well written. It pulled me in almost right away and kept me interested until the very end. I will definitely be recommending this to the customers at my work!

Khai and My (Esme) are one of the best character sets that’s I’ve read in a long time. Let me just tell you, I am a fan of Helens’. Her books broach subjects that not many people have and it’s done in an amazing tactful manner. I can’t wait to read more of her books.

I didn't want to read The Bride Test. A romance between a struggling immigrant woman from Vietnam and a man with autism? No thank you. A friend who had read The Kiss Quotient urged me to read it. I decided I'd just read the first few pages...and I was immediately hooked. This is a big-hearted, fun, sexy read with some pretty serious themes to tie it all together. This book is unique to the genre, but I would recommend it to readers who enjoyed the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy and the books of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Emily Giffin. I especially liked the author's afterword regarding her own mother. It was inspiring and deepened my appreciation of the book.

So lovely! Helen Hoang's approach to romance is so refreshing. I love the way she centers characters that normally get left out of romantic narratives - like Esme, a working class single mother from Viet Nam hoping to make a better life for her family, and Khai, an autistic man afraid he's incapable of love. This love story is so heartwarming and delightful, and Hoang's author's note about her journey creating these characters really changed my perspective on the whole book. DO NOT SLEEP ON HELEN HOANG!

I was very much looking forward to this book after reading this authors fabulous debut, "The Kiss Quotient." While I enjoyed this book, I do think I may have over-hyped it in my head. I enjoyed the authors continuation of using own voices through both autism and her Vietnamese background. To me, I think the romance just wasn't as natural or compelling. Esme felt like two different characters a lot of the time. And the secret she was keeping was too much for me, and I found it very hard to believe Khai was just completely fine with it at the end with zero problems or adjustments.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I think I was hoping for another smash hit like "The Kiss Quotient."

I love the autism representation, I love the immigrant heroine, I love the supporting characters -- but I am firmly in the column of "liked" with this one. I needed more of a connection between the main characters -- I can't figure out what made them fall in love, beyond physical attraction -- and I needed less rushed of an ending. I'll still be recommending this to readers at my library, and I still found it a very enjoyable read, but it falls short of excellence.

I was a fan of The Kiss Quotient, so I've been looking forward to this book for months. Luckily, Helen Hoang didn't disappoint! I LOVED this book.

I read it in one sitting while on a plane and I had all sorts of feelings the entire time. It's not often (or ever) that you find a romance book with autism rep, but I felt like this one was super well done. I was truly invested in Khai and Esme's story and days later, I'm still thinking about them. This book is so much more than just a romance -- it's filled with tender emotions, brotherly love, a few laugh out loud moments, and fully fleshed out characters that you can't help but root for.

Highly recommend! Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc.