The Bride Test (The Kiss Quotient series)

by Helen Hoang

Paperback, 2019

Status

Available

Publication

Corvus (2019), Edition: Main, 336 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:From the USA Today bestselling author of The Kiss Quotient comes a romantic novel about love that crosses international borders and all boundaries of the heart... 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… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member GirlWellRead

A special thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Bride Test is a spin off of sorts from The Kiss Quotient, Hoang's smash debut. This book is about Khai, who is Michael's cousin. He has no emotions when it comes to love or grief; he is literal, he likes

when things balance (he is an accountant), and is easily irritated with others, especially when they touch his things. He thinks he is defective when in fact he is not, he is on the spectrum. His overbearing mother, Cô Ng, decides it is time for him to get married and takes matters into her own hands. She returns to Vietnam in order to find him the perfect bride.

Esme Tran is a mixed-race, single mother that lives in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City. She has always felt she doesn't belong. When Cô Ng offers her a chance to come to America to seduce her son, she accepts. This could not only be the break her little family needs, but she could also track down her biological father.

Seducing Khai proves to be incredibly difficult—instead of making Khai fall in love with her, she is falling head-over-heals for him. With her time almost up, and with Khai convinced he is unable to love, Esme feels she has failed.

But there is more than one way to love.

I found this book less provocative than The Kiss Quotient because there was more build up and tension and I certainly don't mean this as a criticism. It was more about the journey of falling in love, learning one's likes, dislikes, boundaries, and an exploration in the discovery of pleasure and consent. Esme and Khai's journey is a learning experience.

This story is smart, sassy, sexy, exactly what you would expect from a romance book. But on the flip side, Khai's struggles are real and genuine. Hoang really shines here and brings forward her voice and experience also having Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Hoang's character development is incredible. She pens characters that are layered, complex, and flawed, yet are incredibly endearing. I adored Esme and learned by reading the Author's Note that she is loosely-based on Hoang's own mother who was also an uneducated immigrant (I encourage you to read this, it is informative and touching). There is also humour sprinkled throughout—I especially enjoyed Quân and the dynamic between him and his brother.

Helen Hoang is a gift. She brings to life characters that are not considered mainstream, but their stories need to be told and are just as valuable, enlightening, and entertaining.

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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna

It's a bit steamy, but on the upside the character development of the two main characters is top-notch. I love books where I really feel like I understand the characters and Ms. Hoang completely succeeded in reeling me in. The love that each of the family members had for each other was really nice.

LibraryThing member foggidawn

Khai thinks he's incapable of feeling deep emotions such as love. When his mother brings Esme over from Viet Nam to be his wife, he's resistant, but she's determined to make this opportunity work out, for her own sake, and for the daughter she left behind. Will Khai and Esme find true love, or will

their secrets and differences keep them apart?

I found the author's first book (The Kiss Quotient) a little too steamy for my taste. This book certainly has those elements, but there's more build-up, so I found it more palatable. It's interesting light reading, albeit with plot elements that always irritate me (major issues that would be resolved quickly if the characters would just talk to each other; characters keeping major secrets when they know it will be a bigger issue the longer they hold onto them). It's a fun read that touches on some deeper issues, and would make for an interesting book discussion if your book group is okay with some strong language and graphic sex scenes.

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LibraryThing member KamGeb

Good beach reading. Not great literature, and the sex scenes are a bit comical. Also the portrayal of autism is a bit contrived. But given those faults, I actual enjoyed reading the book. It is a good light reading book that is just fun. I did read it all the way to the end and wanted to know how

it would end.

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LibraryThing member Carolesrandomlife

I really liked this romance. It is really hard to avoid comparing this book to the author's debut novel, The Kiss Quotient. We do see some familiar characters in this book and I am actually glad that there is a connection. Don't let that fool you though. This is a very different story and I thought

it was pretty original. I have a great time with this one.

I liked the set up for this story. I thought that it was fun that the whole story begins with Khai's matchmaking mother. It wasn't quite an arranged marriage story since both characters were able to choose but I thought it was a fun premise for a contemporary story. Both Khai and Esme had personalities that made the entire set up of the story believable and I have to say that I can understand why Khai's mom decided to take matters into her own hands.

I really liked both of the characters a lot but I would have to say that Khai was my favorite. Khai is autistic and doesn't always see everything the same way that others do. He knows this and has decided that he is broken and unable to feel. He is very high functioning and is very successful in his career. His personal life isn't doing as well before he meets Esme. I think that Khai learned a lot about himself over the course of this story and it was great to see him learn how to be a part of a relationship.

Esme really wants to change her life for herself and her daughter. She decides to take Khai's mother up on her offer to spend the summer with Khai in California in a quest to do just that. She is not afraid of hard work and really does try to make Khai happy. Unfortunately, she didn't always understand what Khai needed. I actually liked Esme more as the story progressed and she started focusing more on herself. It was at that point that I felt like I really got to know her and her passions.

I think that the romance between these two worked well on a lot of different levels. Neither one of them felt like they belonged so they had something in common. Khai explained what he needed and Esme worked really hard to deliver. They had a lot of chemistry and I really felt that they both seemed to be better when they were together.

I thought that Emily Woo Zeller did an amazing job with this story. I thought that she did a great job with both points of view in the story. Character voices were also really well done and I thought that she brought a lot of emotion into the story. I am really glad that I made the decision to listen to this book.

I would recommend this book to others. This was a wonderful romance with incredibly strong and unique characters. It really was a joy to watch this happily ever after come together. I can't wait to read more from Helen Hoang!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.

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LibraryThing member LibrarianRyan

This was a fun listen in the car on a long drive. There are things I don’t agree with, such as seeking a bride for your son, or arranged marriages. However, I know they happen, and that they can even have a nice side such as with this book. Kahi has never dated and plans to never marry as he is

blank on the inside. No ability to feel. He lives in California and has a very pushy, but loving mom. Esme lives in Vietnam where she has a daughter and spends her days cleaning toilets. It is only for her daughter that she agrees to a crazy scheme to spend the summer in the US and test her ability to be the perfect wife to Khai. This book is funny, sweet, and endearing. It is your typical romance novel with bends not normally seen. Esme speaks very little english, but doesn’t let that stop her. Khai is on the autism spectrum, and while it may take a few lessons and finding new ways to talk to and about himself, he to is learning. Over all this was a fun romp. I cant wait till the next one.
#ReadHarder #Neurodiverse
#Booked2019 #Addiction (you would have to read it to understand)
#LittleLoveBingo #BOTM
#NancyDrewChallenge #GlowingReviews
#KillYourTBR #Borrowedfromthelibrary
#BNF

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LibraryThing member SimplyKelina

If you enjoyed the Kiss Quotient, then you definitely need to pick up The Bride Test. This the second book in the series (I did not know it was a series), but you do not have to read the first one to enjoy this. It did not have any of the same characters.

Where I really enjoyed the first book, I

liked the plot much more in The Bride Test. I am not really sure why, but I just thought it was so cute. I loved how the mother of Khai meets Esme, and the whole journey of having her come to America.

Just like The Kiss Quotient, this is more new adult than just contemporary romance. There are several steamy scenes, so be prepared for that when going into either of these stories. It was not overwhelming though and was such a small part of the plot, so you could still enjoy it even if you do not like that in your reads.

The one reason I am giving this 4/5 stars is the lack of depth/details. I just wanted more development around the characters and their story. It is hard to describe, but I just wanted more.

Overall, still a great read and I recommend it.

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LibraryThing member ecataldi

This is the quintessential beach read. The plot is over the top, the characters are almost too quirky (if that's possible), and it is overall super cheesy. I clearly devoured this book in one setting. It was cute, regardless of how ridiculous the entire scenario was. I kept rooting for the

characters even though it's soo predictable how it will all turn out. Khai's mother is soo worried about her autistic son never getting married that she finds a likable, honest female janitor in Vietnam and convinces er to be a mail order bride for her son. She agrees because she wants to find a better life and maybe a father for her young daughter. Khai agrees to give her a trial run and they soon find themselves in the awkward predicament of living together and getting used to each other quirks. Over the top, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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LibraryThing member annbury

I liked this better than "The Kiss Quotient", but for me it has the same plus/minus aspects. The characters are interesting and likeable. Their attraction to each other, however, is expressed almost entirely in terms of sexual chemistry. I'd like to have seen more about how they come to like each

other.

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LibraryThing member StefanieGeeks

After reading this second novel from Helen Hoang I will read ANYTHING she publishes. Her delightfully well-drawn characters grow as their stories progress. The Bride Test is also in the realm of what I like to call Clever Candy Lit. This is not just some formulaic romance, it has soul and helps the

reader to understand Vietnamese culture as well as give a look into Americanized Asian culture while still being a super fun read. I adored it!

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LibraryThing member shelleyraec

I loved The Kiss Quotient, it was such an unexpected delight that I was very much looking forward to reading The Bride Test. Hoang’s second contemporary romance novel, which can be read as a stand-alone, features Khai Diep, who was introduced briefly in The Kiss Quotient as Michael’s

cousin.

Khai, a successful business owner in his mid twenties, is content to focus all his energy on his work, convinced that he is incapable of ‘normal’ emotions, and therefore destined to be alone. His mother however is determined that Khai will marry, and travels to Vietnam to find a him a bride whom she will present to her son as a fait accompli.

Mỹ Ngoc ‘Esmeralda’ Tran is a a young woman of mixed Vietnamese/American parentage who works as a hotel maid to support her daughter, mother and grandmother. Though surprised by Cô Nga’s unexpected invitation to spend time with her son in California with a view to marriage, Esme realises that it’s an opportunity too good to pass up. She has the summer, she is told, to convince Khai to make her his bride, or she will be returned to Vietnam.

It’s an inauspicious start to a love story. Esme’s motives can be construed as mercenary, she wants the chance of a better future for both herself and her daughter, and is willing to seduce Khai to secure it. It’s to Hoang’s credit that she manages to evoke sympathy for Esme, but I wasn’t keen that Esme kept so many secrets from Khai, it meant that there was a lack of honesty in their emotional connection which I did find disappointing.

However I wanted the relationship to work, in large part because Khai deserves to find the love and intimacy he believes he is incapable of reciprocating. Though Khai knows he is on the autistic spectrum, it’s clear he doesn’t quite understand what that means in terms of how he experiences emotion, and his response to a tragic incident as a teenager meant he formed an erroneous belief of himself. Khai’s perspective feels authentic and his struggle is actually very moving, even more so I think because his concern is not for himself.

My favourite scene in The Bride Test involved Esme giving Khai a haircut, it was both intimate and very sweet. I loved how Khai found the courage to explain about his needs, and Esme responded in a manner that was matter of fact. This occurs not long before their first kiss, almost halfway through the book.

I didn’t particularly care for the epilogue though which I thought was over the top. Given that we know a third book (most likely to feature Quan) is coming, Hoang could have given us a more subtle update, as she did here when Esme and Khai attended Michael and Stella’s wedding.

I did enjoy The Bride Test, and it has some funny, sweet and sexy moments, but I have to admit that the relationship between Khai and Esme felt uneven to me in a way that Stella and Michael’s did not.

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LibraryThing member spacegirl3000

Helen Hoang's first book The Kiss Quotient was better. Although the story of Ma aka Esme was interesting, she was too quick to agree to go to USA. So it started with a rather convenient, easy trick from the author. The story developed good but the ending was forced again. Of course her mom liked

the groom, of course her daughter trusted him at first sight. Give me a break! After kiss quotient I tought Helen Hoang was a new favorite of mine. Now I don't think so.

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LibraryThing member sdbookhound

This companion book to The Kiss Quotient was a satisfying read. I was not as connected to the characters as I was in the Kiss Quotient, but I did enjoy them. Their story was believable and I would recommend this to those who love romance and diverse characters.

LibraryThing member Herenya

Khai hasn’t found a girlfriend, so his mother arranges for a young woman from Vietnam to come to California for the summer, to see if she and Khai will suit each other.

This is romance, a genre which doesn’t always share my narrative priorities -- some things are resolved a bit too neatly, and I

would have liked more of Esme’s relationship with her daughter and of her adult education classes -- but I enjoyed reading this, so I’m not complaining.

I liked how Hoang portrays Khai’s autism. He has a greater capacity for emotions (especially for love) than he realises, he just needs support to understand his feelings. (And this is, believably, a short-term obstacle to romance without being serious long-term impediment -- his actions reveal how much he cares, and he gets better at recognising and verbalising what he’s feeling.)

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LibraryThing member nbmars

In Hoang’s previous book, The Kiss Quotient, Stella Lane, a 30-year old attractive and smart woman with Asperger’s living in Palo Alto, California, ends up in a relationship with Michael Phan, a half-Vietnamese, half-Swedish escort who looks a Korean martial arts movie star from her favorite

film genre.

This book, related to the first, is about Khai Diep, Michael’s cousin. Khai is also on the autism spectrum, and has trouble expressing or even recognizing emotions. He is 26 and very handsome, but has never had a girlfriend. He is overwhelmed by insecurities from knowing he is “on the spectrum,” and doesn’t think it would be fair to impose himself on someone else. He considers himself a “lone sock.”

Khai’s mother, Cô Nga, decided to take matters into her own hands, and traveled to Viet Nam to find someone suitable for Khai. Cô Nga staged a “bride test” at a fancy hotel, but wasn’t satisfied with any of the entrants. Instead, she settled on 23-year-old Tran Ngoc Mỹ. (Vietnamese names put the family name first followed by the middle and given names. Thus Mỹ is the first name.) Mỹ wasn’t taking the “bride test”; rather, she was working as a cleaner in the bathroom of the hotel. But Mỹ was the only one who met Khai’s mother’s criteria, and Cô Nga offered Mỹ a trip to California for six months plus expenses to see if she and Khai “fit.” She told Mỹ, “If you don’t, no problem, you go home. At the very least, you’ll go to all our family weddings and have some food and fun.”

Mỹ accepted, leaving behind her five-year-old daughter Jade in the care of her mother and grandmother. Mỹ’s mother was all for this trip: it could be a chance to make a better future for Mỹ and Jade. Taking the more American sounding name Esmeralda Tran (“Esme” for short), Mỹ left for California. While there, she also hoped to locate her father, a man she never met but who went to Cal Berkeley.

Esme doesn’t expect to fall for Khai, but she does. Khai is attracted to Esme and grows to like having her around, but wouldn’t know how to recognize love if it hit him on the head. Once again, Khai’s family must intervene; Khai's brother decides to deliver a metaphorical hit on the head to Khai. Khai needs to understand that sometimes, what he thinks is the “flu” may just be an experience he thinks he cannot have.

An Epilogue that takes place four years later will satisfy everyone.

Discussion: Hoang revealed in an Author’s Note that this story was greatly shaped by the lives of her own parents. Her mother was a hard-working immigrant from Vietnam, and her father is on the autism spectrum. It is perhaps for this reason she draws her characters with such empathy and love.

In particular, Hoang emphasizes her pride in her mother, and how “with no money, no connections, broken English, an eighth-grade education, and no help from the men in her life, she was able to work her way into owning not one, not two, not three, but four successful restaurants in Minnesota.” This admiration is brought to bear on the development of Esme’s character, who believes she is worthwhile in spite of her poor background. Like Hoang's mother, Esme is determined she can achieve anything if she works hard enough.

As in Hoang’s previous book, sex comes first, then the romance, and eventually love. And by sex, I mean: a great deal of sex. It is not portrayed distastefully, however, as in so many adult romances, and there is not one “throbbing member” to be found anywhere.

Evaluation: This is a very sweet story, with lots of humor, lots of romance, and with endearing characters you would like to see again.

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LibraryThing member Narshkite

Two for two with Hoang. I absolutely loved this beautiful romance. Listened to it in a few packing episodes (when you just keep moving you get these opportunities -- I pray this is the last one!) I had a lump in my throat for hours. The book is heartbreaking, affirming, and tells a story we need to

be telling. Wonderful.

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LibraryThing member haymaai

‘The Bride Test’ by Helen Hoang is a delightful and adorable story about a pushy Vietnamese mom who flies to Vietnam to recruit a bride for her handsome, but autistic son, Khai. Khai is a highly successful, but quirky entrepreneur accountant from Silicon Valley who is convinced that he is

unable to fall in love. He enjoys living an uncomplicated life of unpretentious routine. When Khai’s mother meets Esme, she is working as a maid in Ho Chi Minh City to support her family, including a young daughter. Khai’s mother convinces beautiful and enigmatic Esme to come to America to meet her son with the intention to marry him before the end of the summer. She strikes an agreement with Khai to allow Esme into his home, and if by the end of the summer he has not fallen in love, all plans for the wedding will be dissolved. Khai is just counting the days until he can resume his bachelor lifestyle and put Esme back on a plane to Vietnam.
Although this story might seem completely contrived, Esme’s likable and adorable qualities bring this story to life. In addition, although Khai is portrayed as a ‘knight in shining armor’, his idiosyncrasies from autism and his inability to deal with loss, really generated some empathy for his character. I breezed through this book in just a few days, and I was so enamored with the characters that I hated to put the book down. For this reason, I awarded it five stars.

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LibraryThing member amybooklover45

This was a great immigrant story and a good look inside the world of a man with Autism. Esme comes to America at the invitation of Quan’s aunt to seduce him into marriage. Quran has to move beyond the death of his cousin and his natural tendency to want to be alone. It’s a tender look at

someone who struggles with social interaction without being pandering. There is a twist in the story, but the ending is very satisfying. Lots of sex talk with a few love scenes, so if that’s not your thing, this wouldn’t be the book for you.

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LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq

I realize that this book, like "The Kiss Quotient" was about Khai (Michael's cousin) who is on the Autism Spectrum... but like the first book it was mostly about sex & a relationship, which was a distraction.

Since Khai's best friend & cousin, Andy, died 10 years ago on the way to visit Khai; Khai

has been emotionally closed down.

Khai's mother goes to Vietnam to interview & choose a bride for him. All the girls being interviewed end up in the bathroom in tears while Esme, the cleaner, looks on.

When Khai's mother comes upon Esme in the bathroom, Khai's mother automatically interviews Esme & choose her to be Khai's wife.

The book continues back in San Francisco with Khai's & Esme's relationship & the difficulties within.

I never really warmed up to Khai or Esme, which was also why I marked the book down.

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LibraryThing member greeniezona

For our anniversary, Andrew took the whole family to the bookstore and let us each pick out a book. I kind of surprised myself by picking out this one. I don't read a lot of romance these days, but people I like on social media have been raving about Hoang, and then I checked out the back cover.

See, I've recently noticed that I have a tendency to fall for autism-spectrum characters on TV shows, but they rarely get satisfying romantic arcs. So, I picked this.

And I loved it. I read it cover to cover the next day. I loved Esme and Khai and their cultural/class/neuro differences that caused them to repeated misunderstand each other. I loved all the supporting characters and the way many of them were looking out for each other. I loved Esme's stubborn insistence on doing things her own way. I wanted so fiercely for them all to find their HEAs, which of course they did.

I'm sure I'll be looking out for The Kiss Quotient and any future books Hoang writes. I never really got the appeal of romance series before, but now I'd be especially curious to see a future book featuring Quan.

Love.

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LibraryThing member bookwyrmm

A delightful chick lit about the American Dream and falling for someone with Autism.

LibraryThing member amandanan

Read straight through in one sitting.

LibraryThing member Cats57

I have never read this author's first book so I really had nothing to judge this book by. I see that a lot of other reviewers have read the first book and are making comparisons to it. And not all the reviews are favorable. So in a way, I have a bit of an edge by not having anything to compare this

book to.

I will not waste your time by recapping the entire storyline -what I will say though, is that the synopsis does not really do this book justice. What the synopsis fails to point out is the extreme levels of lying that went into this book. Also, the fact that what the author wanted for the protagonists to do was illegal as far as my understanding of immigration laws goes.

Having said that this book did keep me entertained; it was a bit of a potato-chip read with a very serious subject tacked on. Khai Diep the male main character has what appears to be High Functioning Autism so that imparts a more serious not to this book. Esme Tran (not her real name) is the main female and compromises her morals and ethics (in my opinion) to try to get her family a better life. If I could quote out of this book (I can't because it's an ARC) I could let you see just why I say such a thing about Esme. I certainly hope that the editors took a second glance and took that particular part out before it went to publishing.

Most of the first quarter of this book dealt with Khai dealing with a dowsing rod-like penis and it was really annoying for me after I got over the initial giggle/chuckle. The joke went on just a little too long for me. There was a lot of sexual inner-dialoguing, angsting over sex and then some bad sex, then some good sex.

Not a horrible read but not one that I would recommend to any of my reading buddies.

*ARC supplied by the publisher.

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LibraryThing member readbybrit

» I received an ARC of this from a giveaway

I have such mixed feelings on what to rate this book. 95% of the book I was 100% sure it was going to be a 4 star read but the ending was so unsatisfying. I thiiiiink that leaves me at 3.75/5.

I did not read The Kiss Quotient prior even though this is

technically a sequel, it didn't seem like a huge priority. I was just spoiled for a little of what happened in book one but it was a romance so I really don't consider myself spoiled. Prior to this I was toying with the idea of delving into adult romance but I hadn't done it just yet so when I won this in a giveaway, I was pleasantly surprised.

I really enjoyed Khai and Esme's romance. Everything felt genuine and real, albeit it did feel a bit rushed at certain points from Esme's perspective. I absolutely adored Quan and Khai's relationship and I want 800 more scenes with the both of them together. Both Esme and Khai's individual subplots were very fulfilling however I do wish we had more scenes of Esme and her schoolwork. I do wish the ending of every single aspect of the story was more fleshed out. Everything was going perfectly until the last 30 pages when everything jumped into hyperspeed.

All of my issues aside, I really really really enjoyed this and I'm definitely going to go back and read The Kiss Quotient and I'm crossing my fingers that book three is about Quan because I adored him.

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LibraryThing member yonitdm

A great read with great characters. I got teary-eyed a few times from the emotional growth. I actually didn't recognize that some of the characters had been in the first book until later in the story. It was a fun crossover.

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