The Bride Test
by Helen Hoang
May 7, 2019
320 pages
320 pages
Goodreads Summary:
From the author of the deeply charming The Kiss Quotient comes a romantic novel about a love that crosses international borders.
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—not grief. And not love. Rather than believing he processes emotions differently as a result of being autistic, he concludes he’s defective and avoids romantic relationships to protect people from his emotional deficiency, driving his mother to take matters into her own hands and get him a mail order bride.
As a mixed-race girl born into the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity to be an American mail order brides arises, she leaps at it. Her groom is unwilling, but if she can change his mind, she’ll finally have a family that wants her. If she can’t, at least she will have known what it’s like to belong for one glorious summer.
Seducing Khai, however, is one horrible disaster after another. It’s not until Esme gives up that they start to make headway. Over the course of three weddings and a funeral, they fall for each other. But Khai insists it isn’t love, and Esme doesn’t believe in herself enough to see past his words to the truth. They both must learn to accept and value their differences because the fourth wedding of the summer could join them or break them apart forever.
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—not grief. And not love. Rather than believing he processes emotions differently as a result of being autistic, he concludes he’s defective and avoids romantic relationships to protect people from his emotional deficiency, driving his mother to take matters into her own hands and get him a mail order bride.
As a mixed-race girl born into the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity to be an American mail order brides arises, she leaps at it. Her groom is unwilling, but if she can change his mind, she’ll finally have a family that wants her. If she can’t, at least she will have known what it’s like to belong for one glorious summer.
Seducing Khai, however, is one horrible disaster after another. It’s not until Esme gives up that they start to make headway. Over the course of three weddings and a funeral, they fall for each other. But Khai insists it isn’t love, and Esme doesn’t believe in herself enough to see past his words to the truth. They both must learn to accept and value their differences because the fourth wedding of the summer could join them or break them apart forever.
