Title: The Bride test
Author: Helen Hoang
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 315
Genre: Romance
My Rating:
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The Bride Test
Esme is a single mom who lives in Vietnam with her parents and her daughter. One day when she is at work as a cleaner at a hotel, a woman approaches her. The woman asks if she is interested in becoming the wife of her son. Her son Khai really needs a wife, thinks his mother, even though Khai is not interested in marriage. Khai prefers to be alone.
Review
I had my doubts about the first book, The Kiss Quotient. There were two things I did not like that much about the book. The biggest thing was that there was too much smut. The other thing was that Stella’s mother really wanted to have grandchildren and she was basically pushing her daughter to have kids. In the end, the mother told Stella she wanted to see her daughter happy, so I guess the mother changed for the better. But I thought it was weird because I think Stella felt pressured. This book, The Bride Test, is no different. I mean, Khai’s mother was getting a woman to the United States for her son. Khai told everyone he was not interested in dating. He wanted to be alone.
And maybe that is just a tradition in other cultures, but I don´t find it very romantic. That is why also I also have mixed feelings about this book. This was sort of an arranged marriage, which I sort of hate. But on the other hand, there was chemistry between Esme and Khai. But this book did not give me those happy feelings. I sort of was happy it was over. I know there is also a third book in this series, but I already I am not going to buy it. I think I only read this book because I had already bought it, at the same time as book number one.
There were a few cute moments, but Khai was constantly saying he did not want a family. And suddenly all he wanted was her and a moment later he just wanted to marry her to give her a green card. I thought it was a bit weird. The side characters were also taking over because Khai and/or Esme did not take any action to move to the next step in their relationship. The side characters had to push them and that does not sound romantic at all. I want to read about someone who suddenly themselves realizes he/she is in love Everyone was telling Khai that he was in love with Esme. If you repeat the same thing over and over again, you eventually believe it. Not my kind of romance. I was surprised to find out he was totally okay with Esme having a kid already. I know most men would be upset and in shock.
I liked Quan the most in this book though, which was weird because he was not the main character. He sounds like a nice person. But it is not good when a side character steals the spotlight of the main characters.
There were a few good moments in this book that I liked. The passion between the two was really there and it represent people with autism. I think it sort of helped me to understand them better. I liked how Esme chased her dreams. She used to be a cleaner and now she was getting degrees and everything.
But there were too many things I did not like about this book, so I was disappointed. This book (and also the Kiss Quotient) were just not for me. That is just personal taste of course. It is still up to you if you still want to read this or not. This is just my personal opinion. You can not like every single book.