We’re in the deep end of summer and fall is coming which means seasonal romance lovers are cramming in as many romance reads as they can before it is PSL (pumpkin spice latte) season. In one of my earlier posts about summer romance recommendations, I mentioned that “The Bride Test” by Helen Hoang makes me thirsty for summer fruits and hot summer afternoons and I knew the moment I took note of that, I was going to reread it this summer.
“The Bride Test” is one of my favorite romance reads ever and Helen Hoang’s coming out with a third book in this series on August 31st, 2021. I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am for it.
I don’t know much about the third book, “The Heart Principle”, other than it follows Quan and deals with emotionally heavy topics which is all I need from a Helen Hoang book. Quan was such a memorable character throughout both books. I don’t remember much about his role in “The Kiss Quotient” but I remember how selfless and caring he was in “The Bride Test”. Everyone around him is finding their “perfect” match and I really want Quan to find his because he deserves it.
To say farewell to the hot summers days, I thought that this month, I’d go ahead and reread the whole series in order and prep myself for the release of the third book.
A Little Bit About The Series
To this date, this series consists of two books, “The Kiss Quotient” and “The Bride Test”. The first book, “The Kiss Quotient”, follows our main characters Michael and Stella and the second book, “The Bride Test”, follows Michael’s cousin Khai and Esme. The third book, “The Heart Principle” will be coming out August 31st and features Khai’s cousin Quan and Anna. Each book has a main character who’s on the autism spectrum and I’d like to note that yes, this is an own voice’s novel so you can prepare yourself for true, realistic representation.
“The Kiss Quotient: A Goodreads Summary
“Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.
It doesn’t help that Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice—with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can’t afford to turn down Stella’s offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan—from foreplay to more-than-missionary position…
Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he’s making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic…”
The Bride Test: A Goodreads Summary
“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”
What You Can Expect From Me
This month, I’m going to read one of these books a week and put out a review featuring my overall thoughts on the book and how my previous perspective and thoughts changed along the years as I’ve gotten more and more acclimated to the romance genre.
My general history with this series is quite interesting.
While I absolutely loved the second book in this series, I really did not like the first one. I know that there are romance readers who adore the first book but when it comes to my personal taste in romance, I prefer books with a bit of plot and if something’s dingy with the plot, I immediately categorize the romance as meh.
I’m really excited to reread “The Kiss Quotient” because I don’t think I was ready to read it when I did. As a new romance reader, I wasn’t into books that were purely focused on romance and instead preferred books that had a more non-romantic subplot that was accompanied by romance. “The Kiss Quotient” in comparison to “The Bride Test” was purely romance and I vividly remember that that there was this one element in the plot that I didn’t really care for.
I’m going to be much more open minded when I reread “The Kiss Quotient” and who knows, maybe I’ll enjoy it this time around now that I’ve read a ton more of romance and am okay with purely romance driven plots.
Are you excited for “The Heart Principle”? Which is your favorite Helen Hoang book?