His mom and several of his aunts stared at them from midway down the stairs.Įsme and Khai tore apart at once. “They put too much oil in the soup,” a familiar loud voice said. They needed a bed, a wall, a table, anything. All she knew was the safety of his embrace, the heat of his mouth, and his scent–soap, aftershave, man. The room spun in a dizzying swirl, leaving the two of them in a world of their own. Khai and Esme are attending a wedding and they are so overcome by emotional conversation that they just have to kiss. Sarah also made a selfish request for more excerpts and my face hurt from smiling so much after reading this scene. I want to mention Khai’s mom, Cô Nga, again because she really is well meaning and wants her son to be happy.

working, getting some education, etc.) and Khai tries to resist Esme’s adorable charm. Esme hopes to woo Khai, or at the very least make the most of the time (i.e.

So Esme and Khai have a summer of living together. He agrees to go along with his mom’s scheme with the caveat that after this experiment, whether it succeeds or fails, his mother will stop meddling in his love life. She doesn’t deceive him, which I was rather worried about, that he’d somehow be tricked into getting married. Khai knows that his mom has brought over a potential bride for him. gives Esme some hope that she’ll be able to better her family’s situation. Though she doesn’t want to leave her family, the pros outweigh the cons. The fact that Esme has a kid isn’t a spoiler, but it’s something she keeps a secret from Khai and his mother. and bring her family over.Įsme has a young daughter to worry about, as well as her aging mom and grandmother. If it does, she’ll be able to stay in the U.S. If it doesn’t work out, she’ll return to Vietnam. for the summer in hopes of her marrying her son. Then Khai’s mom stumbles across Esme Tran working as a maid, restocking the hotel bathroom. His mom travels to Vietnam where she meets with various women at a hotel, in a sort of interview process. His mother thinks he just shy, and that a wife will help with that. He mainly has sensory issues and feels as if he can never show the “right” emotions or say the “right” things. Khai Diep is the cousin of The Kiss Quotient’s hero and he has a more severe acute version of Autism Spectrum Disorder than Stella from The Kiss Quotient. Granted, there were more things that might bug some readers, but I loved this one even more than The Kiss Quotient. As a book that I was really looking forward to since finishing The Kiss Quotient, it didn’t disappoint. The Bride Test is very much a Cinderella story. Archetype: Character with a Disability, Diverse Protagonists

The bride test cover