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.

I received an arc from the First to Read website hosted by Penguin Random House.

You don’t know how excited I was when I saw this book pop up. I’ve been wanting to read this since I’ve finished The Kiss Quotient, which was one of my top romances of last year. It contained a nice mix of romance and diverse character portrayals throughout.

Book two is written in the same style where the main male character has autism whereas The Kiss Quotient the female lead has autism.

The storyline of the book is Khai feels as if he can’t find love since he doesn’t feel it, which makes him feel content. His is family takes matters into their own hands by going to Vietnam. They plan on bringing back a woman for him to meet for an arranged marriage. This is where Esme comes in (she is the other main MC). She is quiet, determined, and strong-willed. But she takes a chance to help her family to start a new life since she is living in an extremely poor part of Vietnam. In this awkward tale, can these two work?

Well, I enjoyed this one but not as much as The Kiss Quotient. I thought this book did a fantastic job of explaining the day to day life of someone dealing with autism, coming from myself who is special ed. Another thing I’ve come to learn, that I love in books, is a dual pov for the main characters. Esme was spot on as being very strong-willed while able to be vulnerable and always thinking about how to help her family. It’s harder to figure out what Khai is thinking due to this thought process. It was good but also confusing to figure out.

But this story was really cute. Esme is always trying to be her best and was always trying to help Khai be better. It takes time to like Khai because he is sooo stubborn but he has his cute moments. You just have to wait and see.

The plot mixed well, from Esme traveling from Vietnam to the States and the romance that blooms between Esme and Khai as he learns the things he can and can’t do. Helen paints a beautiful picture of how love can overcome anything.

My rating is 4/5 stars!