carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I really liked this romance. It is really hard to avoid comparing this book to the author's debut novel, The Kiss Quotient. We do see some familiar characters in this book and I am actually glad that there is a connection. Don't let that fool you though. This is a very different story and I thought it was pretty original. I have a great time with this one.

I liked the set up for this story. I thought that it was fun that the whole story begins with Khai's matchmaking mother. It wasn't quite an arranged marriage story since both characters were able to choose but I thought it was a fun premise for a contemporary story. Both Khai and Esme had personalities that made the entire set up of the story believable and I have to say that I can understand why Khai's mom decided to take matters into her own hands.

I really liked both of the characters a lot but I would have to say that Khai was my favorite. Khai is autistic and doesn't always see everything the same way that others do. He knows this and has decided that he is broken and unable to feel. He is very high functioning and is very successful in his career. His personal life isn't doing as well before he meets Esme. I think that Khai learned a lot about himself over the course of this story and it was great to see him learn how to be a part of a relationship.

Esme really wants to change her life for herself and her daughter. She decides to take Khai's mother up on her offer to spend the summer with Khai in California in a quest to do just that. She is not afraid of hard work and really does try to make Khai happy. Unfortunately, she didn't always understand what Khai needed. I actually liked Esme more as the story progressed and she started focusing more on herself. It was at that point that I felt like I really got to know her and her passions.

I think that the romance between these two worked well on a lot of different levels. Neither one of them felt like they belonged so they had something in common. Khai explained what he needed and Esme worked really hard to deliver. They had a lot of chemistry and I really felt that they both seemed to be better when they were together.

I thought that Emily Woo Zeller did an amazing job with this story. I thought that she did a great job with both points of view in the story. Character voices were also really well done and I thought that she brought a lot of emotion into the story. I am really glad that I made the decision to listen to this book.

I would recommend this book to others. This was a wonderful romance with incredibly strong and unique characters. It really was a joy to watch this happily ever after come together. I can't wait to read more from Helen Hoang!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.