Thank you to the publisher for the ARC! I nominated this title for LibraryReads 2019!
Helen Hoang follows up her sparkling debut, [b:The Kiss Quotient|36199084|The Kiss Quotient|Helen Hoang|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1527983633s/36199084.jpg|57828311], with a story just as swoony and captivating as her first.

Accountant Khai Diep cannot fall in love, because he doesn't have feelings. Sure, he respects his often overbearing family, they do mean the best, and he gets annoyed when people touch him without warning, but those aren't emotions. He's felt this way most of his life, but especially since the death of his cousin and best friend.

But Khai's mother is intent on proving him wrong, going so far as to travel to the slums of Vietnam to find the right woman who'll show Khai he can love. Or just marry him, giving him children and a family life.

Esme Tran never dreamed she'd be traveling to America, but the opportunity posed by Khai's mother is really a win/win. Esme never knew her American father and now she has the chance to find him while also hoping to gain a better future for her young daughter, who she declines to tell Khai's mother about.

Esme knows it is her job to teach Khai how to love, but as she falls for him, she won't sell herself short when it comes time for her to decide whether she'll stay with a man who says he doesn't love her or go to protect her heart.

Both of these characters journey to their happily ever after is poignant, funny, and will make you just want to keep reading into the wee hours of the night (which I did). So pleased to see Khai's autism as him just being him, not a condition to be "fixed." Khai needs to realize he DOES have feelings, he just experiences them differently than others. The delightful cast of family members is an extra treat on top of an already delightful confection.

I hope Hoang continues writing in this world, as I'm dying for Khai's brother Kwon to get his happily ever after.