This is a big claim, but it genuinely might be my favourite romance novel ever.Īs always, Hoang's author's note explains her personal reasons for writing this kind of story, but I suspected early on that the raw emotions the book explores, and the sad places it goes to, were inspired by her own experiences. The Heart Principle was everything I wanted, and so much more.

I gave The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test five stars, so now I need a sixth star to emphasise how Hoang's latest book was my absolute favourite. How much of what people say is genuine and how much is politeness? Is anyone really living their life or are we all reading lines from a giant script written by other people?

Anna and Quan have to fight for their chance at love, but to do that, they also have to fight for themselves. However, when tragedy strikes Anna’s family she takes on a role that she is ill-suited for, until the burden of expectations threatens to destroy her. Their first attempt at a one-night stand fails, as does their second, and their third, because being with Quan is more than sex-he accepts Anna on an unconditional level that she herself has just started to understand. That’s where tattooed, motorcycle-riding Quan Diep comes in. The more unacceptable the men, the better. Translation: She’s going to embark on a string of one-night stands. And when her longtime boyfriend announces he wants an open relationship before making a final commitment, a hurt and angry Anna decides that if he wants an open relationship, then she does, too. When violinist Anna Sun accidentally achieves career success with a viral YouTube video, she finds herself incapacitated and burned out from her attempts to replicate that moment.

A woman struggling with burnout learns to embrace the unexpected-and the man she enlists to help her-in this new New York Times bestselling romance by Helen Hoang.

The heart principle book review