Anna is a violinist for a symphony who accidentally achieves immense notoriety when a video of her performance goes viral. But that fame weighs on her, and she finds herself unable to keep playing her music without getting stuck on the errors she thinks she is making, causing her to withdraw from performing.
When Anna’s boyfriend Julian tells her he’d like an open relationship before settling down, she’s thrown for a loop, but she decides to get even. She plans to meet a bunch of men on dating apps and have one-night stands, even though that's totally out of character for her.
And then she meets Quan (a character from Hoang’s The Bride Test). He’s a handsome, smart, muscular, tattooed motorcycle rider. They have immediate emotional and physical chemistry but their attempts at an actual one-night stand fail—more than once. But Quan isn’t just interested in sex, he wants to be there for Anna, too, which is something she’s not used to. (Plus he's adorably nerdy, which I loved.)
When tragedy strikes Anna’s family, Quan is there for her, but slipping back into the traditional family roles takes a toll on Anna’s psyche. She’s constantly berated and belittled, and she's physically and emotionally exhausted, which causes her to question everything she’s come to believe. She has to decide whether she deserves Quan and if he’s willing to be with her regardless of her flaws.
Like Helen Hoang’s other books, The Heart Principle is a steamy one, but it’s also really tough emotionally. It deals with family illness and toxic family members, thoughts of suicide, cancer survival, and autism spectrum disorder, so one or more of these might be triggering for some. I love the respect Hoang has for her neurodiverse characters and her ability to show that they can be sexy, smart, and successful, too.
I loved Quan and Anna, and couldn’t get enough of them. I can’t believe I waited so long to read this!!
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