The Heart Principle

Helen Hoang

Aug 2021 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

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.

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. 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. Translation: She's going to embark on a string of one-night stands. The more unacceptable the men, the better.

That’s where tattooed, motorcycle-riding Quan Diep comes in. 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. 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. Anna and Quan have to fight for their chance at love, but to do that, they also have to fight for themselves.

Ratings and reviews

It think too much happened in this book as Quan and Anna BOTH have issues. This felt more of Anna's story than it should have been Quan's. I wished we saw more family dynamics again. I'm curious to see what's next. The narrators were good and I liked both narrations for their characters. I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Anna Sun spends her life doing everything that others want her to do. She just can't say no. All her life she has been a little different and she has just learned how to deal with it. When violinist Anna becomes famous because of a YouTube performance, her life starts to spiral out of control. When her boyfriend of 5 years tells her he wants a temporary open relationship she is heartbroken but then ends up deciding that two can play that game! Enter Quan Diep, the sexy, tattooed, motorcycling gorgeous guy comes in! Anna wants a one-night stand with Quan but because of things from both of their pasts, it doesn't happen. When one try turns into several tries, they decide to just slow down and take things slow. For the first time in Anna's life, Quan actually "gets" her. When tragedy strikes Anna's family, it is Quan that tries to help rein Anna back in. Just when it looks like Quan and Anna will get their perfect happy ending, the past comes back to haunt them. It will take a lot of soul searching by both Anna and Quan but they will finally get their happy ever after. The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang was a sweet and sexy story that was filled with a lot of emotions. I found myself laughing one minute and then crying the next. I just wanted to hug both Anna and Quan. Separately Anna and Quan were not living their lives but were just going through the motions. Once they got together, they just made sense and you couldn't help but root for them. Overall this was a really great story that had wonderful characters and was well written.

I bought this book thinking it would be a very different story. But halfway through the book I realized the story is probably more about the author. After that I was able to enjoy the story much more. Less connected to the earlier books, but still a good story.

About the author

Helen Hoang is that shy person who never talks. Until she does. And then the worst things fly out of her mouth. She read her first romance novel in eighth grade and has been addicted ever since. In 2016, she was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in line with what was previously known as Asperger’s syndrome. She currently lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, two kids, and a pet fish.