The Heart Principle
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.
- Pages
- 353
- First published
- August 31, 2021
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Ebook
- ISBN
- 9780451490858
More editions
▾
Pick a cover to preview.
Shelved by 5 Litcadians
Reviews
Finished August 6, 2022
I REALLY loved this book. There were trigger moments for me. Anna’s struggle w being a caretaker was hard for me. I was my Grandpa’s caretaker for 10 years. His death wasn’t kind and in fact it was ugly. It’s been 5 yrs since he died & I’m still grieving. I really feel seen with Anna’s character with the struggles of being a caretaker for your family. It’s really horrific and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that again. I wanted to read this book quickly like I did with her other 2 books because I really loved them. I did have to skip over some of those trigger moments and not because they were badly written. They’re beautiful. It just reminded me sooo much of my grandfather (though Anna’s dad’s health was completely different than my Gramps). In all these books Quan was my favorite. I’m glad he got his HEA. I wish I had been lucky like Anna to have someone like him during that time… though my family was great too. … and yes I’ve been crying ugly while reading this book and now while writing this review. It’s ok. It’s healthy to cry.
Started June 10, 2024 · Finished June 10, 2024
I read this in less than a day... The first book in this series of standalones by this author is one I think about almost every day since reading it. I was surprised to see those MCs as side characters in this and loved it. This book had me laughing, and cringing, and tearing up... it broke my heart and slowly put it back together again in imperfectly perfect little pieces. I loved the autistic representation and the internal fight the FMC had throughout this, how supportive her "one night stand" was, and the struggles they both went through with mental and physical issues they fought every single day. I don't often read authors notes, but I feel like the note at the end is just as important as the story that came before it. The fact that the author pulled a lot of the material for this one from her own personal experiences really shows in the care and heartbreak of this book. I think the only closure that was maybe lacking in the end was the sister... bitch never did apologize, at least on page, I like to think that eventually she would have come around. 🌶️ 4/5 The spice in this was raw, caring and intentional. The chemistry with the MCs was really good how they worked through their intimacy issues and found ways to open up to each other that was unique to their own comfort levels. That bj scene early on had me cackling so hard, her original BF is the fucking worst.
Started May 1, 2026 · Finished May 1, 2026
