Hello Romance reading friends! We are beginning our third week of the August reading challenge where I asked you to find two romances that featured and/or were written by PoC.
Check in time? How are we all doing?
Have you found your newest swoon-worthy read? Are there authors you want to tell everyone about? Comment below to share what you’ve been reading.
Book Review Time
Life has gotten a little out of hand, which is why I love reading HEA. No matter how busy I am, or what is going on in the world, I need a break to sit in the hammock or on the porch and escape.
The escape this week was to Dallas, Texas in the Carina Press bookHere to Stay by Adriana Herrera. I was lucky to receive a copy from the publisher through Netgalley. Thank you so much for sharing this read!
Julia del Mar Ortiz has had better years. She moved to Texas with her long-time boyfriend only to be dumped. Her family and best friends all live in NYC, and if she didn’t love her job so much in Texas she might consider packing it all in and moving back to the East Coast.
Rocco Quinn, fellow New Yorker and hottie extraordinaire, is out to get Julia. Rather her job. He has been hired by the board of the company her foundation is run by to evaluate ways to make the company look more attractive for going public in the next year.
Rocco and Julia fight their attraction because both know it will only end in heartbreak. Rocco needs this job to go well so he receives a promotion that will allow him to save his sister and niece from the sticky fingers of their parents toxicity. Julia doesn’t want to pack it in, but if Rocco tells the board to ax the foundation she works for she will have to do exactly that.
This is a spicy book. The heat between these two characters is phenomenal and while there is some dirty talk, it seems in line with the characters and the passion they feel for each other. There is good build up to the sex, so you know it means something to both characters when it finally happens. This is not sex thrown in, but a natural part of their story.
The ending was sweet, tied up with a bow and while a little predictable, didn’t ruin my awww!! moment. I rooted for Rocco and Julia through the entire book, even when they were both having mule-headed moments, I wanted to see each of them settled and happy in their best lives.
The heat between the characters+ their internal misbeliefs + their dreams + the wrap up at the end makes this a 5 star swoon.
What I loved most about this book was the diversity of the characters Julia presents as a Dominican/Puerto Rican. The side characters are gay, straight, and many different Latinx origins. Julia’s family is tight knit and I learned a lot about the culture of her family through their interactions. I loved that a lot of the dialog was in Spanish, with idioms and slang. I am trying to refresh my Spanish muscle and this went a long way to helping me practice.
None of the characters look or talk like me, but we are all connected through the universal hope of being known, loved and accepted exactly as we are.
All in all, I love books that gives me an opportunity to experience lives unlike my own. That is why this made for a perfect companion to our August reading challenge. None of the characters look or talk like me, but we are all connected through the universal hope of being known, loved and accepted exactly as we are.
To purchase, click on the link. It will take you to Amazon, where if you make a purchase I receive a percentage of the sale.
Here to Stay by Adriana Herrera published by Carina Press August 2020.
Have you read Here to Stay? What are your thoughts?
Happily Ever After (Or something like it) 
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