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plusbian's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The story is fairly simple and straightforward but it is engaging and fun.
The characters have a very interesting background and it plays a role in the plot.
Unfortunately this book is so small that some secondary stories, backgrounds and even what is written could easily be explored and created a more complete story.
The characters have a very interesting background and it plays a role in the plot.
Unfortunately this book is so small that some secondary stories, backgrounds and even what is written could easily be explored and created a more complete story.
contrera's review against another edition
3.0
It’s a queer, great British bake off, Hallmark Christmas novella, what more could you want this holiday season? It was cute and fun! The characters felt a little underdeveloped at times but in the more sparse landscape of BIPOC lesbian romance it’s a hit!
nat_loren's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
jazzyjbox's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I seriously love queer competition show books so much, and this is no exception. Sweet and spicy!
lezreadalot's review
4.0
I imagined us as little bits of soil, of earth, from the same place that had been picked up and scattered, and now were here, blending back together. Finding each other so far from where we’d come from.
4.5 stars. This is my fifth book by Adriana Herrera, and it's definitely my favourite. Not just because it's f/f, though that certainly didn't hurt its case. This little Christmas novella gave me so much of what I want from romance, with an added sprinkling of things I normally don't expect to get, wrapped up in a vibrantly cute and sexy package.
I loved the setting; two Dominican women taking part in a baking contest in Scotland around Christmas time. I never really caught on to the whole baking show craze, but I loved this. I would have loved a little more cooking and baking scenes but, you know, novella. Sully and Kiskeya had the most wonderful energy and chemistry; it made me giddy from pretty much their first introduction. I really adore the sunshine and grumpy trope, and I REALLY liked the fact that these characters were more than just those archetypes.. It's not always easy to give readers a really clear idea of who your characters are as people when you're writing a novella, but I think that's what Adriana Herrera really succeeded at here, and was one of the reasons I enjoyed this a lot. I knew clearly what motivated them, and I came to care about them quickly.
But what I love most about this book, and what I find that I enjoy most about all of Adriana Herrera's books, is that the diversity doesn't simply stop at the fact that these are two Dominican characters. Their dialogue is peppered with Spanish, and they speak with a lot of slang, which I've talked about enough elsewhere but I feel like I can't say it enough: I love when slang is used in romance and fantasy in particular. Very little that makes me as happy as that. This takes place in Scotland, but it feels like such a Caribbean work of fiction, which the author achieved through the food and the dialogue and some of the conversations that the characters had. It was so meaningful to see them talking about how their queerness intersects with culture. Especially Kiskeya, and the difficulties that she had with her family. I really loved this quote: “The DR is not an ancestral home I went to for a few weeks in the summer. It’s where I lived my whole life, you know? And even though I love it, I also know I had to leave it.”. And there were a lot of little things that just delighted me, like, instead of gingerbread houses, making casitas as conch style houses. I could picture it so vividly.
And the romance was just so sweet and swoony and sexy!!! It moved a bit fast, but it certainly wasn't the most egregious offender that I've ever seen in that regard. I feel like this could have used a bit of a closer edit; sometimes sentence construction in prose seemed a little off. The little side plot with the snooty antagonists was overdone, and at one point the heroines make a really silly and questionable decision?
But those barely register as flaws. I just had such a good time with this little novella. I hope Adriana Herrera has more sapphic work in her future; I know I'll definitely be reading them.
I wasn’t shy or tentative about kissing, but I knew this one would be hard to come back from. I let myself feel the terrifying clarity that doing this with Sully could cost me everything.
I did it anyway.
pale_atlantis's review against another edition
2.0
i didn’t like either of the main characters so it was really hard to get into this