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thisboricuareader's review against another edition
5.0
This was so fucking cute. Like I was screaming and crying and loving this. It definitely hit the spot and is a great way to start pride month 2024. These two were obsessed with each other while at the same time wanting to won the competition.
heabooknerd's review against another edition
3.0
MANGOS AND MISTLETOE was a really cute and fun read filled with delicious baked goods. I've never really watched a baking competition show but I liked the set up for how our heroines meet. To make matters even more interesting, there's a mix up at the hotel and Sully and Kiskeya are forced to share a room and a bed during their week long competition.
Overall, I liked the story but it just doesn't stand out for me and some of this might be the novella format because everything felt a bit rushed to move the story along. Sully and Kiskeya were both really enjoyable characters and while they're both Dominican, they have very different life experiences. This is the source of most of the tension in the story because Kiskeya is all about minimizing her cultural roots because of bad experiences and Sully is all about proudly blasting her culture. This dynamic of showing how a person's culture can be both positive and negative in their life was probably my favorite part of the story because it felt so real. This was only my second book by Adriana Herrera but I'm looking forward to more.
Overall, I liked the story but it just doesn't stand out for me and some of this might be the novella format because everything felt a bit rushed to move the story along. Sully and Kiskeya were both really enjoyable characters and while they're both Dominican, they have very different life experiences. This is the source of most of the tension in the story because Kiskeya is all about minimizing her cultural roots because of bad experiences and Sully is all about proudly blasting her culture. This dynamic of showing how a person's culture can be both positive and negative in their life was probably my favorite part of the story because it felt so real. This was only my second book by Adriana Herrera but I'm looking forward to more.
sarahboudereads's review against another edition
2.0
Not impressed by the writing and the dialogues were so cringe but it did the job.
bookschaosnart's review against another edition
4.0
A fun novella with a hate to love trope while doing justice to the various immigrant stories (nobody is all the same) while at the same time allowing us to all fun baking shows. Each of the main characters is strong willed but willing to bend as they learn about each other and themselves. Quality work once again by the author.
miss_majuu's review
3.0
A very fun baking and sapphic romance. For my personal taste it was too smutty and not enough build-up.
katieinca's review
3.0
Sweet concept perfect for winter reading: romance between two contestants on a holiday baking reality show. Sorta steamy for a while, but at some point the author just went there so much it started breezing past me in a kind of clinical way. I wish I'd have been more consistently able to tell which POV we were in without flipping back to the beginning of the chapter. Warning: it's a novella, which can make a romance feel a little rushed.
rainbowbookworm's review
3.0
My issue with most novellas is that the plot could be developed more. That is what I felt when I finished this one. I also had very high expectations for it, so that may have also contributed to my being underwhelmed by it.
marieintheraw's review
4.0
You know what's good for July? A Christmas-time baking competition. Especially if it's steamy.
kathryn_reads_paiges's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
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