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valeriabee's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I think I can't read books centering on Latine characters and Latine culture cause I can get overly critical of the way things are represented and the use of Spanish language.
The cultural aspect was well-done with the music and the dancing and the overbearing family. The language doesnt fit though because...contrary to popular belief, there are grammar rules to Spanglish just like there are with AAVE and other dialects. You cant just say "familia" every time you mean to say family because it doesnt always make sense to use the Spanish.
Not gonna lie, I was excited to read about a sexy firefighter 🥵 but when the main character Sara was revealed as a blonde hair, blue-green eyed white girl... I was saddened a bit. Especially a white girl who grew up with a Hispanic nanny so now she feels connected to the culture.
My biases are showing. Which is why I bumped this book to a 4 from the 3.25 I would personally rate it. I know that what I don't like about it comes from weird prejudices and biases and gatekeepy tendencies within myself that dont accurately reflect the writing and the story.
I will say that I didnt really like the insta-love thing because... well it just doesnt make sense for things to happen that fast...but I wouldnt know.
Also the "there was only one bed" trope was right there and it didnt lead us anywhere. Instead the beach was the backdrop for the broken barriers of intimacy. ALSO, WHY WOULD YOU CUT IT OFF BEFORE THE GOOD STUFF. DONT INTERRUPT. THEYRE GOING MULTIPLE ROUNDS AND YOU CANT SHARE WITH THE AUDIENCE? READ THE ROOM, IM HORNY.
That is to say, they were getting all intimate and steamy and we were just getting to the good stuff and then FADE TO BLACK and I was unhappy. I did throw the book because thats unfair. It took 200 pages to get there and THEN WE DONT GET THERE.
Which brings me to my next two points: 1) they were falling for each other fast on the timeline but it took FOREVER in the narrative for them to do something about it and then 2) the climax and resolution were far too short. The narrative went into painful detail of the first 3 and a half days of the 7 day trip and then we skipped whole ass days to get to the literal final minutes of the trip. The pacing could be better, personally.
There was some awesome character growth, even from some of the secondary characters. I appreciated the way the eating disorder plot was handled. It was done with great delicacy and grace and focused on the recovery phase.
Unrelated, there was a scene where there is a bit of gore and death that was jarring cause it kind of comes out nowhere. It was startling the way they jump into the details of an unfortunate 911 call that Luis experienced without really easing into it. It threw me for a loop.
Given that the ending and resolution are quite rushed, I have to say that the character development for Luis happens too quickly and not quite to satisfaction. I'm realizing that some of Sara's questions for Luis and his necessary healing went unanswered, even to the very end with the HEA.
I did cry at one point so I definitely grew an attachment to the relationship. There was just something about their easy intimacy and vulnerability with each other. Also, we love a fake-dating trope. I loved watching their messy lies unravel in front of them, but also seeing how the lies started to blur into truths. Love that for us.
The cultural aspect was well-done with the music and the dancing and the overbearing family. The language doesnt fit though because...contrary to popular belief, there are grammar rules to Spanglish just like there are with AAVE and other dialects. You cant just say "familia" every time you mean to say family because it doesnt always make sense to use the Spanish.
Not gonna lie, I was excited to read about a sexy firefighter 🥵 but when the main character Sara was revealed as a blonde hair, blue-green eyed white girl... I was saddened a bit. Especially a white girl who grew up with a Hispanic nanny so now she feels connected to the culture.
My biases are showing. Which is why I bumped this book to a 4 from the 3.25 I would personally rate it. I know that what I don't like about it comes from weird prejudices and biases and gatekeepy tendencies within myself that dont accurately reflect the writing and the story.
I will say that I didnt really like the insta-love thing because... well it just doesnt make sense for things to happen that fast...but I wouldnt know.
Also the "there was only one bed" trope was right there and it didnt lead us anywhere. Instead the beach was the backdrop for the broken barriers of intimacy. ALSO, WHY WOULD YOU CUT IT OFF BEFORE THE GOOD STUFF. DONT INTERRUPT. THEYRE GOING MULTIPLE ROUNDS AND YOU CANT SHARE WITH THE AUDIENCE? READ THE ROOM, IM HORNY.
That is to say, they were getting all intimate and steamy and we were just getting to the good stuff and then FADE TO BLACK and I was unhappy. I did throw the book because thats unfair. It took 200 pages to get there and THEN WE DONT GET THERE.
Which brings me to my next two points: 1) they were falling for each other fast on the timeline but it took FOREVER in the narrative for them to do something about it and then 2) the climax and resolution were far too short. The narrative went into painful detail of the first 3 and a half days of the 7 day trip and then we skipped whole ass days to get to the literal final minutes of the trip. The pacing could be better, personally.
There was some awesome character growth, even from some of the secondary characters. I appreciated the way the eating disorder plot was handled. It was done with great delicacy and grace and focused on the recovery phase.
Unrelated, there was a scene where there is a bit of gore and death that was jarring cause it kind of comes out nowhere. It was startling the way they jump into the details of an unfortunate 911 call that Luis experienced without really easing into it. It threw me for a loop.
Given that the ending and resolution are quite rushed, I have to say that the character development for Luis happens too quickly and not quite to satisfaction. I'm realizing that some of Sara's questions for Luis and his necessary healing went unanswered, even to the very end with the HEA.
I did cry at one point so I definitely grew an attachment to the relationship. There was just something about their easy intimacy and vulnerability with each other. Also, we love a fake-dating trope. I loved watching their messy lies unravel in front of them, but also seeing how the lies started to blur into truths. Love that for us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Sexual content, and Car accident
Moderate: Eating disorder and Cancer
caribbeangirlreading's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-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? Yes
3.0
Island Affair is a summer romance about genuinely likeable characters but at times felt too sad and/or serious.
LOVED
• Location, location, location. I was totally transported to Key West.
• Summer vacation romance / fling? Sign me up!
• That cover is gorgeous.
• The Latinx representation!
• Luis and Sara are genuinely kind people.
• The strong role that both family and faith play in their lives.
ON THE FENCE – Although I am not a fan of the fake dating trope, it could have worked in this story because it was a summer vacation romance . . . IF the story had taken place over a longer period of time, not just seven days.
DISLIKED
• I totally buy into insta-lust in romance but this book was about insta- emotional trust and vulnerability. It was not earned over time, like it should in healthy relationships, and it made me uncomfortable.
• This was not a slow burn romance, yet it was a slow read.
• The story felt a bit too serious at times due to Luis and Sara’s individual issues. A little humor goes a long way, especially with the fake dating trope.
TW: cancer, car accident, eating disorder, death (Luis and his brothers are EMTs/firefighters, so this is a big part of their life / line of work)
LOVED
• Location, location, location. I was totally transported to Key West.
• Summer vacation romance / fling? Sign me up!
• That cover is gorgeous.
• The Latinx representation!
• Luis and Sara are genuinely kind people.
• The strong role that both family and faith play in their lives.
ON THE FENCE – Although I am not a fan of the fake dating trope, it could have worked in this story because it was a summer vacation romance . . . IF the story had taken place over a longer period of time, not just seven days.
DISLIKED
• I totally buy into insta-lust in romance but this book was about insta- emotional trust and vulnerability. It was not earned over time, like it should in healthy relationships, and it made me uncomfortable.
• This was not a slow burn romance, yet it was a slow read.
• The story felt a bit too serious at times due to Luis and Sara’s individual issues. A little humor goes a long way, especially with the fake dating trope.
TW: cancer, car accident, eating disorder, death (Luis and his brothers are EMTs/firefighters, so this is a big part of their life / line of work)
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, and Sexual content
bethanyearle's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Minor: Death
leahsbooks's review
lighthearted
slow-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? Yes
3.0
This sounded like such a great story, and it started out really well. The book starts with the complicated relationship between Luis and his family, and then quickly shifts into him running into Sara and getting roped into her scheme. There’s obvious chemistry between the two of them right from the beginning, and it only intensifies throughout the story. However, they fail to communicate effectively even though they promise to be honest with each other even as they deceive everyone around them, leading to a lot of confusion and hurt.
I did like the relationships between Luis and (most of) his family. They’re an extremely close-knit Cuban-American family that prioritizes time with each other. They have dinner together each week, all attend church together, and are basically all up in each other’s business, but only because they care about each other. It makes me want to go to dinner at their house, to be honest, and I’d totally be willing to submit to the Cuban Inquisition for that!
I had a difficult time connecting to Sara. She had gone through intense amounts of long-term therapy, and was a little more in touch with her feelings. But throughout the entire book, she would reveal something and then really push Luis to open up and address his issues. It got tiring to see over and over, especially when he clearly wasn’t ready. The other thing I found really difficult with her was that it felt like her main motivating factor in everything she did was to gain the acceptance of her family, rather than expressing her own desires. Even though she was always focused on her career, she never once said that it was because it was what she wanted. She’s on the brink of taking a huge step forward in her professional life, and all she said about it was that it was:
“One step closer to finally making her mother, her entire family, proud of her accomplishments. Gaining their confidence that she could indeed take care of herself.”
One thing that I noticed and that grated on my nerves more and more as I read, was the overemphasis on Sara’s size. She is a character who is in recovery from an eating disorder, yet nearly every time she’s mentioned, there’s a reference to her “tiny waist,” “slim figure,” “slender hips,” “flat stomach,” or just being “slender.” None of the other characters were described this way, constantly mentioning their size, and when it came to her siblings, their size wasn’t even mentioned at all that I can remember. The repetitive nature of the descriptions of Sara got old really fast, and seemed incredibly insensitive towards eating disorders and recovery.
The pacing felt off. The whole book takes place in a 7 day period, but it felt like it was so much longer. There’s definitely some sparks that flew quickly, but I wasn’t really buying that Luis and Sara could fall in love with each other in a week. Things move pretty quickly in the beginning, then slow down a lot for such a big portion of the middle of the book, and then wrapped up a little too quickly for my taste. I didn’t feel like there was really enough closure at the end of the story, and it left me feeling a little disappointed.
Another things that left me a little disappointed was the steamy lead-up, but then when it was time for a sex scene … it just faded to black. I was a little surprised by that, since the prior scene was kind of spicy, and I thought it was setting the tone, but then it didn’t deliver.
Overall, the book wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t really great. I actually received an ARC of the second book in the series, so I’m hoping that I click better with AnamarĂa’s story better!
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, and Death
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-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
5.0
Another amazing book from Oliveras! I'm fairly new to the Latinx Romance scene but she has quickly become a favorite!
From the meet-cute all the way to the end I was hooked. I actually really like it when both the guy and the girl have a lot to work through in their personal lives.
I'm not a huge fan of duplicity, but it wasn't really their goal in this book to lie so much as help each other out I actually rather enjoyed it. It had a huge "The Wedding Date" vibes and that is one of my favorite movies.
I loved the theme of familia throughout this book. I loved that Luis never missed mass or family dinner.
I also loved that Sara spoke Spanish. It is always fun when a white girl shocks the Hispanics (I know because it is one of my favorite things to do).
I loved visiting Key West. I loved the historical sights, the beaches, the food, and everything. It totally made me wish I could go right now.
One of my favorite parts were the very realistic and authentic character flaws of so many of the characters, but especially Sara and Luis. No spoilers, but I really got invested in reading as they grew and worked through some of their hang ups. I also appreciated the very real struggles they were dealing with. I like books that don't sugar coat issues.
I cannot wait to read book two and any other books Oliveras writes!
From the meet-cute all the way to the end I was hooked. I actually really like it when both the guy and the girl have a lot to work through in their personal lives.
I'm not a huge fan of duplicity, but it wasn't really their goal in this book to lie so much as help each other out I actually rather enjoyed it. It had a huge "The Wedding Date" vibes and that is one of my favorite movies.
I loved the theme of familia throughout this book. I loved that Luis never missed mass or family dinner.
I loved visiting Key West. I loved the historical sights, the beaches, the food, and everything. It totally made me wish I could go right now.
One of my favorite parts were the very realistic and authentic character flaws of so many of the characters, but especially Sara and Luis. No spoilers, but I really got invested in reading as they grew and worked through some of their hang ups. I also appreciated the very real struggles they were dealing with. I like books that don't sugar coat issues.
I cannot wait to read book two and any other books Oliveras writes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, and Self harm
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