Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
4.5 stars
While parts of this book didn’t hold up as well as I remember, I still love this romance.
The things I loved the first time didn’t change at all. Nesto and Jude were still perfection. Their relationship just felt very grounded in real life shit. Loved the way they showed up for each other throughout this book The steam was lowkey hotter than I remember, their chemistry is...whew. Also on a personal note. As an immigrant who puts a lot of pressure on myself and is known to isolate when a goal is in mind…yeah Nesto’s character hit a little close to home. The way he had to grovel and realign his priorities really spoke to me. Also made the “3rd act conflict” feel necessary rather than something tacked on.
The cultural elements were just as great too, I could really feel the love Adriana has for her Afro-Dominican culture all through this book. Even the way Spanish was incorporated or how non-cringy Jude’s knowledge of Spanish/Latin culture was…idk it just felt so natural, which is what I always love about ownvoices stories.
Misty didn’t actually bother me as much as I thought, mostly bc she wasn’t the annoying trope of “women in MM romance flirting/trying to break them up”. And there were other badass women included in the story as side characters. She was definitely a bitter racist white woman tho, and while I wish I could say it was too heavy handed…I’ve had too many real life experiences to think that. HOWEVER. I feel like if you’re gonna go hard on that kind of character, you gotta go hard on her downfall yknow? Maybe I’m just petty but she got off too easy, especially with how prevalent she was in both Nesto and Jude’s life.
Also, the writing wasn’t the strongest. Still good but the flow was choppier than I remember. Lots of moments setting up Nesto’s friends book through info-dumping. A bit of a lull pacing wise through the middle. Idk it just wasn’t hitting the same.
Though I wish I’d loved it as much as the first time, it was good to see how my taste has changed. Also this is still an excellent book and the fact that this was her debut is WILD to me. I’m so excited to finally get into the other books in this series with the rest of Nesto’s friend group!
While parts of this book didn’t hold up as well as I remember, I still love this romance.
The things I loved the first time didn’t change at all. Nesto and Jude were still perfection. Their relationship just felt very grounded in real life shit. Loved the way they showed up for each other throughout this book The steam was lowkey hotter than I remember, their chemistry is...whew. Also on a personal note. As an immigrant who puts a lot of pressure on myself and is known to isolate when a goal is in mind…yeah Nesto’s character hit a little close to home. The way he had to grovel and realign his priorities really spoke to me. Also made the “3rd act conflict” feel necessary rather than something tacked on.
The cultural elements were just as great too, I could really feel the love Adriana has for her Afro-Dominican culture all through this book. Even the way Spanish was incorporated or how non-cringy Jude’s knowledge of Spanish/Latin culture was…idk it just felt so natural, which is what I always love about ownvoices stories.
Misty didn’t actually bother me as much as I thought, mostly bc she wasn’t the annoying trope of “women in MM romance flirting/trying to break them up”. And there were other badass women included in the story as side characters. She was definitely a bitter racist white woman tho, and while I wish I could say it was too heavy handed…I’ve had too many real life experiences to think that. HOWEVER. I feel like if you’re gonna go hard on that kind of character, you gotta go hard on her downfall yknow? Maybe I’m just petty but she got off too easy, especially with how prevalent she was in both Nesto and Jude’s life.
Also, the writing wasn’t the strongest. Still good but the flow was choppier than I remember. Lots of moments setting up Nesto’s friends book through info-dumping. A bit of a lull pacing wise through the middle. Idk it just wasn’t hitting the same.
Though I wish I’d loved it as much as the first time, it was good to see how my taste has changed. Also this is still an excellent book and the fact that this was her debut is WILD to me. I’m so excited to finally get into the other books in this series with the rest of Nesto’s friend group!
Forget a T-shirt cannon, I want a book cannon because holy cannoli, this is one of the best romances I've read EVER, and firing copies of it directly into crowds of people seems like an effective way to create a buzz. Adriana Herrera writes like a grizzled 20-year veteran of the genre, but she's a debut author?! Shut the front door. I just. can't. get. over. how good this was. Nesto is moving his Caribbean food truck operation upstate from NYC, and while he’s happy to be near his family again, he’s uncertain if he’s made the right business move. He’s definitely not in a place to pursue a relationship, but he can’t ignore the chemistry he has with adorable, bow-tie-sporting librarian Jude. I have to add, this is some of the best voice acting I’ve ever heard. Usually for a book with alternating perspectives, they’ll hire two narrators, especially when the characters are from different cultures. But Sean Crisden does a unique voice for every single character and it’s amazing. I could go on and on. Just read this book. Read it now.
TL/DR Review
Stars: Four and a Half
Series: American Dreamers - Book One
POV: dual first
Steam: medium - multiple intimate scenes, no kink, some dirty talk
Tropes: opposites attract, competence kink, food as love, only exception
For Fans Of: Better Than People by Roan Parrish
Theme Song: You Can’t Hurry Love by the Supremees
Subgenre: contemporary/ Queer
CW/ TW: toxic religious trauma, toxic family trauma, micro-aggressions, racial profiling
Stars: Four and a Half
Series: American Dreamers - Book One
POV: dual first
Steam: medium - multiple intimate scenes, no kink, some dirty talk
Tropes: opposites attract, competence kink, food as love, only exception
For Fans Of: Better Than People by Roan Parrish
Theme Song: You Can’t Hurry Love by the Supremees
Subgenre: contemporary/ Queer
CW/ TW: toxic religious trauma, toxic family trauma, micro-aggressions, racial profiling
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I find Nesto as a character annoying especially when he's calling a city council woman derogatory names because she inquired about his permits to be selling food from a food truck. It would be reasonable for her to inquire about that so his sexist response is insufferable. Maybe this goes on to be a case of racial profiling where this council woman is white and saw this latino man selling food and automatically assumed that it was illegal but I can't stand his reaction so much that I don't even care to find out.
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Religious bigotry
this book was p clunky and i didn’t love the writing, but there were sweet moments. it felt p long. i liked how it focused on the faults/life problems of both of them. there was a surprising amt of, not graphic but definitely described, sex which i don’t have a problem with but was kind of surprising. i thought it would be more of a roan parrish sexing. i liked nesto a lot (even if i thought both of their voices were awkward). i liked his story, i liked his friends. i liked jude too but idk. he felt kind of whiny?
idk i’m p drawn in and we all know how i feel ab a romance series so i’ll probably read the rest v soon.
there are better romance series to read i feel. probably the spy one i read last year is my fave.
idk i’m p drawn in and we all know how i feel ab a romance series so i’ll probably read the rest v soon.
there are better romance series to read i feel. probably the spy one i read last year is my fave.
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
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