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dorothyliz's review against another edition
5.0
Individual & beautifully connected
I was seven novellas in before I realized each story was a retelling of the vignettes of Love Actually. I recognized the overall concept from the start, but not the actual plot lines, which is more of a testament to the beauty of each authors’ writing and storytelling than it is to my lack of comprehending the introduction. Each story is rich with love and character and family and culture. What a lovely way to spend my Christmas holiday, immersed in these interconnected families and love stories.
I was seven novellas in before I realized each story was a retelling of the vignettes of Love Actually. I recognized the overall concept from the start, but not the actual plot lines, which is more of a testament to the beauty of each authors’ writing and storytelling than it is to my lack of comprehending the introduction. Each story is rich with love and character and family and culture. What a lovely way to spend my Christmas holiday, immersed in these interconnected families and love stories.
mylynn's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to Dreamscape Media for this ALC!
As a Love Actually fan, I really enjoyed this twist on the relationships and plots of Love Actually (the movie). The amazing thing about Amor Actually is that it improved on a few of the more problematic plots and fixed things to make you actually root for the couple involved.
This anthology had great representation of different types of couples, and I enjoyed reading all the different dynamics. There also is spice in almost every story, and some of it had me blushing.
The narrators were great and brought so much depth and emotion to all the stories. Even though it looks like there are only two narrators-- they brought different energies and voices to each story and I was surprised to see that there weren't more narrators for this book!
I liked almost all of the stories included, but my favorites were Love in Spanglish by Zoey Castile and To Us You Are Perfect by Alexis Daria and Adrianna Herrera. This was definitely a nice, mostly light, sexy holiday read!
As a Love Actually fan, I really enjoyed this twist on the relationships and plots of Love Actually (the movie). The amazing thing about Amor Actually is that it improved on a few of the more problematic plots and fixed things to make you actually root for the couple involved.
This anthology had great representation of different types of couples, and I enjoyed reading all the different dynamics. There also is spice in almost every story, and some of it had me blushing.
The narrators were great and brought so much depth and emotion to all the stories. Even though it looks like there are only two narrators-- they brought different energies and voices to each story and I was surprised to see that there weren't more narrators for this book!
I liked almost all of the stories included, but my favorites were Love in Spanglish by Zoey Castile and To Us You Are Perfect by Alexis Daria and Adrianna Herrera. This was definitely a nice, mostly light, sexy holiday read!
bookhoarding's review against another edition
5.0
The way I absolutely adored each of these stories! We had stories touching on family, lost love, holiday baggage and more. A delight to read and a delight to reread.
sarahmcg's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I feel like it’s difficult to review an anthology/collection of stories by different authors - some are just better than others.
But I think my favorites were “Meet Me Under the Mistletoe” (widower + son’s music teacher), “To Us, You are Perfect” (couple turned throuple) and “Love in Spanglish” (writer was cheated on, then gets snowed-in with a novel-worthy hero).
Loved all the Latinx / BIPOC rep, queer and polyamorous storylines as well!
But I think my favorites were “Meet Me Under the Mistletoe” (widower + son’s music teacher), “To Us, You are Perfect” (couple turned throuple) and “Love in Spanglish” (writer was cheated on, then gets snowed-in with a novel-worthy hero).
Loved all the Latinx / BIPOC rep, queer and polyamorous storylines as well!
sierramountainsofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
⭐️rating: 4/5
🎧audiobook: 4/5
Amor Actually was such a fun audiobook anthology! With 9 romance short stories centered around Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), it was perfect for starting off the holiday season🎄❄️
There’s a little something for everyone, with all different kinds of characters and relationships. And while I liked some more than others, they were all well done and I enjoyed reading them.
I’d have to say that my favorite was probably Love in Spanglish cause it was just so fun! I loved the language barrier and them being snowed in, I just wish there was more!
Overall, I liked the stories, and I usually wished there was more, though I suppose that’d defeat the point of the short story anthology🤷🏼♀️. I was also really glad we got to end the book at Gigi’s Nochebuena party. After the build up of 8 interconnected standalone stories, it was great seeing everyone come together at the end🎁
Lastly, the audio narration was done pretty well. I tended to prefer the female narrator and the stories that were primarily the female POV, but I liked the dual POVs as well. I’m partial to seeing words on a page, but I’m glad I got to listen to this to kick off my holiday reads.
¡Feliz navidad! Ahora quiero coquito👀
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
🎧audiobook: 4/5
Amor Actually was such a fun audiobook anthology! With 9 romance short stories centered around Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), it was perfect for starting off the holiday season🎄❄️
There’s a little something for everyone, with all different kinds of characters and relationships. And while I liked some more than others, they were all well done and I enjoyed reading them.
I’d have to say that my favorite was probably Love in Spanglish cause it was just so fun! I loved the language barrier and them being snowed in, I just wish there was more!
Overall, I liked the stories, and I usually wished there was more, though I suppose that’d defeat the point of the short story anthology🤷🏼♀️. I was also really glad we got to end the book at Gigi’s Nochebuena party. After the build up of 8 interconnected standalone stories, it was great seeing everyone come together at the end🎁
Lastly, the audio narration was done pretty well. I tended to prefer the female narrator and the stories that were primarily the female POV, but I liked the dual POVs as well. I’m partial to seeing words on a page, but I’m glad I got to listen to this to kick off my holiday reads.
¡Feliz navidad! Ahora quiero coquito👀
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
christinavarela's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t typically love short stories. The concept here was interesting – all the stories are centered around Nochebuena. All the stories are diverse and highlight Latino culture at Christmas time. After a while, all the stories just felt repetitive.
greylandreviews's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars
Rating is based on short stories I read
I of course loved everything Adriana Herrera wrote. Also read Priscilla Oliveras and Alexis Daria.
Rating is based on short stories I read
I of course loved everything Adriana Herrera wrote. Also read Priscilla Oliveras and Alexis Daria.
indiekay's review against another edition
5.0
Holiday Romance Readathon 2023: 9
4.5 stars | NetGalley ARC
I really enjoyed this. There were some stories near the beginning I wasn't a fan of - I always feel like the first story in an anthology should set the tone for the rest of them, and this one really missed the mark on that. The first story is like 70% sex scene - and a kind of cringey sex scene at that - and I was worried the entire book would just be stories where the romance is extremely rushed followed by mediocre and long sex scenes, BUT luckily that wasn't the case. Don't get me wrong, I love a good sex scene - but I HATE a bad one, and I'd rather have a good closed-door sex scene than a bad explicit one. There's different amounts of spice level throughout the book, and a few of the love stories are very rushed, but there's some nice variety in how many sex scenes you have to sit through, as well as there being 2 f/f romances and 2 f/m/m stories (and 5 m/f stories).
This book is a play on the film Love Actually and some of the stories take plot points from the movie and spin it in new fun ways (for example, Love in Spanglish by Zoey Castile plays on Colin Firth's plot line in the film where a struggling writer goes on a retreat to a secluded house and falls for someone that works there, but they have a language barrier). One of the critiques that Love Actually has gotten since it came out is that a lot of the women in it don't actually have any agency over their lives and are just props for the men in the stories, and this book uses some of the ideas from Love Actually and gives the characters agency (except for Only Yours by Sabrina Sol - which I had kind of liked as a concept, but after finishing it realised the love interest had zero agency in the story and she barely even had any dialogue either, so she really just felt like a prop to the male main character's story).
I also liked how the whole story came together in the end. My favourite stories were probably All I Want for Nochebuena by Alexis Daria (shocking that the story with two adult film stars in it had less sex than the first story); Love in Spanglish by Zoey Castile; and To Us, You Are Perfect by Alexis Daria & Adriana Herrera.
In terms of the audiobook, I was not a fan of the female narrator -her voice was just a bit too perky for my tastes, so I felt like I was being advertised to/listening to that generated TikTok voice the entire time, which really grated on me during sex scenes especially. The male narrator did a good job, but he has way less scenes than the female narrator did.
Also, shout out to the illustrator of the cover, because the cover is GORGEOUS.
4.5 stars | NetGalley ARC
I really enjoyed this. There were some stories near the beginning I wasn't a fan of - I always feel like the first story in an anthology should set the tone for the rest of them, and this one really missed the mark on that. The first story is like 70% sex scene - and a kind of cringey sex scene at that - and I was worried the entire book would just be stories where the romance is extremely rushed followed by mediocre and long sex scenes, BUT luckily that wasn't the case. Don't get me wrong, I love a good sex scene - but I HATE a bad one, and I'd rather have a good closed-door sex scene than a bad explicit one. There's different amounts of spice level throughout the book, and a few of the love stories are very rushed, but there's some nice variety in how many sex scenes you have to sit through, as well as there being 2 f/f romances and 2 f/m/m stories (and 5 m/f stories).
This book is a play on the film Love Actually and some of the stories take plot points from the movie and spin it in new fun ways (for example, Love in Spanglish by Zoey Castile plays on Colin Firth's plot line in the film where a struggling writer goes on a retreat to a secluded house and falls for someone that works there, but they have a language barrier). One of the critiques that Love Actually has gotten since it came out is that a lot of the women in it don't actually have any agency over their lives and are just props for the men in the stories, and this book uses some of the ideas from Love Actually and gives the characters agency (except for Only Yours by Sabrina Sol - which I had kind of liked as a concept, but after finishing it realised the love interest had zero agency in the story and she barely even had any dialogue either, so she really just felt like a prop to the male main character's story).
I also liked how the whole story came together in the end. My favourite stories were probably All I Want for Nochebuena by Alexis Daria (shocking that the story with two adult film stars in it had less sex than the first story); Love in Spanglish by Zoey Castile; and To Us, You Are Perfect by Alexis Daria & Adriana Herrera.
In terms of the audiobook, I was not a fan of the female narrator -her voice was just a bit too perky for my tastes, so I felt like I was being advertised to/listening to that generated TikTok voice the entire time, which really grated on me during sex scenes especially. The male narrator did a good job, but he has way less scenes than the female narrator did.
Also, shout out to the illustrator of the cover, because the cover is GORGEOUS.
nssutton's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the concept - a play on Love Actually set on Nochebuena - but as a whole this one didn’t work for me. I’m sure the stomach bug that dampened our own Christmas is partially to blame. I wanted to spend more time in the stories I liked most (Love in Spanglish, Santa’s Eager Little Helper), so maybe an anthology format with so many interlocking parts is just not for me.
ckreads28's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
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
Even though my first read of the year fell a little flat. This book was a great one to rebound with. If you love the movie "Love Actually" you will adore this anthology. Between the queer and Latinx representation it made my heart, so freaking happy. The spice also although I wasn't expecting it as I went in blind was perfect.
I am already working on getting copies in all formats because I want to support these authors and this anthology. If I had to pile a book on my fellow romance readers this is gonna be the first book of 2024 that I am starting with and obsessed with. I am already looking forward to rereading it during the Christmas 2024 season.
I am already working on getting copies in all formats because I want to support these authors and this anthology. If I had to pile a book on my fellow romance readers this is gonna be the first book of 2024 that I am starting with and obsessed with. I am already looking forward to rereading it during the Christmas 2024 season.