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389 reviews for:
Amor Actually
Adriana Herrera, Sabrina Sol, Diana Muñoz Stewart, Alexis Daria, Zoey Castile, Mia Sosa, Priscilla Oliveras
4.07 AVERAGE
389 reviews for:
Amor Actually
Adriana Herrera, Sabrina Sol, Diana Muñoz Stewart, Alexis Daria, Zoey Castile, Mia Sosa, Priscilla Oliveras
4.07 AVERAGE
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is an anthology that is a re-imagining of the storylines from the movie “Love Actually” by different Latine authors. All the stories are interconnected in some way and center on the characters coming together for Nochebuena.
I really enjoyed reading each author’s spin on the various “Love Actually” storylines because of how diverse they made it. Each author adds a different Latin lens to the characters. Our characters are Puerto Rican, Dominican, Ecuadorian, Brazilian carrying the weight of family expectations, insecurities, differing family structures, anxieties, and grief. Additionally, these stories are not all heteronormative nor mononormative: some feature queer relationships, throuples, etc. It was a pleasant surprise to read these reimagined in this light. My absolute favorite story was “Love in Spanglish”.
Given the nature of the book and the short stories, not all of the stories were as strong as others. My biggest gripe is that most of the stories felt more like lust than love, actually - just a bit shallow, and a little cringe-y. Also, the attempt to establish attraction throughout the stories felt too heavy-handed.
One note: I read this on Kindle, which I was glad for because it made it easier to translate Spanish words and phrases that were sprinkled throughout. You don’t need this because the authors make it easy to glean the meaning through context clues, but I did like being able to translate it myself.
Overall, this was a fun anthology to diversify my holiday romance reads in more ways than one. I wish the stories were a little bit stronger and less shallow, but I still found the majority of them enjoyable (albeit forgettable).
Make The Yuletide Gay ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Only Yours ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
All I Want For Nochebuena ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Santa’s Eager Little Helper ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Nochebuena Dating Dare ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Love in Spanglish ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
To Us You Are Perfect ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Great Escape ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
I really enjoyed reading each author’s spin on the various “Love Actually” storylines because of how diverse they made it. Each author adds a different Latin lens to the characters. Our characters are Puerto Rican, Dominican, Ecuadorian, Brazilian carrying the weight of family expectations, insecurities, differing family structures, anxieties, and grief. Additionally, these stories are not all heteronormative nor mononormative: some feature queer relationships, throuples, etc. It was a pleasant surprise to read these reimagined in this light. My absolute favorite story was “Love in Spanglish”.
Given the nature of the book and the short stories, not all of the stories were as strong as others. My biggest gripe is that most of the stories felt more like lust than love, actually - just a bit shallow, and a little cringe-y. Also, the attempt to establish attraction throughout the stories felt too heavy-handed.
One note: I read this on Kindle, which I was glad for because it made it easier to translate Spanish words and phrases that were sprinkled throughout. You don’t need this because the authors make it easy to glean the meaning through context clues, but I did like being able to translate it myself.
Overall, this was a fun anthology to diversify my holiday romance reads in more ways than one. I wish the stories were a little bit stronger and less shallow, but I still found the majority of them enjoyable (albeit forgettable).
Make The Yuletide Gay ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Only Yours ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
All I Want For Nochebuena ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Santa’s Eager Little Helper ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Nochebuena Dating Dare ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Love in Spanglish ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
To Us You Are Perfect ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Great Escape ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This is a collection of stories and I skipped around. I love a smutty novel, but smutty short stories have a different feel and pacing that I'm not into. Christmas felt like the garnish rather than the main dish.
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I thought this was a fun, spicy, engaging series of novellas that was perfect for Christmas time. I loved how it was super inclusive and diverse and had a wide variety of different kinds of relationships. Each was super unique and different but all were spicy and varied in their level of spice. It was really good on audiobook as well. I listened to this while I was doing chores around the house and it was nice.
3.5, rounded up. Some of these stories fell flat for me, and some had too much insta-love (though that’s the go-to for romance short stories), but overall I loved the Latinx characters and storylines, and they were all improvements on the ones in Love Actually—the most delightful part of reading this was recognizing which aspects of the movie the authors were riffing on. There’s plenty of chemistry and steam packed into the pages, which I also appreciated (though sometimes it felt like those scenes existed for the sake of, well, existing). Plus, I now have some new romance authors to check out in the coming year!
It was okay… mixed collection. I might try a few stories next year.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved this anthology of interconnected Latinx holiday stories!
Make the Yuletide Gay - 4 stars
Only Yours - 3 stars
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe - 3 stars
All I want for Nochebuena - 3.5 stars
Santa's Eager Little Helper - 4 stars
The Nochebuena Dating Dare - 3.5 stars
Love in Spanglish - 4 stars
To Us, You Are Perfect - 4 stars
The Great Holiday Escape -3.5 stars
While I have heard of most of these authors, I had never read their work before so it was fun getting to read some of their work and adding some of their books to my TBR!
Make the Yuletide Gay - 4 stars
Only Yours - 3 stars
Meet Me Under the Mistletoe - 3 stars
All I want for Nochebuena - 3.5 stars
Santa's Eager Little Helper - 4 stars
The Nochebuena Dating Dare - 3.5 stars
Love in Spanglish - 4 stars
To Us, You Are Perfect - 4 stars
The Great Holiday Escape -3.5 stars
While I have heard of most of these authors, I had never read their work before so it was fun getting to read some of their work and adding some of their books to my TBR!