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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I think the beginning of the book was ok. It had an addictive quality that made me want to keep reading all the high schoolesque drama. But after about chapter 10, I had my fill of relationship drama. But I read the whole book because it's my first modern romance book and so I was committed to giving it a full chance.
Now, I don't think drama is my preferred genre. I've read Pride and Prejudice and thought it was an excellent book, just not my thing generally. I enjoyed it but didn't pick up more Austen books.
But this book was quite disappointing. The beginning sets up this exciting birthday party for the main character's grandmother and an incentive for the main character to approach the love interest. But when we get to the party near the end of the book, it felt like an afterthought. One short chapter dedicated to the festivities which was a letdown for me. I wanted to see how this large family interacted with the main character and her love interest. But the party ended up being a nonevent and just a transition to the last "happily ever after" chapter.
There are also multiple explicit premarital sex scenes that I've learned are commonplace in this type of book, but they felt very jarring to me. There didn't seem to be any chemistry between the main characters, and they hardly knew each other, but they have these hollow feeling sexual encounters.
The characters were mid/late thirties but acted and thought like they were still in high school. The lead character had the "I hate my parents; they don't understand me" thing and takes herself very seriously. The love interest was mostly just bland, I think.
The area that I think could have made the reading more interesting was the author's focus on Hispanic representation in media. There was a moment where an interviewer asks the main character why representation is important or something to that effect and the author just writes "and she gave a great answer" or something like that. Why not tell us this great answer so we as the reader can hear and learn about the main character's perspective? I don't really know why representation is so important to the author and this was a perfect moment for her to tell me why it matters to her. That was a letdown.
There was minor tokenism with a transexual character who received no character development which is not a big deal to me, but the author was so passionate about representation and the tokenism seemed counterproductive to that theme. Actually, no characters really got fleshed out as characters except the 2 main characters. But even then, the main character claims she has grown at the end of the book but, in my opinion, she displays no character growth and thinks the same way she does at the beginning of the book.
The ending was also abrupt. I'd say the book lacked a lot in the "show, don't tell" department, except when it came to the sex scenes.
I love seeing Hispanic characters in stores, particularly half-Latinos like me since I can personally relate to growing up that way, but these characters didn't display anything relatable to me except for the fact that they spoke Spanglish and constant mention that they were "Latinx". But to me, they were just rich complaining actors who were dramatic.
The front cover has a nice design though.
Now, I don't think drama is my preferred genre. I've read Pride and Prejudice and thought it was an excellent book, just not my thing generally. I enjoyed it but didn't pick up more Austen books.
But this book was quite disappointing. The beginning sets up this exciting birthday party for the main character's grandmother and an incentive for the main character to approach the love interest. But when we get to the party near the end of the book, it felt like an afterthought. One short chapter dedicated to the festivities which was a letdown for me. I wanted to see how this large family interacted with the main character and her love interest. But the party ended up being a nonevent and just a transition to the last "happily ever after" chapter.
There are also multiple explicit premarital sex scenes that I've learned are commonplace in this type of book, but they felt very jarring to me. There didn't seem to be any chemistry between the main characters, and they hardly knew each other, but they have these hollow feeling sexual encounters.
The characters were mid/late thirties but acted and thought like they were still in high school. The lead character had the "I hate my parents; they don't understand me" thing and takes herself very seriously. The love interest was mostly just bland, I think.
The area that I think could have made the reading more interesting was the author's focus on Hispanic representation in media. There was a moment where an interviewer asks the main character why representation is important or something to that effect and the author just writes "and she gave a great answer" or something like that. Why not tell us this great answer so we as the reader can hear and learn about the main character's perspective? I don't really know why representation is so important to the author and this was a perfect moment for her to tell me why it matters to her. That was a letdown.
There was minor tokenism with a transexual character who received no character development which is not a big deal to me, but the author was so passionate about representation and the tokenism seemed counterproductive to that theme. Actually, no characters really got fleshed out as characters except the 2 main characters. But even then, the main character claims she has grown at the end of the book but, in my opinion, she displays no character growth and thinks the same way she does at the beginning of the book.
The ending was also abrupt. I'd say the book lacked a lot in the "show, don't tell" department, except when it came to the sex scenes.
I love seeing Hispanic characters in stores, particularly half-Latinos like me since I can personally relate to growing up that way, but these characters didn't display anything relatable to me except for the fact that they spoke Spanglish and constant mention that they were "Latinx". But to me, they were just rich complaining actors who were dramatic.
The front cover has a nice design though.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fun read, perfect escape
I loved so many things about this book, dropped a star due to predictability but then again, isn’t that what we come here for? Clichés aside, this story is so sweet. I got a kick out if the episode interludes and appreciate the strong message of feminism and inclusivity.
I loved so many things about this book, dropped a star due to predictability but then again, isn’t that what we come here for? Clichés aside, this story is so sweet. I got a kick out if the episode interludes and appreciate the strong message of feminism and inclusivity.
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
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
This was an especially fun book in our book club line-up. I adored the telenovela setting, the heavy sprinkling of Spanish dialogue between the characters, and the feisty heroine. A few of her predicaments had me laughing out loud so hard I caught my husband's attention. The book was a lot steamier than I originally expected so be sure your book club is on board with some hot romance.
funny
lighthearted
medium-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:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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:
Complicated
I loved the representation in this book, so many of the characters felt like the people in my life and my community. I want to read and see more stories like this with all my heart. I did like a lot of elements of this story, something just felt off or like it was missing. I can’t put my finger on it.
This book is banging! It’s hot. It’s fire. It’s a wonderful Latinx romance. It was so great to read a romance that I felt seen in. The importance of family when it comes to the Latinx culture is front and center here and I ate it up. Thank you so much to Alexis for writing such a marvelous book that so many people are going to feel represented in.
And um can I get a spin off book about the Primas of Power please and thank you
And um can I get a spin off book about the Primas of Power please and thank you
3.5 ⭐ due to the ending 1/4 being a generous 3 ⭐, but the rest of the book is definitely a 4 ⭐
The beginning of the book was so good! I liked the setup and the meet cute, and a lot of the chemistry between the characters was good. The first 3/4 was fun and flirty fluff that I enjoyed a lot.
Then the last 1/4 happened with some incredibly stupid character reactions to conflict coming from Jasmin, who has not heard of reacting reasonably to a man having a boundary.
They sleep together for maybe a few weeks, never put a label on their relationship at any point and just have sex, and she decides she deserves to know about every little secret Ashton has had, including those that only three other people in the world know about? I had hope because when everything was going downhill she reacted reasonably and gave him space, but then she feels lied to about something that was absolutely not her business???
Thank God for her cousin talking sense into her, though she chooses not to really apologize and the book decides to state she shouldn't need to.
The fact that it went so sharply from a reasonable conflict after a decent story to an unreasonable one with too much miscommunication is the worst part.
There were some issues with Ashton as well, as his walls he kept up blocked a lot of the story momentum and any character growth felt forced onto him by the author and not a natural progression.
Overall decent, but I'm not really tempted to read the rest of the books in this series, especially considering the fact that the premise of this one was the only draw in the first place.
The beginning of the book was so good! I liked the setup and the meet cute, and a lot of the chemistry between the characters was good. The first 3/4 was fun and flirty fluff that I enjoyed a lot.
Then the last 1/4 happened with some incredibly stupid character reactions to conflict coming from Jasmin, who has not heard of reacting reasonably to a man having a boundary.
They sleep together for maybe a few weeks, never put a label on their relationship at any point and just have sex, and she decides she deserves to know about every little secret Ashton has had, including those that only three other people in the world know about? I had hope because when everything was going downhill she reacted reasonably and gave him space, but then she feels lied to about something that was absolutely not her business???
Thank God for her cousin talking sense into her, though she chooses not to really apologize and the book decides to state she shouldn't need to.
The fact that it went so sharply from a reasonable conflict after a decent story to an unreasonable one with too much miscommunication is the worst part.
There were some issues with Ashton as well, as his walls he kept up blocked a lot of the story momentum and any character growth felt forced onto him by the author and not a natural progression.
Overall decent, but I'm not really tempted to read the rest of the books in this series, especially considering the fact that the premise of this one was the only draw in the first place.