Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story follows Jasmine and Ashton from their disastrous first meeting through their work on the set together. Alternating chapters have scripted scenes from the show they are working on, so the reader gets to see the relationship between Ashton and Jasmine's fictional characters develop at the same time as their real one.
Ashton is hiding his son at home in Puerto Rico after an incident with a crazy telenovela fan. Jasmine's secret is that she doesn't speak Spanish despite her heritage. She is trying to carry a new bilingual show on her shoulders and keeps botching her lines. The actors agree to rehearse their lines together to perfect their chemistry and Jasmine's Spanish.
Ashton and Jasmine's relationship follows a typical romance arc, so their story doesn't offer any surprises. The story is interesting, but the writing can be a bit mundane. To draw a picture for the reader, the script scenes have more narrative than an actual script would, but it comes off as phony as real scripts are mostly dialogue. The sex scenes are very descriptive, so if you're looking for a proper romance keep looking!
Seraphine Valentine nails the accents when she is reading Spanish and also the non-regional American dialect for the rest of the narration. Her performance has levels of emotion that make the book an enjoyable listen.
Recommended for all romance fans, especially those who enjoy stories about celebrities and Latinx families.
I received a digital audio recording of this title from the publisher through Libro.fm as a librarian review copy.
Read the full review here: https://guenevol.wixsite.com/novelmaven/post/at-hola
Ashton is hiding his son at home in Puerto Rico after an incident with a crazy telenovela fan. Jasmine's secret is that she doesn't speak Spanish despite her heritage. She is trying to carry a new bilingual show on her shoulders and keeps botching her lines. The actors agree to rehearse their lines together to perfect their chemistry and Jasmine's Spanish.
Ashton and Jasmine's relationship follows a typical romance arc, so their story doesn't offer any surprises. The story is interesting, but the writing can be a bit mundane. To draw a picture for the reader, the script scenes have more narrative than an actual script would, but it comes off as phony as real scripts are mostly dialogue. The sex scenes are very descriptive, so if you're looking for a proper romance keep looking!
Seraphine Valentine nails the accents when she is reading Spanish and also the non-regional American dialect for the rest of the narration. Her performance has levels of emotion that make the book an enjoyable listen.
Recommended for all romance fans, especially those who enjoy stories about celebrities and Latinx families.
I received a digital audio recording of this title from the publisher through Libro.fm as a librarian review copy.
Read the full review here: https://guenevol.wixsite.com/novelmaven/post/at-hola
emotional
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:
Complicated
This was a pretty good book! I listened to it as an audiobook and I liked it a lot! I wish some of the side characters were fleshed out more but the main plot line was pretty spot on.
You Had Me at Hola is one of my favorite books of 2020. I highly recommend that you check out this romance!
funny
lighthearted
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
Liked: The huge Latinx rep, the saucy bits
Disliked: Everything else. The characters see-sawed on their " I'm not doing the thing" to doing the thing, love intrest brought nothing to the table other than being a DILF, both characters suffering from huge emotional immaturity, and I just find it tiring and frustrating when the main characters' big personal journey ends in the last 10% of the book and oop all is well
Disliked: Everything else. The characters see-sawed on their " I'm not doing the thing" to doing the thing, love intrest brought nothing to the table other than being a DILF, both characters suffering from huge emotional immaturity, and I just find it tiring and frustrating when the main characters' big personal journey ends in the last 10% of the book and oop all is well
Jasmine is better than me because I wouldn’t have taken Ashton back.
The saving grace of this book was the FMC and her “primas of power”. They were funny and relatable, and I loved their dynamic.
Ashton, the MMC, was already irritating me with the back and forth, and holding Jasmine at arms length while she shared parts of herself openly with him. But then towards the end he became insufferable and was callous/cruel in his comments to Jasmine regarding her valid frustration and hurt at his wishy-washy behavior. Nothing was worse than the scene where Jasmine is expressing that she wants nothing to do with him and his first thought is ‘my career’ and then proceeds to tell her “that she sabotaged his career and his family.” As if Jasmine herself wrote to the tabloids. Bro, you’re a celebrity and while certain aspects of your life should’ve be off-limits, you need to communicate those things because paparazzi lack boundaries, which you know as an actor. He never stopped and thought how Jas might’ve felt to have her business back in the gossip rags again.
Then his over-managing of his father and his son’s relationship. You entrusted your child to your father because you knew he could take care of him and he has been, so let him do that. He’s getting all ‘woe is me, no one needs me’ in his internal dialogue and I’m just like did you think your father would be incapable of taking care of his grandson? do you think they sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting for you to solve their problems while he’s Yadi’s primary caregiver? He needed a therapist not a girlfriend. And showing up to her grandma’s big birthday bash with his family as a grand gesture when you know her grandma loves you just felt like ‘let me blindside you at a family event after you told me that we were done and you wanted nothing to do with me.’ Very gaslight-y, very manipulative.
And I don’t appreciate Michelle and Ava lowkey gaslighting Jas towards the end like ‘is it completely wrong that he didn’t trust you with his family? You trust people too fast.’ And although Jasmine has her shit and should probably be in therapy as well, yes Ashton’s in the wrong because they were fucking and getting to know each other and she shared personal pieces of herself with him and he spent the entirety of their “relationship” with one hand behind his back, telling lies of omission. He had opportunities to show he trusted her and he chose not to. He didn’t have to but those are the decisions that he made. They’re not on the fault of Jasmine.
Also, with how big their blowout was and how long the third act breakup went on for, one chapter of resolution and a love declaration felt incredibly rushed.
Things I liked:
- the Spanish lessons
Things I would’ve appreciated:
- a clearer delineation between the script and acting scenes and then the MC’s pov’s. everything related to the show (ie. The script + scenes) should’ve been in the same font as not to confuse.
- there were moments where Daria writes Carmen and Victor (the characters Jasmine and Ashton) play as if they are main characters in the You Had Me at Hola storyline.
ie. “Carmen fought her tears. You’re breaking my heart Ashton.” versus “Jasmine kept her tears at bay, in an attempt to not break character. You’re breaking my heart Ashton.” (butchered quotes)
I started this book excited for the plot points of book 2 and 3 but I’m unsure if I want to finish the trilogy now. I know first books in a series are notoriously hit or miss but I can’t tell if I want to invest my time any further.
The saving grace of this book was the FMC and her “primas of power”. They were funny and relatable, and I loved their dynamic.
Ashton, the MMC, was already irritating me with the back and forth, and holding Jasmine at arms length while she shared parts of herself openly with him. But then towards the end he became insufferable and was callous/cruel in his comments to Jasmine regarding her valid frustration and hurt at his wishy-washy behavior. Nothing was worse than the scene where Jasmine is expressing that she wants nothing to do with him and his first thought is ‘my career’ and then proceeds to tell her “that she sabotaged his career and his family.” As if Jasmine herself wrote to the tabloids. Bro, you’re a celebrity and while certain aspects of your life should’ve be off-limits, you need to communicate those things because paparazzi lack boundaries, which you know as an actor. He never stopped and thought how Jas might’ve felt to have her business back in the gossip rags again.
Then his over-managing of his father and his son’s relationship. You entrusted your child to your father because you knew he could take care of him and he has been, so let him do that. He’s getting all ‘woe is me, no one needs me’ in his internal dialogue and I’m just like did you think your father would be incapable of taking care of his grandson? do you think they sit around twiddling their thumbs waiting for you to solve their problems while he’s Yadi’s primary caregiver? He needed a therapist not a girlfriend. And showing up to her grandma’s big birthday bash with his family as a grand gesture when you know her grandma loves you just felt like ‘let me blindside you at a family event after you told me that we were done and you wanted nothing to do with me.’ Very gaslight-y, very manipulative.
And I don’t appreciate Michelle and Ava lowkey gaslighting Jas towards the end like ‘is it completely wrong that he didn’t trust you with his family? You trust people too fast.’ And although Jasmine has her shit and should probably be in therapy as well, yes Ashton’s in the wrong because they were fucking and getting to know each other and she shared personal pieces of herself with him and he spent the entirety of their “relationship” with one hand behind his back, telling lies of omission. He had opportunities to show he trusted her and he chose not to. He didn’t have to but those are the decisions that he made. They’re not on the fault of Jasmine.
Also, with how big their blowout was and how long the third act breakup went on for, one chapter of resolution and a love declaration felt incredibly rushed.
Things I liked:
- the Spanish lessons
Things I would’ve appreciated:
- a clearer delineation between the script and acting scenes and then the MC’s pov’s. everything related to the show (ie. The script + scenes) should’ve been in the same font as not to confuse.
- there were moments where Daria writes Carmen and Victor (the characters Jasmine and Ashton) play as if they are main characters in the You Had Me at Hola storyline.
ie. “Carmen fought her tears. You’re breaking my heart Ashton.” versus “Jasmine kept her tears at bay, in an attempt to not break character. You’re breaking my heart Ashton.” (butchered quotes)
I started this book excited for the plot points of book 2 and 3 but I’m unsure if I want to finish the trilogy now. I know first books in a series are notoriously hit or miss but I can’t tell if I want to invest my time any further.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
emotional
funny
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