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jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
ARC courtesy of Netgalley
Readers of the previous books in Herrera's Dreamers series, featuring the romances of a group of Latino and Afro-Latino men who grew up together in NYC, have been waiting with bated breath for the details about the relationship between Patrice and Easton, a relationship only hinted at in Nesto's and Camilo's earlier books. Doctoral student Patrice Denis, who came to the U.S. with his mother as a refuge from Haiti, has focused his research on "how people of color experience discrimination through government-sanctioned public policy," while Easton Archer, from an economically privileged white Ithaca NY family, works in that city's district attorney's office. The two should be enemies, right? But their mutual physical attraction led to a hot affair the previous summer—an affair that ended as soon as Patrice stopped visiting his friend Nesto in Ithaca, focused on finishing the last year of his doctorate at Columbia. Easton was disappointed by Patrice's ghosting him, but still, now that Patrice has accepted a tenure-track offer from Cornell, he can't help but anticipate more than the occasionally hook-up from the sexy professor.
Patrice has never had a steady boyfriend—no time, and no emotional energy for all the drama. Especially the drama that would surely come with dating a rich white guy who works for the very institution that his research and activism is trying to disrupt. Thus, the first part of the story falls into that dreaded "no, we can't be together/oh, let's fall into bed/no, we can't be together" loop, a loop that I find particularly annoying no matter the gender of its participants. But when Patrice finally decides that he and Archer should give a relationship a try, the romance becomes far more engaging, with open-hearted Easton laying his emotions all on the line, Patrice still cautious, but taking tentative steps toward greater emotional intimacy.
Easton comes off as a bit too perfect, "woke" in all the right ways despite his DA work—I would have liked to know what led him to become a progressive, and then to take a job in the DA's office in spite of it. Herrera emphasizes Easton's wokeness by showing him prosecuting only one crime—a rape by a white boy of a girl of color—rather than by making Easton entangled in the systemic racism of the government institution in which he is employed. And by positioning readers to feel sympathy for him by making his family constantly belittle his work (they wanted him to work for the family vineyard instead). But as this is a category-length romance, wishing for a more nuanced portrait might be asking for too much.
Patrice is more subtly drawn—a quiet, thoughtful man, one who prefers to think before he speaks. But that quietness also often masks a deep anger at the injustices immigrants and people of color suffer in a country that is supposed to be the "land of the free," an anger that Patrice, a large, dark-skinned man, has learned will only lead to more injustice if he has the audacity to give voice to it out loud. That repressed anger, as well as his abandonment issues (his father kept his mother as a mistress, and, though he paid for the two of them to leave Haiti in the wake of the '91 coup, he was never actively involved in their lives), make Patrice's unwillingness to engage in any deep relationship with a potential romantic partner more than understandable.
The external plotline focuses on the racial profiling that the Ithaca police department is doing in recent traffic stops, Patrice's Tweeting and organizing to protest it, and Easton's wariness to speak out publicly about it, despite personally finding it objectionable. Easton's filling in as DA while his female gay mentor is recovering from heart surgery, and she pressures him to remain quiet so that the office can maintain a productive working relationship with the police. Needless to say, Patrice isn't happy about Easton's unwillingness to take a stand. And Easton isn't happy about Patrice's tendency to push him away at the first sign of disagreement or disappointment.
Herrera is particularly good at conveying the real anxiety and fear that people of color have about encountering the police during traffic stops—especially when the predictable happens to Patrice...
Another strong entry in a series with protagonists, and issues, that have far too rarely been featured in traditionally-published romance in the past.
Readers of the previous books in Herrera's Dreamers series, featuring the romances of a group of Latino and Afro-Latino men who grew up together in NYC, have been waiting with bated breath for the details about the relationship between Patrice and Easton, a relationship only hinted at in Nesto's and Camilo's earlier books. Doctoral student Patrice Denis, who came to the U.S. with his mother as a refuge from Haiti, has focused his research on "how people of color experience discrimination through government-sanctioned public policy," while Easton Archer, from an economically privileged white Ithaca NY family, works in that city's district attorney's office. The two should be enemies, right? But their mutual physical attraction led to a hot affair the previous summer—an affair that ended as soon as Patrice stopped visiting his friend Nesto in Ithaca, focused on finishing the last year of his doctorate at Columbia. Easton was disappointed by Patrice's ghosting him, but still, now that Patrice has accepted a tenure-track offer from Cornell, he can't help but anticipate more than the occasionally hook-up from the sexy professor.
Patrice has never had a steady boyfriend—no time, and no emotional energy for all the drama. Especially the drama that would surely come with dating a rich white guy who works for the very institution that his research and activism is trying to disrupt. Thus, the first part of the story falls into that dreaded "no, we can't be together/oh, let's fall into bed/no, we can't be together" loop, a loop that I find particularly annoying no matter the gender of its participants. But when Patrice finally decides that he and Archer should give a relationship a try, the romance becomes far more engaging, with open-hearted Easton laying his emotions all on the line, Patrice still cautious, but taking tentative steps toward greater emotional intimacy.
Easton comes off as a bit too perfect, "woke" in all the right ways despite his DA work—I would have liked to know what led him to become a progressive, and then to take a job in the DA's office in spite of it. Herrera emphasizes Easton's wokeness by showing him prosecuting only one crime—a rape by a white boy of a girl of color—rather than by making Easton entangled in the systemic racism of the government institution in which he is employed. And by positioning readers to feel sympathy for him by making his family constantly belittle his work (they wanted him to work for the family vineyard instead). But as this is a category-length romance, wishing for a more nuanced portrait might be asking for too much.
Patrice is more subtly drawn—a quiet, thoughtful man, one who prefers to think before he speaks. But that quietness also often masks a deep anger at the injustices immigrants and people of color suffer in a country that is supposed to be the "land of the free," an anger that Patrice, a large, dark-skinned man, has learned will only lead to more injustice if he has the audacity to give voice to it out loud. That repressed anger, as well as his abandonment issues (his father kept his mother as a mistress, and, though he paid for the two of them to leave Haiti in the wake of the '91 coup, he was never actively involved in their lives), make Patrice's unwillingness to engage in any deep relationship with a potential romantic partner more than understandable.
The external plotline focuses on the racial profiling that the Ithaca police department is doing in recent traffic stops, Patrice's Tweeting and organizing to protest it, and Easton's wariness to speak out publicly about it, despite personally finding it objectionable. Easton's filling in as DA while his female gay mentor is recovering from heart surgery, and she pressures him to remain quiet so that the office can maintain a productive working relationship with the police. Needless to say, Patrice isn't happy about Easton's unwillingness to take a stand. And Easton isn't happy about Patrice's tendency to push him away at the first sign of disagreement or disappointment.
Herrera is particularly good at conveying the real anxiety and fear that people of color have about encountering the police during traffic stops—especially when the predictable happens to Patrice...
Another strong entry in a series with protagonists, and issues, that have far too rarely been featured in traditionally-published romance in the past.
lezreadalot's review against another edition
4.0
I was a big guy, people usually approached with caution, but Easton came to me like he was coming home.
Ohhhhhh this one got me good. I've been loving all of Herrera's romances that deal with Dreamers, and I found this one especially appealing. Two guys who are bad at emotions in different ways (though Patrice takes the cake and then some), a long year of pining between meeting and reuniting, learning to trust and let go, all against a backdrop of escalating racially motivated traffic stops in the city. Real life issues belong in books and I'm glad to see them, but sometimes they can be... idk clumsily written? Not here; I think the author did a fantastic job. These events were motivated by real life, and they weren't written in like, a flowery and OTT way; just facts. There was one moment that was so tense and scary and well-written, it had me on the edge of my seat (even though in the back of my mind I was like "It's a romance novel! It'll be fine! Probably..."). I adored Patrice and Easton. Patrice's hot and cold routine in the first parts of the book were frustrating, but ultimately understandable, given the kind of person he is, so reluctant to open up. I'm glad Easton didn't take it all lying down. And without getting spoilery, I'm gladder that the issue of privilege was handled in such a competent, pragmatic way. Easton wasn't coddled, and he also wasn't just a stock white dude.
I really like how things tied up, and I loved all of their intimate moments and how close they became, even when Patrice was being a butt. There were some lovely sentiments about love and relationships throughout. And the B plot kiddos were so cute. T__T
Really well done.
Ohhhhhh this one got me good. I've been loving all of Herrera's romances that deal with Dreamers, and I found this one especially appealing. Two guys who are bad at emotions in different ways (though Patrice takes the cake and then some), a long year of pining between meeting and reuniting, learning to trust and let go, all against a backdrop of escalating racially motivated traffic stops in the city. Real life issues belong in books and I'm glad to see them, but sometimes they can be... idk clumsily written? Not here; I think the author did a fantastic job. These events were motivated by real life, and they weren't written in like, a flowery and OTT way; just facts. There was one moment that was so tense and scary and well-written, it had me on the edge of my seat (even though in the back of my mind I was like "It's a romance novel! It'll be fine! Probably..."). I adored Patrice and Easton. Patrice's hot and cold routine in the first parts of the book were frustrating, but ultimately understandable, given the kind of person he is, so reluctant to open up. I'm glad Easton didn't take it all lying down. And without getting spoilery, I'm gladder that the issue of privilege was handled in such a competent, pragmatic way. Easton wasn't coddled, and he also wasn't just a stock white dude.
I really like how things tied up, and I loved all of their intimate moments and how close they became, even when Patrice was being a butt. There were some lovely sentiments about love and relationships throughout. And the B plot kiddos were so cute. T__T
Really well done.
whatshawnareads's review against another edition
5.0
I only regret that I jumped right into this book without having read the previous ones in the series. It works fine as a stand alone, but seeing the cameo's from the previous couples and references to past events made me wish I had the full story.
Adriana Herrera wrote complex characters who aren't going to be "fixed" by finding love, who have to work for their happy ending, and who have to have hard conversations in order to be together. Easton and Patrice have very real conversations about their different backgrounds and what that means for them to be together, while also recognizing their own flaws and the things they still have to learn. I just love that Herrera could write an interracial couple in today's tense society without making everything seem to be magically fixed once they're together.
Thanks to Carina Press and Netgalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Audio: I had to triple check, but there is a single narrator for this dual POV book, but he is able to seamlessly and consistently narrate in different voices for Easton's and Patrice's POVs and speech.
Adriana Herrera wrote complex characters who aren't going to be "fixed" by finding love, who have to work for their happy ending, and who have to have hard conversations in order to be together. Easton and Patrice have very real conversations about their different backgrounds and what that means for them to be together, while also recognizing their own flaws and the things they still have to learn. I just love that Herrera could write an interracial couple in today's tense society without making everything seem to be magically fixed once they're together.
Thanks to Carina Press and Netgalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Audio: I had to triple check, but there is a single narrator for this dual POV book, but he is able to seamlessly and consistently narrate in different voices for Easton's and Patrice's POVs and speech.
lifeand100books's review against another edition
5.0
This was a really difficult book to read, but difficult for good reason.
Patrice and Easton are such wonderfully complex characters. And they're characters that evolve and grow through difficult self inflection.
I loved this book for opening my eyes to experiences not my own. As allies we have a lot to unlearn, and the best thing we can do is listen.
This book was just..... everything.
Patrice and Easton are such wonderfully complex characters. And they're characters that evolve and grow through difficult self inflection.
I loved this book for opening my eyes to experiences not my own. As allies we have a lot to unlearn, and the best thing we can do is listen.
This book was just..... everything.
pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
Another wonderful story about the Dreamers. I raced through this to make sure that the lovers got their happily ever after. Of course they did. One more volume in the series - then I might have to start over.
nickcarravay's review against another edition
4.0
Adriana Herrera has a knack for really spicy romance.
I come to her books for the hot explicit content. Patrice and Easton do not disappoint in that way, at all. Read this book on a chilly day to keep warm. (*fans herself*)
What caught me off-guard, in the best way, was the depth of conversation about the current cultural and political climates. There were many moments that made me look inward and evaluate my biases. The conversations the MCs were having about being an interracial couple with jobs and passions that did not seem like they could co-exist.
I like a HEA, but I love a complex, human, messy, at times sad, love story.
I come to her books for the hot explicit content. Patrice and Easton do not disappoint in that way, at all. Read this book on a chilly day to keep warm. (*fans herself*)
What caught me off-guard, in the best way, was the depth of conversation about the current cultural and political climates. There were many moments that made me look inward and evaluate my biases. The conversations the MCs were having about being an interracial couple with jobs and passions that did not seem like they could co-exist.
I like a HEA, but I love a complex, human, messy, at times sad, love story.
sbelasco40's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve really enjoyed all of this series, but I think I enjoyed this one the most. Not only is it incredibly timely (or sadly, forever timely) but both lead characters are so well-drawn and sympathetic and sweet. I especially loved Patrice, who struggles to be vulnerable in a world that has taught him to never show softness. And the entire friend group is a delight, as always.
brandece1's review against another edition
5.0
American Love Story has taken everything that I have loved about the books in this series and ran with it. I knew that I was going to like this book, I thought I would like both Easton and Patrice, but I freaking love them. AND it's a big statement, but they are my favorite couple in the series. This book is very heavy in social justice issues and I really feel like Adrianna Herrera did an amazing job writing about such real life, heavy topics. I love all the representation in this book, and just like the other books in this series it is filled with so much steam and swoon.