A review by kappareads
Amor Actually by Adriana Herrera, Sabrina Sol, Diana Muñoz Stewart, Alexis Daria, Zoey Castile, Mia Sosa, Priscilla Oliveras

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

 

I received an advance listening copy from the publishers and Netgalley. All opinions are my own. 

Amor Actually is an anthology of Latine/Afro-Latine Christmas romance short stories all inspired by the stories in the film Love, Actually. I’ve never seen the film (because I’ve heard the stories involve romanticizing cheating/infidelity) but I was still able to enjoy this book! None of the stories included cheating or “another woman” which I appreciate. In fact, two stories feature poly couples (which I assume were made poly after the original story involved cheating/love triangles) which I always love to see! 

The short stories are also interconnected as they were in the movie. Several characters are related to each other or friends with each other. They are also all trying to convince their loves to come with them to the same Nochebuena party. 

All of the stories were enjoyable, even if they weren’t all my favorite. I have to say, on a whole, my favorite was the first story, “Make the Yuletide Gay” by Adriana Herrera, about a pop star and her manager falling in love. The pining was top tier and the smut threw me for a loop with how hot it was. My other favorite story was the other queer and monogamous story, “All I Want for Nochebuena” by Alexis Daria, about two adult film stars falling for each other over a shoot. 

I think if I had a main criticism, it would be that some of the stories felt the same as many of the stories have the characters pining for a while before finally spending a week together and finally admitting feelings and inviting the other to the Christmas party. I love pining a lot, but when about half of the stories followed this pattern, it got a little old. 

I rated this book 3.5 stars! The audiobook was good quality with very good narrators. Not every story was my favorite, but I liked the collection overall, and it introduced me to some authors I now know I need to read from in the future!