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A review by juliannewarren12
A Proposal They Can't Refuse by Natalie Caña
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
This book had so much potential to be a 4+ star for me but it fell short in some key areas.
The author does a good job at making the dialogue flow and sound natural, especially when switching from Spanish to English. The plot is easy for the reader to understand without much world building, but complex enough to make it through the whole book.
I enjoyed the characters, especially the two grandfathers. I felt that we learned just enough about the side characters to enjoy their presence and were in the story an appropriate amount of time.
I liked Liam and Kamilah but their relationship fell flat to me. There was so much build up and tension during the beginning of the “fake” relationship but the release was not satisfying. When they finally fell for each other, the relationship seemed to stop building up and fell flat overall. I would’ve loved to see more flashbacks from their childhood and more of them not getting a long at first. K moving into L’s apartment would’ve made a good chapter where they were still disagreeing/being mean towards each other.
I did not except the plot twist at the engagement party whatsoever. I thought that was very well done and my jaw genuinely dropped when Leo revealed the mic was on for their whole conversation. That whole scene was captivating with Liam leaving out the back dramatically and Kamilah having to go face her family.
K’s family is pretty toxic but they redeemed themselves in my opinion. I m thought the apology to her parents was written beautifully. It was very sweet but not too sappy or corny.
Saint still being nice to K was nice to see as well. I liked the she had one family member support her.
I was very happy that K’s friend didn’t take her back after finding out about the whole Paris lie. I felt like that was realistic and raw.
I think there should’ve been more information about K and L reconciling but the whisky reveal at the end was sweet. What kind of ruined it for me though was the fact they were still doing the distillery tour and the judges had to watch all of that go down. It made me laugh thinking about how the judges watched this random lady (K) sob and the couple make out when they just expected to be judging whisky. I get that it was meant to be done in from of the cameras but it just took me out of the moment.
I truly hated the one sex scene in this book. It wasn’t overly sexual but it was just flat out cringy. I thought the dirty talk was weird and the description of the whole scene was not enjoyable. There isn’t much “spice” in this book besides one scene and then briefly mentioned later on.
I did tear up at some points in this book at the sweet moments but the main plot didn’t make me emotional at all.
I will probably read the rest of this series as this was a good starting book.
The author does a good job at making the dialogue flow and sound natural, especially when switching from Spanish to English. The plot is easy for the reader to understand without much world building, but complex enough to make it through the whole book.
I enjoyed the characters, especially the two grandfathers. I felt that we learned just enough about the side characters to enjoy their presence and were in the story an appropriate amount of time.
I liked Liam and Kamilah but their relationship fell flat to me. There was so much build up and tension during the beginning of the “fake” relationship but the release was not satisfying. When they finally fell for each other, the relationship seemed to stop building up and fell flat overall. I would’ve loved to see more flashbacks from their childhood and more of them not getting a long at first. K moving into L’s apartment would’ve made a good chapter where they were still disagreeing/being mean towards each other.
K’s family is pretty toxic but they redeemed themselves in my opinion. I m thought the apology to her parents was written beautifully. It was very sweet but not too sappy or corny.
Saint still being nice to K was nice to see as well. I liked the she had one family member support her.
I was very happy that K’s friend didn’t take her back after finding out about the whole Paris lie. I felt like that was realistic and raw.
I think there should’ve been more information about K and L reconciling but the whisky reveal at the end was sweet. What kind of ruined it for me though was the fact they were still doing the distillery tour and the judges had to watch all of that go down. It made me laugh thinking about how the judges watched this random lady (K) sob and the couple make out when they just expected to be judging whisky. I get that it was meant to be done in from of the cameras but it just took me out of the moment.
I truly hated the one sex scene in this book. It wasn’t overly sexual but it was just flat out cringy. I thought the dirty talk was weird and the description of the whole scene was not enjoyable. There isn’t much “spice” in this book besides one scene and then briefly mentioned later on.
I did tear up at some points in this book at the sweet moments but the main plot didn’t make me emotional at all.
I will probably read the rest of this series as this was a good starting book.