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rdoose 's review for:
Here to Stay
by Adriana Herrera
3.5 stars
I have a harder time suspending my disbelief with contemporaries, so it took me a little while to get into this one, but it was very sweet and I ultimately found it immersive, which is what I'm looking for when I'm reading romance.
It was nice to see Dominican culture represented, and I think the author did a great job of integrating it into the story. She pretty seamlessly translates the few moments of Spanish, though if you made it through a couple years of high school Spanish you don't need them. I think it's also really important that she depicted an intact, loving family of color. This is not a story of troubled immigrants; it's actually the hero, a white guy, who has the difficult family background. Having the main character be a social worker who works with immigrant families made the book feel timely, and I generally think the conflict in the book worked really well and felt like a fresh addition to a well-liked trope.
I liked the characters, and I thought Julia was well-rounded and authentic. Rocco was very lovable. The side characters were a little formulaic, but still enjoyable. There was nothing problematic in the MC's relationship dynamic, and consent was frequent and explicit. I didn't love the sex scenes, though. Rocco went from being this incredibly sweet "cinnamon roll" type to suddenly super dirty, and I just don't think the transition was successful; it felt sudden and jarring. I think "Get a Life, Chloe Brown" by Talia Hibbert is an example of how a similar dynamic can be done successfully.
This was an ARC, and I'm hoping it's still going to get a good amount of editing. There were a few typos and awkward sentences, but my main problem was that a few phrases were repeated to the point that it was distracting. Every character "lifts a shoulder" (the author's way of saying shrug?) A LOT. About 1/3 of the lifts should stay in. There are also a lot of times where characters "suck their teeth," which to me seems like an odd gesture for every character to do; I would think it might be a distinctive behavior of a certain character rather than something everyone does, and does frequently.
In the end, this was a fun, sweet read, and I'll probably revisit this author in the future.
I have a harder time suspending my disbelief with contemporaries, so it took me a little while to get into this one, but it was very sweet and I ultimately found it immersive, which is what I'm looking for when I'm reading romance.
It was nice to see Dominican culture represented, and I think the author did a great job of integrating it into the story. She pretty seamlessly translates the few moments of Spanish, though if you made it through a couple years of high school Spanish you don't need them. I think it's also really important that she depicted an intact, loving family of color. This is not a story of troubled immigrants; it's actually the hero, a white guy, who has the difficult family background. Having the main character be a social worker who works with immigrant families made the book feel timely, and I generally think the conflict in the book worked really well and felt like a fresh addition to a well-liked trope.
I liked the characters, and I thought Julia was well-rounded and authentic. Rocco was very lovable. The side characters were a little formulaic, but still enjoyable. There was nothing problematic in the MC's relationship dynamic, and consent was frequent and explicit. I didn't love the sex scenes, though. Rocco went from being this incredibly sweet "cinnamon roll" type to suddenly super dirty, and I just don't think the transition was successful; it felt sudden and jarring. I think "Get a Life, Chloe Brown" by Talia Hibbert is an example of how a similar dynamic can be done successfully.
This was an ARC, and I'm hoping it's still going to get a good amount of editing. There were a few typos and awkward sentences, but my main problem was that a few phrases were repeated to the point that it was distracting. Every character "lifts a shoulder" (the author's way of saying shrug?) A LOT. About 1/3 of the lifts should stay in. There are also a lot of times where characters "suck their teeth," which to me seems like an odd gesture for every character to do; I would think it might be a distinctive behavior of a certain character rather than something everyone does, and does frequently.
In the end, this was a fun, sweet read, and I'll probably revisit this author in the future.