Synopsis: Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.
After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy.
After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had.
Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars.
With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret. (Goodreads)
Publication Date: August 4th, 2020 (Avon Books)
Genres: Adult Romance
Trigger Warnings: discussion of stalking, anxiety and panic
Ratings: 4/5
You Had me at Hola is a romance about two telenovela stars who are new co-actors. Their colleagues to friends to lovers story was fun to read and it also had bits of glamour, family dynamics, heartbreak and good romance.
The Story
You Had me at Hola was a fun and amazing romance with great family dynamics and portrayal of the telenovela making. The story followed Jasmine and Ashton who meet during the making of their tv series, Carmen in charge. Jasmine has had a very publicized break-up with a musician and hence has been in the news for this. Ashton is the last minute addition to the show and is a very famous telenovela star but he is known to be closed off. Jasmine and Ashton are cordial but there also some awkwardness and obvious tension. I loved the story and it gave the happy feels while reading it.
The Characters
The characters were all so great and fleshed out. Jasmine is a star whose recently publicized breakup has left her in the news. She is confident and family oriented and I really loved reading about her. She truly wants to find love and isn’t ashamed about it in any way and I loved reading about such a character.
The other main character is Ashton who is a famous telenovela star. Ashton is respectful and professional but also closed off. I loved how Ashton was shown to have anxiety due to ptsd and how it was portrayed well. It’s really good to read about a character in an adult romance have anxiety and bouts of panic and how it was handled well. Their characters’ actions sometimes felt little underwhelming but honestly I enjoyed it so there wasn’t much of an issue.
I also loved the importance of family for both Jasmine and Ashton. Jasmine’s cousins and Ashton’s family, all make great side characters. Their love and support for each other was really heartwarming. The story is also not just about both of them together but also their individual journeys which I particularly adored.
The Romance
The romance is this one was fun to read. From co-actors to friends to lovers was really well portrayed. There were heartbreaks but I was also so happy to see a healthy relationship which was made of communication and respect. The intimate scenes were amazing. The angst was good although sometimes it felt little underwhelming but I really enjoyed it. Their scenes together managed to get a smile on my face. Though I wish it had started a little early in the book but I liked what was there.
The Rep
Jasmine was Puerto Rican-Filipina-American protagonist and Ashton was Puerto Ricaan. This book is an ownvoices Puerto Rican. It had really great Latinx family wholesomeness which I loved!!
Overall, You Had Me at Hola was a super good romance which was sexy and well written. I also listened to the audiobook and it was really great. So if you’re a fan of adult romances with glamour, love, healthy and fun relationships, then you must read You Had me at Hola.
Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with an eARC through Edelweiss. All opinions are my own.
This has been sitting on my Kindle for some time now and your review makes me so excited to pick it up 🙂
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Yay!! Glad to hear that and I hope you love it as much as I did 💛
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This is one of my favorite romances of the year and I’m so happy to see other people loving it too! Great review!
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Thank you! I am so glad you love this book too😊
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I’ve been trying to read more contemporary romance and this looks amazing!
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It definitely is! This would be a great choice to pick up😊💓
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I’ve been reading more contemporaries these days and this sounds really good! I’ll definitely be adding it to my TBR!
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Glad to hear that!! I hope you love it too💛
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I loved this book. I think it was one of my top favs of the year for romance.
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Yess!! Love that for us🥰💛
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Such a great review! I have seen a couple people talking about this one. It sounds right up my alley! I’m definitely going to have to check it out.
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Thank you! It’s an amazing book and I hope you do pick it up and love it too💞
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Thank you 😀
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Great review! This is next on my list to read and I keep hearing such good things about it!
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did💛
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Love your review! I’m currently reading this and I love it so much so far ❤
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Thank you Noura!! I am glad to hear you’re loving it too♥️
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