REVIEW|| You Had Me At Hola- Alexis Daria // A super fun and amazing romance you must read

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. 

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