The Book:
You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria (Primas of Power #1)
Published August 4, 2020 by Avon
Date read: August 26, 2021
The Characters:
Jasmine
Ashton
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
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.
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.
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.
The Review:
I picked this book up at Powell’s, since I had just received a gifted copy of A Lot Like Adios and obviously needed to read the series in order. The covers of both of these books are so beautiful and eye-catching!
I’ve really been enjoying the story-within-a-story trope lately. In You Had Me At Hola, we get both Ashton and Jasmine’s story, and the story of Carmen and Victor in the telenovela that they are filming. I’ve never watched any telenovelas or their adaptations, but I really enjoyed the setup of this book and the Latinx representation.
I absolutely love awkward, clumsy, shy leads. Ashton certainly fits this description, and it made him seem especially endearing. However, he does say some unnecessarily harmful things to Jasmine and she just rolled over and forgave him. I found him a little frustrating at times–especially when it came to wanting to be a Hollywood star but also expecting complete privacy. Even I know that’s not how it works!
This fun, hot romance was the perfect way to end my summer with some steam. I can’t wait to dive into A Lot Like Adios asap!
QTOD: Have you watched any telenovelas or their adaptations like Jane the Virgin or Ugly Betty? What would you recommend?
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