Book review: You Had Me at Hola
⭐4/5: You Had Me at Hola, Alexis Daria
“Um, hola.”
Hola. Those first deep, fluid syllables of his greeting had sent a thrill through her.
After a messy public breakup and having her name blasted all over gossip media boards, soap opera actress Jasmine Lin swears to put love on the back burner and prioritize her career. She has a new job at her natal New York City and the opportunity to blast off as a leading actress. She can't mess this up, so she comes up with a Leading Lady plan that should keep her on track. The plan is based on three simple principles:
Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.
Leading Ladies don't need a man to be happy.
Leading Ladies do not rebound with their costars.
Sticking to her new plan should be easy, that is until a casting shake-up pairs her up with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.
After private rehearsing turns up the heat between them, Jasmine and Ashton find themselves in a behind-the-scenes telenovela romance of their own. Will Jasmine stick to her Leading Lady plan? Or will she continue to be drawn to introvert guarded Ashton?
This book was everything that I needed from a romance! I don't pick up romance books often. I tend to gravitate more towards Sci-Fi and Thrillers, but I wanted to read something fun that would make me feel happy and if I could find all that with a dash of BIPOC representation, then I'd be golden. Well, You Had Me at Hola surely delivered on all my expectations!
For fans of Jane the Virgin and Betty la fea, Daria's book takes Latinx representation to another level. This story balances perfectly the worlds of soap operas and telenovelas and touches beautifully on how the entertainment business can be more inclusive. I also enjoyed the use of Spanish throughout the book. It's not often that I see bilingualism so accurately represented.
The romantic story is absolutely amazing. The friendship, the tender moments, the falling in love in spite of professionalism, the S3X! It was all perfect. The romantic arch hit all the spots for me and I only give it a four-star review because there were some scenes where the narrator took me out of the moment. Other than that, I highly recommend the book if you want a sweet and spicy romance.