Review: You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

BOOK STATS

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Title: You Had Me At Hola
Author: Alexis Daria
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Audience: Adult
Format: Audiobook
Narrators: Seraphine Valentine
Length: 10 hours
Publisher: Avon; HarperAudio
Release Date: August 4, 2020
Source: Library
Recommended for fans of: Jane the Virgin, Twice in a Blue Moon
Content Warnings: stalking

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.

MY THOUGHTS

This was a sweet and spicy romance! I love that the plot centers around Latinx representation in show business. I especially loved the focus on family and Jasmine’s friendship with her female cousins. This book did not feature my favorite romance tropes, and I thought the familial relationships were more interesting than Jasmine and Ashton’s romantic relationship.

I really enjoyed the “inside look” at a celebrity romance. Jasmine and Ashton had different approaches to their careers and finding a work/life balance. Their different levels of comfort with being in the public eye, despite the different places they are in their careers, led to a lot of the tension and drama in the relationship.

I wish that Carmen in Charge were a real TV show coming soon to Netflix!