The second half of the book was definitely better than the first but overall the book was a big disappointment for me unfortunately. But this story is the perfect example of how love is not made of big gestures and great gifts, but by simplicity and being there for the other person. Meaning, you should always feel free to freak out in front of your loved ones, no matter how scared you are to expose that part of yourself. the spanish? did i mention the spanish? my first language is spanish although i've learned english well since i live in an english-speaking country. but ohmygod, Ángel speaking in spanish really does it for me. it's so intimate ughh. I was interested in the plotline more than the romance, to be honest. I loved the Jasmine and I'm still not convinced that Ashton is quite right for her. The drama was a bit much at the end, and I left the story not being in love with the relationship and how everything went down. It was entertaining, soft, sweet reading. I got some points because our hero earned so many slapping points from me. So I’m giving 3.5 stars and eventually I’m rounding them up to 4!

This really did not work for me. I have given it 2 stars based on the rep and book cover alone but I'm leaning more towards 1 star. And seen more exposure when it came to Ashton as a father and both these characters dealing with their mental health. I really struggled through the first half. The writing was choppy and disjointed and the dialogue felt unnatural and awkward. I felt completely detached from the story and characters and just didn't really care about them. I didn't find their romance believable nor their chemistry, they went from barely interacting in the first half of the book to having sex every day??? In the entire story they probably had 3 meaningful conversations if that. All I can think now that I’ve read this is that I want to read more books that explore Latinx stories, especially within the romance genre. It was rich in culture, boisterous, loud. I mean, you’ve seen that cover. I never see Ashton’s son as a big obstacle for their relationship and the angst part between them were a little unrealistic. They may talk with each other like normal adults.This book reads like a labor of love. There is so much detail put into the setting and the characters and it's done so lovingly at times that it may seem a bit corny. Thing is, that's just how Boricua love is. It's loud, it's boisterous and it's warm to its core. Paired with this, there were instances when characters would sit down to have a conversation, and rather than follow a dialogue, the author would just tell us what was said, what the reactions and resolutions were, and continue with the narrative. This was not the rule, and there's plenty of growth between the characters on their own, but these moments almost felt rushed. It was as if we, as the reader, were being hurried along to the rest of the novel. Of course there were other things I enjoyed about this romance, the banter, the Latinx representation, and the drama of a telenovela. It just wasn’t enough to make it an outstanding romance for me.

This book is a hug to the Latinx community and its culture. The times I said "oh my god I do this," "my grandma totally tells me this when I visit" etc. is unreal. I identified so hard with the characters and the story in this novel and I think every Latinx reader will too. The food, the Spanish!!! So much Spanish and it's not italicized!!! Jasmine doesn't really know how to speak Spanish fluently while Ashton does and speaks it with his family. This book was a wonderful experience that completely filled me with joy and happiness. Eighteen-year-old Mallory Greenleaf is no longer interested in chess, not since her hypercompetitive dad left—the game calls up painful memories. But she grudgingly agrees to play in a charity tournament as a favor to best friend Easton Peña. After she unexpectedly beats current world champion Nolan Sawyer, she’s offered a fellowship that will prepare her to play professionally. Even though Mallory doesn’t want to play anymore, she needs the money that winning would provide; she’s delayed college to support her family, since her mother is chronically ill with rheumatoid arthritis and is unable to work regularly. The more time she spends with Nolan, the more Mallory comes to like and respect him—and the more time she spends playing chess, the more she remembers how much she loved it. But when she learns that Nolan has been keeping a big secret from her, she isn’t sure if she’ll be able to move past it to build a relationship with him. Filled with the author’s signature humor, well-developed characters, and realistic conflicts, plus the fully realized setting of competitive chess, this captivating romance will delight teen readers as well as Hazelwood’s adult fans. Mallory and Nolan are both cued white; there is some racial diversity among the supporting cast. Mallory and Easton are queer. Have you ever read a book that you know you didn't give a fair shot, because you were in a bad enough mood that you could have read the greatest story ever told and still not liked it, but also simultaneously known that even if you had read that book when life itself was nothing but sunshine and rainbows and every day was a new delight you still wouldn't have liked it?So I probably wouldn't have liked this even if it made me laugh and cry and shake my head in disbelief at its sheer magnificence. I loved the diversity of the characters, the representation and how real and lovely they felt. As a queer latina, my heart feels really happy and complete with this book. Two rising stars of LatinX community are excited to work on brand new show: Carmen in Charge. It will help both of them for polishing their careers and finding better places for them in the movie industry. Personally, I found the male MC, Ashton, to be too closed off. I had a much harder time connecting to him, and I found him to be not vulnerable enough, even within his own head. I thought the romance felt a bit... strained? It didn't quite feel natural to me. In fact, I found the romance of their character that they were playing to be more organic. I also thought that the Ashton withheld too much information from the female MC, Jasmine, even when they were in a tentative relationship, for me to have much sympathy for him. With time it has become more and more difficult to find romance novels adequate to my expectations because my social life is non-existent, but there are a few things I haven't yet done in my imagination.

I wasn't a fan of Ashton and his behaviour towards the end just cemented my dislike of him. Deal with your shit like an adult geez! These two don't get on the best start. Ashton is awkward and shy around a new crew, new actors he isn't familiar with. So he comes off as being distant and like he doesn't want to share time with his costars. Yet he can't help be instantly attracted to Jasmine, his romantic interest in the show. But attraction is one thing, he can deal with that. He cannot even think about a relationship with her. Ashton has secrets, big secrets, and the media spotlight surrounding Jasmine which follows her everywhere is not for him. I really enjoyed this book and read it within 24 hours, I loved it that much. This book has the story within a story trope, which I really love. I loved the characters, particularly Jasmine, I felt I could relate to her and how she was actively trying to achieve her goals. Ashton, the main male character, was also very developed for me, as he had so many layers and walls around him and it made him seem very real. The romance between the two was also great and I loved how it began, as it’s something you hear happen so often in the media. The main thing I really loved was the discussion, on the importance, of representation in Hollywood and how the characters were advocating for that themselves and through the show they were creating. I saw so much of myself in Jasmine, in her language, her family dynamics, and the way she seeks out validation through others’ love. Jasmine is both a powerful protagonist and a vulnerable one, and I’m forever grateful to dive into her world because it made me feel less alone as a Latina.She and her cousins have put together a “Leading Lady Plan” for her to live by, which includes knowing she doesn’t need a man to make her happy and vowing not to mess around with her costars.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. My opinions have not been influenced by the publisher or the author. The gist is that the two main actors on an Americanized telenovela fall in love for real while filming for a Netflix ish streaming service. They've got insecurities, baggage, and one of them even has a secret love child.Jasmine Lin Rodriguez moves home to New York for an unbelievable chance: After years as a soap opera actress, she is offered the lead role in Carmen in Charge, which will air on a popular streaming service. The timing couldn’t be better—after she was painfully and publicly dumped by her musician boyfriend, the tabloids have painted her as a loser in love. Jasmine promises herself that she'll avoid romantic entanglements and focus on her career, but that proves difficult since she’s wildly attracted to her new co-star, telenovela heartthrob Ashton Suarez. Ashton has two goals: achieving mainstream Hollywood stardom and keeping the paparazzi from discovering his 8-year-old son, Yadiel, who lives with Ashton’s family in Puerto Rico. When Yadi was just a baby, a stalker broke into their home; Ashton was so terrified for his son’s safety that he moved the boy to live with his parents and cut himself off from the press. He studiously avoids his attraction to Jasmine—she’s a paparazzi magnet, and he will do anything to avoid the spotlight. However, as work on the show continues, they give in to their undeniable attraction. Ashton and Jasmine are imperfect but fully realized characters, and their differences aren’t easily solved. Daria makes the unusual narrative choice of writing some chapters from the point of view of the Carmen in Charge characters, but it pays off by cleverly illuminating the emotional journey of Jasmine and Ashton’s own romance.