You Had Me at Hola: A Novel: 1 (Primas of Power, 1)

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I really liked the tv show chapters, they were really funny and I truly felt that I was watching a telenovela. I felt like I was 10 years again and me and my mom were watching telenovelas in our living room while I was trying to do my homework. And seen more exposure when it came to Ashton as a father and both these characters dealing with their mental health. What makes a truly great romance are strong character dynamics and palpable chemistry between the two love interests. Ashton is an adorably awkward character who tries his hardest not to let Jasmine past the walls erected around his heart, and then we have Jasmine, eager to ignore the press shadowing her every move after a bad breakup and to make it big as a Leading Lady. Together, as they slowly grow closer while being on set, they can’t deny the electricity that courses between them.

The 'Carmen in Charge' chapters were just boring and used as filler without adding anything substantial to the story- even though characters seemed to interact more on their show than they did off set. 🙃 The secret that came out had me rolling my eyes and I felt the big drama was just boring. 🙈 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. and one last thing. this book did have the miscommunication trope, but this is the first time it hasn't bothered me one bit, and i daresay i enjoyed it. the whole book is driven by the conflict of Ángel being a single dad (love him sm) so this conflict should be expected. the conflict also did not last very long and i think it was solved perfectly.And oh gods, don't get me started on the Spanish. Me, someone who's first language is Spanish... Amazing. I really enjoyed the Spanish dialogues and above all, the insults. Ashton calling himself "pendejo" and "cabrón" was something funny and I was like "yeah, you are, but I love you". Amigoooo, las veces que quise golpearte, abrazarte y besarte son incontables. 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. The story splits its time between the real lives of telenovela and soap opera stars Ashton Suárez and Jasmine Lin. Jasmine is a rising star in soap operas with a rather messy recent breakup splashed all over the tabloids. And Ashton has made acting in telenovelas his bread and butter for years, while he supports his family in Puerto Rico—which he prefers and struggles to keep very private from his public image—and tries to make his current new project alongside Jasmine successful enough that it will hopefully give him the boost he needs to get to Hollywood. beginning with the characters, Jasmine Lin Rodriguez is a wonderful protagonist. she is hot (let me tell you), funny and sweet. i love her sm <33. not an unlikable fmc at all.

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. Now, having said that, I certainly didn't hate them. I was rooting for them to get their happily ever after. 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. The most interesting thing about the book of is you read two romantic stories at the same time and I have to admit at some parts: I enjoyed telenovela’s plot more than the angsty and emotional love story of Jasmine and Ashton’s so I looked forward to read the script parts about Victor and Carmen: divorced couple, learning from their past mistakes and coming clean about their resentments, secrets , the intimate feelings they still have for each other.

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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 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! 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! 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. And the weird thing is that the narrator has a beautiful voice. When she spoke for the characters each voice was distinct and lovely. Literally everything you could hope for in a voice actor!

Her self-proclaimed moniker reinforces Hola's themes of diversity, consent, and agency because it reimagines who a Leading Lady can be, and in turn, rebels against our cultural restrictions. Jasmine fights for herself but she also has the space to take risks and push the boundaries of her identity. The first thing I struggled with was the writing. The writing felt very clunky to me and I feel like the author spent a lot of time telling us things instead of showing, which really took me out of the story. Some of the dialogue was clunky and unnatural, too, and I really couldn't get connected with either of the characters. Then, the storyline would switch between Jasmine and Ashton's romance and scenes of the show they were filming together. I really didn't care about the romance in the show and didn't like getting a bunch of chapters of those scenes. These more took me out of the story and made it even harder for me to care about Jasmine and Ashton's relationship. I sometimes struggle with contemporary M/F romance, but I was excited to finally dig into an Alexis Daria book. I mean, a Latinx romance with a telenovela feel? I had to try it. However, though the book was a good read overall, I had mixed emotions about the story and it took me *forever* to finish.The characters were complex, and also easy to relate to them. They were amazing, funny, charming and real.