The world was introduced to Beatriz Perez in Next Year in Havana, which centered around her sister Elisa Perez and the story of the Perez family being forced to flee Cuba and settle in Miami. You don’t need to read these books in order, When We Left Cuba is Beatriz’s story about the way her life changed in the wake of Fidel Castro’s rise to dictator in Cuba and the political turmoil that wrecked the lives of many Cuban people.

From the very first lines of the book, the reader is confronted with the bold, captivating, spunky heroine, Beatriz. Her personality and story are quite different from Elisa’s, and I can understand why Cleeton chose to tell Elisa’s story first. It allowed more space to get into the history of Cuba and the Perez family, allowing Beatriz’s story to take flight.

“The thing about collecting marriage proposals is they’re much like cultivating eccentricities. One is an absolute must for being admired in polite—or slightly less-than-polite—society. Two ensure you’re a sought-after guest at parties, three add a soupcon of mystery, four are a scandal, and five, well, five make you a legend.”

Beatriz is, if nothing else, a legend! Like Elisa, Beatriz lost so much when her family was forced to leave Cuba. As the Perez family adjusts to their life in Miami, Beatriz is gripped by her anger at Fidel Castro, who is responsible for her brother’s murder. She’s at the age and of a status where marriage should be her goal, but Beatriz isn’t interested in courtship.

“Dreams never die all at once. They die in pieces, floating a little farther and farther away each day.”

But that doesn’t mean the men on the Palm Beach social circuit aren’t interested in Beatriz. In fact, its on the night of her fifth engagement (legend status unlocked) that Beatriz meets a handsome senator who will change everything. Beatriz ends up being pulled to help infiltrate part of Castro’s inner circle.

“If I’m going to have regrets in this life, I’d rather them be for the chances I took and not the opportunities I let slip away.”

As Beatriz puts her life at risk to try and aid a takedown of Castro, she can’t help but fall in love with the handsome senator, Nick. This is a couple that shouldn’t work (after all, Nick is married when they initially meet), but they are a match. Love is like that, sometimes. However, if you’re expecting this book to be a romance novel, you may be setting yourself up for a different book than what this is. This is an historical espionage novel, much more focused on the revolution in Cuba and what is going on with Fidel Castro. It just also happens to have a love story.

“The truth is, time is a luxury—yes. But like so many other luxuries in life, it is best savored rather than gorged.”

A politically-charged, powerful work of historical fiction, you’ll find when you were done that you were getting a history lesson on the Cuban Revolution without realizing it! If you’re anything like me, you’ll be so engrossed in the glitz, glamour, and drama of Beatriz Perez that you won’t be able to put the book down.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Beatriz and her family are Cuban exiles trying to rebuild their reputation in Florida during the 1960s. While Beatriz is popular, her goal with the help form the CIA, is to go undercover and infiltrat Fidel Castro’s inner circle- and be the one to assassinate him for the good of her homeland. Another great historical fiction form Cleeton.

Beatriz Perez is a woman with an ax to grind. Her brother was murdered in the Cuban Revolution and she wants Fidel Castro to pay. Now living in Palm Beach, Beatriz is approached by the CIA to become a spy while at the same time she is intrigued by Nick Preston, a rising political star. This book was fantastic- although a little slow to start, it really captured the early 1960s in South Florida and the Cuban exiles. I love reading about historical events that I know little about and this really made me want to learn more. Chanel Cleeton does an amazing job creating dynamic, complex characters. I do recommend you read Next Year in Havana, although it's not necessary, as it really makes this story even stronger.

Another automatic buy when it comes to this author. I am loving the story of this family and how the author weaves us through this era. I highly recommend this book to any and everyone. I like how the spin the author adds to the facts of this event.

After falling in love with Chanel Cleeton’s first Cuban tale, Next Year in Havana, I could not WAIT to get my hands on this follow up and she did not disappoint. I loved every single minute of this book.

The tale of the Perez sisters and their journey continues with Beatriz’s story in this emotional, lushly described, wonderful story. A strong, ahead-of-the-times heroine on a journey filled with turmoil, emotion, romance, and thrills had me glued to each page. This is a book for every fellow booklover out there!

Thank you, Ms. Cleeton, for another stellar read!

I loved everything about this book. Cleeton's storytelling is amazing and I loved seeing more adventures of the sisters.

I was premature in my request for this title. I requested this and then took the time to read the first in series in order to have context for this read. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the first in this series and did not start to read this one.

Thank you for the opportunity and my apologies for not following through.

I have chosen not to give feedback on this title, which is probably pretty obvious as it was released almost 2 years ago.

My apologies for the delay. I don't want to rate/review titles that don't work for me when they are close to release or available on NetGalley, but it seems I forgot to go back and update the DNF status.

As always, I appreciate the opportunity to read and review.

Laura

Absolutely loved this book, the forbidden romance kept me at the edge of my seat! I loved Next Year in Havana but this one I might have loved slightly more. It had me smelling sea breezes fruity drinks and craving Latin food!

Thank you, Berkley, for our gifted review copy.

Oh, I am so loving this series! Next Year in Havana is so atmospheric, tense & beautiful. This one is a bit different. The espionage aspect threw me a bit for a loop but certainly added some tension. I loved Beatriz & this was definitely a different side of her. Also, the setting of Miami vs. Cuba is an adjustment.

That being said, GIVE ME MORE! I can't wait for The Last Train To Key West. These stories are just so great and Chantel is a beautiful writer.

This book continues the story of the Perez family as they try to make a new life in the U.S. when they escape from Cuba. Beatriz Perez was an intriguing figure from Cleeton’s first book, and this was a fantastic dive into her story. Beatriz is everything you want a heroine to be, and this book invests you in her story right from the beginning. I highly recommend!

I didn't love this one as much as the first but it was still a nice read. It moved a little slow in the beginning but did a nice job of telling some of the backstory which would make this book a stand alone if a reader wanted to pick this one up first.

The history, the politics, and of course Beatriz made this book. If you enjoy historical fiction with a flair for the dramatic and a good dose of romance, you will enjoy this book.

I remember when I finished reading Next Year in Havana a year ago, I got an awful book-hangover because I fell hopelessly in love with Elisa and Marisol’s stories and I could not believe I would have to leave their extravagant world behind. By the way, the fact that Camila Caballo’s Havana was being played non-stop on radio stations at that time certainly added to the fact that it ended up being one of my favourite reads of last year. When I heard that Cleeton had another book coming out focusing on another Perez sister, I knew that i.) I had to read it and ii.) it would be really hard to live up to the first book. I never quite connected with Beatríz in the first book in the way I connected with Elisa since she was a little bit too reckless in my opinion so I was curious to see if the author could convince me otherwise. Spoiler: If Elisa’s story was a tornado sweeping off your feet, then Beatriz’s was one of fire burning you from the inside. Passionate, adventurous, loving and fierce — these are only some words trying to capture the essence of When We Left Cuba.

Just a little background: Forced to flee her native country Cuba for the US with her family, Beatriz suddenly finds herself in a life she never wanted for herself. Somehow belonging in but not really, scrutinised by the society for being different, surviving on her family’s assets in the US but not truly living, she naturally just feels like any queen who has been pushed down from her throne (in her case, the throne in Havana): Hurt, betrayed and bored. You can smell it from the first page that trouble has its way of finding her, and unfortunately, she likes trouble just as much. Inevitably she is more than willing to join when she is approached by the CIA to assassinate Fidel. From then on, it is a sweeping story leading the reader from Florida to Washington D.C., then to London over Havana and eventually back to Miami. As we follow Beatriz’s journey to fight for her kind of justice, and eventually her love, you can’t help but fall in love with her headstrong and fierce character. I don’t think I had so much fun reading a character’s voice in a while — unique, refreshing and without filter, she just states things the way they are.
While I really enjoyed the book’s very unconventional plot, I could not help but wonder if these types of events really happened (just the fact that a single girl is supposed to kill Fidel? Loco…). You can tell though that Cleeton put a lot of research into her book, something that she also addresses in the afterword, mixing fiction with reality so seamlessley by capturing the time’s zeitgeist. This book is full of life and it is like a collection of strong emotions, grave historical events and strong characters. Another thing I really enjoyed was how Cleeton sometimes added present-day chapters to the book that is mostly set in the 1960s. While it was pretty clear for me from the beginning to where the story is going, it definitely added some tender and sweet moments to the whole story, poking at possible turnouts of events which makes the reader even more eager to find out what other things Beatriz has up in her sleeves.

Final thoughts: When We Left Cuba is a tragical at times, heart-wrenching for most of the parts but ultimately hard-to-resist book, and while it definitely is not an easy story because of the raw political and social events at that time, it was a powerful story of loyalty, passion and female empowerment, making you race through the book in no time.
Seeing Beatriz grow, mature and becoming the strong lady we eventually see in the final chapters of the book, set against the retro and nostalgic backdrop of America’s old money political elite, is like tasting a sweet forbidden wine — unique and unforgettable.

I fell in love with Next Year In Havana telling anyone and everyone that they had to read it. At the end of it was a little snippet from Beatriz's perspective that kind of dropped a bombshell on readers. Waiting for an entire year to get the whole story was not easy but it was so worth it!

Where Next Year In Havana played on nostalgia, When We Left Cuba is all about malcontent followed by action. Beatriz was never satisfied being a socialite and behaving like a proper lady - much to her mother's chagrin - in the hopes of capturing a husband. It wasn't what she enjoyed doing in Cuba either and it certainly is not something she likes doing in America even if means securing her status here. Her end goal has always been to go back home. America is a temporary stop. Most of her passion and hatred for Castro is fueled by her twin brother's murder at the hands of the man who controls her beloved country. She has deigned to take on her brother's mantel and work with rebels who seek to depose Castro. It's a dangerous road to go down on but Beatriz has never been a rule follower and signs on to work covertly with the CIA. She's not going to sit idly by while her country suffers. In a case of bad timing, Beatriz has attracted the attention of a young US senator, Nicholas "Nick" Preston whose star is on the rise. Only he's spoken for but it doesn't stop those longing gazes and brief stolen moments they steal for themselves.

There's a recurring theme throughout the novel (other than Castro must go) and it's Beatriz's determination to not be defined by the men in her life. She adamantly refuses to be controlled by anyone and demands to be seen as an equal capable of making her own decisions and taking on danger should she choose to do so. There's also a relative amount of suspense considering the espionage and political climate of the era, and she finds herself in the midst of some incredibly sensitive or volatile situations. Her affair with Nick provides a counterbalance to all the plotting she gets embroiled in. Their contrasting perspectives on Cuba and the American government's involvement are the constant background to their own drama.

At some point Beatriz's fierce declarations of revenge against Castro become repetitive but it's also understandable. Her body is in Palm Beach but her heart is in Cuba so she's never felt truly at home in America. She feels displaced and helpless, so her anger is what she can hold on to to give her purpose. Granted, she and her family are financially in far better shape than many of their countryman who escaped. I think she comes to realize it as time wears on and she sees how in some ways she was insulated from what a lot of Cubans faced.

Cleeton's writing evokes the glamourous and tense atmosphere of that era. She had me envisioning the vibrant settings and sounds, and more than that, she gave me a history lesson. What I knew of the Cold War was solely from history class and honestly, I don't remember much of it. What she's done here is personalize these events, seeing them through the eyes of those displaced by the revolution. I remember from Next Year in Havana the mention of a sense of heavy guilt for leaving and also for not staying to fight. Cleeton made these challenges personal and reminded me of the people who were affected, whose lives were uprooted and who had to lay down new roots uncertain of what the future would hold, uncertain of whether to call America home or hold out hope that they would go home.

~ Bel

I loved Next Year in Havana so much, so I was really excited for When We Left Cuba. I didn’t have strong feelings about Beatriz before this book, but I loved her strong, brave, independent character in Cuba.

It’s not often we get to follow a female secret agent and read a story of a female involved in politics, so I really enjoyed that aspect. I also liked learning more about the dynamic of Cuba and the US during the 60s. It was interesting that the assassination of JFK was included in this book.

It has been a year since I read Havana and while I really loved that book, I don’t remember everything about it. For that reason, I totally think this book works as a stand-alone.

While I preferred Next Year in Havana, I greatly enjoyed this second installment by Cleeton and hope she continues with this series.

I love this book, its predecessor and its author!!!!!!
I connected with these characters on many levels and at times felt like I was in Cuba!
Wonderful books :)

This is a companion novel done right! We loved Beatriz and her struggle, love, and heritage. With a dose of forbidden love, turbulent backdrop, and a satisfying ending, this makes for a perfect end-of-summer (or fall, or winter, or spring!) read,

Chanel Cleeton has done it again! I absolutely loved her first book - Next Year in Havana - and this follow-up does not disappoint! When We Left Cuba focuses on Elisa's strong-willed sister Beatriz once the family has left Cuba for South Florida. I loved her first book for the history of the island and for teaching me about life in Cuba. This book focuses on the early years of Castro's rule as seen by exiles and on the Cubans in American who want to do something about it. If Cuba, or Fidel Castro, or espionage interest you then this is right up your alley! It is published by Penguin Random House and Berkley Publishing Group.

What happens when a young (and pretty) girl keeps her loyalty to her country (Cuba) first but still cannot give up her passion for an American man whose political loyalty and career are on a different track than hers? She gets into a passionate affair with the said man and preaches about how unfair it is to women but happily rund to her man when things do not work out for her.


What I loved about the book was the setting: said girl has escaped to the US after Castro takes over Cuba and she is hellbent on destroying him for the suffering wrought on her family. She is conveniently put through to the CIA who wants her to seduce Castro and then kill him. All she is given for the not much of the plan are lots of money and how to make drops for the information she collects: she is not given any self defense lessons much less any training on how to tackle anyone physically.

I liked the historical backdrop: the rise of Castro in Cuba and in the world stage: the tensions in the American leadership following Castro’s visit to America and the subsequent Bay of Pigs fiasco. But the plot is too far fetched and contrived, the romance too shallow to bring in any emotional depth. I would say, this works for a one time read.