I loved the first two books this series from Adriana Herrera, unfortunately I think I waited too long to read the final books and I’m not in the right mood now. I will try this title again at a later point. DNF for now.

Another winner from Adriana Herrera!! I love this series so much. Real and authentic romance - more please!

As a Haitian immigrant Patrice Denis has fought prejudice in the legal and academic realms his whole life. He grew up in NYC with his loving mother, and crew of loyal friends, but he’s not beyond the struggle just because he’s now a young professor in Albany, New York. His experiences with law enforcement have always been fraught, and it seems that profiling incidents between the police and young men of color in and around Albany are escalating to problematic levels. Patrice is also struggling with his attraction to Easton Archer, a white assistant DA who seems to be filling his head, despite his wishes. Easton is charming and earnest, but can he truly understand the struggle of a Black man–an immigrant man–when he works for the justice system?

Patrice has held himself so close and so tight for so long, but Easton’s willing to shoulder some of his worries. But, when people who don’t have a voice are put at risk, well, Patrice is sure that Easton will let him down. Further, when the police seem to target Patrice, it’s not a question of tolerance, but one of justice, and one that Easton may not be able to manage.

This book got to me on many levels. There is a scorching love story between Easton and Patrice that is full-on absorbing. But the social justice themes, with Patrice–an educated and articulate man of color–having troubling interactions with police opened the conversation further about prejudice and racial profiling. This book was published in 2019, before George Floyd and the 2020 summer of the BLM marches, so we can see that these themes have been part of the culture and media of POC and mainstream urban folk for a long time. I guess, I mean to say this book didn’t arise out of the BLM movement, but speaks to a formalized and ingrained struggle that POC and immigrants have experienced time out of mind. Easton’s response was very white suburban–and it absolutely revealed the power of white privilege that Patrice was so vehemently fighting against.

While it seems so odd-couple, the plain truth is these were two amazing male characters with a lot of love, and a desperate need to find and expose injustice to better society as well as their own lives. Their passion and compassion made for a romance that has me still recalling details now nearly two years after I read the book. They are strong, and kind and just, and they love one another, beyond the deep divides of institutionalized racism and culture. Highly recommend.

I did not finish this story. I don't like books that have bullying as a main plot point and the antagonist is just an awful bully, so I couldn't finish.
That said, it is well written and I enjoyed parts of it,so it is a good choice for people who don't have an issue with bully plots.

An extremely relevant read. Patrice is an outspoken professor who's just taken a new job. He definitely did NOT move to town for Easton, the assistant DA with whom he had a brief fling the previous year. Even if they have great chemistry, and even if Easton finds him a terrific apartment (that happens to be in the same building where he lives). Patrice doesn't have time for distractions, and Easton is one big, gorgeous distraction.

This is the most issues-driven story in the American Dreamers series. The local police are stopping Black drivers for minor infractions, and Patrice and Easton find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. Herrera handles the issues with sensitivity, and I only wish real people could resolve their differences with as much maturity as do the characters here.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review.

DNF
At this time, I'm no longer interested in this title. Thank you for the opportunity to read the book and I apologize for the inconvenience.

This is the third book in Herrera's "Dreamers" series. I really liked her first book -- it was on my Best Books list last year -- so I was looking forward to this one, but this was less successful. It has many of the hallmarks of Herrera's books: found family, characters interested in social justice, and some politics.

Haitian-American Patrice is first generation immigrant and an economics professor who joins Cornell's faculty. He is aware that part of his reason for accepting this post is that his summertime hookup, assistant district attorney, Easton, also lives in Ithaca. Easton is interested in picking up where they left off, but Patrice shuts him down initially. How can his research and activism in systemic racism and racial justice be compatible with dating a Caucasian prosecutor. "I have literally spent the last ten years of my life studying and writing about how the system that Easton works every day to uphold is weaponized to keep people like me in chains. How do I reconcile that?"

So while they're dancing around their relationship even as they keep meeting up at friends' houses, when Patrice tells Easton that he’s having trouble finding a permanent place to live, Easton offers him an apartment in the building he owns. So far so good. Herrera has sketched out very interesting characters, and the story is off to a great start. What unfortunately sank the story was the navel gazing and back-n-forth "I want him / I want him not" both characters indulge in over and over again. Some of it is a given in romance as in real life, but this is a large part of the book, which made it tough to read because you want the characters to move on and grow and mature. While the other stakes in the story are really high -- immigration, racial profiling, and police harassment -- the romance is not as well developed as I usually expect of Herrera.

I've really liked this book and enjoyed it a lot. I have reread it several times so far. I don't know how accurate the rep is, as I am while, but I did love it so much!

Now more than ever, this book is especially important and I think everyone should read it. Patrice and Easton have a beautiful love story that is set in the trauma and pain in an accurate depiction of today's world. This is a beautiful and painful story all at the same time.

*~~*ARC kindly provided from the publisher/author to me for an honest review *~~*

Full review to come

5 stars

Stevie‘s review of American Love Story (Dreamers, Book 3) by Adriana Herrera
Contemporary Multicultural Gay Romance published by Carina Press 07 Oct 19

The various racial and societal tensions that have been bubbling in the background of this series finally come to the surface in this book, as our latest pairs of heroes face opposition from institutional biases, as well as from bigoted family members. Centre-stage are the third member of the friends group we have been following throughout the books so far, Haitian-born Patrice Denis, and the man he met while helping out his friend Nesto last summer, local resident and assistant district attorney Easton Archer. Now Patrice has accepted a post at Cornell, it’s inevitable that the pair will run into each other. However, Patrice’s political activism and long history of protecting the most vulnerable in society is likely to lead to clashes with privileged white boy Easton, no matter that Easton turned his back on his wealthy family to pursue a law career on his own merit. And that’s just the start of their problems…


Patrice has been staying with Nesto and Jude while an apartment becomes available, but is feeling like a bit of a gooseberry, as delays force him to stay ever longer. Having mentioned this to Easton when they bump into each other, Patrice is in two minds whether to take a look at an available apartment in the building where Easton lives, more so when it transpires that Easton owns the whole building. Eventually the pair become neighbours and soon resume their relationship from the previous year. Meanwhile, two of the young refugees whom Nesto is mentoring have begun a relationship of their own, but are having to sneak around due to the homophobia in one of their households.

When reports start reaching the pair separately that local police officers are stopping young black drivers disproportionately, they both take action in their own way, although Easton’s more placatory methods lead to him clashing with the passionately political Patrice. And then the police actions start to affect Patrice and his friends directly…

While I enjoyed this book a lot, it still didn’t hit the heights of the first in the series. I think I was a little blindsided by some of the US-centric aspects of the story: academia and law enforcement are very different over there than in the UK, and so I found it tricky at times to follow all the nuances of the subplots. That said, I loved the characters, especially the way Patrice was not at all a conventional professor, and Easton was more than just a rich boy rebelling against his background. Definitely looking forward to seeing how this series wraps up, although I’ll miss all the characters when we finally have to leave them to get on with their new lives without us.

Grade: B

Adriana always knocks it out of the park, and this was no different. I absolutely loved this book, and I know it's an instant re-read.

Ahh, this book was so lovely! I've loved Adriana Herrera's Dreamers series and this book was just as excellent as the first two. The chemistry between Patrice and Easton was perfect, and it was so satisfying to see them get their happy ending together.

I love love love love this series and never want it to end! I liked that there was so much focus on actually making the relationship work and not tons of unnecessary drama

What I love about this book is that it’s a ‘we’re on opposite sides’ book done in the best way possible. Because Patrice and Easton are not actually on opposite sides and let’s be real – in 2019/2020 most of us cannot handle reading books that brush aside the very real issues of racism or homophobia of police violence. Herrera not only doesn’t brush aside those issues but confronts them extremely head on AND includes Afro-Latinx friends getting HEAs.

Patrice is a Black economics professor and a very active activist, fighting for justice, whereas Easton is an ADA in Ithaca, where there has been a recent run of police discrimination and racism. The conflict between these two managed to be extremely real and relevant to current events, but also balanced with their steamy romance. There’s so much complexity and nuance to this story and Herrera managed it extremely well.

This book was so fantastic. The author did a great job of bridging the worlds of the characters in a realistic way. She allowed a man of color to show a vulnerability that is not always seen in Black men. Found family, strong family and friend relationships make this book one of the best of the year.

Herrera can always be relied on to write a fresh, distinctive romance, and this one is no different. I have read the other books in this series, but I don't think you need to in order to enjoy this one, even though the two protagonists make previous appearances.

I did find Patrice a bit annoying on occasion, but then he's only human, so I suppose I can forgive him. Overall, the romance here was endearing and believable, and the dynamic between him and Easton was authentic. I love a good opposites attract narrative, and this was a good 'un. I'd be interested to see what Herrera does after this series!

I quite like this series. The bond between the friends and their families is amazing. I love that all the boys are getting their own happiness. This time around we finally get Patrice Denis & Easton Archer story. Patrice and Easton first meet in book one and behind the scenes you knew something was going on, but wasn't sure. Now we get to find out what was happening behind the scenes and what is now at the forefront.

Patrice is a professor and an activist with strong emphasis on the activist. As he's this part of himself as a shield to his happiness. Since Easton is a prosecutor that causes some issues between them. For Easton he can see the potential of him and Patrice but he has to convince Patrice of this and that will be his biggest fight of his life.

" . . . Isn't it better to just say, 'I can see your pain and you can see mine. Let's find ways to fix both.'"

I liked Patrice and Easton together. Though Patrice being a martyr at times and his protective emotional armor got a bit tiresome.

"Patrice, son, why do you look for ways to cheat yourself? Don't let my mistakes cost you your happiness."

Thankfully his friends and family were able to help soften his shell and convince him to be open and vulnerable to love.

Patrice and Easton!

Ever since I read the very first book, American Dreamer, I've been waiting for this story! A wonderful opposites attract romance that balances the love story and Herrera's passionate stance on political issues. It would be easy to let the romance get buried, but it shines through. Patrice and Easton might be my favorite couple in this series!

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series so I already knew I'd enjoy this newest installment to the Dreamers series. And I was right!

I will have to admit, though, that while I didn't get all of the political themes (bec we have a v different experience where we're coming from) I appreciate that those issues are included in this story. The intensity of it adds to the romantic tension, as well as both the MC's respective personal character developments and it made it beautifully layered.

The pacing in the beginning was slow (but maybe that's just due to me being familiar with most of the characters already), but once I got to the 30-40% part, I was hooked and I usually don't like v intense books but Patrice and Easton's chemistry and romance was so compelling. And I loved how the drama was always lying under the surface, that I just couldn't stop reading until all that tension explodes at the height of the climax! And boy, the way they figure out how to put the pieces back, to put their relationship together after the Big Fight is SO GOOD! 🥰🥰🥰

So yeah, I'll recommend this to those who like their romance with social activism and with nuggets of wisdom all over it. It is a v intense read though, and please check the CWs before proceeding. Solid 4 ⭐s
•
*I received this eARC from the publisher thru NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!