Alexis Daria writes an amazing romcom that immerses her readers into the glamorous telenovela world, and the sizzling hot chemistry on and off screen between Ashton Suarez and Jasmine Lin Rodriguez, the two LatinX stars of a brand new telenovela CARMEN IN CHARGE.

Jasmine who identifies as a Nuyorican, part Puerto Rican from New York, and whose grandmother is from the Philippines, is casted as the leading lady by ScreenFlix, the number one streaming service in the country. Ashton, whose character was just killed off in another telenovela, was added last minute, and he has much to prove to make sure his career isn’t dead. He is older and wants to realize his Hollywood dreams.

I found Daria’s writing fun, sexy and sizzling hot! I love both Jasmine and Ashton’s chemistry and their backstories. I enjoyed the creativity of getting two stories, one on screen with Carmen and Victor, and off screen with Jasmine and Ashton. It was swoon worthy and I just loved binging on this.

I also had the opportunity to listen to this as an audiobook and was beautifully narrated by #seraphinevalentine Thank you to @librofm and @harperaudio

"Leading Ladies don't need a man to be happy."

I have been seeing You Had Me At Hola all over bookstagram lately, and I can finally say that I understand the hype. The book was soo good.

Firstly, the plot of the book was perfectly crafted. I’ve obviously read books about characters who are famous in real life, but You Had Me At Hola added a new dimension to this particular trope. The book features scenes that happen on screen, as well as behind the scenes stuff too. It was really fascinating to see Jasmine and Ashton, our male and female lead, play their respective roles on the show that they’re working on together. The chemistry that they shared won my heart. I love it when we get to see couples in books grow together, and I am so happy that this was the case in You Had Me At Hola.

I loved Jasmine so, so much. Her friendly nature, along with her passion towards building a stable career was really admirable. I loved how she worked hard to show that she was more that someone who appeared on tabloid covers for the wrong reasons. Her character flourished throughout the storyline – she went from being someone who needed validation from others to be happy, to being a strong woman perfectly capable to feel happy on her own terms.

I needed a little more time to warm up to Ashton though. It was mainly because of his closed off-nature, but I got used to it when the background story got revealed. I read somewhere that there aren’t a lot of contemporary books that deal with anxiety from the male lead’s side, and I realized how true that was. This made me appreciate how the author chose to represent anxiety through Ashton’s life.

Alexis Daria’s writing style is very captivating as well, and that really helped me connect to Ashton and Jasmine easily. The emotions that both of them felt were so realistically expressed through their respective POVs. The Latinx representation in the book was spot-on as well. I loved reading about their culture, it was such a lovely bonus!

This book gave me romcom, telenovela, heart, and fire! It came out earlier this month and I definitely recommend it to any romance fans.
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CW: Sexually Explicit Scenes, Home Invasion, Slut Shaming, Alcohol Use, Grief

the absolute pleasure of reading this delight of a story cannot be overstated. you had me at hola finds a secretive telenovela star crossing paths with an up-and-coming soap star and all the fireworks happening.

their meet-cute is a total meet-disaster, but there's something between them from first bump. of course jasmine is coming off a bad break-up, and she's also a bit of a insta-relationship kind of girl. while ashton (or angel luis) is cautious about letting people in, having dealt with a violent stalker he's very cagey about his personal life.

so cagey that basically no one in the world knows about his secret son. a revelation that might not be handled well by jasmine. partly because in jasmine's world, everything is about familia. she would be lost without her primas.

bur once jasmine and ashton figure out how to communicate it's all magic. everything about this book was magic. i'm just obsessed with it.

**you had me at hola will publish on august 4, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/harper collins (avon) in exchange for my honest review.

There are romances with celebrities that emphasize the fame and the fortune — and then there are the (better) ones that emphasize the work. Like Anna Zabo’s Twisted Wishes series or Lucy Parker’s London Celebrities, Alexis Daria’s YOU HAD ME AT HOLA (Avon, paper, $15.99) is a story of two working actors who pour themselves into their craft: drilling lines and choreography, fine-tuning emotions, doing 17 full takes of the kissing scene.

Jasmine Lin Rodriguez, reeling from a breakup, has landed the lead in a new Latinx series for a major streaming service. Her co-star Ashton Suarez is trying to make the leap from telenovelas to Hollywood while keeping quiet the fact that he has an 8-year-old son. The hero’s secret baby (nice twist!) is a wonderful source of tension: Ashton is a busy actor but a loving father, and protecting his son gives him a reason to be wary and closed-off that’s more engaging than garden-variety alpha arrogance.

The buildup here is exquisite. Jasmine and Ashton slowly grow closer until the reader is aching for them to just go for it already. “In her, he recognized a loneliness that resonated with his own.” Swoon. A solid 7.5 on the angst scale, and an absolutely pitch-perfect summer escape.

You Had Me At Hola is a book that will draw you in just like your favorite Netflix drama! Jasmine is excited to get the lead role on a new bilingual series on the most popular streaming service (think Netflix). She’s less excited that her breakup with a rockstar is all over the front of the tabloids.

Jasmine gets together with her cousins and they make a list of how a Leading Lady would live her life - which does not include public breakups. She’s determined not to fall into the same romantic mistakes she’s made in the past.

Ashton is cast as the leading man and he’s determined to have this role be his jump from telenovellas to being a household name. He needs this to be a hit though. He also has a secret he’s been keeping from the media for years.

There were many things I loved about this book - the way scenes from the show were handled in the book, the portrayal of both of their relationships with their families and their chemistry. There was a trope involved that I normally don’t like but I felt like it was handled really well. I miss Jasmine and Ashton already and can’t wait to read the next books in the series.

Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for the free advance reading copy.

Loved it! A fresh romance with interesting characters, compelling story lines, and great love scenes. I already know which library patrons I will be recommending this book to. More please!

The characters in this book, main characters of Jasmine and Ashton and including Jasmine and Ashton's family were so intricate and beautifully written that right from the first page, they just sucked me into their story. I also love the story within the story which in turn made Ashton and Jasmine's story seem richer and sexier. The love making scenes between the both of them are straight up fire. I really enjoyed this story about two working actors, especially as we got a chance to get a small peek in their lives rather than just watch them on TV or in theaters. I would highly recommend this book.

* I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins and Alexis Darias for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
I want to give this book a thorough review because I think there were so many fantastic, fresh takes in it!
I loved the diversity here! I often think about how whitewashed the romance genre is. I feel like until recently we hardly saw a POV in a lead romance role! I don’t think I have read books with leads from Mexico and Cuba, but Puerto Rico was a new POV for me and I’m grateful for a fresh take. I am born and raised in Iowa and I know Puerto Rico citizens are far too often left out of the United States narrative. I will admit, before Maria, I hadn’t known much about Puerto Rico, but I quickly did what I could to educate myself. I can’t help thinking these kinds of miseducations wouldn’t happen if we gave the Latin community the same opportunities in the media... t.v., movies, music and books! There are so many stories to be told and way too many people who aren’t hearing them.

One thing, in my opinion, that Alexia Daris got very right were the intimate scenes. There were great conversations about consent throughout the entire book. On the show set, they brought in a intimacy coach, something that we only really started hearing about about the #MeToo movement. The characters went on to use the communication skills they learned there to connect outside of work. The sex scenes in this one were just the right blend of steamy without sliding into the erotica hole. Condos are a very standard staple of most romance sex scenes, but I don’t think i’ve read many that talked about lube. I just appreciated the very real look at a typical sex life for some! Too often there is a lack of sexual diversity.

I have to admit, I didn’t totally feel the love here. Lust? Yes. Like? Definitely. But I just wish the leads in romances didn’t feel the need to declare their undying love after such a short time dating. Instant love has never been my thing, though there is a large audience for this troupe! I just didn’t really feel a deep connection between these two. I was about 30% through the book before I realized that Ashton was almost 40, I was picturing them much younger based on their romantic maturity.

When the book started, their meet-cute had instant chemistry and great banter. I loved Jasmine’s wit. Sadly I feel like we lost that as soon Jasmine started to crush on Ashton. She starts the book in the midst of a messy breakup and creates a Leading Lady list with her girlfriends. But she was a pretty weak character, something she knew about herself and really didn’t do anything to change in my opinion! Ashton never grew on me, but we never really got to know him. I would’ve liked to see more of his life in Puerto Rico and see him open up more. I think Jasmine deserved better at the time, but I have hope Ashton’s character was working toward being that better.

I appreciated the mention of PTSD, anxiety, and therapy. I appreciate authors feeling comfortable being open and honest about mental health! I do wish we’d gotten a little more of that then the bit we did in the epilogue, but any exposure is good exposure!

All in all, Alexis Daris’ book You Had Me At Hola is a feel-good, contemporary romance that brings you to the fast paced and drama filled world of Telenovelas and the people behind the scenes of bringing those stories to life. Alexis Daris should be on your must-read list!

Jasmine is the leading lady in a new Jane the Virgin-like telenovela-for-American-audiences show at ScreenFlix. And it couldn't come at a better time: she can focus more on the job and less on her messy break-up that has been all over the tabloids. Ashton is the romantic lead on the show, which he hopes will be his foot-in-the-door to Hollywood after filming telenovelas in Miami for years. But Ashton has a secret that could topple his rise to fame, his blooming relationship with Jasmine, and more.

If you like Jane the Virgin and/or One Day at Time (the newer version), this book is for you! It's got awesome Latinx representation, messy family dynamics, steamy scenes, and emotional vulnerability. More books like this, please!

On the chaste to steamy scale, it's an 7.5.

Divers reads:
- Jasmine's dad is Puerto Rican and her mom is Filipino.
- Ashton grew up in Puerto Rico, and Spanish is his first language.
- Most of the cast and crew of Carmen in Charge is Latinx
- One of the very tertiary characters is trans.

Mental health:
- Ashton has anxiety and PTSD. They play a small part in the story and in the epilogue, it mentions that he is getting help for them.
- Jasmine struggles with appropriate responses to her what she considers her parents' and siblings' disappointment of her job. In the epilogue, it mentions that she goes to therapy for this, as well as to stop self-soothing with alcohol. However, I didn't get the impression that she did that when I read the story.

5 Estrellas!!!
I can’t even begin to express my giddiness while reading this book. It spoke to me on so many levels. I just LOVED it.

Jasmine has received an amazing opportunity as a lead in new show on a popular streaming service. This comes on the heels of a messy break-up for her and it’s a welcome distraction.

Ashton has been successful in his own right through his multiple leading rolls in telenovelas. Seeking to branch out into Hollywood, Carmen in Charge, is just the roll to do so.

As the pair start working together, the physical chemistry was undeniable, but it was refreshing to see how they had to work to earn that closeness they needed to make their acting better.
You can tell the author really put effort into this and did her research, which I appreciated.

I loved all the Latin culture references and how seamlessly it just fit into the story. Nothing was forced; it just came naturally.
I related to Jasmine so much when expressed her nervousness about not being fluent in Spanish. It’s always been an insecurity of mine as a half Mexican-American that I too, am not fluent. But I’ve been working on it all this year. (Thanks Quarantine 🙄😂)
I also identified with her being mixed and how that affected her upbringing. It’s so refreshing to see someone like yourself reflected in the books you read.

I loved her family and how everyone was in everyone’s business. It made for some hilarious moments. PLEASE, we need her cousins stories up next! I adored them both!

Ashton and Jasmine had the sweetest connection and their dialogue flowed so well. There were some secrets, as with any good telenovela, but I think it was handled in a way that fit the story. Did it make want to pull my hair out? Yes. But like I said, it was resolved in manner that was genuine to the story.
I loved this story, it swept me away on a romantic journey that was rich with culture, love and heartwarming feels. Definitely recommended!

As per usual, I finished an Alexis Daria novel and was aghast I don’t have any more to read. You Had Me at Hola was just as funny and deep and emotional as her self-published books and like always, I want more. I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Jasmine Lin Rodriguez begins the books in the tabloids because of her break up with one name rock legend, MacIntyre, and she is over it. She's about to start filming Carmen in Charge and comes up with a Leading Lady Plan to stay out of the press unless there's a good reason. Unfortunately for her, aloof and mysterious Ashton Suárez draws her interest without even trying. And Ashton himself is a single-father desperate to avoid the media spotlight so, this is obviously a messy match.

One of the things at which Alexis Daria excels is creating characters where their motivations and characteristics feel so real and understandable that even when they're messing up or causing conflict, you really get it and understand why the characters are doing what they are. That was absolutely the case here. Even when I wanted to yell at Ashton to make better choices, I completely understood why these were choices he was making. I really cannot extol the virtues enough of Daria's ability to create characters.

Jasmine is also just such a fantastic heroine. I found her to be so relatable and I just adored her the most. From this line: “Jasmine tried not to take it personally, but taking things personally was one of her greatest skills.” to her sending out a text to her cousins that said, "Help. I've done something stupid." I just fell in love with her. Also, for those of you who would love to see more of the Latinx diaspora, this cast of characters delivers! Additionally, Jasmine has Filipino heritage in addition to Puerto Rican heritage. I also really loved the way Spanish was used in this book in multiple contexts. For one, it's not othered and for two, I really loved how Daria discusses the way not every Latinx person in the diaspora speaks Spanish.

And now to go reread Dance with Me because that little glimpse of Jess and Nik was just not enough. I need more. (Also, are we getting books about Jasmine's cousins??? I hope so!)

I didn't really understand Ashton's motivations during most of this. I didn't like the parts where they went to the scrutiny of the show and used the characters names but interspersed the real persons thoughts and feelings. It was confusing. I loved the cousins! They were hilarious. I also loved Jasmine. I really felt for her and enjoyed being in her POV. But I really wasn't a fan of Ashton. I didn't really connect with him or see what was so great about him.

You Had Me At Hola was such a fun romcom and the narrator was perfect for this book! Jasmine was an amazing main character and I loved watching her come into her own as a leading lady. Plus her family was so much fun (well... most of them). Also, her chemistry with Ashton was evident from their first meeting. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of Ashton at first, he started to grow on me once he started to open up a bit more.

I loved how Alexis Daria addresses the dark side of fame - paparazzi and stalkers - in this book. It felt so realistic and I liked how both main characters had to weigh what they were and were not okay with sharing with the general public. Overall, the plot was so delightfully over the top and enjoyable. Juxtaposing the acting scenes from Carmen In Charge with the actual story worked so well! The epilogue didn’t quite work for me but I did love the ending in general.

If you’re looking for a fun and engaging romantic comedy, definitely check this one out! I’m going to be keeping an eye out for any future books from Daria as well.

*Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this audiobook for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

It has been a MINUTE since I read a romance, and my soul was craaaaving it. This book was everything I needed: sexy, funny, heart-warming, and extremely swoon worthy. My only regret is I didn’t read it sooner!⁣
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You Had Me At Hola follows costars Jasmine, a soap star coming off a very public breakup, and Ashton, a telenovela star trying to make the jump to American TV. After a classically awkward rom-com meeting, these two are working on developing chemistry as on set love interests while their off screen chemistry is leaping off the charts.⁣
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This book was so goddamn charming. Jasmine is an incredible heroine who wears her heart on her sleeve and is desperate for love and affection (hi, relatable!). Ashton is a solemn hero traumatized by a past incident which he slowly works through and begins to open up. The steam was... out of this world good. I put my iPad down just to yell “HOLY SHIT” because it. Was. Intense!!! I loved both character’s families who were wonderful side characters that brought so much warmth and heart to the book. I’m desperately hoping Jasmine’s cousins get their own spin off books!⁣
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Beyond romance, this book covered the importance of consent by making consent explicit in sex scenes (consent has sexy!!!) as well as having scenes with an intimacy coordinator work with the actors to insure comfort. Lowkey, I would have loved a chapter from Vera’s perspective since she definitely knew these two were about to get it on. It talks about the importance of an all Latinx cast and crew discussing the importance of representation (shout out to Nico a side trans character!!) and slightly delves onto colorism in Latinx communities. This book had so much to offer beyond the romance, all the romance itself was TOP NOTCH!!⁣

This was such a great romance! I loved Ashton and Jasmine as characters, and I thought they were so great together as a couple. I also loved what this had to say about Latinx representation in the entertainment industry, and the difficulty of having a private life when you're a celebrity.

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.

Heat Factor: This sauce is spicy
Character Chemistry: Initial awkwardness leads to friendship leads to steam
Plot: Jasmine and Ashton are just running lines! They swear! Nothing to see here!
Overall: This is the wokest book I’ve ever read

Reading You Had Me At Hola was an interesting experience, because it made me question myself and my desires and really look at what I want in a romance novel.

Let’s start with the setting. Jasmine and Ashton are co-stars in a new Latinx TV show. I got major Jane the Virgin vibes, and pictured Ashton as Rogelio de la Vega the whole time I was reading. (He is the best character. Fight me.) Daria portrays an exceptionally positive work environment for her leads, where everyone is accepted and boundaries are not only respected, but explicitly discussed. And I was all about it, because portraying non-toxic workplaces in fiction is one of many tools we can use to normalize non-toxic workplaces in the world.

But then Ashton, our hero, would think things like this:

“He wanted to run back to her. To apologize, to spill all of his hopes and fears where Yadiel and his family were concerned.
But after all he’d said, he had no right to ask her for any more emotional labor on his behalf. They were done. And it was better this way.”

First of all, ugh, this angst. But second of all, him talking about not wanting to put that emotional labor on Jasmine just did not do it for me. Now, I want men (or people in general) in real life to recognize the emotional labor of those around them. And I am not all about the absolute cavemen that Erin loves; in fact, I generally prefer my romantic heroes to have at least some emotional literacy. But I still found Ashton’s emotional attention off-putting. So if I am down for manifesting the world we want to see in some aspects of fiction, why not in romantic heroes? My psyche demands answers!

In short, this book didn’t really work for me for purely personal reasons that I need way more space than a few hours of thinking and a 500 word review to unpack.

On a more objective level, You Had Me At Hola is pretty good. The pacing works - the story clips along with no saggy bits. Jasmine and Ashton have believable chemistry, and also believable reasons for holding back. Jasmine and Ashton have (mostly) supportive families, which is always nice to see. (Aside: speaking of psyches, I’ve discovered that I really appreciate it when romance novels feature protagonists who might be messy, but who have real support from the people in their lives. Not everyone has to be a sad sack orphan with no friends except mice to deserve a happily ever after.) And the diversity of the Nuyorican and Puerto Rican characters and their varied experiences was fascinating without being in your face.

I mostly liked it - I just didn’t swoon.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report. (8/11/2020)

This was amazing! The relationship between Jasmine and Ashton has its dark moments, and they definitely struggled to come together. I was delighted once they both realized what they wanted and HOW they could be together. There’s a secondary romance of sorts between their characters, Carmen and Victor. That was kinda fun...seeing them develop in their lives and on screen.

It also had a ton of positive friendships which I love in a romance.

So this novel isn't my first by this author but probably my fave of the three I've tried. There were things I liked that I thought I wouldn't; there were things I did not connect to that I thought I would.

Overall it was a really strong four and I hope she continues to write latinx male heroes for my enjoyment since they're what I don't see any much as latinx women in romance.

Likes:

I loved that Angel-Luis aka Ashton was a single dad. His path to fatherhood kinda sucked but he wore the tag well. I also loved that he was trying to break out into mainstream Hollywood. SInce he had an accent, it was relatively harder for him despite to me, him having a fairly white-presenting appearance, and he just wanted to do more and be seen more to normalize himself and his culture onscreen. I also loved the family dynamics on both he and Jasmine's end. Family was very present, extended included and it was awesome to see someone so family oriented in a romance novel.

I loved that both he and the heroine were in their 30's, as being there myself, it's nice to see people still trying to break out and not giving up because they're no longer in their 20's.

Jasmine wasn't bilingual, which I felt was realistic for some Mainland born PRs or latinx folx in general. It made her relatable but cool that they took a chance on her despite her linguistics skills.

I also loved that the transition from filming the show and being out of character wasn't confusing because I feared it would be. It was awesome they had an intimacy coordinator since in tv and film they're fairly new.

Things I didn't connect to:

As a Black latinx woman, I get my hopes up everytime that non-Black latinx folx will care enough about my representation as much as their own. Almost if not all the people had tans, hazel/green/light eyes and white presenting features. There was one "Afro-Latinx" person mentioned, but I noticed he was the only person lazily described as "Afro-Latinx" with no culture or physical attributes described, while every white or non-Black Latinx person was described in strong detail and by their cultures. It's like non-Black latinx folx really don't care about their most vulnerable and don't even try to hide it.

A conversation about colorism was a blink you miss it/missed opportunity that mainly centered on the most privileged characters(aka the least close to Black). I'm going to die on the hill that Blackness is just not something non-Black Latinx folx care about and they'd be content if all the latinx representation looked like Gina Rodriguez. Especially for this project to be a telenovela on a streaming service, that has more freedom than the racist/anti-black Spanish language channels, it just wasn't brave enough for me to challenge anti-blackness and we are just in these times where saying BLM isn't enough.

I also felt Jasmine being part filipino felt a little like a diversity checklist. She went out for SE Asian roles despite her physical appearance; to me that felt like the equivalent of light skinned people being in Black Panther. I would've liked more conversations about her navigating and having to validate both her SE Asian heritage and how that fit into Latinidad. Asian-Latinx folx DO NOT have it easy and they're not warmly celebrated or welcomed like white presenting and mixed-looking Latinx folx. There was something to delve in there that never got fully explored for me. She could've just been PR on both sides and it wouldn't have made her character read any different to me.

For as enjoyable as the book was, while I loved the acting aspect, I didn't feel like Jasmine and Ashton had any chemistry. They rarely went out on dates that didn't end up in nooky and they didn't make strong efforts to learn about one another outside of filming. In fact, 90% of their problems could have been solved with just actually having a conversation that wasn't work related. They suffered from serious lack of communication.

That could've been Ashton's fault because he was so guarded but that leads to my next point. He wasn't warm or charming for me. He felt super normal, which in a book about attorneys would have made sense but as actors, i didn't find him gregarious or warm or leading man worthy at times. Because he was a single dad, I excused his behavior most times but he never impressed me as a reader. Most times outside of physical attraction, it felt like they didn't have real chemistry.

Also because it's 3rd person, I'm pro-1st person. 3rd always feels tell vs show to me, but that could be a me problem. I also wished that their mental health had been addressed in more than the epilogue of the book.

Overall this was a super fun read.