I feel like I need to clarify that I really enjoyed the book and for real is one of my favorite reads through NetGalley, is the story of Anamaria and Alejandro, they dated when they were young and they breakout because their lives were taking them in different directions, but life brought them together, specially since Alejandro had an accident and it force him to go back home and face the results of his life changing decision...

That being said I loved the story, I loved the lead characters, it did an amazing job portraying the personalities of a latin house hold. The love story is so sweet but not unnecessary sweet.

Now my issue with this book is my issue with Latin stories by Latin authors, I understand that for some people in order to validate our stories, all the Spanish (or Portuguese) used by the characters on the story needs to be translated, and by all, I mean ALL, like: "Buenos días" "good morning he said", etc, This isn't a jab to the author who did an amazing job with the story, like I said I understand how the industry works and what latin authors needs to do in order to get their stories published.

That being said this book is amazing, if you can give it a chance you won't be let down if you are a romance lover like I am.

I recently read Priscilla Oliver's Island Affair (which I loved!) and immediately jumped into Anchored Hearts! This second novel in her Keys series did not disappoint. It has the same Key West island vibes of the first, great Cuban food descriptions, and an off-the-charts romance!

This time around, we see Luis' younger sister, Anamaría, reunited with her high school boyfriend, Alejandro. After a brutal break-up where Anamaría decided to stay in the Keys to be with her family following her father's heart attack and Alejandro decided to follow his dreams of being a photographer around the world, these two are not happy to be in the same room. But a brutal leg fracture forces Alejandro back to the Keys and the jurisdiction of their meddling moms...

This is a great, light, summer/beach reach, especially for fans of second-chance romance! I really enjoyed the pacing of this book, and felt it moved neither too fast nor too slow. Learning more about each MC's respective careers (Anamaría is building a fitness social media empire and Alejandro is an award-wining photographer) was also a cherry on top.

I know Oliveras has said Enrique's book is a long way off, but I hope it's sooner rather than later!

5 stars - 9/10

Thank you to Kensington/Zebra Books and NetGalley for my eARC! All opinions are my own.

Anchored Hearts by Priscilla Oliveras is the follow up book to Island Affair. It is a stand alone romance, but having read the author's first book gives a fuller picture of the Key West setting and the Cuban-American culture of the families. In this second chance trope storyline, firefighter and fitness influencer, Anamaria, checks in with her high school sweetheart, Ale, when he returns home after a decade as a photographer abroad when a freak accident leaves him injured. Throughout the story is a lot of mami meddling, protective brothers, and family needing to heal.

I enjoyed the overall storyline and it was nice to return to Key West's Latinix culture in this book. The author shows her love for the area's flora, climate, and culture. There is a lot of flashback writing in the book, which slows the pacing of the narrative and often becomes repetitive. I think a prologue would have been more effective to show the characters' history with one another. In addition, there is a lot of Spanish written into the dialogue, and the author does a fine job using context within the dialogue to define the words for non Spanish speakers. However, if you have any grasp of the language you may feel like you are backtracking in the conversations, like I did. Overall, I think this is a perfect vacation read that will put you in the mindset to visit the ocean and reconnect with family.

3.5 stars / Rated PG-13 (some graphic intimacy and off-page sexual content)

Advanced copy provided courtesy of the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. Available April 2021.

Alejandro is an award winning photographer who hasn’t been to his hometown on Key West in years. Now thanks to an injury he is back and stuck at home for months. To make matters worse, his family calls his paramedic ex-girlfriend to help with his recovery. They haven’t seen each other since they broke up ten years ago. The real question is has either of them really gotten over the heartbreak, or will seeing each other bring those feelings back?

It’s hard to believe, but this is a case where the sequel is even better than the first book. I was excited to pick this one up because I love Anamaria as a side character in Island Affair and I knew her story was going to be great, and it exceeded my expectations. This is a fun second-chance romance with a strong female lead and fun supporting characters. I love the families and their stories just as much as I loved the main characters.


Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Anchored Hearts will be released on April 27.

This book has me wanting to ignore all my responsibilities and hop a plane to Key West ASAP!
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Alejandro hasn’t been back home to Key West for years leaving behind his family and his girlfriend to pursue his photography career. After an injury has him sidelined he must return home to face his family, his ex-girlfriend and their meddling mamis.
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His ex-girlfriend Anamaria thought she put him behind her when she chose to stay in Key West but just seeing him brings back everything she once felt.
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Can they get things right the second time around? Even though distance may keep them apart if their hearts are anchored together they will never be far from each other.
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Photography plays a huge role in this book and these photos are described with such clarity I felt like I was viewing them myself. I would love to see these actual photos! This was a beautifully descriptive book and even though I’m not going anywhere on Spring Break I could pretend I was there!
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Thank you to #NetGalley and #Zebra books in exchange for an honest review.
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This book is out April 27th!

High School sweet hearts reunited when one of them is injured. Alejandro returns home after leaving to fulfill is dreams as a photographer. His leaving meant saying goodbye to his love Anamaria and his family. This is a beautiful window in to Latina culture and the importance of family. The journey of Alejandro and Anamaria back to discovering each other again is sweet. This novel teaches that one can follow their dreams and still honor the past and family traditions.

Annamaria Navarro was in love with Alejandro Miranda years ago when they were in high school. After Alejandro made a snap decision to leave their home in Key West to follow his dream of becoming a photographer, Anamaria was left behind with a broken heart. He left because he had no choice after his father rejected his career choice and told him not to return. Both father and son are stubborn, and both regret the things said that fateful night, but neither one will let them give in to the other. So Alejandro has been gone for 12 years and only returns out of necessity, when he injures himself in a fall in Puerto Rico, and needs some help with recovery. Annamaria is now a paramedic as well as a fitness entrepreneur, and she has come into her own, finding her way with strength and vitality and confidence. Alejandro has had success as well, and his photos are sought after and amazing. He places all of the blame on the failure of their love upon Annamaria, while she places it squarely on his shoulders. They have both experienced enough heartache over the loss of their love, and there is enough blame to go around, but suffice it to say that they were young and not as understanding or as wise as they later become.

This book gives readers a peak into the family life of people who left Cuba when Fidel Castro came to power. Sacrifices were made and in many cases family members never got the chance to see each other again. This author brings the traditions and cuisine of Cuba to life for the reader. Familial pride in tradition is on display here as well, as is the unceasing longing of an adult child for unconditional acceptance from a parent. As Annamaria and Alejandro are forced to spend time together by the machinations of both of their mothers, they come to realize deeper truths about the other. While Annamaria encouraged Alejandro in his photography when they were younger, and set him on his current path, soon the opposite is true, and it is Alejandro's chance to encourage and support Annamaria in her career choice, and return the favor. As a result, he sees her as a strong woman, and not the dependent young lady she would have been had she followed him when he originally left.

This book has heart and it is filled with vibrant emotions and expressions. Readers can almost see the photographs as described by the author, and taste the foods that are such a big part of this book! This book is a feast for the senses!

I haven't read the first book in this series, but I don't feel it was necessary. Anchored Hearts was very stiff, to me-- I didn't feel much chemistry between the leads and didn't really care how they ended up. The build-up seemed to take forever, even though the book is not long. Although I love most of the cultural aspects of the Cuban families we get to see, the overbearing moms and families became just too much to be entertaining or enjoyable. I found this to be very meh, and although Enrique was intriguing, I don't know that it's enough to get me to read his book (if that's what's next).

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I reviewed this book for Booklist. I absolutely loved it, even more than the first in the trilogy. I love to see a badass female firefighter and a second chance romance! Fantastic!

(my review will be published in Booklist, but I'm giving it 5 stars on my personal channels too.)

Anchored Hearts by Priscilla Oliveras is one of my top romance books for 2021! Taking place in the spectacular setting of Key West, Anchored Hearts reunites two lost lovers. Anamaria has her act together. She’s a paramedic, comes from an incredible cuban family with three brothers and has a booming personal training and nutrition program that she’s built from the ground up. After nursing a broken heart over a decade ago, Anamaria has sworn off love. That’s until her former high school beau, Alejandro, returns to their close community on the island. Alejandro fled Key West to explore the world as a now famous photographer. He left behind his family’s restaurant business and Anamaria’s heart. Alejandro is nursing a traumatic leg injury and a series of conspiring close net families put Anamaria back into his life. This book was fun, sexy and incredibly real and raw. It was a rare treat to really enjoy all the characters in this book and while I thought I knew from the beginning how the story might go, I loved the journey Oliveras takes us on to get there. I was sad to finish Anchored Hearts and really enjoyed my time with the characters. It takes an incredible author to weave together a story where ambitious individuals don’t have to give up on their own dreams to explore life and love together. I cannot recommend Anchored Hearts enough. Put it at the top of your to-be-read pile and enjoy!

A sincere thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book in the series, Island Affair. Although I didn't like Anchored Hearts as well, I still enjoyed this book. Ive been waiting for Anamaria's story ever since the end of the last book. Anchored Hearts is a well written, second chance romance. I enjoyed continuing to learn about the Cuban-American culture. As with the first book, family is a big part of the plot. I love stories about big, meddling families. It's what I loved most about this one. At times, the story seemed to drag on a bit, but for the most part, I would recommend this quick, fun read.

I really wanted to like this book because the premise was SO CUTE and features a female lead who’s a first responder - which is one of my favorite plot devices in romance novels. But instead, to borrow a line from the My Favorite Murder podcast, toxic masculinity ruined the party again.

Like...is Alejandro supposed to be a sympathetic character? Are we actually supposed to root for him to get the girl? Because what I gleaned from all of his gratuitous brooding is that he’s still mad at Anamaría for not abandoning her own career goals and leaving behind her very close-knit family (including her dad who’d recently had a heart attack!) in order to follow him around the globe as he tried to break into the photography world. And he expected her to happily avoid Key West forever because he has issues with his own dad? Are you kidding me???? No. No way, this man goes straight into The Pit. Get a fucking therapist and leave poor Anamaría alone because she’s totally killing it without you.

Outside of Alejandro-the-whiny-bitch-baby, I liked the other characters a lot and I enjoyed the Cuban-American culture we got to explore in this book along with the tropical Key West setting. The writing was pretty good and so was the dialogue between characters, but the love story that was told here was a big, fat *fart noise* for me. Even when Alejandro and Anamaría did get back together, there was no chemistry and it felt super awkward. It was like that storyline in the tv show ‘Friends’ where they tried to get Joey and Rachel together and everyone at home was physically cringing while watching them kiss.

Thanks to Zebra/Kensington and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Anchored Hearts by Priscilla Oliveras.

I loved Island Affair last year and was so excited that there was a second book in the Keys to Love series.

This is a slow burn/second chance romance between Anamaria, who is a firefighter/EMS and also runs a fitness side business and Alejandro who was her high school boyfriend, who is a travel photographer. Their well meaning but interfering mothers get involved when Alejandro returns home after an injury and the mom's work their magic to get Anamaria to stop by to help since she has some medical knowledge.

I loved their families and how close they are, their strong Cuban heritage and the mixing of Spanish/English dialogue in the book. Reading this book makes me want to be in Key West eating the delicious food and exploring their paradise!

This was a fun and enjoyable book to read and I highly recommend checking it out (along with Island Affair too!). Plus they have such fun covers!

This was a sweet second chance romance that was easy to read. I enjoyed reading about Anamaria & Alejandro and their history. It is also story of their family, and at times, the family story takes over the story of whether Anamaria & Alejandro will get back together. Luis & Sara's story sounds great, so I need to read that, & it sounds like Enrique gets his own story, which would be intriguing.

I DNFed this at 30%. It just wasn't for me, which was surprising because I was very excited about the Key West setting. The characters had only spoken to each other twice by the time I stopped. It was a lot of world building which was just moving too slowly for me as far as a romance goes. This book has a lot of good things going for it, just wasn't my jam.

I enjoyed Priscilla Oliveras’ Island Affair last year and was happy to be approved for an advance reader copy of the second book in the series. Anchored Hearts is a slow burn second chance romance. Anamaria, the only Navarro daughter, is our main character. She is a fire-fighter/EMT like her father and brothers, but also has a fitness and nutrition side hustle that’s starting to become a full time job. Her first love and first heartbreak, Alejandro is reluctantly back in Key West recovering from a accident that left him with a broken leg. Anamaria and Alejandro’s mothers are scheming and keep throwing them together.

The question isn’t really can Anamaria and Alejandro forgive each other, they were teens and now they are adults who bring maturity and experience to their past. The central issue is whether Alejandro can make peace with his father – or at least co-exist with him in the same city. It takes Anamaria and Alejandro a while to get there, and I appreciated it because they had a lot to work through before I would believe they could make an adult relationship work. I would have liked a little more from Alejandro’s father in the bridge building department.

One of the things I particularly liked about Anchored Hearts was the confrontations that didn’t happen. Alejandro doesn’t have to be told what he did to hurt Anamaria, he figures it out and makes an effort to act on those realizations. I like seeing a male love interest recognize where they made an error without another character leading them to it by the hand. I’d like to see more of it too.

Family is at the center of this romance. Anamaria has made choices that keep her close to home and family. Alejandro has escaped, or run away from his family, depending on how you look at it. Oliveras builds towards her resolution stone by stone. It’s not a surprise, but surprise isn’t the point. She gives her characters an emotionally satisfying resolution. There’s some good pining and yearning, but the scene fades to black when the sexy times get going.

As a fat woman with concerns about the fitness and nutrition industry I was interested to see how Oliveras handled Anamaria’s fitness and nutrition business. Anamaria’s interest comes from both her work as an EMT and as a result of the heart attack her father suffered when she was in high school. She’s focused on encouraging heart healthy eating, but not explicitly on weight. There wasn’t any fat shaming, and there was a nod to health at any size.

Priscilla Oliveras has a real gift for description. She brings Key West to life in a different way than she did in Island Affair. In that book, Key West felt very touristy, which was appropriate for Sara and Luis’ story. Here Key West is home with tree shaded neighborhoods, backyards, and the smell of diesel mixed with the sea. Alejandro is a photographer and Anamaria’s brother, Enrique, is a once and future painter. The descriptions of their work were vibrant, and I wanted to google them more than once so that I could look for myself.

There is a lot of Spanish in the book, and though my Spanish is not great, it was reminiscent of the bilingual homes I grew up around. It would have been weird to me to have a story centered on a Cuban American community that didn't have a lot of Spanish.

I’m pretty sure Anchored Hearts has set up the romantic interest for Enrique and the conflict. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the third book, whenever it’s ready.

I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hello from a new Priscilla Oliveras fan! Sign me up for the fan club!

I adored this book and the families in it. This is the second in the series, which unfortunately I did not realize prior to picking it up. I actually have Island Affair on my to be read shelf, but I had not read it yet. Even though I now know how that book ends up, I will be reading it very soon.

Anchored Hearts follows Alejandro and Anamaria, former high school sweethearts, in their adventures of being thrown back in each other's paths by their meddling mothers. Both of their parents are Cuban immigrants and the culture is strong throughout the book. The book is written in English, but has Spanish spoken throughout by the characters. Do not worry if you do not understand Spanish, the phrases are cleverly translated in the text around it. The Spanish is not complex at all. I am by no means bilingual, however I do understand a bit of Spanish. I understood most of the phrases in the book. It definitely made the Cuban-American culture of weaving between Spanish and English in a conversation feel truly authentic.

I have to take a minute to talk about the cover art. I just want to display this book on my shelf with the cover out. It is bright and eye-catching!

I will be recommending this book! I can't help but sing praises for this sweet novel. I am hoping with all my heart that there is a third novel and I hope it is all about Enrique!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Priscilla Oliveras for the opportunity to read an ARC of Anchored Hearts in exchange of my honest opinion.

I had a lot of hope for Anchored Hearts because I really enjoyed the first book in the series, Island Affair. And this book definitely met my expectations. I love how the main character is a female first responder who also runs her own business. This story wasn't just about the romance between the two characters but was also about solving each of their personal problems as well.. The author did an amazing job combining the two into an interesting book.

My favorite part was the gallery scene where Ale and his dad had a heart to heart about his photos and the fight that had left their relationship and the entire family split.

This story is the second book in the Keys to Love series. I haven't read the first book, but I was still able to enjoy this book. The author did a good job of explaining who people were and situations from the past. I felt that the author repeated herself a lot, but that may have to do with this being a sequel.

Anamaria and Alejandro were each other's first loves, and they both felt wronged by each other when they broke up 10 years ago. They now find themselves in Key West together and have to navigate the past hurts and their current feelings towards one another.

This book was a fun read and I am looking forward to reading the first book in the series now.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A special thanks to Netgalley and Kensington books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Island Affair, so Anchored Hearts is one of my most anticipated reads in 2021. It did not disappoint. The story picks up a year after Island Affair and follows Anamaria and her high school ex, Alejandro. The two parted on bad terms 12 years ago and neither wants to see each other again. Too bad they both have meddling mothers, who are determined to push the two together.

Alejandro left Key West with a chip on his shoulder, off to see the world without looking back. Now a famous photographer, he's less than thrilled to return home injured and dependent on his estranged family. Anamaria's fitness career is about to take off, but she's facing fear of failure and the comfort that Key West brings her. What happens when the pair can't resist the years of unanswered questions and unrequited feelings?

Anchored Hearts was a stellar second novel in this series. I absolutely love the Navarro family! Their meddling in each others' lives is hilarious, but it is also so endearing how they unconditionally support one another to reach their dreams. It was so fun seeing where Luis and Sara are a year later and I loved how their story continued in this book.
Key West is the perfect setting - the food, the sunsets, and the ocean. It's exactly what I want to read right now after a year in quarantine.

I really related to Anamaria's character as a personal trainer trying to figure out how her passion can turn into a viable career choice, especially as she has an already established career as a firefighter. There is a fear in the unknown and the author absolutely nails the struggle.

I am normally not a fan of second chance romances, but Anchored Hearts was well done. The chemistry is well-developed between the main couple and the shared background of their perspective families shapes their love story in a really authentic way. They share so much history, you can't help to root for them.

Overall, I loved this book and am hoping for a third book about the youngest brother, Enrique. He's so wild and carefree, I really want to see him settle down and have his world rocked by love.