TITLE: Flirting with Fate
AUTHOR: J. C. Cervantes
PUB DATE: 04.19.2022

Flirting with Fate is such a cute read about families and sisterhood, with a bit of magic and romance.

Set in my hometown of Southern California, Ava Granados gets into a fender bender during a storm, causing her to miss her Nana’s blessing passed on to the women on their deathbed, and the blessing was passed on to someone else instead. Ava is destined to make this right, with the help of her sisters and Nana’s ghostly spirit.

Super cute and an overall enjoyable quick read!

This was a cute book! It was very into fate and what is meant for us and trusting the universe. I loved that her grandmother came back as a ghost to help her on her quest. Overall a very cute book.

I was thinking this was a romance book but this book focused quite a lot on the family dynamic. I do love family dynamic but I was hoping for more romance.

This was less a YA romance and more a
book about family. There were a lot of
things going on in the story and I wanted
more of the central couple….because I was
expecting a romance. There were some
genuine funny parts and the sister dynamic
was fun. But too many side stories..and
characters. There was also a lot of name
dropping of places wealthy people go in LA
It was a little hard to relate to this very
wealthy family who don’t seem to have any real world problems.

What a beautiful book. I was smiling from the first page until the end when I cried a little. This book was so special. Not only is it so obviously about fate, and the forces that shape our life but its about family, sisterhood, love, forever love, roots, trauma, and keeping on. I wish this was a series and that we were going to read more about this sister trio because I already miss them. I absolutely loved and enjoyed their shenanigans.

I loved the plot of this book and really loved the entire setting. It is such a quick and cute read. I loved the sister and Nana and the magic brought to this book.

Oh my gosh, I freaking loved this book 😭 so adorable and the twists made me happier than I was expecting to be. I mean I definitely teared up from happiness many times, and not many books have done that for me. Just pure magic!

Sooooo, as y'all know I LOVED the first book in the Storm Runner series. (I never got around to the rest of the series smh) So when I saw that Cervantes was going to write a YA book, I was so excited. But as it turns out, it didn't go as planned for me. Maybe I need to go back and read the rest of the Storm Runner and forget about this. Ugh

Ava missed being by her grandmother's deathbed by minutes. And she'll never forgive herself for it. Not only did she miss her last intimate moments with her grandmother, but she also missed the blessing she was going to give her. If only it wasn't for that stupid boy whose car she hit and made her feel bad about it. But when her grandmother comes back and tells her that her blessing was given to someone else, actually the guy whose car she hit. So she has to pair with her grandmother and a random saint to help get the blessing back. Can they do it?

Ok let's start with what I did like about this. I liked the characters the most. All 3 of the sisters were really different but they were fun in their own way. And they all reminded me of my sisters. I have 3 of them, and we are all exactly like them. All different even though we came from the same environment mostly. I did find the age grouping weird tho. Like if she gives them all a book, what is the oldest going to do? Is it going to be an adult book? Or is this really going to be a stand-alone? (That depresses me because I wanted one for Carmen lol)

I also liked the premise of this. But the execution was not great. For the most part it was really repetitive. And because it was so repetitive, I got bored. I got so bored I set it down until I could pick up the audio. That way I could put it on 2x's the speed and get through it and not have to DNF it. This was so disappointing. I was so excited about this and I remember putting this on so many of my hopeful lists. I pushed things back to get to this. And this is how it turned out. So unfortunate.

I also didn't like that there weren't breaks in the difference in voices or look backs. It made for a very confusing time while reading the ARC and listening to the audio. I thought it was just the e-ARC so I wasn't going to say anything, but it was like that in the audio as well. And I hate that. If you read it, you'll know what I mean. Because the breaks are like randomly talking about a princess and different stories about fate. That's why it's confusing. It's still relevant to the story, but it's a completely different topic or voice from what was happening before.

And the romance was terrible. I know they're teens, but even reading a YA book I usually feel something. I might swoon or a little something. But with this I felt nothing. The only emotion I got from this was when Abuela first passed. I wanted so badly for something to spark something between them, but when it was all said and done, I just didn't care whether or not they ended up together. (To be honest with you, even now I don't remember if they got together in the epilogue lol I don't remember and don't care enough to go back and see.)

Although I was super excited about this, it just didn't work for me. I wanted so much more from this. Especially since I know her writing style from her other book. Maybe I'll just stick to her books that have mythology in them. (Yes, I am still looking forward to her new mythological series, The Lords of Night.... There's a bruja!)

DNF at 25% - I love the concept but can’t get past the unnatural insertions of Spanish words. I love a good Spanglish book but the way it’s done in this book feels random and distracting.

Encanto vibes ahead!! Ava Grenados rushes home hoping to make it to her grandmother’s deathbed so that she can say goodbye and receive the blessing her grandmother has promised to pass on to her as the women in their family have done for generations. When fate intervenes with poor weather and a resulting fender bender with an infuriating guy, her poor heart is crushed and all seems lost. Watching her sisters’ gifts unfurl is incredibly bittersweet until her grandmother indicates from beyond that there may be hope yet!

Written with heart, humor, and depth, this debut novel is as much about familial love as as it is about romance. Having grown up in Los Angeles with a mixed heritage that included my Mexican American family, I adored and completely identified with the Granados and their deep involvement and care for one another. While the overall story is upbeat, I did appreciate the honest portrayal of the bits of racism Ava encounters growing up which I unfortunately experienced too. Layered with stories both present and past, I continued to be surprised by this fantastically fun story I didn’t know I needed!

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

I loved the little magical element of this. The sisters relationship was so precious and it was just such a touching, sweet story!

Flirting With Fate was such a heartwarming magical story and it left my heart so full after reading it, I loved it so so much!

The strong family relationships were my favorite part, I loved how much they all cared for one another and the way that the blessings meant so much to them. The mythology with the blessings themselves was so interesting and unique and I loved reading about it!

The sweetest part was the romance stories, I loved seeing them all explored. The one between our main characters developed so nicely and it's the sweetest thing! My favorite love story was the one between the grandparents, it was the thing of destiny and it had me so emotional. The quote "You can always recognize the love when it belongs to you" will stay with me forever.

Overall, this book is such a delight! The perfect feel good book YA romance and I am so happy to have read it!

The absolute sweetest book I have read in a long time. Refreshing but also so much more then surface level. Beautifully developed characters.

I really enjoyed reading this book!! it was definitely a little confusing at the beginning because of the blessing Ava is going to get, we don’t get too much background information on that. but once you get over that, it is a really exciting book! I wasn’t sure about Ava and Rion as a couple in the beginning, they just didn’t seem to have that much chemistry, but as the book went on I really started to love them together! another thing this book did really well was mix the love that Ava had for Rion with her love for her sisters and her grandmother. overall this was a great book and I would definitely recommend it!

A sweet summer romance with a hint of magic. I was super excited for this book because I loved the cover, but mainly the Mexican American representation!

I’ve been debating for days on what to rate this one. I thought this was a cute book and really liked the plot. I can’t say that I loved the characters though. There was something about Ava that I just didn’t like. Please don’t get me started on the sisters either.

I also didn’t love the mom flashbacks, they honestly just confused me more than anything. Felt very pointless.

What I did love was the family dynamics. Absolutely loved the relationship the women had with each other.

Overall I liked the book enough but I didn’t love it . I would recommend this to the younger YA crowd.

Flirting with Fate takes meet cute to a different level. Who doesn’t want to get in a fender bender, lose their grandmother’s dying blessing, and have to befriend a jerk? Ava is a very stubborn person who doesn’t believe in fate and yet knows that there is actual magic in the world. A lot of the book had her and her sisters working together but I could not stand one of her sisters. Both of them were very one dimensional and at times, like real siblings, extremely mean. One of the blessings felt wrong and seenmed to nuanced rules. Sisters aside, the story was cute. It was heavy into destiny and learning from the past. It would have been fun to have Rion’s perspective at times and I found his family extremely interesting. For me, this was a 3/5.

If you like family drama, looking at the stars, or a good flan, this is the one for you.

I received a digital copy of this book free from Penguin Young Readers Group and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hi it’s me, I’m back with another paranormal book that I didn’t realize was paranormal when I picked it up. As always, here is my disclaimer that I don’t love ghost books so if you love a good ghost in your romance, you will probably enjoy this more than I did.

On the way to say goodbye to her dying grandmother, Ava gets in a car accident that caused her to miss her grandma’s mystical blessing. However, Nana’s ghost comes to tell Ava that she did in fact give her a blessing but it landed on the wrong person, and instead landed on the boy from the accident. To find her blessing and save the family magic, Ava must find the boy and reclaim the blessing.

There was a lot going on here, and like I said the unexpected ghosts really threw me off. There were a lot of things I did love - the sisters and their bond were so special and really my favorite part of this one. I love a good sister bond and this one was fantastic. I also liked how Rion and Ava’s family stories were intertwined and how that storyline played out.

Otherwise this one really fell flat for me. I didn’t fully understand the flashbacks, I didn’t believe Rion and Ava as a couple, they seemed to lack chemistry, and finally the ghosts ultimately made this one not a good fit for me.

Thanks to Penguin Teen for the advanced copy.

What if there is more riding on Ava reaching her dying grandmother’s side before she passes than a chance to tell her good-bye? A bright high school journalist intern is about to go on a quest of sorts to save the family’s magical blessing and allow her Nana to rest in peace, discover the hidden places in her own heart and family, and perhaps have time for friendship and more.

I caught sight of the blurb and it hooked me so I wanted to give the new to me author and this YA Magical Realism story a go. I’m enchanted by large doses of family. I was particularly taken with Ava’s interactions with her Nana’s ghost and that of another, St Medardus. Then, her older sisters come together and support her in her hour of need though they are all at odds in general. Ava learns to open herself to other possibilities beyond her focus on her internship including a friendship with Orion, the brother of the guy, Achilles, who she blames for causing all this when she follows her Nana and Meda’s direction to get to know him as part of retrieving the legendary family blessing. But, her own family secrets, which begin when she comes across an old photo, might be the biggest stumbling block to both fulfilling her quest and a romance with Orion.

I enjoyed the family historical mystery that allowed Ava to use her journalism skills to research and track down answers and her interactions with Orion, who is the opposite of his annoying self-centered brother, were fun. The book caught my attention right away and I enjoyed the set up. It paced out well for me and read quickly especially when it really took off after the beginning.

But… yes, there’s a pesky ‘but’. I found bits hard to swallow. There were big coincidences which I’ll avoid detailing for spoilers and Ava herself seemed to act and behave older than she was at times. Not that I wanted her to turn into a bratty teen to prove her age, but I was always startled that I wasn’t reading about an older person.

These niggles aside, this was a fun one and I like that this begins a series. No cliffhanger just opening for more in the world. The light touch of magic paired with a girl working out her own issues, family, and first romance was a delightful combo and I can recommend it especially to those who enjoy YA, but also magical realism in stories.

Loved Loved Loved! This Mexican American representation is ME!
I saw me, my family, the way I grew up in these characters and surroundings. A beautiful story!

Enchanting tale of young love, friendship, and sister dynamic.

A fantastical story mixed with magical realism, you should definitely read this if you're looking for books reminiscent of Encanto.

RATING: 4stars