I'm a sucker for anything with Romeo and Juliet vibes, so of course I was drawn to this book. As a born and raised Southern California girl, I really enjoyed the San Diego setting of this one. I felt like the city and the different neighborhoods were captured really well. I liked how this book was a "retelling" of Romeo and Juliet, but definitely one with its own unique spin. I enjoyed watching the relationship between the two leads, though I do wish Ramon would have led less with his money all the time. I think overall this is a fun and entertaining book that you should definitely not read on an empty stomach!

Did it pain me to DNF this book and then come here to write a review- YES

Am I prioritizing placing my opinions over books that receive tons of hype- HELL YES

I tried picking up this book multiple times but I just could not.

The two main characters have an enemies-to-lovers type feud going on due to past drama between their parents. Ramon is kind of a douche and not in a "oh he can get better way" but an obnoxious you can solve world hunger and I still wouldn't like you way. This is coupled with the unrealistic lifestyle the author has set up for him- a millionaire with countless cars and girls in his bed but woe is him because he has daddy issues?

I get the attempt to make a parody of sorts with Romeo and Juliet and I am the first person advocating for diversity, BIPOC authors but this one fell flatter than the tacos Julieta is making.

Despite all this, I was willing to push forward but the thing that made it an "immediate no" was the cringy sexual tension- the awkward boob staring and flat attempts at making us believe Julieta wanted him and vice versa.

Overall, this wasn't for me but maybe you'll have better luck with this than I did

Not only is this cover absolutely BEAUTIFUL, but I love a star-crossed lovers story with an HEA. I also loved that this book has Latinx representation. So nice to see more books like this. I really enjoyed all of the cultural details and descriptions. I could totally picture the setting in San Diego. The romance itself was really lovely. Just what I needed to warm my soul.

Thank you to Alana and Berkley for the advance copy!

When I initially heard about this book I was thrilled to see a Romeo and Juliet retelling with a cultural twist. I have been getting into adult romances more so I think I went in with fairly decent expectations. Unfortunately, I just don’t think the writing style and characters were my cup of tea.

There were quite a few things that I did appreciate seeing which included the discussions surrounding how therapy should be normalized, gentrification of cultural neighborhoods, and wanting to get more in touch with one’s culture due to one’s previous assimilation into American society growing up. Many of these topics are situations that I have myself questioned and faced, thus I found these snippets to be relatable.

Outside of these moments, I found the pacing to be a little breezy. I wanted more development of each character and the relationship between Ramon and Julieta. It felt as if we were jumping from one moment to the next so quickly that it was hard for me to follow along. I also found the writing style and language to read a bit too young for me personally. There was a lot of redundancy of the phrase “sexy as hell” and many of the compliments exchanged between Ramon and Julieta were based on physical appearance. There’s nothing wrong with those types of compliments, but I didn’t feel like the two were connected on the level that I wanted them to be.

All in all, I think the base of this book had some really great concepts, but I wanted to see them being more flushed out. I’m sure other readers who enjoy more fast-paced romances with some spice will really enjoy this one.

Characters: 4/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
Writing Style: 2/10
Plot: 3/10
Intrigue: 4/10
Logic: 3/10
Enjoyment: 4/10

Rating: 3.7 or 2 Stars (rounded to a 2.5 star)

Ramón and Julieta is a Romeo & Juliet retelling set in modern-day San Diego, California.

Here’s what I liked:
-delicious descriptions of tacos, salsas and Mexican-American flavors!
-Mexican-American representation, Chicano culture and history of Barrio Logan
-the connection that Julieta and Ramón have over Spanish music
-mentions of Coronado Island (my maiden name is Coronado and I’ve visited the island, but never stayed at the hotel)
-an attempt to shed light on gentrification, identity within a culture and the struggles that some Mexican-Americans face

Here’s what I didn’t enjoy:
-Ramón came across as ridiculously rich and it just didn’t seem to make a lot of sense based on how his father supposedly made his money. Plus, I’m just not a fan of the billionaire trope.
-His sweet talking was just cringy. It brought me out of the moment several times because it didn’t seem authentic.
-I wasn’t a fan of the steam. The first scene was abrupt and he just seemed crude instead of caring. I know that’s a personal preference in reading, but this is my personal review so it is what it is.
-I felt like there were some plot holes that made things unbelievable, particularly some resolutions to conflict. There is a statement he says to his mother that I can’t imagine anyone saying to their own mom.
-At times the writing felt immature or underdeveloped.

A consistent theme in this story is Ramón’s struggle to feel like he identifies with his culture. He is called a coconut more than once. (Brown on the outside, white on the inside.) I understand the context and unfortunately I have been called that before. However, I was disappointed with the progression of this theme. Ramón finds empathy for the people of Barrio Logan and understands the pride they have in their neighborhood, but there isn’t any give from the other side. It almost came across as if Ramón can never connect to his heritage if he is wealthy and lives outside of the Barrio. The optimist in me hopes that by spending more time with each other, both Ramón and Julieta can understand that financial status, your career or where you live doesn’t define who you are and there is no such thing as not being “Mexican-American” enough.

Personally, my connection to this story as a Latina caused me to find things I loved about it but also parts that I struggled with. If you only read this book through the lens of a romance reader, I think you will enjoy the relationships, the food, and the connections to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

I want to add that I absolutely love this book cover!

Thank you @berkleyromance for the digital ARC and free #gifted book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I realllly wanted to like this book. Like, really. I love a good Romeo and Juliet retelling. That age old enemies to lovers trope is one of my favorites. And to top it off, they aren't white and they it's based in a part of LA that is not glamorized. I really wanted to love this book.

So imagine my disappointment when I only found it meh. And to top it off, that I didn't like our H, Ramon. I love that there was a rich history to the story. I love that we explored the Mexican culture. It's in everything else that fell short for me. From the writing, to the character development and sadly, the romance (which is always my favorite part). I didn't feel like Ramon and Julieta had any chemistry. I felt like he just objectified and sexually harassed her most of the time (and not in the hot way that some alpha-holes are like).

I put off doing this review because I hate bad reviews. I wouldn't do them if I didn't have to. I would rather never review than do a bad one but I also know that both good and bad reviews are essential when you need to learn from your mistakes. I'm hoping in the author's next book she continues to explore her Mexican heritage (my favorite parts of the book) but that there's better character and romance developments.

I read Ramón and Julieta without knowing anything about it, but judging from the title, I knew that it’s inspired by Romeo and Juliet.

I have to say that I really like the author’s writing style in this adult contemporary romance. It had a lot of clear descriptions of Mexican food that it really made me hungry while I was reading it. The author knows how to get into the reader’s stomach and heart. The pacing of the story was also done really well. It’s neither too fast nor too slow. It’s just enough to make the reader hooked and invested to the story. I like that it’s easy and really fun to read. I even caught myself laughing at some circumstances in the book!

The characters in this book all have Mexican blood and I appreciate that. Reading this book let me see more into the Mexican culture, traditions, and food. I love how the author not only focused on the romance between Ramón and Julieta and that we also got to witness a lot of their family and community. I really love it when we get to know more about the main characters through their upbringing and how their community molded them to be the adults they are now.

Ramón and Julieta’s relationship is really entertaining to read. It just seemed so natural, but the conflicts were also there enough to have a balance in the story. I also didn’t really expect how 🌶spicy🌶 this book would get! Let me tell you that the love scenes in this book were really hot and the author did a great job writing them!

I just feel like the ending was kind of rushed. I would’ve really liked it better if we got to see the ending unfold slowly.

Ramón and Julieta is definitely worth reading especially if you love complicated and swoon-y romance stories that also talks about culture!

This book had its moments, but overall I had a hard time getting into it., Basically there’s the classic Romeo and Juliet’s story-line with some food thrown in.
Some of the the attitudes and words were a tad off-putting I wanted to like it more than I did.

Thanks to Net Galley for advanced copy.

WOW yes please to this amazing read!! Tacos and enemies to lovers sign me up. Talk about a great way to kick off 2022. I loved how the author brings in the Hispanic culture and tradition, it made me feel like I was in Barrio Logan while I was reading. This was had it all-- complicated family drama, enemies to lovers, romance and feuding families. It was great!!

I enjoyed learning the Mexican American history associated with the San Diego region as well as within the Mexican American culture. Ramon is from a wealthy Mexican American family and his family is buying up a block in an historical neighborhood and want to put in their chain restaurant. Julieta rents one of the buildings on the block and has a successful restaurant. She is a fan of preserving the culture of the neighborhood and feels strongly about change. They meet prior to knowing the other's identity and their immediate attraction quickly morphs into a forbidden romance.

I struggled with the romance-it didn't feel authentic to me. The instant attraction and the emotional push/pull of the romance felt very immature to me. And, maybe they were just that immature. This was a quick read and the historical/cultural aspects were really interesting.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐/ 5 stars (1 🌶) 16+
I love the cover for this! It is a loose retelling of Romeo & Juliet, but reformatted as a contemporary romance in modern times taking place in San Diego. Ramón is the eldest son of the Montez “Taco King” empire, hugely successful, but not very respected or considered authentic in the Mexican community. Julieta on the other hand is a trained chef at her mother’s restaurant - beloved in the neighborhood. It is said there is a rivalry between the two since Julieta’s mother Linda is certain her fish taco recipe was stolen by Ramón’s father years ago. The Montez family ends up buying the building that Julieta’s restaurant is in - forcing them to work together. Julieta and the community had hoped there would not be another Taco King taking over the neighborhood.

I loved the descriptive writing, it made me hungry the entire reading. I could easily picture the Barrio the writer is describing. Romeo & Juliet is referenced a few times in the story, but other than their rivaling families and slightly forbidden romance, similar character names i.e. Paris/Pablo; Tybalt/Tiburon, that’s where the similarities stop. Ramón and Julieta are in their 30’s - which is a nice change for once. I wish there was a bit more spice - it was peppered here and there. It is enemies to lovers, but only briefly. They’re clearly adults, and it’s very clear from the start they were going to be together. Also, Ramón’s character was a bit flat for me, but so was Romeo.

Thank you to Berkley and netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book has tacos in it. Tacos are good. Yum.

I have said this before (but then, I have said most things before. It feels like I have lived a hundred lifetimes on this website), but the thing about straight romance is that it depends entirely on the author's ability to get us all to suspend our disbelief and buy into the concept of a Perfect Man.

Tough stuff, no? I've never experienced one in real life. They're like unicorns, or a full and natural understanding of physics - at this point I have to assume they're made up, unfortunately. Nice as they sound.

That only gets truer in an enemies to lovers scenario. I love enemies to lovers, and, as always, when I say I love something that means I love the idea of it, read every example of it I can find, and enjoy approx 10% of it.

Take the love interest in this book, for example: A multimillionaire who has, by his own admission, sold out his own culture and community. He owns multiple $100,000 cars, he buys buildings for cheap to sell them for more and gentrify neighborhoods.

None of that works for me.

But emma, you may be saying. Ever heard of a little thing called character development?

To that I say: currently my memories of well-done character development feel like the memories of the dad character in A Little Princess (film adaptation, sorry bookworms) (insert PAPA, PAPA! here). In other words, they are foggy, distant, all but gone - baby, that is the kind of reading year I am having thus far.

But even when I dust off the definition via good ol' Googling, it appears that the characters are supposed to become more tolerable, even BETTER as the book goes on.

That doesn't happen here.

Ramón and Julieta is a Romeo and Juliet retelling in which Julieta is a hot chef with an indie taco shop and Ramón is a property developer / venture capitalist / owner of a Taco Bell-esque franchise that was founded upon the stolen recipe of Julieta's mother.

Cool guy, no?

It gets better. The way that Ramón undertakes his quest to become a person I, personally, can stand reading about (otherwise known as his character arc) is by hiring Julieta to be the chef of the restaurant he's opening.

Which is - get this - taking the place of a half-dozen working and lower middle class businesses in the historically Mexican neighborhood Julieta lives in.

But it gets EVEN BETTER THAN THAT. Not only does Ramón destroy Julieta's sense of community by making her the enemy of all of them, he appears to have hired her to be (checks notes) the victim of sexual harassment.

Check out this passage, which is supposed to be the kind of steamy swoony content that gets us shipping these two from now until we have mercifully forgotten this read.

"'Would you like to discuss my ideas for the menu?'
'Not exactly.' Ramón's eyes raked over her, dropping to her breasts. He gave her a mischievous smile.
Julieta's nerves tingled. But she hated her body for betraying the way she felt toward him.
After he finally looked away, he reached into his briefcase and pulled out a leather folder. He then took out a super expensive-looking pen and began to write notes.
'Then what?'
Ramón finally focused his attention back on Julieta. 'Well, first, I'm going to watch you.'
Julieta instinctively clasped her hand to her chest. Ramón made those words seem dirty."

I read an e-ARC and quotes are subject to change, so I will just say I am far closer to calling in an anonymous complaint on a fictional character than I am to rooting for these two.

Skin crawling.

Another quote (subject to change) to file under Ramón Finding New And Creative Ways To Get Worse: this interaction with the woman who brought him into this world.

"His mom huffed. 'You aren't still serious about that chef, are you? I looked her up. She has tattoos, Ramón. All over her arms. She's trash.'
"Rage boiled through Ramón. 'No, Mom. She's not trash. You are.'"

This boy called his own mommy trash!

I don't care how much my mom talks sh*t about tattoos, I am never looking her in the eyes - IN PUBLIC IN FRONT OF HER FRIENDS - and calling that woman garbage.

I'm supposed to want happiness for this bozo!? I want to enroll him in court-mandated therapy!

On top of all this, here are a few pesky loose end complaints:
- I tried to get into this so many times and I just couldn't. I just had to force myself through, like I was doing math homework, or eating vegetables
- Every thought these two have about each other is sexual. I've complained before about romance novels in which the love story is only conducted through smut, but this is...wow, yes, the results are in: EVEN WORSE!
- Ramón's dad and Julieta's mom also had a bunch of sex in the past, and there is something about that that is just simply puke emoji to me.
- Finally, this did the really hilarious retelling thing in which the characters are constantly referencing the original? It is so funny to me to imagine these two, who are quoting R&J to each other constantly, failing to be like "Hey wait a second...our families hate each other...we're star crossed...wait, our names are their names? Just what is going on here..."

Well, the main difference is no one dies in this one.

Except my hopes and dreams.

Bottom line: I wish I never read this book? And also that I had a taco.

This book was very much a mixed bag for me. I loved the celebration of Mexican American culture and food, but overall the romance was lacking (and the emphasis placed on the differences in their economic situations was uncomfortable), and the discussions of heavier topics like gentrification lacked depth. My main issue would have to be the style, though; it didn’t flow naturally to me, and I think that inhibited my enjoyment of other elements of the story.

This was so cute!! Adorable and steamy contemporary romance. Lovely. Made me real hungry though, but that’s not really a bad thing.
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What happens when his dad stole her moms fish taco recipe and started a mega-successful chain restaurant but they don’t know about this until they’re already crushing on each other?? Ugh it’s charming is what it is.
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This book also deals with important topics like gentrification, personal histories, feeling like you don’t fit into the culture of your heritage or the culture of your address well enough. Highly recommend.
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Thanks to @berkleyromance @netgalley for my free review copy. Also, look at that cover!
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As a Mexican American, this book means so much to me. Seeing our traditions and yummy foods be highlighted in this book meant everything. Seeing real struggles people have to go through but also their happy moments meant everything. I think it’s important to also important to point out how refreshing it was that the main character talks about his therapy. This is often seen as taboo and seeing men talk about it is also very rarely seen. Ohhh AND all the good songs mentioned!
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Ramón is the oldest of his brothers and works along his father who started Taco King, a taco food chain. Julieta and her mom own a sea-to-table taqueria called Las Pescas. For Dia de Los Muertos Ramón and Julieta meet. Little does the other know that the property in Barrio Logan that Ramón and his dads company is to acquire is where Julieta has her own restaurant. Not only that, but Ramón’s father met Julietas mother when he was in Mexico and stole her fish taco recipe. You can imagine that there are many bumps between them.
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Loved how this highlighted how big food chains or just investors in general go into neighborhoods and then the people living there can no longer afford to live there. How small businesses are pushed out. I also loved how relatable it was reading how our mami’s will always tell us what we should no matter how old we get. All the yummy foods and the chiles and growing your own herbs needed in your Mexican dishes. IT WILL MAKE YOU HUNGRY. Día de Los Muertos. As for the romance part, I did feel like Julieta gave up too quickly. I understood her hesitance but I wanted her to have more faith. Even then, I thought her and Ramón were great together and they were definitely steamy. LOVED THIS BOOK!

Okay okay. So as much as I enjoyed this one and swooned and just ate it all up - I can definitely see that there are so many issues with it. And I definitely think that's okay, enjoying a book for what it is but also having the mental space to realize where all the red flags are.

Let's start with the premise - gentrification. A very real fear that Brown and Black communities face on a daily. Definitely didn't enjoy the fact that our Ramón was brought in to disrupt this tight-knit community. So I know this will be a hard topic but I promise it's worth it! Alana Quintana Albertson does an incredible job of explaining herself and giving reasons for the decisions she made in the story

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"I wanted to show Latinx joy. I wanted to celebrate our culture and shed light on some of our traditions. As much as I wanted it to be a fun and frothy rom-com on the surface, I also wanted to address class issues in our community and discuss what it meant to be accepted and feel Mexican-American enough, something I've struggled with all my life."

I absolutely loved this retelling of Romeo and Juliet! It provided a fresh and dynamic opportunity to do something so different from the original while at the same time educating us or giving us a different perspective.


P.S. Ramón's McLaren did not need to be mentioned on every other page ✋🏼

Thank you so much to Berkley Romance for the opportunity to read this e-ARC as part of the influencer program!

I was rooting for the small business community more than the star-crossed lovers.

Julieta Campos is devoting all her time and effort into her unique Mexican restaurant. Along with the other business in the building, she is afraid of what having a new building owner is going to mean for all of them. Adding insult to injury, the new owner wants to open a Taco King in their special little corner of San Diego. Ramón Montez, the Taco King heir, is spearheading this new project on behalf of his father. He doesn’t foresee any hiccups, until he runs into Julieta, and she shows him how much better life can be.

Ramón and Julieta is a tale of forbidden love, a-la Shakespeare. They pursued a relationship despite all the obstacles in their way. Both had strong feelings of guilt, but they didn’t do anything about it for quite a long time. Plenty of important feelings and issues were pushed aside in a wait-and-see-what-happens pattern. Julieta made a decision that went against her principles, hoping that it would work out in the end. Ramón kept ignoring his father’s pushy and childish behavior until it was too late.

I enjoyed the interactions between Ramón and Julietta when they weren’t fighting over Ramón’s plans for the building. The writing veered into stilted territory at times, and for me there was a jarring difference between the overall tone of the book and when sex scenes happened. I was reading happily along and then some crude words suddenly popped up. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against these words, if they work in the context of the book. In this case, it just didn’t fit with the rest.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This review is also posted on my blog at hookedbythatbook.com.

I just want to start off by saying how special this book was!!!!! Representation is so important 🥺🤧 reading people like you fall in love is everything 🙌🏼⁣
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This is a MUST READ for fans of Alexis Daria, Priscilla Oliveras, and Mia Sosa! ⁣
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There was so much food, culture, and family!⁣
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We don’t really eat fish tacos in my family but you bet I started craving some 😋

I absolutely adored this novel, there's nothing more that I love than Romance novels especially ones with latinx leads. As a latina myself, I found myself falling in love with every aspect of the book, the representation, the love story and the spicy scenes. What most stood out to me was the story of gentrification and how it affects small latinx business owners, with a changing world and barrios now being considered hot and trendy I loved that this story was able to capture the complexity of this issues. I would recommend this book to everyone especially Latinx folks who are trying to find their next read

I was interested to see how this author would deal with lovers on opposite sides of the gentrification battle, especially with both members being part of the ethnic group affected by gentrification. However, I found the characters to be extremely vapid and shallow, especially Ramon. It seemed like the only way he knew how to describe the women around him were by their looks and in a completely judgmental way, even though he swore he was more down to Earth and observant than the rest of his family members. I did enjoy the little bits of the original Romeo and Juliet story that were sprinkled throughout the novel.