This book follows Kamilah, a chef working at her family's Puerto Rican restaurant, and Liam, an artist who runs the Irish whiskey distillery with his grandfather. Kamilah's abuelo and Liam's Granda are best friends who are prone to mischief, and upon deciding that Kamilah and Liam aren't taking enough time to find love, they threaten to sell the building housing the restaurant and distillery if Kamilah and Liam don't get married to one another. Since there are various complicated matters that both Kamilah and Liam need out of their grandparents, they reluctantly end up faking to be engaged and shenanigans continue to ensue from there.

When I first started reading, I was a bit taken aback at how ridiculous the premise was. Yes, both characters needed something out of the arrangement, but the fact that it was their grandparents plotting had me a bit incredulous. However, something I appreciated was how the book itself addresses how absurd the whole scenario is. The characters are more than aware that this takes meddling families to a whole new level. So it really does end up working, despite some suspension of disbelief required at the very beginning.

One of the things that I really loved was how fiercely passionate each of the two main characters were towards their chosen career. Kamilah had her restaurant, and Liam had the distillery, and they each made their place of work a home for themselves. That's part of why when the restaurant and distillery are threatened, the two agree to fake an engagement. They both have a lot of themselves and family members who are no longer alive tied into their workplaces and I really love how you're able to see that so clearly. Not only that, but both Kamilah and Liam are so proud of their heritage and use their work to share that pride with others. I learnt so much about Puerto Rican cuisine as well as Irish lore and I was so happy to see two such vibrant cultures showcased in this book!

As for the two of them together, I like how their relationship progressed. A bit slowly at first, but with enough nudging from their grandparents, their animosity towards one another turns into a tenuous friendship with a hint of lust. These two were friends growing up, but a lot has transpired since then, so it made sense that they had what to work through, but it also made sense that once they worked through that they were easily able to fall into a comfortable relationship with one another again. Besides for the main relationship, I also really appreciated how much of a focus there was on friendship and family. These characters had all sorts of complicated relationships going on, not just romantic ones. They had friends to rely on and spend time with. They had family members that supported them, argued with them, but always loved them. I found it really impressive that with so many side characters in this book, each of them had a unique personality and was well fleshed out.

This book only let me down in one area, and that was the conflict. I'm not a big fan of conflicts in romances, and unfortunately this book wasn't an exception to that rule. I really wish the characters had talked things out and had natural, normal arguments that couples have instead of letting things build and blow up at the end. There were several times where I was just frustrated that the two weren't talking things through. That being said, the conflict was realistic enough, and I did appreciate how it was resolved, with both parties needing to acknowledge their flaws and insecurities before attempting to make up. In that sense, this book handled the conflict much better than the romances I tend to read, where conflict can get brushed under the rug in favor of a quick resolution. In this case the characters really had to work for their happy ending and I appreciated that.

There was so much to love about this book that I couldn't consider giving it any less than 4 stars. Yes the premise was a bit ridiculous, and yes I wasn't a fan of the conflict, but everything else about this book was top notch. We have messy family dynamics, supportive friend groups, hints of enemies to lovers and childhood friends to lovers, an engaging plot, and a cute romance. What more can anyone want from a book!

3.5

This is a fun, second chance, fake dating, estranged childhood best friends category-length romance between a Puerto Rican chef and an Irish American whiskey maker, with meddling grandparents. It got a little heavy at parts and I don't think a loot of the dark moment was particularly earned.

This sounds very silly, but I loved the specificity of the Irish American details. Overall, a quick, enjoyable read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin/Mira for the ARC.

CW: drowning, death of a parent, cancer, death of a grandparent.

The perfect rom/com read. There is a great blend of attraction, shared history and family drama. I enjoyed the bilingual, multicultural aspect of the narrative.

This book is spectacular!!! A childhood best friends turned unfriendly turned lovers that was such a delight. Caña will have your heart doing summersaults as you read Kamilah and Liam’s story.

First of all!! La culture that Caña injected in this book was flawless. There’s so many special tidbits and history about Puerto Rico and Ireland that made this book this much special. Through the characters family and community she is able to weave such special aspects about both cultures.

The family ties, love, and relationships were just enough. You get enough of them to feel how connected and special their bonds are to one another without it overpowering the book. This was probably one of my favorite parts because los abuelos in this book will have you hollering! I cannot wait to see what Papo has up his sleeve next.

This book has a few scenes that lead to steam that get a little descriptive but fade to black. The best part to me was the sexual tension and just the passion you could feel coming off of both Kamilh and Liam. I loved the way their characters were developed both individually and together. I never knew whiskey could be so sexy and sensual and so freaking emotional. Caña seriously had me in tears at the end with how loving the words she wrote are:

The banter in this book was AMAZING. The dialogue between the side characters and the main characters will leave you wanting 10000 more pages because it’s just that good. This authors definitely has a talent for this because every scene was so damn good.

Honestly one of the best romances I have ever read.

TW death, cancer, and drowning.

3.5 / 5 stars! This was a very fun read. Childhood friends to enemies to friends to lovers??! Yes please and thank you. The relationship the author created was so natural and I had to keep reading because the development was amazing. I had butterflies. Buuutttt…..

Okay so I’m torn. This was a good book… but I had a few issues. The main character definitely falls into the stereotype of the feisty Latina and normally I can work with this… I couldn’t get with the main character this time though. I found her a bit too annoying and found myself rolling my eyes. There were moments where I cringed because some of the writing was ridiculous but honestly in the end it added to the appeal (the ridiculous writing, not the lead)

Also, this was spicy without being spicy. It was like mild chip salsa-which isn’t a bad thing at all- I loved it. Lots of tension and lots of chemistry.

A Puerto Rican chef and an Irish American distiller are forced into a fake engagement by their meddling grandfathers. This is one sizzling romance!!

This was a fun book to read! Lots going on and the characters are totally amazing - I hope there is more to come from them!

Kamilah and Liam are running their family businesses and not interested in getting married. Until their meddling grandfathers get involved - their senior home antics are hilarious!. In order to keep the building that houses both their businesses, Kamilah and Liam need to marry - each other. Friends from the past, until a romantic mishap - they rediscover their feelings, while helping each other move forward with their businesses. Could easily see this as a Hallmark movie - but has depth, too, as they are both struggling with issues from their pasts.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Told in dual perspectives, these to have so much banter that it can only lead to the most intense type of fireworks between them. It's a cute, diverse romance read that follows the classic friends to lovers trope plus some slow burn mutual pining goodness. Very cute, very fun, very enjoyable.

Wow! Fake relationship meets enemies to lovers tropes cannot be combined so entertainingly! Lovely characters, mischievous grandparents, tempting chemistry, so many sweet, heartfelt moments made me enjoy my read so much more that I expected!

Even though these are the formulas have been applied million times into romcoms, the author approached them very sensitively and found ways to used them many creative ways by knowing how to reach her readers’ hearts!

This heartwarming, genuine novel puts a real smile on your faces and surely guarantees a lot of fun! Highly recommended feel-good romance!
Those meddling grandparents earned extra stars from me!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/ Mira for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

I devoured this charming, grumpy/sunshine romcom. I loved the cast of characters, setting, and how therapy played a role in the HEA. The premise of a meddling family forcing a marriage worked much better here than I've seen before. It was a delightful escape and I hope to see more of the Vega family.

What a fun read! I loved reading about the grandparents' shenanigans. The characters were diverse and both had to deal with their own traumas and family expectations. I especially enjoyed how they both truly messed up and both ended up (with some help) finally believing how much the other loved them.

I absolutely loved this book and now love this author. It is an amazing new take on the fake fiancée trope. When you add two meddling grandfathers into the a childhood love story you wind up with "A Proposal They Can't Refuse." The flawed characters lead to inventive storytelling and relatable situations in (slightly) heightened circumstances. This is a must read! I high recommend.

I loved this novel much more than I thought would. Going into this book, i was thinking this would be similar to tthe countless other novels I've read using this same exact troupe. Scheming family members engineer a relationship, its not exactly a new concept. So, I was skeptical that Ms. Cana could do something unique enough to push through this monotony. I must say she succeeded. It wasn't even like she did anything crazy, she just wrote a great book. The plot line plays out the exact way you expect it to, but it doesn't matter. The multiculturism was a very nice tough, it was just the right amount. Not so much that it became preachy, but enough to say hey, not everyone is white, deal with it. As a minority myself, I loved it. We shouldn't make a big deal about being a different culture. All in all this is a great book and I will find myself re-reading it sometime again, which means 5 stars.