Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this one and DNF’ed. I’ve never DNF’ed a NetGalley book before but unfortunately this one was not for me.

a collection of stories that all intertwine, i was sooo in love with this!

there were a couple of authors that i have loved reading in the past and reading these small novellas were everything. there was so much more spicy scenes than i anticipated and it was so, so, sooo good. it really took all these stories with to a whole new level! i feel like i do not come across enough latinx love stories and these were all so perfect.

some great sex scenes mixed with the perfect holiday warmth that isn't too cheesy. can already seeing mysef rereading/relistening. all narrators were AMAZING too!

Lovely mix of stories (immigrant status/language/sexuality/spice level)

Something for everyone and a great starting place for multiple authors who have all written other romance book a reader can dive into.

This is a lovely collection of short stories that really captures the holiday feeling. I'm not the biggest romance reader, but this was a pleasant read. I'm glad I gave it a try.

A steamy/spicy collection of short stories surrounding Christmas Eve and a Nochebeuna party in New York City. I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook over the festive period and it was definitely a lot different to all the other anthologies I’ve read. I really enjoyed that each story was narrated by either a different person or in a different way to make it unique.

This was so cute! I love the idea of short stories surrounding one night with a group of people. Each romance was super cute, and overall had a very enjoyable experience listening to this anthology.

it was a sweet collection of christmas stories but nothing out of the ordinary. All the narrators were great and did a good job.

What’s not to love in this star-studded anthology? I absolutely loved Amor Actually. Each story was so well done, and I loved it. I’m constantly on the lookout for more Latinx authors, and this was an amazing introduction to more I can’t wait to add to my bookshelf.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this collection, it was very festive and very festive ;). I loved the representation of the Hispanic diaspora and all their traditions that were incorporated into the stories. My favourites were from Adriana Herrera, Zoey Castile, Sabrina Sol and Mia Sosa.
This is a great palette cleanser read if you happen to be in a reading slump and love holiday romance novellas.

A nice collection of well written well narrated stories. It was definitely an enjoyable and interesting listen.

Okay, I listened to this on audiobook and had to sit down while listening. I was not prepared for the level of spice, but hot damn! There are some of these stories which take you there and will sweep you off your feet. If you love holiday stories and are disappointed with how white "Love Actually" is, this is for you. It features some of my favorite romance authors right now so I knew I'd be in for a treat. And boy was I right.

From gobs of insta-lust to one truly unhinged male lead destined for prison, this fun Christmas rom-com anthology styled after the cult classic film, <i>Love Actually</i>, actually fell flat.



<b>Make the Yuletide Gay • Adriana Herrera</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> After a string of broken engagements, an international Latin Pop Star finds love in her sexy and constant manager. Days before her big live holiday special, Vivi wonders if the woman of her dreams could finally be hers.

<i>Mini Review:</i> This was cute, and the setup for the romance (previously established professional relationship between manager and talent blossoming into more) really worked for the short story format. The smut, while rife with really fantastic tension, was extremely graphic, which is not my personal taste. I will say that despite their long-time professional partnership, I still think their relationship progressed too quickly to be believable.

<i>Rating:</i> 2.5 stars.



<b>Only Yours • Sabrina Sol</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> The Mayor of New York embarks on a Christmas Eve search to find the woman he loves before she gets away.

<i>Mini Review:</i> Based on the synopsis, I was anticipating that this short story would have the male lead running around the city to find his love interest. The reality was a lot less interesting than that; he had to look around a few rooms in a building, getting held up by a couple busybodies. That was it. The female love interest had very little characterization aside from being a stock character for the man to pine after and then achieve. She is the most forgettable character in this entire anthology, firmly shelving this romance as the weakest as well. The fact that these two never meaningfully interacted on the page until the end was even more to the detriment of this short story.

<i>Rating:</i> 1 star.



<b>Meet Me Under the Mistletoe • by Priscilla Oliveras</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> Challenged by his friends to find a plus one to Nochebuena dinner or else, widower Hector Gutierrez isn't sure he's still got any good moves left. That is until he strikes the right chord with his son's music teacher, Cristina.

<i>Mini Review:</i> I loved Hector and Cristina as characters! They both had pretty solid motivations and interests outside of one another for a short-form story. While the conflict was believable, the way it was resolved was unearned and came out of nowhere. This left us with a lazy ending that felt hastily cobbled together.

<i>Rating:</i> 3.5 stars



<b>All I Want for Nochebuena • Alexis Daria</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> When sparks fly between adult film stars Honey and Julie, Honey must work up the courage to invite Julie to her family's holiday party or risk losing what she really wants for Nochebuena—a chance at true love.

<i>Mini Review:</i> I was most excited to read Alexis Daria’s short stories in this anthology and was sad to say that I was rather underwhelmed by both. This was the first of the two. Honey and Julie both had discernible personalities, but their quick spark quickly became a relationship over the course of only a few days after meeting each other. The issue with this—which is an issue I have with a bunch of the stories in this collection—is that their physically intimate interactions take up so much page time that the rapid progression from acquaintances to lovers feels entirely rooted in lust. This does not a romance make. It also doesn’t leave me feeling like the HEA is going to last very long beyond the holidays. To top it off, the smut was also overly graphic in this one which, as I said before, is not my preference.

<i>Rating:</i> 2 stars.



<b>Santa's Eager Little Helper • by Mia Sosa</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> Sarita's plan to confess her crush on a coworker goes awry when she's tasked with playing the Sexy Elf to his grumpy Santa.
Will she seize the opportunity to make Carlos's naughty list, or will she spend another Nochebuena alone? The

<i>Mini Review:</i> This one was fine. I thought the conflict between the love interest and the female lead’s brother was interesting, although it was resolved in a way that feels like the conflict is just going to come back around again later on. There was also one part that took me straight out of the story. While the two love interests are on a livestream for the female lead’s family business doing a cooking demonstration, the male lead makes a vaguely sexual comment out of nowhere and then the two leads segue back into family-friendly content immediately after. It was really fucking weird and felt totally unrealistic, given that it would not bode well for her family company for its employees to be making vaguely sexual comments when kids could be watching a professional business’s livestream.

The romance itself was pretty forgettable. Both Sarita and Carlos had very little in the way of substantial characterization separate from one another. They also had no chemistry, even when he was eating her out on the kitchen counter (which happened out of nowhere and resolved much the same…and was also super fucking unsanitary for a business in the food industry).

<i>Rating:</i> 1.5 stars.



<b>Nochebuena Dating Dare • by Diana Muñoz Stewart</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> Eneida Lucero takes a second chance on love with the handsome musical director at her school-even if it means causing some Nochebuena drama with her ex-husband and familia.

<i>Mini Review:</i> This was the most egregious romance of them all. Eneida was an interesting character and I really liked her perspective at first. She was shy, bookish, and awkward, so she stood out in this cast of suave sexpots. However, the male love interest shot off a whole host of red flags after he weaponized his past hurts to force this woman to introduce him as her boyfriend to her children before she was ready (and after just ONE date and ONE night together). Ladies, I didn’t think this had to be said, but here we go: Don’t let anyone rush you or guilt you into incorporating them into your children’s lives before you are ready. It’s giving red flag. It’s giving predator. It’s giving jail. The fact that this man withdrew his affection and shamelessly guilted her for hesitating before she included him in her kids’ lives is fucking crazy, manipulative behavior. Their whole first date was giving love bombing the entire time, and I just could not believe Eneida folded. Her kids are still leering from the divorce. Her daughter is doing all sorts of insane things like pretending to break bones in an effort to parent trap her mom and dad back together. And this man - who is their musical director at school - wants to be introduced to them as their mom’s boyfriend? I don’t fucking think so. Holy shit. Jail.

<i>Rating:</i> 1 star.



<b>Love in Spanglish • Zoey Castile</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> A heartbroken romance writer gets snowed in with a novel-worthy hero who may just make her believe in love again.

<i>Mini Review:</i> This was such a fun premise! A romance writer on a deadline gets snowed in at a cabin with a handsome stranger? Yes, please! The twist that the leads are inhibited by their knowledge of each other’s primary language was really interesting to see navigated. It made me want to brush up on my Spanish again. This one had a similar issue as a few other stories that came before it, though: the short timeline in conjunction with the quick relationship progression and the nonstop sex made it feel like their entire relationship is founded upon lust. Add to this that the two can barely speak each other’s languages, and this issue becomes even clearer. Still, this one at least had a buzzy premise.

<i>Rating:</i> 3.5 stars.



<b>To Us, You Are Perfect • Alexis Daria & Adriana Herrera</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> Newlyweds Pasquale and Yamilette's Christmas is just short of perfect. The missing piece is their best friend Marcelo, who has loved them from afar for years. This Nochebuena, they'll finally complete their happily ever after.

<i>Mini Review:</i> This one was a collaborative effort by Alexis Daria and Adriana Herrera. Like I said earlier, I was excited to read Daria’s stories. Unfortunately, this was another underwhelming iteration. None of the three love interests were compelling. I also typically love a yearning, angsty narrative, but this one fell flat. The emotions lacked the setup to get me invested and keep me hooked. The poster board slideshow was also the most on-the-nose allusion to the film, <i>Love, Actually</i>, and it took me out of the story to have the film mentioned alongside this blatant rip from the source material. Overall, this was a boring story that fell flat.

The flashback sex scene also came across as very juvenilely written. It also rubbed me the wrong way that two of the characters kissing after the love declaration became a lust-forward moment, rather than a romantic one. I was excited to see a poly relationship be given a sweet, romantic spotlight, and instead, every remotely physical interaction was just a prelude for them to get aggressively turned on. Again, the overabundance of relationships rooted in lust was to the detriment of this collection.

<i>Rating:</i> 1 star.



<b>The Great Holiday Escape • Zoey Castile</b>

<i>Synopsis:</i> Gigi is always on the hustle, making sure her little sister has everything she needs including a big Christmas Eve fiesta with all their friends and family.
That night, Gigi receives an all-expenses paid trip to a luxe South Beach weekend where not one, but two beautiful strangers steal her heart.

<i>Mini Review:</i> Yet another victim of insta-lust resulting in insta-love. An MM couple brings Gigi into their bed for one night and they’re suddenly so in love that the men cancel their plans to go to Amsterdam in order to come home with Gigi to meet her family and friends at the Nochebuena dinner everybody has been alluding to the whole book. Gigi was a fun character and there was a lot of chemistry in the smutty scenes, but wow, did this one just completely tank in the most important category—romance.

<i>Rating:</i> 2 stars.



<b>OVERALL THOUGHTS</b>

I had fun reading this short story collection, especially because I chipped away at it in the days leading up to the holiday season. But now that I’m considering the merit of each individual story, I have to admit that this was a weak collection overall. Despite being billed as a romance, almost all of the short stories lacked true romantic feelings, and instead relied heavily upon lust and smut. Not my cup of tea.


<b>Audiobook Review:</b> Ramona Master’s narration was excellent. Her voice is so pleasant and soothing to listen to, and her voice acting was immersive. Gomez Pugh’s performance, on the other hand, was wooden and robotic, and detracted from the overall listening experience.


<b>OVERALL RATING:</b> 2 stars.


<i>A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!</i>

This was a lovely, heart-warming collections of stories focusing on romance and finding connections with other people. I enjoyed how queer-positive this anthology was and especially enjoyed the stories about polyamorous love, as this is often under-represented in queer collections. The way the final story brought everyone together and tied off each happy ending was uplifting and gave a satisfying sense of closure for all characters.

This was beautifully written and narrated! I loved the inclusion of queer stories of all shapes and sizes in this anthology.

This was a really great anthology to listen to during the holiday season. Like all anthologies, some stories resonate more with different readers than others do. My favorite stories were Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, The Great Holiday Escape, and To Us, You're Perfect. I really liked how some of the stories had a bit of overlap in the characters and how they all came together at the end for the same nochebuena party.

This book had a good mix of straight, queer, (presumably) monogamous, and non-monogamous stories, as well as some that were much sexier than others. Overall, I thought it was a very good mix.

3.75/5 Stars

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for providing me with an audio advanced listener copy.

I have had my eye on this book for a while so when I saw an ALC up for request I grabbed it. I really enjoyed it overall, there were some stories I liked more than others which is normal for anthologies but I felt like all together they really worked well in the universe. My favorites were The Great Holiday Escape by Zoey Castile, To Us, You Are Perfect by Alexis Daria & Adriana Herrera and, All I want for Nochebuena by Alexis Daria. I did love getting to see a lot of latinx author’s writing styles and definitely will be picking some of their books up as I did enjoy most of them and the issues I had with them weren’t major they were just often because they story needed a bit more length to not be as rushed. Most of these were either insta love or insta lust so if you don’t like that maybe skip this one but if you don’t mind it in cases like this I recommend it.

I absolutely adored learning more about different latinx traditions and how they can differ based on where the character is from. This book overall was great for the holidays but maybe don’t read/listen around family as it was extremely hot and spicy in a lot of the stories. The narrators were amazing. I felt like Ramona Master and Gomez Pugh both did an amazing job differentiating all of the characters which was a lot as this was 9 different HEAs in one book.

I recommend this book if you looking for a short story anthology that is interconnected, romantic, spicy, and overall cute holiday vibes.

Wow! A spicy little number with a whole lot of heart (and heat). I enjoyed every story in this anthology and was surprised at how well they fit together. The authors did a fantastic job of creating a cohesive collection while still maintaining their own individual voice. The only author I had read before this was Adriana Herrera, but I will be checking out some of the other authors' work now. The narrators were really good. A hot and spicy little Christmas present!

This is a multi author, holiday romance, anthology indigo along the multiple stories. We have two narrators, Ramona Master and Gomez Pugh who switch it up on the story they’re narrating. These narrators were excellent, and I loved the variety of single narrator and dual narrator and female narrator versus male narrator used throughout this anthology. It really added a great variety and differentiated the stories. The narrators also had a great connection to the culture they were representing, and it showed in their reading. I enjoyed the variety of stories a lot, but I think I enjoyed the anthology, even more due to the listenability of the narration.

Make the Yuletide Gay • Adriana Herrera
A steamy FF boss/employee romance with years of one sided pining in the background before they connect in this story.
Once they do, it’s very quick- jumps right in with the reader assuming knowledge of their past that I would have liked more of.
3.5⭐️ 3🌶️🌶️🌶️

Only Yours • Sabrina Sol
Coworkers, with a long distance, NY/LA relationship are working together to bring new women’s sports team to New York.
It’s Christmas Eve and before he can tell her his feelings she disappears from the party- chaos ensues as he has to search for her and runs into a variety of holiday revellers on his way.
4⭐️ 1🌶️

Meet Me Under the Mistletoe • Priscilla Oliveras
A widowed father needs a date for the holiday dinner at the same time he realizes he’s catch feelings for his son’s music teacher… too bad she can’t be in a relationship with a parent of a student. Is he worth risking her job over?
4⭐️ 1🌶️

All I Want for Nochebuena • Alexis Daria
Two adult film stars, who are both secretly crushing on the other, get their Christmas wishes granted by finally getting to work together. Their on set fun is just the beginning of their new relationship! F/F
3⭐️2🌶️

Santa’s Eager Little Helper • Mia Sosa
Grumpy/sunshine

This is a grumpy/sunshine romance featuring coworkers crushing on each other with the MF’s brother is in the way, since he hates the MM. A Santa/elf cosplay moment finally pushes these two together- brother be dammed.
4⭐️ 1🌶️

The Nochebuena Dating Dare • Diana Muñoz Stewart
A divorced school librarian takes a second chance at love with the celebrity guest at the school producing their holiday show.
She dares her bestie to also invite a guest to their holiday dinner.
A strong family expectations vs your own happiness vibe.
3⭐️1🌶️

Love in Spanglish • Zoey Castile
An author struggling with inspiration before the holidays needs to finish before her holiday deadline. And after finding her boyfriend in bed with her roommate she needs to escape!
Que the perfect remote snow covered cabin and it’s hunky Spanish speaking caretaker!
4⭐️ 2🌶️

To Us, You Are Perfect • Alexis Daria & Adriana Herrera
When 2 out of a threesome marry, the third man out doesn’t feel like there’s room for him in their lives anymore… but he soon finds out they need him to actually find their HEA.
3⭐️2🌶️

The Great Holiday Escape • Zoey Castile
A woman who gives everything to everyone is treated with a pre-Christmas holiday vacation by her family and friends. Needing to take something for herself she finds not one, but two guys to let loose with… but can they make it more than just one night in paradise?
3.5⭐️ 3🌶️

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, an audio ARC of a Latino holiday anthology!

*An ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Usually, I am not a fan of short story anthologies. I like to soak in books like I'm taking a warm bath- basically, I'm obsessive and usually want as much time with characters and stories as I can get. However, this cute, funny (and yes, steamy) collections of Latino love stories was exactly what I needed to ring in the holiday season. I loved how all the stories connected to a singular noche buena party at the end- found family is my favorite trope of all time and this delivered.

This book is perfectly paired with peppermint hot cocoa, fuzzy socks, and a needy cat who doesn't understand that he's not supposed to yell while mom listens to her audiobooks. :)

Taking place in the lead up to Christmas Eve or ‘Nochebuena’, this short story collection weaves together various stories of Latinx love. As the title suggests, it is loosely based on Love, Actually, however, tells each story at a time, rather than interweaving them. There are stories about everyone from the Mayor, to a substitute teacher, to porn stars, all of them falling in love fore the holidays.

I enjoyed this collection, as with all short stories, there were some I like better than others but I think this will come down to taste and preferences. It was definitely spicier than I had expected, for a collection called Amor, Actually…I had expected a focus on romance, rather than sex. Again, some stories threaded this needle better than others. Overall, I think the writing was very solid across the board, the stories were engaging and I think this has the potential to become a reread for many romance fans during the holidays. It was also fabulous to see a collection by and focusing on the Latinx community.

As I listened to the audiobook, it is worth mentioning that the performances were engaging and very well executed without exception. The narrators were all excellent!