Okaaayyyy. Some books are so hard to review. Because they’re sweet and caring and, at the same time, have this stupid side plot that ruins everything for me. This is such a book.

I really loved Han and Kenny and their bro code. I loved how Kenny wanted to take care of his best friend, and I appreciated the heavy themes in this book. Most of you know by now that heavy topics make me happy—or better: make me an invested reader.

But can I rant for a moment about Jackie and how she ruined this story for me? I mean, the topic itself was really good: an abusive girlfriend who ironically works at a women’s shelter for abused women. But she felt so over the top, especially when she got <I don’t want to spoil>. Rage ran through my body. And then all those things happening, including Jackie who caused the third-act breakup? Come on! So much drama. I love tackling heavier topics, but this kind of drama? I hate it. I almost threw my e-reader against the wall out of frustration.

So, yeah, I liked this story. For the first half, I thought it would be a 3.5-star read and probably would have rounded it up to four. But after reading the second half, my rating plummeted down and now I’m going to round my 2.5-star rating down to two. And I’m so mad about it because I hardly rate books two stars.

I like the cover, though.

This was a lovely story of friends-to-lovers. Part of what made the story so good was that if offered up not just the two characters in a closed world, but the community that surrounded them—distinctly supportive family members and co-workers. Each of the characters faced significant, though different, challenges but there was also a lot of love not just between them but surrounding them. It was also cool to see two neurodivergent characters who just were. We see how each of them navigate the world, but it’s all pretty matter of fact and they primarily accept themselves as they are. TW: there are important storylines about about the impact of substance abuse and domestic abuse. The latter definitely shows how neurodivergent people can be more vulnerable to emotional abuse. At the heart of the story is the amazing friendship between Han (Alejandro) and Kenny, and it’s really beautiful how they listen to and support each other. The story did take a couple of chapters to find its groove. But once it got going it hooked me in and I was so invested in Han (Alejandro) and Kenny’s journey I hardly put it down. I'm really excited to hear the audiobook as well, as it features two of my favorite narrators, Alejandro Antonio Ruiz and André Santana!

Ah I loved the premise of best friends falling for each other.   Simply love it. Best friends since the first grade, Kenny and Han were unaware of their romantic feelings for each other. When Han losed his job he also lost  his work visa. Kenny came up with a plan for Han to stay legally by getting married to each other.  With family, friends, and an utterly abusive ex girlfriend they have to convince the world they are madly in love. What I loved about this was the friendship between the two of them. Han had struggled to voice his feelings and sexuality for awhile. While Kenny was struggling with low self esteem and an abusive relationship. Both suffered from anxiety that was represented in a beautiful and kind way. I loved how they understood and supported each other. When given an ultimatum by his ex Kenny chose to be with his best friend. I cheered for Kenny in finding himself after a long struggle. The ex was definitely bad news and needed help. And the heavy topics were done in a gentle way throughout the book. The ending was simply beautiful!! Overall,  if you love a sweet,  poignant m/m love story this one is for you.  Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my review.

This was so precious.

I was delighted to see this was available now on Netgalley this weekend from the publisher, so I leapt on the opportunity to read this early. I started it on the train this morning to work and couldn't put it down so I ended up finishing it on the ride home after reading it during every free moment of the day.

It's certainly not perfect, and at times it did feel like Reyes bit off more than they could chew with hard topics (immigration, unexpected pregnancy, substance abuse and abusive relationships), but I do still feel like these topics were handled adequately at the same time. It just sometimes felt a little overdramatic with the amount of things that just kept happening. the whole unexpected pregnancy addition felt a little Glee to me, which is to say, ridiculous for the sake of causing problems, and it did...way too conveniently go away at the end

Buuuuut all that said, I did just adore the romance and the childhood friends to lovers trope will ALWAYS be my favorite, so this really filled that hole for me. It wrapped up a little fast at the end (and tbh the sex scenes were good but a little forced in weird moments...I kind of wanted to see them be able to do it when they weren't rushed for time and could actually explore things lol), but I was smiling nonetheless.

A solid four star read that I won't hesitate to recommend come Februrary 2025!

This story had a lot more umph behind it than I was initially expecting with having "bro" in the title, but I really enjoyed it. I've read two other green-card marriage romances, both of which had a MC from a european country, and after reading this book those almost seem trivial after seeing Han's experiences being undocumented.

We see Han live an emotionally closed off life with the exception of Kenny and we see him live in fear about being reported, unable to seek medical attention, and his hopelessness about not being able to plan for a future since he fears it can be taken away at any point. Kenny's ex plays a much bigger role in the story than the blurb lets on and is probably at the top of one of the most evil contemporary romance antagonists I've come across. I really empathized with Kenny and the love he has for Han and his want to try to protect him from his ex's wrath.

I don't think the romance between the pair was shown that strongly, but it's clear how much love and respect they have for one anothers friendship and how they were able to transition it to more relatively easily. With the amount of external conflict they face it also makes sense as to why romance takes a backseat. I think that this book is a perfect example of why telling marginalized stories matter and makes me want to go back and read Sonora's YA backlist.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for an arc of this book!

The Broposal

I was immediately pulled into this story, and although I was extremely frustrated at times, I couldn’t put it down.

Some of my favorite things:
✅ POC main characters
✅ Queer representation
✅ Neurodivergent representation
✅ Believable friends to lovers trope

My not so favorite things?
➖ This is new adult but felt VERY YA
➖ I wanted the final conflict with the “big bad” to be more impactful. The resolution was anticlimactic.

Still an enjoyable story.

#TheBroposal #NetGalley

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4/5 for me. It's clear that this was the author's first time writing an adult novel after writing YA - the writing was fairly basic and the plot resolved itself rather easily - but they nailed the emotions and I was honestly still really invested in the story and rooting for the happy ending. A whole new take on friends-to-lovers with two friends deciding to get married so that one can get a green card. The catch? One is straight and the other is bi. So why are they catching feelings?

When I tell you I have never clicked so fast on a "Read Now" on Netgalley IN MY LIFE! I've also never immediately started reading an ARC after downloading it, but with this one, how could I not???! Sonora Reyes has become one of my favorite authors this year, and for good reason. I fell in love with their books because of the queer, mental illness, and autism reps (OwnVoices), all focused on Mexican-American characters.

Like Sonora Reyes' other books, The Broposal is not without trauma (pleeeease check content warnings!!), so don't go in expecting a just light and fluffy fake dating/marriage of convenience romcom. Like seriously, this book is HEAVY. Of course, Han and Kenny together are FLUFFY PANCAKE MAGIC (pancakes have nothing to do with the book or their relationship, but the word fluffy reminds me of pancakes because who doesn't love a fluffy pancake). If you're not a fan of friends to lovers romance books, I still think you'd like this one! The way Han and Kenny slowly come to realize their feelings for each other is beautifully done. The buildup in tension was just... UGH. Chef's kiss. At so many points I just wanted to (consensually) smush Han and Kenny's faces together and be like "WAKE UP ALREADY, YOU'RE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER GOSH DARN IT." Han's realization that he was in love with Kenny was also complicated by the fact that he thought he was "straight," LOL.

When Han loses his job that promised him a green card, he fears impending deportation to a place he hasn't been to since he was a young child. His best friend and roommate, Kenny, offers to marry him so Han can get his green card and eventually become naturalized. Kenny has been in an on-again-off-again abusive relationship with a girl named Jackie since high school. Abuse is about power and control, and I loved how Sonora Reyes depicts its cyclical nature and how it typically gets worse over time. They made it clear that no matter the reason for it, there is no excuse for Jackie's abuse. She is a grown woman making her own choices. Ironically, Jackie works at a shelter for women escaping abusive relationships; I appreciated this detail because a) I'm sure there are more employees who abuse their partners working at shelters than we'd ever be comfortable with knowing, and b) it made it that much harder for Kenny to acknowledge the abuse (not that I wanted it to be hard for him, but it was that much more realistic in showing how abuse can have a stranglehold on so many people).

I also loved the jellyfish motif, and how it kept repeating itself throughout the book!

Last point: I was endeared by Han's emotional constipation and his overuse of the term "bro" to avoid expressing any type of vulnerability. I loved that he watched Disney movies to make himself cry (relatable, honestly).

I can't wait to read whatever Sonora Reyes writes next (which will apparently be out in 2026)!

Could not put this down, I read it in like 3 hours. I love it when gay people it's so fun. The icky characters got what was coming those parts were great and I loved all the side characters.

This was an incredibly sweet and genuine portrayal of what friendship turned to romantic love looks like. The two main characters have such distinctive personalities and it was clear to see what they saw in each other. I appreciated the communication that they had with each other when things were going down.

The "villain" of the book seemed very exaggerated probably because of how the reader was meant to see Kenny's abuse while he was blind to it. And I just wanted to give him a hug at all times.

❤️ For the representation: cultural, mental health, queer

Would recommend for lovers of slow-burn, friends to lovers and anyone that wants a deeper love story.

Was sent this book and immediately dove in. This seemed like exactly what I was in the mood for. It ended up being a little heavier than I expected, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

I love a friends to lovers romance and the way these two were so oblivious had me wanting to shout at my Kindle. But it was understandable as well, because they're each going through some really difficult things. Kenny is just barely getting out of and trying to come to terms with an abusive relationship, and she keeps coming back and trigger him. Han has just lost his job and with it, the chance at a green card, which is terrifying for him. So it makes sense that they both didn't immediately notice their feelings for each other.

The themes in this book were all on the heavier side, but the friendship, and later the romance, was so precious and felt so safe, because even before they started a relationship, they're all in with each other and they're each other's support system. I never had any doubts that these people belonged together, and I loved seeing them spend time together and grow even closer.