I received this book as an ARC and it was so fun! This enemies to lovers book had excellent banter. Also, both of the main characters grew and evolved throughout the story. Another fun part of the book was that it was a love letter to Puerto Rican culture. I highly recommend this book!

I know I've been struggling with long book reviews but this one felt important to me to do it now before it's release next week.

I had a couple of issues with this book, from the narrator to be my least favorite narrator to the way Culebra was used as the setting for the guy to record his album to it being promoted as a reguetonero romance and it's barely a romance.

This book very much felt like women's fiction than romance, the romance is not the main point of this book. It very much is all about the female main character with her grief, learning to love the land of her deceased father and her place at her job. I did not feel there was a lot of chemistry with Rene and she is so fucking annoying. I don't know if my hate for the narrator affected my hate for the character. She was so annoying and so pick me. "I don't like regueton"

Can I also talk about how they used the FMC like a token latine persona and it's not addressed. Like so many little things just made me want more of this book.

I really try to not criticize the way second language speakers speak the second language, but this narrator really made me role my eyes so much!!!!! When she tried to make the coqui sound had me laughing so hard.

The way Culebra was used in this really made me uncomfortable because if you know about the issues with the power grid in Puerto Rico, you should know that Viequez and Culebra (the smaller island) suffer the brunt of it because its not the metro area. They get lots of power outages and they do treat tourist better than the people that live there. There is no hospital in Culebra. There are small restaurants and small supermarkets there, it's not like you can walk up to a small DONUT shop on the corner.

These are some of my issues with this book, and I'm not saying don't read it. Overall it was an okay book.

I liked this, but I wanted to LOVE this. The concept was great, as a Puerto Ricans I love reading books in and about PR, and some of the execution was heartfelt, but the relationship itself fell flat. Rene (our mmc) runs hot and cold with Dani, almost the entire book. She is a music label employee trying hard to work with him and he is condescending and antagonistic from the very first meeting because she doesn't know him and is not a fan of his genre (reggaeton). He was unprofessional and is just a massive d*ck despite her going out of her way to be respectful of his space & risking her job to help him record the album in Puerto Rico.

Later after hearing her father's music, he does all these grand gestures to help her connect with him. Yet he judges her so harshly, questions her Puerto Rican authenticity because she doesn't like reggaeton or enjoy dancing, and eventually writes a diss track mocking her wearing a blazer and being uptight, despite knowing that she takes her job seriously, is trying her hardest to be a professional and has a lot of family responsibilities on her shoulders. When she confronts him about it, he's like well sucks it hurt your feelings but I didn't mean it in a bad way. I'm sorry but how the fuck else is she supposed to take a lyric like "never met a Latina I didn't like, until I met you?"

At one point, we find that he's had a sexual relationship with his female best friend/personal assistant, who he basically dumped the next morning, and that is never resolved. Also, not to be that person who sounds like a smut addict BUT the author builds longing (at least on Dani's side) and tension, a will-they-won't-they back and forth, then we get a quick kiss, clothes being shed, mention of condoms and cut to the next morning. With all the other problems, honestly, it needed at least some sort of spice to understand why she even bothers with this guy.

“Takes One to Know One” by Lissette Decos is a rom-com that partially takes place in Puerto Rico.

Thank you Forever for providing this ARC. I also received an ALC from Dreamscape Media. Opinions from this review are completely my own.

Dani is a publisher for a record label and needs to work with the reggaeton singer “El Rico” while he records a new album. The issue is that she lied about liking reggaeton.

This was a quick read for me and I enjoyed the story. The fact that they go to Puerto Rico to record the album helps Dani connect with her father, even after he is gone. I liked her character development during the book.

The audiobook is narrated by Ramona Master. Her narration improved the experience of reading the book. She did a good job with the characters and had a great accent.

The relationship with Rene is a slow burn as they cannot stand each other in the beginning. But after spending more time together they develop a friendship and in the end a relationship. We only have Dani’s POV, so I feel like Rene’s character was underdeveloped.

Even of the romance is not the main plot, there are some sweet moments and there is a happy ending.

Thanks to Forever and Netgallery for the ALC of Takes One to Know One in exchange for an honest review.

I think that this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year for many reasons. For starters, there are not enough books by Latinx authors, with Latinx main characters, specially puertoricans. So it pains me to say that this book didn't hit the mark for me. For starters, the chemistry between our main characters was NON-EXISTENT. 60% of the book and they barely have conversations or anything that could make me believe they liked each other or could have everlasting love. To me, saying this was a romance, is just not real.

While I appreciate the setting, it felt off. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and while some descriptions were beautiful, it just didn't feel authentic. It lacked heart IMO and it felt like it was just a plot device. I understand the apprehension of the FMC on going to the island, and I appreciated the exploration of grief, but it just felt flat. Everything on the story felt all over the place.

The narration was good, the voice actor did a good job with the Spanish and evoking some emotions, the problem was the story.

Again, I am sorry I didn't enjoy the book and I really hope that if you give the book the chance you end up loving it. But is a no for me.

Great narration!

This is a great example of the women's lit type of books I adore. Where the romance is the central idea and point, but the development of the maun character is most important. This close look at a woman who has had to hold it together and provide for her family for years, this is a tue breakdown taking its time.
I love the double Latinx leads and I love that it takes place on the island too.
I just want to gently request fact checking. Beaches in PR are not private no matter what rich people say. There were other PR slang discrepencies as well.
Diversity editor and or sensitivity readers are pivitol when writing outside of your experience.
It is still such a great book that i will be recommending to many!