Gigi Blume

3 1/2 stars

An enemies to lovers, forbidden romance romcom with an endearing Hispanic family and plenty of laughs. This is the first book I’ve read by Gigi Blume and I’d give her other books a try. While it’s technically a closed door romance there’s some detailed foreplay and quite a lot of sexual innuendo. In true enemies to lovers fashion, there’s a lot of tension as well. The characters, especially Enrique and his family were quirky and fun. I loved their family relationship and it’s what I most enjoyed about this book. I also liked the harmless pranks, some involving a Nicholas Cage cutout and Saran Wrap.

January is a wealthy hotel heiress and Hollywood influencer. She’s used to having her every whim obeyed. On the surface, she appears spoiled and shallow, but underneath is a vulnerable person who struggles in her relationship with her parents and her life.

Enrique comes from a large family who runs several successful restaurants. With seven siblings and several quirky relatives, there’s never a dull moment. Loving cars his whole life, Enrique wants to start his own limousine service and thinks his life is made when he lands a job with a wealthy hotel owner. Little does he realize, he’ll be chauffeuring the daughter and not the father. From the get go, there’s a deep animosity between the two but underneath the misnaming (Enrique calls her every month of the year except January), and teasing, there’s a passionate undercurrent that becomes too hard to ignore.

The fiery passion between January and Enrique is definitely off the charts. I secretly enjoyed all the ways Enrique tries to get under January’s skin. I loved Enrique’s family and I’d read the other books just to find out what happens to the siblings. There’s some funny and also tender moments where we learn January may not be as shallow as she appears. While I enjoyed the hate/love relationship between these two, I had a hard time seeing a deeper connection other than passion and physical attraction. It also took quite a lot of chapters before I even began to like January.

All in all, a fun romcom with plenty of passionate, funny moments. I don’t normally read books with a lot of sexual innuendo and borderline sexual content (two instances where the characters stop from going too far). If you don’t mind some steam, you might like this. However, if you prefer clean romance with only kissing, you might find this too much or skip chapters 24-26. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the author and publisher. All opinions are my own and I was not required to provide a positive review.… (mais)