Review- You Had Me at Hola

Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.

After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez. 

Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy. 

After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had. 

Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars.

With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.

DUMPED! The words glared at Jasmine in bright yellow letters, emblazoned directly beneath a picture of her own face.

I cannot get enough of books about celebrities! What is it about books with main characters who are famous actors that is so fascinating to me? I guess it is because that is a world I will never be a part of (and wouldn’t want to!), and it is also one that is full of drama, which makes for the perfect backdrop to a novel. I also love books where the main characters have a passion, and it was evident that both Jasmine and Ashton are serious about their acting careers.

What made You Had Me at Hola so unique was the fact that there are transcripts throughout the novel of the actual telenovela that the two main characters star in. There was something really fun about that! The show is something I would watch!

This isn’t a hate-to-love story, but there is definitely some awkwardness between the characters at the beginning. I thought that the dynamic between Jasmine and Ashton was sweet and realistic, as they slowly grew more comfortable with one another. I loved seeing how working together on the show brought them closer in real life.

Jasmine and Ashton have very different personalities, which leads to some miscommunication, and I know that can be annoying for some romance readers. I thought that their complications made a lot of sense. Jasmine is an open book while Ashton is more guarded, so they are bound to clash and have misunderstandings.

I appreciate how important family was two both of our main characters. There were a lot of compelling side characters throughout the novel!

I highly recommend the audiobook for this one!

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