Natalie Caña turns up the heat, humor and heart in this debut rom-com about a Puerto Rican chef and an Irish American whiskey distiller forced into a fake engagement by their scheming octogenarian grandfathers.

Kamilah Vega is desperate to convince her family to update their Puerto Rican restaurant and enter it into the Fall Foodie Tour. With the gentrification of their Chicago neighborhood, it’s the only way to save the place. The fly in her mofongo–her blackmailing abuelo says if she wants to change anything in his restaurant, she’ll have to marry the one man she can’t stand: his best friend’s grandson.

Liam Kane spent a decade working to turn his family’s distillery into a contender. Now he and his grandfather are on the verge of winning a national competition. Then Granda hits him with a one-two punch: he has cancer and he has his heart set on seeing Liam married before it’s too late. And Granda knows just the girl…Kamilah Vega.

If they refuse, their grandfathers will sell the building that houses both their businesses. With their futures on the line, Kamilah and Liam plan to outfox the devious duo, faking an engagement until they both get what they want. But soon, they find themselves tangled up in more than either of them bargained for.

I’ve been excited to give this one a read ever since I first heard of it. I’ve definitely been in need of some good rom coms, and this one did fit the bill. That’s not to say there weren’t some serious topics, such as PTSD, but I do wish some of those topics had been explored a bit more. In some ways it felt like they were glossed over.

Some of the characters absolutely made the story for me, I did really like the main characters even though they weren’t perfect. The grandfathers took the cake though. With that said, I did feel there was room for more character development and details. I did want it to be a light read, but I also don’t want it to be so light that it’s vague.

In the end I did really enjoy the story and it was a super easy read that flew by as I read it. I did really enjoy the different tropes and overall plot, so would definitely read from this author again.

Happy reading!