A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow

Girl’s Guide

by Laura Taylor Namey

Love & Gelato meets Don’t Date Rosa Santos in this charming, heartfelt story following a Miami girl who unexpectedly finds love—and herself—in a small English town.

For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.

Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.

A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Audiobook, Fiction, Young Adult Romance, Realistic Fiction

308 pages, Hardcover

First published November 10, 2020

About the author

Laura Taylor Namey is the New York Times and international bestselling author of  young adult fiction including Reese's Book Club pick A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow. A proud Cuban-American, she can be found hunting for vintage treasures and wishing she was in London or Paris. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Oyinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

EDIT: EYE am tired of y'all in the comments telling me she mentioned Ghana. She mentioned Ghana one time or two times compared to the eleven or so times she mentioned Africa. I'm glad y'all love the book. Good for you. Stop dismissing my valid concerns thank you.

If I had to rate the story alone, I'd give it 4 stars. The reason my final review is 2 stars is because of the blatant casual racism regarding "Africa", which I'll discuss later in this review.

Look, this is a very beautiful book and one I wanted to love because it's SO CUTE. It started out so well and if the author didn't do what she did with Africa, I'd recommend this book to everyone. I also hate that I'm giving this such a low rating because a lot of the authors personal life went into this book. But Africa is my personal life and I can't overlook her "mistakes" here.

As I said earlier, this is a beautiful book about a Cuban girl and her close knit family. At the beginning of the book, her grandma died, her boyfriend broke up with her and she had a falling out with her best friend. Knowing that she's in need of a break, her family forces her to England for the summer. There, she meets a cute English boy and they develop a beautiful friendship that leads to much more. There's a wonderful cast of diverse characters and cute moments.

Now, my HUGE PROBLEM with this book. She had a friend, Stephanie (might be the wrong spelling because I listened to the audiobook) who planned to leave their plans to attend uni together for a program of sorts in "a village in Africa". That village is supposedly nameless. She couldn't even pick a random African country??? I'm really triggered when authors, especially those promoting diversity use the name of the continent to mean one precise place. It's strange that only Africa continues to be named by the continent all through the book but the little towns and cities in London and Miami are properly named.

As if that's not bad enough, there's a line that goes "she can't last two weeks without her hairdryer" in reference to Stephanie in Africa. Um, hellooooo, there's electricity in Africa! This is something that really frustrated me and I couldn't for the life of me fall in love with the rest of the book because of this. Towards the end of the book, another line goes "I can be Cuban in Miami, Africa, or London" *face-palm*. Two cities and a continent. Really???

I'm really not going to pick up anything this author writes again. It'd sad because this was an anticipated read for me and it had very positive reviews during the book tour I saw on Instagram. Oh, well.

[Hailey (Hailey in Bookland)]

I loved a lot about this book, but I also had too high of expectations, which seems to be a recent issue. I try not to go in with expectations but it's kind of impossible. But that's not to say I didn't really like this book! I just didn't fall in love entirely. I wasn't expecting all of the food and cooking stuff, and that was such a nice pleasant surprise! It made me super hungry while reading it honestly. I loved the passion Lila had. I also loved how steeped in culture it was. Lila's Cuban heritage, food and otherwise, was so prevalent through the whole story and it was really well done. It was interesting to simultaneously be transported to Lila's Miami from her memories and attachment to her home, but also to be transported to Winchester England. I loved that the book wasn't set in London and showed a different side of England. Orion was an adorable love interest and while I didn't feel super invested in their romance, I realized in the end when there were some super cute moments that I was more into it than I even realized! You get to see a lot of growth from Lila over the course of the story as she goes to England since her mental health hasn't been great. She is grieving a lot, a lost friendship, a lost boyfriend, and the loss of her Abuela. But she makes a lot of strides in the book toward healing. I had a lot of fun with this one. I did find that through the middle it dragged a bit, but overall, this book was just steeped in passion and hit a lot of levels and did it all so well!

[Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was a bit of a weird reading expereince for me if I'm being honest. I thought this was very well written and I especially appreciated the way that the author depicted grief and depression, and I also thought that the romance at the center of this felt well flushed out and that the characters had great chemistry. However, something about this book just didn't wow me the way that it seems to have wowed everyone else? If I'm being honest, I think that most likely has more to do with my reading tastes changing and moving away from YA romance than with the book itself (which is why I rounded up to a 4!), so while this wasn't necessarily a favorite for me, I think that if you like YA romance, this is a pretty perfect example of the genre and I do recommend!

TW: death of a loved one, depression, dementia, grief

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute/quick read about a girl who is sent to live overseas for the summer. 🙂 She loves to bake and misses her grandma who taught her how. This was definitely predictable, but also a fun/easy read for summer. 😉❤️📚

[Laura Namey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for visiting the listing for A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow. If you'd like to read a longer synopsis, see some aesthetics, and learn about the family history behind my story, visit http://lauranamey.wpengine.com/cuban-... for more details. Content warnings: Family member death, and dementia.
Thank you for reading!

[Ashley Nuckles · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! I absolutely loved this story! I love Lila’s passion for baking and how she finds ways to incorporate her Cuban roots into everything she does in the kitchen. She’s proud of her heritage and family, and I love how it was incorporated into the story. Orion was a cutie patootie and now I want a cute British boy to eat all my baked goods and help me find a tea I like. I also want to travel to the English countryside now. So, thanks to this book for fueling my passion for travel during a time when no one can travel LOL

[☆Pelumi☆]

Well, since some of the reviews fail to mention at the 'casual racism' towards Africa in this book but focus on the cuteness, I'll just drop this link
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
That is a friend's review of the book

This is just a friendly reminder that Africa is a continent, not an island or country!!
Also, there's electricity here thank you very much! I live in Nigeria which is in Africa and I have a working wifi, electricity and water!!!

I would read this if i wanted to!
The author is just ignorant!

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Thing is, when you put something back together it’s never exactly the same as it was before.”

Hi everyone, so it's been a little bit. My reading schedule has been positively dreadful recently (I haven't read in like over a month) and I have no desire to pick up a book. I also have no desire to write a review because I'm so tired and read this book about a month ago, but here I am because I feel obligated to do it because I can't have a dead Goodreads account 😀

My life has also been a little bit much recently.

I thought this book was all right. I had no expectations, just curiosity, going into this book. They were met enough, like I didn't particularly care.

The Plot

I thought this was alright as well (expect this word a lot because I'm so tired I can't think of anything more creative) like I still didn't really care.

It was slow at some points to the point where I almost couldn't pick the book up but I did.

What I will say that I liked is the setting. I've been in my UK obsession phase at the moment, since I hate it here and want to move over there, or at least visit, but this definitely helped my obsession grow. It also made me really hungry.

The Characters

for some reason I just couldn't connect with Lila. I also may be biased because I had a big falling out with a Lila (no offense to all Lilas out there) but I just didn't like her that much. Which is really bad to say but she just annoyed me sometimes. But that's probably because I'm jealous cause she's a lot better than I could ever be.

But there's no way in hell she ran that far away from home, I'd simply collapse.

Orion was really sweet, and he just made me want to move to England to meet a cute English guy (though let's be honest- the nice ones must be hard to come by these days) I loved how much he cared for Lila, though it was a little quicker than I would have liked.

The Romance

now the romance felt really weird to me. like they were good friends and then randomly decided that they could hold hands? I never honestly even knew the status of their relationship because they never confessed feelings or anything, they just hugged one time. And they didn't even kiss until the very end which was also really confusing (not that the romantic relationships have to be about just kissing; it just felt odd)

I'm definitely rewriting this review because this is actually such lazy writing by me that I'm ashamed but I needed to put a review out. I can barely even type for some reason. Anyways, love you guys and happy reading.

4 stars

“I’ve grown to find peace and acceptance in not fighting what I can’t control.”

<><><><><><>
lately, I have been OBSESSED with England and Europe in general, so this definitely helped my need to travel grow even more. I haven't been outside of the US except for a vacation to Canada and I need to go to Europe so much.

Anyways, this was pretty good. Some things were a little odd, like the romance, which was cute, but just progressed weirdly, and I was meh about Lila, though she's a good person I'd say

rtc

<><><><><><>
how am I JUST now finding out this is becoming a movie?? starring Kit Connor??? guess that means I need to read this book soon

[Melina Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volto aqui depois pra falar sobre esse livro ♡

[cossette · Rating 4 out of 5]

i just finished a cuban girl's guide to tea and tomorrow for the second time in two months; the first time i'd picked it up because i'd heard great things about it. the second, was partially because of a book club, but also because i was looking for a way to heal after my own grandmother had passed.

a cuban girl's guide to tea and tomorrow is a book that has found a special place in my heart forever. it's a love story to your family and the places and people that are home, to healing and finding comfort in places and people and food and tradition. lila's story, her grief & her feelings hit very much close to home. her storyline with orion reminded me of guy & girl from once the musical, in the best way. the food was described so vividly (you'll definitely feel peckish while reading this one)! i wanted to wrap all the characters up in a hug, but especially lila (& orion). there are so many things i loved about this book; the way it depicts grief & depression & loss in general, the strong family relationships, the way friendship (and friend break ups) are discussed - i could go on for ages.

anyways, this book has my entire heart & i'm incredibly grateful that it exists.

[Sana⁷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Did your heart find peace and some closure and something new to smile about in England?"
"Sí, Mami," I whisper. "So, so much."
Now she cries, a fat tear rolling down her cheek and the smell of her like honeysuckle.
"That is exactly why we sent you."

What's the book about:

A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow follows our title character, Lila Reyes, who, after experiencing some tremendous losses in her life, has been send to England by her worried family. She never wanted to go on that trip, never wanted to leave Miami where she's supposed to take over her grandma's bakery, but surprisingly to her, she falls in love with England and also falls in love with a star-named boy she meets there - Orion Maxwell, who helps her get through her troubles.

The lack of emotional connection.

Finally, Mami looked at me.
"It's not enough because you never say anything about your feelings. We can't help if we don't know what's going on."
I straightened, my limbs lumbering and achy.
"I don't need to talk about my losses. I need to un-lose them."
"What if that is impossible?"

This was a nice story. But it's all I can say about it. I thought that it's gonna be an incredibly emotional journey to get through, considering all of FMC's losses, but I just didn't feel it. That was a big surprise for me, because I expected to relate to this strongly, considering the fact that, just like Lila, I also lost my beloved grandma and, just like Lila, I know how it's like when a person, who you considered your best friend, suddenly leaves you. Lila is shown to be grieving, to having problems with moving on. She's acting angry, and rebellious, without taking care of her physical and mental health. That was good and understandable. But what the story is heavily lacking, though, are scenes between Lila and the people she lost, that would help us understand her grief, relate to her pain and feel the same loss, seeing how wonderful people she had by her side and they were suddenly gone. In such a story scenes like that are crucial, for me, at least, so the lack of them is a very big reason why I didn't gave this book a higher rating.

But I liked Lila's journey from being an angry teenager, being hurt by her loss and considering her family's decision to send her to England as an act of betrayal, to a woman who found a new goal, new love, the much needed peace of mind and matured enough to realize what she did wrong and to reconcile with the people that left her.


The romance.

Orion Maxwell is all the northern lights, the North Star - my true north - even when my legacy calls me southward.

Lila and Orion had one of the most healthy relationships I have ever encountered in books, which was a very positive surprise. I liked that Lila didn't jump into 'o my god, he's so hot!' debate the moment she saw Orion for the first time. They became best of friends first, leaving a clear room for more, both growing into falling in love with one another through mutual respect, understanding and supporting one another. After they both experienced rejection from other people, they didn't declare the 'He/she hurt you, but I will never do that' thingy (that always made me roll my eyes, because it's an impossible declaration to make). They were mature enough to realize that they will hurt one another, that's inevitable, but that's alright, because they can overcome everything (as friends or more). And Orion is such a green flag, o my gosh. Please, I need more boys like him in the stories. He was so incredibly understanding of Lila's wishes and needs, despite the fact that he knew he will end up hurt by it (by her leaving on the end, coming back to Miami). He was supporting of her to the very end, respectful and, just like a teddy bear, he always ready to deliver warm hugs if she needed them. And I loved their journey to discover her favorite tea flavor. It was such a small thing, but very significant to the growth of both their relationship and to the character of Lila.

Lila and Flora: the self-harm and the growth

But Flora is still hurting herself, and others. I know this because I've done the same. I understand what it means to be on the grass, dehydrated, filthy, and tear-spend. I ran so far and hard into the loss that had run me over, because I could.

I liked this part a lot. I wasn't a fan of Flora's choices and her reasoning behind it felt weak and strange. But I understood the need to be seen and to be remembered, the need of your opinions and needs being important to someone. And I liked that Lila saw herself in Flora. Through Flora, she realized what a destructive path she had chosen and decided to change her ways. And, when her family gave her a helping hand, she offered a helping hand to Flora. Both Lila and Flora shown how they had changed one another, how they became friends and how they matured. It was a very nice thing added to the story.

Overall, it was a nice story. I spend a great time with it, but, unfortunately, it's not something that I will remember for a long time. In fact, I'm sure that I will forget about it in a couple of days. But I'm glad that such stories exist. It's a step in the right direction.

[Claude's Bookzone · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars - Update: I've decided to round up to 4 because 2 hours after finishing I am still thinking about the last quarter of the book and that earns an extra half star because it has left an impression.

CW: Dealing with the loss of a loved one, breakups (friendship and romantic), mental health issues - girl runs to the brink of collapse and has suffered some significant damage to her body after a break down due to the loss of her abuela.

Well that ended up being quite a lovely book about family, friendship and having the courage to choose your own destiny.

I feel obliged to put in a PSA.

Public Service Announcement
You will want to eat baked goods whilst reading this. I suggest having some ready in advance. Go for something a bit decadent like a bakery pastry, *whispers* I had 3, because a dry chocolate chip cookie will not cut it (nor will the next 2). If you are a baker, have all the ingredients ready so you can whip up a sweet masterpiece in the kitchen.
End of public service announcement.

The food descriptions in this novel are out of this world and the love of this ownvoice author for their Cuban culture and traditional food was clearly evident in the passionate descriptions throughout the book. I wasn't really drawn into the romantic relationship until quite a way through the book, but the family connections kept me engaged throughout the entire story. The book touches on some important themes such as dealing with grief and finding a way forward after a tragic loss. It also looks at how Lila struggles to find the courage to deviate from her life plan when a new and potentially better one presents itself. A heartwarming story.

[Charmel]

DNF at 34%

this book was leading me into a slump.
and thanks to a friend's review, i learned about the racism this book had towards Africa.

[aly ☆彡 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can honestly get a solid four stars from me. I wasn't really into it at first because the first few chapters were about Lila's Trifecta, so you can only expect valid emotions from the MC — sadness, betrayal with a bit of rebel; which kinda draining me and I thought I'm going for a reading slump. However, Orion's appearance made the book's momentum to be better and I enjoyed everything onwards.

What I like about this kind of book (idk what do we called this kind of book, the "travelling somewhere to find yourself again post-catastrophe" plot) is the side characters that will help to the better development of the MC. This has the same vibe as Hot British Boyfriend. But I like this book better because of the raw emotions described of Lila when her Aboule died, dumped by her boyfriend and ditched by her best friend. She was having a hard time to bounce back, at the same time adjusting herself in England. And all the people she met there had been nothing but lovely.

The plot gets cuter. I love romance and I love Lila and Orion. The kissing scene happened only through 85% of the book (lmao just imagine) but you can still find yourself to flip the pages. So I'd say it's well done! ( ˘ ³˘)♡

Sadly, there is some part in the conversation that I felt like it's a bit bigoted and ignorant, coming from the MCs; making the whole experience afterwards to be disappointing. It's like a turn-off because I was enjoying one moment only to find the way they're thinking to be rather unattractive afterwards. Like the remarks to the vandaliser—the type of music on the band they don't like just because they think their friends are better, as well as the lack of scrutiny in promoting the diversity in this book. I don't like the label, stereotype and prejudice in all these conversations respectively. For me, the plot and flow are all good but I'm a character > plot person, so when there are my pet peeves in the department. Well, you can just guess... ABCDEFG Goodbye.



I hope this will give room for the author to grow though and be more sensitive about the books she wrote. Hence, 3.5/5.

[Rachel Solomon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely lovely, and I am very, very hungry now.

[roma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this but right now even a one star rating feels way too generous

the main character, Lila was insufferable and "woe is me", the romance was bland, the side characters instantly forgettable and the love interest, Orion manic is a pixie dream boy with no flaws and no personality

We get phrases like "his eyelids tremble" which I wasn't aware they could. At one point she literally says she feels like she's cheating on her city by liking London? the fuck?

Lila just assumes her friendship is over because Stefanie, her supposed best friend, dares to change their college plans. Instead of supporting her, she makes it about herself and cries how their friendship is ruined and just walks out of the conversation?

[Ana · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 Stars

The cute covers get me every time.

Instead of the sweet travel romance I was expecting, essentially I got a very long monologue from a self-centered baker. There was so much that could have gone right with this book which made it more of a let down imo. I'm glad that Lila was so proud of her culture, and I'd like to see more Latino and Hispanic main characters, but this was so over the top. She is literally obsessed with Cuban cuisine and yet she claims that she has nothing left to learn about it because her abuela taught her everything. Excuse me? I'm not sure ANYONE can learn every single dish or variation from their culture, especially not an almost-eighteen year old. It takes time, plus every family has their own way of preparing recipes.

Which leads me to my next problem: Lila acts like a 30 year old rather than an 18 year old. She has a whole business waiting for her immediate takeover just because she took a risky catering gig when she was 13? I would think that her parents would be a little more hesitant to give abuela's bakery to a teenager (and her 21 year old sister), but they have no qualms because Lila is a star baker. I'm just thinking of how I would feel as an employee and it makes me so annoyed.

Speaking of incredibly young business owners, the English love interest himself practically owns his father's tea shop as well. One of his friends is also a successful singer/songwriter so y'know, no one is very relatable for those who have no idea what direction the rest of their life is going to go (i.e. MOST teenagers). Regardless, these are minor issues.

My biggest problem was Lila herself. Many of her difficulties are her own fault. Her boyfriend breaks up with her? He tells her that she is so overbearing that he didn't even know who he was when she wasn't ordering him around. Her best friend "abandons" her? She tells Lila that she was afraid to talk about her desire to move to Ghana for missionary work(?) because Lila had already planned out their college career together. I was hoping that this was just Namey setting Lila up for major character development but nope, she gives a half-hearted apology to both and cuts them out of her life. She takes no real accountability for her selfishness at any point.

She even takes over someone else's kitchen once she gets to England and changes every recipe because she's "just a better baker." She has no respect for the other baker even though she tells herself over and over that "it's not her kitchen." Conveniently she gets her way because the other woman has to leave for the summer to care for her ailing mother. It was just so frustrating to me that this girl had everything handed to her and pretty much the only conflict throughout the whole book was self-imposed.

[Ris Sasaki · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a cook I felt directly offended and pissed by how the author portraits not only people from my profession, but also the environment and everything that surrounds the work life in a kitchen.

The portrait was SO OUT OF THIS WORLD that I get more and more pissed just talking about it.

A 17 year old commanding a kitchen? And then owning a bakery easy like that?

A girl that says she loves food but doesn't study or try to learn things to improve and gain more knowledge? That was HIGHLY OFFENSIVE and dismissed all the hard work and time of studying that EVERY SINGLE GOOD COOK (that wants someday to be a chef) puts into their education.

WE DON'T JUST COOK OK.
WE DON'T THINK ABOUT FOOD 24/7.
WE DON'T DISRESPECT THE KITCHEN'S HIERARCHY AND THE HEAD COOK OF A ESTABLISHMENT JUST LIKE THE MAIN CHARACTER DID.

So authors out there PLEASE before you get any ideas about writing about a character that is a chef or is related in any kind of way to gastronomy, PLEASE do your research properly so you don't do a highly poor portrait of a whole profession and disregard and disrespect the workers of that same profession.

[kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so very much. It was simply delicious in every sense of the word and will undoubtedly be one of my most memorable 2020 reads.

What I adored about this book:

- Lila Reyes. Lila was such a wonderful character to follow. She was charismatic, warm, passionate, hard working, brave and had so much love to give whilst unwilling to allow anyone to walk over her. I could honestly listen to her talk about her passion for baking all day. Her journey of self discovery was subtle in some ways and monumental in others and I couldn't praise Laura Taylor Namey more highly on the way she portrayed this part of her story. I also really appreciated the way Lila's struggle with her mental health was explored, in that I thought Laura Taylor Namey did a wonderful job of differentiating between struggling with mental illness and having a hard time with your mental health. I wouldn't think twice about reading another book from Lila's POV, she was one of the most engaging, honest and 'real' main characters I've come across.

- The Food. Oh. My. Gosh. I've read a few foodie books in my time (it's one of my favourite sub genres) but I don't know whether any has made me as hungry as this one. It may very well be because I have the worlds sweetest tooth but I've never craved baked goods so much in my life. I loved how richly descriptive Lila was when discussing her baking. The passion and joy she felt towards her creations oozed from the page in a way that was almost magical. I think this was made all the more special by the fact that much of the food discussed was Cuban and thus I wasn't as familiar with it and it was a true delight to learn all about the delicacies I've clearly been missing out on.

- The discussions on grief and mental health. I touched on this a little before but the exploration of Lila's dip in mental health due to the grief was beautifully explored. I thought the way Laura Taylor Namey showed the different ways in which you can grieve was superb (e.g. the death of a loved one, a relationship, a change in friendship dynamics, a lifestyle, dreams and how, despite not physically losing them, losing a person to dementia can often cause extreme grief.) It's not often you can read a book in which grief is such an overarching theme and still come away feeling uplifted and hopeful, but that's exactly what this book did.

- Orion Maxwell. Oh Orion, my wonderfully cliche english boy. Orion somehow managed to fall into every 'British boyfriend' trope and yet still manage to convince me, a Brit who sadly knows better, that all english boys are charming, witty, suave, gentlemanly and say things like 'ruckus' and 'crikey'. He was such a gorgeously warm, loving and empathetic character, I couldn't help but adore him.

-Winchester. Honestly? I'm just putting this in here as someone who's been to Winchester on many occasions and loved reading Lila's obsession with how old everything is. I will forever find a huge amount of entertainment in the way non-brits write about the UK. (It's all so twee but I love it?)

- Cuban Culture As a Brit who's never been to Cuba or Miami (where Lila lives), the vibrant way in which Laura Taylor Namey writes about Cuban culture, in particular the food and music, made this book so incredibly special. It filled the pages with love and passion in a way I've personally not felt towards one single place and it was a joy to read.

- The Romance. It was just.... so soft and chill and romantic and real and beyond adorable. It served my slow burn romance loving heart very well.

- The Relationships. From the adorable romance to the fabulous group of friends to Lila's relationship with her aunt, parents, Grandma and Sister, each individual relationship was given time and depth. Each relationship explored was fulfilling, unique and throughly enjoyable to follow.

I honestly don't have anything negative to say about this book. I guess maybe the somewhat dodgy british accents in the audiobook? (but even they were wonderfully entertaining.) I loved this book through and through. It was honest, yummy, hopeful and joyous and it will undoubtedly be one that I'll continue to think about for a long time to come.

[Cris ୨♡୧ · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf at 85%

Este libro fue literal lo peor que he leído en lo que va del año. Fue doloroso leer cada capítulo porque está escrito horripilantemente.

Para empezar la protagonista mencionaba cada dos segundos que era de Cuba y que vivía en Miami WE GOT IT. Fue súper repetitivo en ese aspecto.

Y tenemos el spanglish. Dios mío, jamás había leído tanto spanglish. Fue horrible. Entiendo que la chica es latina y use palabra en español de vez en cuando, eso no me molesta. Me molesta de sobre manera el español en la narración. Palabras que ni siquiera son típicas de latam/cuba. Palabras que se pueden escribir perfectamente en inglés, la autora las puso en español.

“Los recuerdos have a unique kind of power”
“The chisme will die down and you’ll come back refreshed—”
“smiling over her simple breakfast of café con leche and pan tostado.”

Horrible. Espantoso. Horripilante. Enfadoso. Me faltan sinónimos para describir lo mala que fue la narración.

Y ahora si hablamos de la historia; fue súper aburrida, nunca conecté con los personajes, para leer un párrafo tardaba de 3-5 minutos de lo poco que podía concentrarme.

Siento que fue tiempo perdido esta lectura y es una lástima porque en serio tenía muchas ganas de terminar el libro pero literalmente se me hace imposible.

[Zoeisbookhooked · Rating 3 out of 5]

I DNF this early this year. I read it during my first 24 hour readathon and I was exhausted and not paying attention and thought it sucked. I was tired🙄

This ended up being cute. It wasn’t my favorite but w nice lil story. Honestly there wasn’t a ton of romance in here in my opinion at least. But this book wasn’t awful, just a decent enough book.

original review:

I wanted to love this. But this is a DNF.

It was not capturing. I was trying to get through it but I was so bored. Also I was mega confused. The first chapter they hop right into the story. Like she just arrived in England and I had no clue what’s was happening. They gave no context. Not to mention the racism.

I don’t even want to review this

[Rachel L · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

A cute little book with lots of interesting characters and great layers to the story. I had trouble with the writing style, but otherwise a quick read and an enjoyable story.

[abthebooknerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.75/5 ⭐️

A wonderful, #ownvoices travel rom-com about family & the true meaning of home.

“Teenage master of Cuban cuisine, Lila Reyes, is eager to inherit her family’s Miami bakery along with her sister, Pilar. But between spring and graduation, Lila’s abuela dies, her best friend abandons her, and her long-time boyfriend dumps her. Fearing Lila’s emotional health, her parents defy her wishes and entrust her summer to family and their Winchester, England inn.

Days into her stay, Orion Maxwell barges into Lila’s inn kitchen with a delivery from his family’s tea shop. A nuisance at first, opposite ingredients soon learn to blend. Orion befriends Lila, introducing her to his mates and devouring her food––comida Cubana. Lila soon discovers this British boy brings empathy to her loss because he’s living his own.

Before long, Lila can’t control the route of her own heart as she begins to fall for more than a new love. England has charmed her. And a special opportunity in London tempts her. As her return ticket looms, Lila feels impossibly caught between two flags. Hearts aren’t supposed to split like this––between a beautiful boy and a beautiful family. Between exploring an uncharted future in a rich new place, and honoring Abuela’s treasured legacy.”

I’d like to start off this review by saying I was not in a good place mentally when I read this book, and that may have affected how much I enjoyed this story. However, overall, it was a really light, and fluffy read!

I hardly ever read books where the MC is from Florida (aka where I’m from), and it was so refreshing to see my home romanticized and painted in all its warm glory, instead of being made fun of 😂I loved England, too! I would have liked to experience more of it with our main character. I also would have liked to spend more time with the love interest. I didn’t care for him all that much, but I couldn’t help but swoon anytime he said “love”.

However, the one thing that I loved without a doubt about this book was Lila’s family. She was so fiercely loyal to where she came from, and I loved getting to know more about the Cuban culture that I’ve seen in my home state.

If you’re looking for a quick trip to England with a sliver of romance, then this book is for you! Overall, it was a nice quick read 💕and you know I’m a sucker for a happy ending!

Thank you to Feiwel & Friends for sending me an ARC of this book!

[Mikaela]

Book: *is about a Cuban girl written by a Cuban girl*

Me: Say no more

[CW ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feels like a warm hug, a hot cup of cocoa that doesn't scald but warms your hands, and the softest pillow. I adored how gentle and sweet this story was; it felt like a balm to the soul.

- Follows Lila, a Cuban teen whose parents send her to England to stay with family friends to relax following a series of heartbreaking events that devastated her. There, she meets Orion who appoints himself as his tour guide - except, she's discovering that she's falling for him and England, which means she may have to leave everything she planned behind.
- If you go in wanting a cute read, then you'll get it! It just feels like one of those cosy reads with great emotional depth.
- It's about finding yourself and finding pieces of you in unexpected places, making new friends at the crossroads of an old one, and food, food, food!
- The romance was sugary sweet. In fact, all the relationships are - it explores the complexities of friendships in a safe and gentle way, and the family relationships are healthy and lovely.
- The storytelling teethers on 'too sweet/saccharine' and 'sweet enough', but for me, it worked and I enjoyed it.

Content warning: death of a loved one, mention of self-harm

[ʚ Aileen ɞ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You love that boy like you love the kitchen. . .but you add yourself like too much sugar sometimes.”

Review to come.

[Amélie Boucher · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I'm so sad that I didn't enjoy this! I had such high expectations, especially as this sounded exactly like my cup of tea (no pun intended). I mean, a YA travel novel that takes place in England? Count me in!

Unfortunately, this didn't work for me. I struggled a lot with our main character. I found her incredibly stubborn and entitled, which made me roll my eyes on numerous occasions. I understood why she acted the way she did, especially in the beginning, but I still didn't warm up to her, even as the book went on. I feel like instead of being open-minded and trying to experience British culture, she just kept trying to make England feel like Miami. We only see her criticize British food, and while all the food that Lila prepared sounded absolutely AMAZING, I wish we would have seen her get out of her comfort zone. Instead, we saw Lila act as if she knew better than everyone, which was irritating.

But while Lila got on my nerves, I like the people she surrounded herself with. I actually quite liked most side characters, especially Orion. I do wish we had gotten to see more of them, as some of them felt pretty flat, though.

I just want to note, I'm so glad for the representation that this book brought. I loved learning more about Lila's culture and her family traditions, despite her being in a new environment that felt nothing like her home.

[abigailscupoftea · Rating 5 out of 5]

“he’s warm as sweaters and sure as stars.” 🌼🐝✨

i loved this book with my whole heart. side note: this book is best paired with a cozy cardigan, a cup of tea, and snacks. ☕️ it depicted grief in a very beautiful and real way. during the drafting of this book, the author had lost loved ones. during my reading of this book, i had lost a loved one too. it was exactly what i needed. i loved the rich cultures and the characters and the strong sense of family. it whisked me away to colorful miami and rainy london. lila had such talent and a heart of gold. i loved when she cooked arroz con leche because that is what my husband loves to cook too. this book was such a comfort to me in so many ways.

todo está bien—all is well. 🦢🌸

[allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.

i am an ABSOLUTE wreck right now. review to come because i adore this book way too much to not talk about it!!

[Avani ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved Lila, Orion could have been better.

It was a sweet read.