Review by Booklist Review
After being fired by the company that promised him a green card, Alejandro "Han" Torres is at his wit's end. Given no other options when it comes to staying in the U.S. legally, Han is now seriously considering his best friend and roommate Kenny Bautista's offer to marry him. After all, most of their friends joke that Han and Kenny are already the perfect couple, and the timing couldn't be better for Kenny, who has just broken up with his longtime girlfriend when she forced him to choose between her or Han. However, what starts out as a fauxmance with some very clear ground rules quickly becomes complicated when both Kenny and Han realize their fake feelings for each other are very real. YA author Reyes makes the switch to adult romance with a beautifully compassionate contemporary romance that delivers relatably messy protagonists who will resonate with many readers, and a compelling message about learning to love yourself while also insightfully exploring the pervasive fear that comes from being forced to live in society's shadows.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
YA author Reyes (The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School) makes the jump to adult romance with this strained contemporary. Han, short for Alejandro, is an undocumented Mexican immigrant and womanizer living in New Mexico with his bisexual best friend and roommate, Kenny. After Kenny calls off his engagement to his abusive girlfriend, Jackie, he comes up with a plan to marry Han so his bro can get citizenship. Han is grateful, but the affection Kenny shows him while drunk makes him question his own sexuality and worry that there might be real feelings at stake behind the scheme. The guys play up their romance to convince others, but establish a "no kissing rule" in an effort to keep things platonic. This is easily broken as their relationship heats up--but trouble arises when the cartoonishly villainous Jackie drops the bombshell that she's pregnant and wants Kenny back. The drama is compounded when Han gets injured, loses his job, and mourns the death of his estranged mother. Reyes tries to leaven these heavier moments with some fun, including scenes of Kenny doing drag and introducing Han to kink, but they struggle to achieve a coherent tone. The result feels overstuffed and contrived. Agent: Alexandra Levick, Writers House. (Jan.) Correction: A previous version of this review used the wrong pronoun to refer to the author.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This story follows the not-as-fake-as-initially-intended romance between Han, an undocumented immigrant, and Kenny, who is stuck in an unhealthy relationship. They get married so Han can become a citizen and Kenny can assuage his fear of being alone, but the men quickly begin to fall in love. The novel features some extremely silly, swoony scenes of Han and Kenny's friendship and budding romance (the Zane and Blaine Smith-Smith wedding midway through the book is a hoot), but serious drama is never far behind. Han and Kenny have some heart-wrenching, tear-jerking moments as they navigate their feelings for each other, their own hang-ups, and the realities that seem destined to keep them apart. These storylines are even more emotionally resonant because they reflect real issues. The happily-ever-after, when it finally comes, is hard-earned and feels particularly satisfying after everything they've been through. VERDICT In their adult debut, Reyes (The Luis Ortega Survival Club) gives readers a fresh, grounded take on the tried-and-true fake-relationship romance.--Jenny Kobiela-Mondor
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A queer bromance between two Latine men touches on the structural racism in American immigration policy. Roommates Alejandro and Kenny have been close since childhood, but Han's status as an undocumented Mexican immigrant and Kenny's relationship with an abusive girlfriend have increasingly strained their bond. Then Kenny breaks up with Jackie, who wants him to choose her over Han, just as Han loses his job and a chance to apply for permanent U.S. residency. When Kenny, who's bisexual, proposes that the two of them marry to protect Han, who is straight identifying, their troubles seem to be over--but fake love starts to feel all too real, even as the two men are beset by a cascade of problems: Han's new job at a restaurant is shadowed by fears of deportation and a shady manager's creative accounting; Jackie continues to reappear like a horror-movie monster; Han's family trauma ratchets up with his mother's death back in Mexico; and he also sustains an injury at work. Reyes' take on the "fake dating" and "marriage of convenience" tropes focuses on Han's precarious citizenship as the primary tension in the story, rather than homophobia or the aftereffects of coming out, the more commonplace barriers in a queer romance. The men's Mexican and Mexican American families are largely supportive, rather than being portrayed as more stereotypically conservative characters, but Jackie is a caricatured spurned woman who uses pregnancy to manipulate people. The two men's affection and sexual chemistry are fun to read, but several episodes of teary melodrama bog down the book's second half. A slightly overwrought but sweet romance for readers who enjoy New Adult angst. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
