Here To Stay by Adriana Herrera

 

OUR REVIEW:

I came for the romance and I stayed for..so many things, y'all.

First let me say that I am new to Adriana Herrera and thanks to Kennedy Ryan's Instagram live author interview series, I knew I had to read a Adriana Herrera novel. I'm so glad I did. 

In Here to Stay, Julia and Rocco gave me all the feels. I loved their work place romance. I loved the passion that both of them felt for all things NYC. I loved Julia's family and how well that worked with Rocco's story. I loved the wacky sisters and the observations of NYC exiles trying to make new lives in Texas. (As a Louisiana resident, I found their observations entertaining and spot on). Also, before I go much further I should say that the slow burn between these two was *chef's kiss* sooo good and when they finally banged: OMG. So hot. SO HOT. 

So obviously, I'm now a huge fan (as you can see from my abundant use of "love" in the previous paragraph) and I'm here for these characters (and truly hope some of the secondary characters have a novel of their own). I not only enjoyed the humor, love, and exasperation that Julia had with her family, I also really enjoyed learning more about a culture that I feel like I really didn't know as much as I feel like I should. Having scenes with holidays, food, and celebrations and how some things are universal and some things are really unique and special to Julia's family and heritage really gave great reference points and context for new learning (for me). I also really really loved the various things that came up with Julia's job and the perspective she offered. 

All in all, Here to Stay was a great read and has me excited to read whatever else Adriana Herrera has for me to buy. 

BUY IT HERE: https://amzn.to/31ptZIu

SYNOPSIS:

Julia del Mar Ortiz is not having the best year.

She moved to Dallas with her boyfriend, who ended up ditching her and running back to New York after only a few weeks. Left with a massive—by NYC standards, anyway—apartment and a car lease in the scorching Texas heat, Julia is struggling…except that’s not completely true. Running the charitable foundation of one of the most iconic high fashion department stores in the world is serious #lifegoals.

It’s more than enough to make her want to stick it out down South.

The only monkey wrench in Julia’s plans is the blue-eyed, smart-mouthed consultant the store hired to take them public. Fellow New Yorker Rocco Quinn’s first order of business? Putting Julia’s job on the chopping block.

When Julia is tasked with making sure Rocco sees how valuable the programs she runs are, she’s caught between a rock and a very hard set of abs. Because Rocco Quinn is almost impossible to hate—and even harder to resist.