It turns out that a fake relationship is the perfect recipe for a love that sizzles hotter than Santa Barbara’s spiciest salsa–when it’s between enemies….
Intrigued? Well read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Alana Quintana Albertson’s Kiss Me, Mi Amor, which is out July 4th.
Enrique Montez, smooth-talking heir to the Taco King empire, is man enough to admit that he made a critical error when he underestimated Carolina Flores. The agricultural hotshot should have been an easy conquest–who would turn down the chance to partner with California’s largest fast-food chain? But instead of signing her name on the dotted line, Carolina has Enrique eating out of the palm of her hand, and when fate steps in with an unexpected opportunity, Enrique is willing to do whatever it takes to capture her heart.
Growing up as the daughter of farmworkers, Carolina spent her youth picking strawberries in the fields of Santa Maria and vowing to improve the lives of people like her parents. Now, as one of only a few Latina farm owners, she has no time for romance and she’s certainly not about to let the notorious Montez brother anywhere near her business–even if just being near Enrique makes her skin tingle.
But she is willing to let him help get her overinvolved family off her back. When Carolina’s father and her lovelorn sisters mistake Enrique for her (nonexistent) boyfriend, she reluctantly agrees to a series of pretend dates to their town’s traditional Mexican-American holiday celebrations. Soon the fake feelings turn real and both Carolina and Enrique must convince each other to take a chance on love before their vacation romance is over.
What an impressive woman she was. She had worked on the farm her entire life while maintaining a top grade point average and dancing with the local Ballet Folklórico group. Her parents had taken her with them every day to pick berries in the fields—rain or shine, no matter if they were scorched by the rays of the sun or frozen by the chill of the night. She would work in the evenings until the wee hours, sleep for a brief time, wake up, and go back to school. She was accepted to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which was no easy task. For college graduation, she had hired a photographer to take pictures of herself in her cap and gown, picking produce with her parents to honor their hard work and sacrifices. When her sister Blanca had posted them online, those photos went viral. The media attention had catapulted her career and made her an in‑demand speaker at Hispanic events around the United States. And when her farm was for sale a couple of years ago, she’d raised enough money to buy it.
Enrique was in complete awe of her.
But she had a complex reputation around the farm‑owning community. She definitely treated her employees right, but there had been rumblings that she was ruthless. A shrew . . . d businesswoman. That she didn’t hesitate to tell off distributors or fire long‑term staff members who weren’t pulling their weight.
Enrique didn’t believe any of that nonsense. When Ramón was cutthroat in his business, people hailed him, not demonized him. How misogynistic and frankly racist for these rich non‑Hispanic farm owners to give a hard time to one of the only Mexican‑American female proprietors in the state, or in the country, for that matter.
Enrique had seen a picture of the entire family on the Flores Family Farm website. All the daughters were beautiful, especially Carolina. Her long, dark curly hair, huge brown eyes, and those curves. Man.
But no matter how smart, successful, and sexy Carolina was, Enrique was not interested in her romantically. At all.
Enrique had learned his lesson from Ramón about mixing business with pleasure. Sure, his brother’s story had a happy ending, but Enrique was certain that was due to luck more than anything.
“I know a great club in Santa Barbara,” Rosa said, tugging on her cousin Tiburón’s arm. “Perhaps we could come for a short visit and show you.”
Tiburón gave a fist bump to his prima.
Enrique shook his head. “No thanks, guys. I’ll do this one on my own.”
Ramón shook his head. “Jaime’s right. Someone should go with you.”
“Okay, Dad. I can handle business on my own.”
“I know you can.” Ramón pointed at his brother. “But I don’t want you to spend the holiday alone.”
Enrique shrugged, ran a hand through his long, dark hair, and surrendered. “Fine.” He hated the way Ramón always overrode his business decisions. But Enrique didn’t want to ditch Jaime for the holidays. Since Ramón wasn’t speaking to their father, it would fall on Jaime to go over there alone this Christmas if Enrique was gone.
If they were both out of town, their father would simply make other plans. And their mother was on a cruise in Italy.
Enrique turned to his younger brother. “Jaime, you can come, but I’m serious. He has ten daughters. You cannot hit on them—not even one.”
Jaime was a regular Don Juan—love them and leave them. Which was fine. He was young. Maybe he’d grow up one day and change his mind.
Maybe not.
Jaime laughed and leveled Ramón and Enrique with his eyes. “Why do you both think I’m some kind of Neanderthal? I can talk to women and not hit on them. It is possible.” He exhaled, causing his long bangs to flap up before taking their resting place, skimming his eyebrows. “Look at Rosa and me. We’re just friends.”
Rosa smacked him playfully on the head. “We are family, you foo. Plus, I would never put up with your shit. I pity the girl who falls for you. You’re cute but you’re a fuckboy.”
Jaime grinned. “That’s not what you said last night.” Rosa lunged at him, but Jaime stopped her.
Enrique shook his head—what was going on with those two? He didn’t want to ask. It didn’t matter—Jaime would never settle down. Ever. Rosa was right—what kind of woman would ever put up with his antics? Jaime was a model. When he wasn’t doing social media for the Montez Group, Jaime was showing off designer sweats in La Jolla as a side gig, and he definitely had the surfer/beach vibe look down.
Enrique turned his attention back to his food. He took a big bite of his next taco and contemplated the scenario. Ramón was right— having Jaime come would be better after all. It would be nice to have some company on the trip. Bringing another member of his family along would show Señor Flores how serious they were. From what he could tell, Señor Flores was a traditional Mexican man and would not be receptive to either of Enrique’s proposals, even if Carolina was, and Enrique wasn’t sure how much sway Señor Flores had over Carolina, though after what Tiburón said, Enrique feared it would be a lot.
Either way, Enrique would fight for this. He actually cared about farming, the environment, and the health of the workers who picked the food for their restaurants—this was more than just business and the family name.
This was their future, too.
Excerpted from KISS ME, MI AMOR by Alana Quintana Albertson, published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2023
