“Gabe had always believed in the adage You can never go home again. But now he knew that wasn’t true. Home was whatever, wherever, and whomever he wanted it to be.”
Second-chance and childhood-best-friends-to-lovers trope fans, have I got the book for you! A Lot Like Adiós follows Gabe and Mich, two ex-best friends who, after Gabe left town at eighteen years old to escape his parents’ crushing expectations, find themselves thrown back together again when Gabe’s flourishing gym is thinking of expanding to New York. Michelle, a successful graphic designer who offers to help, is torn between holding Gabe at arm’s length after his abrupt disappearance all those years ago without a word in the meantime, or picking up right where they left off. As old feelings resurface and they’re forced into close proximity, uncertainties of the future threaten to pull them apart once more—but this time, neither wants to let go.
Let’s get right into the best part of this book and that’s of course the romance between Gabe and Mich. I’m a sucker for childhood friends reuniting and finally giving into their feelings and Daria delivered! The chemistry between Gabe and Mich is absolutely sizzling and you can tell they’ve known each other for a long time in the way they slip right back into these comfortable roles of best friends even when they’re fighting their hardest to hide their feelings. On their own, each character was so fleshed out and had their own dreams and fears that are explored beautifully but when they collided, all bets were off. From the steamy scenes (which Daria just knows how to write) to the sweet moments like a big gesture toward the end that melted my heart, this romance was really well-paced and will appeal to the drama queens in all of us—really, there’s the reason why they can’t be together that will make you sigh with heartbreak and exasperation—and will make for a great read.
Quite like in You Had Me at Hola, we get a bit of mixed media in this book and this time around, it’s a fanfic Gabe and Michelle wrote together when they were teens. Reading the back-and-forth between them as they decide what to put into the fanfiction—creating the ending they think the show deserved—added so much to their characters and showed just how much chemistry they had even before they were honest with each other about it.
Daria also has a knack for portraying family ties. On the one hand, we have Michelle who has such a strong connection with her two cousins that are powerful, hilarious, and heartfelt women and on the other, we have Gabe who has felt so pressured and caged by his family and is now forced to engage with them, which brings back painful memories but also offers him the chance to see his parents in a different light. I loved how Daria explores this divide between Gabe and his family and doesn’t sweep under the rug the amount of emotional baggage Gabe has had to deal with because of how he and his parents left things and instead really focuses on healing and open communication.
Though I can’t say a lot because of spoilers, I do want to mention that one of my favourite aspects of this story was the way Daria explores dreams and ambitions with Gabe and Mich. Both of them have very successful careers but, for one reason or another, realise that they could be and want to be doing so much more with their talent, but neither can seem to take the first step in betting on themselves. I think we so often get these storylines where people are successful and rarely do we see that even when you ostensibly have reached your dreams, there might be the realisation that it’s not exactly what you envisioned it to be and that it’s okay to take the plunge and put your money where your mouth (or brain) is.
Also, and this is very much one of these things that just make my heart happy, we have great representation. Of course, both protagonists are Puerto-Rican and the exploration of Latinx values was great, but on top of that we have Mich who’s bisexual and still trying to figure out just what that means to her and some very important moments like for example Gabe’s business partner putting his pronouns into his email sign-off. It’s representations like these that can mean so much to readers and I was immensely grateful for it.
All in all, A Lot Like Adiós is an unputdownable, sexy childhood-friends-to-lovers romance with wit and steam to boot! A perfect beach read that will have you fanning yourself for one more reason besides the hot temperatures for sure.
A Lot Like Adiós is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of
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Synopsis | Goodreads
The national bestselling author of You Had Me at Hola returns with a seductive second-chance romance about a commitment-phobic Latina and her childhood best friend who has finally returned home.
Hi Mich. It’s Gabe.
After burning out in her corporate marketing career, Michelle Amato has built a thriving freelance business as a graphic designer. So what if her love life is nonexistent? She’s perfectly fine being the black sheep of her marriage-obsessed Puerto Rican-Italian family. Besides, the only guy who ever made her want happily-ever-after disappeared thirteen years ago.
It’s been a long time.
Gabriel Aguilar left the Bronx at eighteen to escape his parents’ demanding expectations, but it also meant saying goodbye to Michelle, his best friend and longtime crush. Now, he’s the successful co-owner of LA’s hottest celebrity gym, with an investor who insists on opening a New York City location. It’s the last place Gabe wants to go, but when Michelle is unexpectedly brought on board to spearhead the new marketing campaign, everything Gabe’s been running from catches up with him.
I’ve missed you.
Michelle is torn between holding Gabe at arm’s length or picking up right where they left off—in her bed. As they work on the campaign, old feelings resurface, and their reunion takes a sexy turn. Facing mounting pressure from their families—who think they’re dating—and growing uncertainty about their futures, can they resolve their past mistakes, or is it only a matter of time before Gabe says adiós again?
