"How differently would my life have turned out if I'd been born in this country, if I hadn't come into a fractured and divided island caught in never-ending turmoil?"

When We Left Cuba was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019. After falling in love with Chanel Cleeton's beautiful and touching words and sentences in Next Year in Havana, I couldn't wait to see what else she had in store for us. Beatriz, the main character of this book, is introduced in Next Year in Havana and I just knew her story would be adventurous and mysterious. So I was pretty excited when the author announced that she was writing her book. I was hooked from start 'til finish, and I read this book in two sittings. I just couldn't put it down. The ability of this author to tell a story is just magical, I was Beatriz while I was reading this book, and I was feeling everything she was. I understood why she did certain things, and couldn't let it go. She isn't your typical heroine, and I loved that she stayed true to herself until the end.

"Love ebbs and flows, a low-level hum in the background, but anger sinks its claws in you and refuses to let go."

Like with Next Year in Havana, the history and politics regarding Cuba was told perfectly. It was so interesting and engaging, and it piqued my interest even more. I mostly read romance books, and even though the romance in this book is a bit in the background, it still plays an important role in my opinion. The balance between the espionage and romance scenes was really good. I can't believe I am saying this, but I wanted a bit more espionage scenes. I was totally hooked on them, and it is definitely a genre I need to read. The main characters were amazing and thankfully not perfect, they had their flaws and they were very realistic. This book wasn't predictable and I really loved that. It was suspenseful, mysterious, romantic, and heartbreaking at times. I absolutely loved this book, and I hope Chanel Cleeton will continue to write more Historical Fiction set in Cuba or any other country.

This book was so exciting to read and I was honored to received an early copy for a chance to review it. When I finished this novel, it did not disappoint and I’m so glad that I enjoyed it. The characters were well developed and the story was just so intense and unforgettable. One of the best thing about this book was the historical background that was written with so much accuracy. I loved that I walked away from this book learning things I had not known before and the author does an exceptional job at informing the readers about Cuba in the mid and late 1900s. I really felt a connection to the characters and to the story and I loved that. Overall, this book has it all and I’m so glad that it did.

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

I have been so eager for this book from the instant I finished Next Year in Havana. This book is rife with romance, secrets, and espionage and features one of the most brilliant and fearless female characters I’ve come across.

When We Left Cuba is the story of Beatriz Perez and details her life after she and her family are forced to leave Cuba following the revolution. Unlike her sisters, Beatriz is not seeking a man, a marriage, family. She wants to avenge the death of her twin brother and to return home to Cuba and she doesn’t want to do it meekly or as a bystander. Enter the CIA.

I really enjoyed this book though perhaps not as much as Next Year in Havana. I think it focused heavily on the spy aspects and on Beatriz herself and I would have liked a bit more of the romance, particularly given that I developed a minor crush on the senator. Having said that, I’m planning to read both of these books again and am hoping Cleeton writes more for the Perez family.

*I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

**Reviewed by Melinda for Joandisalovebooks Blog.

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton releases April 9, 2019. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced copy. I really enjoyed Next Year In Havana by Chanel Cleeton and was thrilled to read her new book. In this story, Beatriz Perez, is trying to help Cuba by eliminating Fidel Castro. She begins her journey as a spy for the CIA and this added excitement to the storyline. The story is told between the past in the 1960’s and in the present. Her writing style is beautiful and I enjoyed learning more about Cuba’s history. There is also romance and family drama in this historical fiction book.

Chanel Cleeton is back with an adventurous romance about a woman who leaves Cuba with her family and falls in love with an American politician. Oh, and she also works for the CIA to attempt to seduce Fidel Castro. Beatriz was a bad ass and I thoroughly enjoyed her fictional story.

When We Left Cuba is the highly anticipated follow up to one of the top reads of 2017 - Last Year in Havana. The story follows Beatriz as her family has moved to Florida following their exile from Cuba. Desperate to avenge her twin brother’s death she becomes involved with the CIA, while also becoming involved with some romantic scandal.
When We Left Cuba is another 5 star read that you won’t want to put down. Romance, danger, intrigue, betrayal, this book has it all.

If you loved Next Year in Havana, you will love When We Left Cuba! This was such an enthralling book! I will be hand-selling this book like crazy!

Wow! I fell in love with the Perez family in Next Year in Havana but, Beatriz’s story in When We Left Cuba was AMAZING!

History is not my thing but Chanel Cleeton’s storytelling ability made me want to know more about the Cuban Missle Crisis and Fidel Castro.

The love story and struggle of finding ones own independence and respect outside of the normal female roles of society made this story timely.

When We Left Cuba is easily 4.5/5 ⭐️‘S and is a MUST read in Spring 2019!! Be sure to preorder this gem of a book.

I was so excited to see to see another book about the Perez sisters and this book did not disappoint. Although this a follow up to Next Year in Havana, you do not need to read it (but why wouldn't you, it was so good) to understand this book. Beatriz Perez does not feel at home in Florida society life, her heart is still back in her home country of Cuba. She yearns to avenge the death of her twin brother by Fidel Castro's regime and will risk her life for this revenge. Even the two men who love her cannot fully win her heart which was left in Cuba when her brother died. When the CIA asks her to help put a stop to Fidel, how can she resist?

I received this book as an egalley in exchange for a review.

When We Left Cuba was an amazing read. If you enjoyed Next Year in Havana as much as I did this book is a must-read. It’s the story of Beatriz, sister of Elisa and aunt of Marisol. She’s a larger than life figure with an exciting life, lived on her own terms. We learn more about Cuban history and US/Cuban relations. I want to visit Cuba more than ever.

Last year I read Next Year in Havana and loved everything about it. Because of that, I had high expectations for When We Left Cuba, its sequel. While I did enjoy this story, I didn’t connect with this protagonist as well as I did with the one in the previous book.

Beatriz is a strong character with a thirst for revenge and a risky affair clouding her mind. I suppose the hostility she harbored wouldn’t allow me to sympathize with her the way I had with her younger sister (in the previous book) but there were page-turning moments just the same.

With all that said, I enjoyed this story. I learned so much about the revolution of Cuba and the country’s politics and unique intricacies. It was nice to revisit the setting and characters, and I’ll most certainly seek out this author’s next book.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from NetGalley.

Thank you so much to Chanel Cleeton, Roxanne at Berkeley Pub, and Net Galley for the e-ARC. So grateful! All opinions are completely my own.

“Next Year in Havana” is one of my all time favorite books; hands down. “When We Left Cuba” is vastly different. Get ready for a political-rollercoaster . Don’t want to give much away, but I was definitely transported back in time. I felt like I was there during the Bay of Pigs and JFK’s assassination. Add this one to your TBR! If you haven’t read NYiH, what are you waiting for? WWLC did not disappoint ❤️🇨🇺

I adored the first book in this series and loved the way it was written about a different sister. I feel as if I lived through the revolution when I read these books. I love the character development and urge you to read this. Your patrons will thank you for recommending this beautiful love story.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of When We Left Cuba - this is no way influences my review.

When We Left Cuba is a companion novel to Cleeton's Last Year in Havana - centered on the same family, but set predominately around the time of The Bay of Pigs (with a light dash of 2016), and focused entirely on Beatriz Perez. Beatriz is full of anger about the revolution in Cuba - not just because of her family's diminished lifestyle, or the death of her brother - she loves her country deeply and does not feel that Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries have Cuba's best interests at heart.
She is recruited into the CIA, recommended by her brother's friend Eduardo, and the story centers on their largely separate attempts to rid Cuba of Castro. A secondary plot within the novel is Beatriz's ill-advised affair with a highly ranking senator. Beatriz attempts to balance her love for Cuba with her love of a man who works for a country that views Cuba as little more than a pawn in the Cold War.

There are a number of excellent scenes in this novel, but I was unable to connect to Beatriz as a character - the writing felt somehow distant from her, even though it was a first person POV through her eyes. I felt that her anger clouded her common sense - leaping wildly from one plan to another without concern for her safety or if her handlers had really put any thought into the plan. I understand overwhelming anger, but to sustain it for so long, at the expense of everything for Beatriz, made it less and less believable/relatable.

When We Left Cuba remains an interesting story, as I've rarely read anything about Cuba it was a learning experience, I just wish I could've connected more to the characters.

‘When we left Cuba’ isn’t quite a sequel to Chanel Cleeton’s much-loved ’Next Year in Havana’, the latter of which I do consider one of my best reads of the year. Still, it’s a book that stands on its own feet even if it’s less sweeping than its predecessor. Still, ‘When we left Cuba’ is a compellingly written story of the oldest Perez sister who struts her way through the pages, armed with the thirst for revenge as she somehow moseys her way into the clutches of the CIA while tangling with a senator whose a player in politics and in every sense of the word.

Within the fodder material of the fabled and many attempts of the CIA to assassinate Fidel Castro is where Cleeton posits Beatriz Perez after her escape from Cuba, navigating the thorny issues of policy and politics of the time. Bold, hot-headed and reckless, Beatriz carves a path for herself that’s as treacherous as you’d expect, resulting in having her loyalties sorely tested as her decisions change the course of her life.

Cleeton writes in favour of long, descriptive passages of place and emotion; the pace is slower as a result, the plot a little more convoluted. The romance isn’t quite the focus here; rather, Beatriz herself is the star of the show, front and centre. Her long, longstanding affair with a powerful senator is carried out amidst society’s expectations and the uncertain political climate, a subplot that runs alongside her involvement with the CIA.

I’ll admit though, that it is harder to be singularly or emotionally invested in Beatriz completely as I was in Cleeton’s first book about Elisa and her granddaughter. Undoubtedly, Beatriz is a colourful character who stands out sharply—sometimes too painfully sharply like a woman cut from a different cloth—not just by means of her birth but also her life experiences, but ultimately, she’s still a protagonist whose story I read about from a distance as she made her own small stamp on history, for better or worse.

Cleeton’s impactful writing carries it all here, despite the odd hollowness I felt about Beatriz by the end. It’s what took me through the politics, the lies, the dirty games and the passing of time within the pages after all and it’s what keeps me coming back.