4.5

A very captivating story full of angst and tons of emotions!

From the get go Rocco and Julia were in a pickle! Julia was trying to save her job while Rocco was there to judge if it was worth it to the company to keep her! Even though the lines were clearly drawn these two had a palpable attraction that wouldn’t make anything easy for them!

Rocco and Julia were amazing characters! Julia with her soft, loving heart and Rocco who has a deep love for his sister and doing what needs to be done! Though you would think they were polar opposites these two were perfect!

The story is a slow burn but let me warn you, once things finally get HOT they heat up exponentially and you will need a cool down!

Here To Stay will make you want to find Adriana Herrera's backlist titles ASAP! This book is a super steamy and realistic workplace romance. Rocco and Julia are instantly attracted to each other when they first meet at work but they know that getting involved will only create problems. Herrera perfectly crafts the tension between the two main characters and then finally lets them get together when the steam is at an all time high. This book also focuses on the importance of found family and self-care. I loved that Rocco was sensitive and caring. He was not afraid to show his true self to Julia. This book is also mostly set in September-January and there's lots of cozy holiday/winter scenes that I loved

A group of New York City business people transplanted to Texas for different reasons from slightly different areas allows for an exciting, funny story line with even a dramatic workplace romance thrown in. Rocco and Julia try their best to avoid each other but the fates will not allow it. Their workplace conflict gives Rocco personal conflicts that he has to deal with internally. Julia and Rocco are truly in love and each of them thinks that they are protecting the other from themselves. You'll love the "Gotham exiles" and how they band together and protect each other through the ups and downs. In the end you will cheer for Rocco and Julia to succeed. You will respect Rocco and how he deals with his parents and takes care of his sister and niece. You'll also love Julia's family connections. This is a feel good book that you will enjoy!

My first Adriana Herrera, but definitely not my last. Julia Ortiz has her dream job as a nonprofit manager in Dallas, and she misses her family back in NYC, but she's making a life for herself. Until the annoyingly good-looking consultant Rocco Quinn comes to town. He has the power to shut her job down, and it seems like he's going to do just that.

As Julia sets out to prove her after-school programs should stay, she gets to Rocco and finds that he's nothing like she thought. (Except handsome. He's still handsome.) Rocco knows he's only in Dallas for a short time, and his long-term plans depend on doing well at this gig, so he has to keep his head down and stay away from the entrancing Julia. Good luck to both of them.

This was an incredibly sweet book. Their friend group--the Gotham Exiles--is delightful, and there's an actual kitten rescue. Plus a lot of amazing Dominican cooking that I would love to try someday (pigeon peas!).

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review.

I loved this slow burn romance book. I usually stay away from them because many times I get frustrated with the writing or the pace of the story but the author has made a great job in keeping me invested at all times and I definitely recommend it.

This is a fun summer read and I enjoyed the romance between Julia and Rocco, along with the mix of friends known as the Gotham Exiles.

**Review will be posted on my blog on my blog tour date 8/17/20**

**3.5 STARS**

Thank you to Carina Press and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

My Reactions:

My Attention: it’s a quick read

World Building: Dallas, Texas with New York City nostalgia

Writing Style: flowed nicely, except for some typos (but this is an arc copy)

Bringing the Heat: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Crazy in Love: Julia and Rocco are crazy for one another

Creativity: I like the Dominican representation

Mood: content

Triggers: abuse

My Takeaway: You can find love and make your own family in a new place away from home.

What I Liked:
*Julia is a confident, Dominican woman who is focused on the work she does with immigrant and refugee children. I liked her NYC pride even while living in Dallas. She’s doing her best to move on from her ex and making the most of life in a new city.

*Rocco is trying to make a life in Dallas as an expat from NYC as well. He has a troubled past but he’s determined to live a good life and help his sister and niece as well. He and Julia connect on that level of being expats and for their love of family and friends.

*Julia and Rocco are hot together. I mean their sex scenes were on fire! Their relationship grows steadily from co-workers, to friends, to lovers and more.

*I like the Dominican culture representation because I don’t know much about it. But the author brought Dominican food to life and I was wanting to try everything they were eating in the book!

Things That Made Me Go Hmm:
*This copy is an arc so I hope the errors are fixed, but there were some typos that I had to reread to make sure and understand what the author was trying to convey.

*This was a quick read and I wished I could connect to the characters more. I think I was hoping for more an enemies to lovers interaction but from the beginning they seemed like fast friends and not enemies at all. They are co-workers with Rocco being the person to evaluate her work, but still…they were friendly. I’d have love more tension between them.

Final Thoughts:
This is a cute, workplace romance story between a sexy and smart Dominican woman and her co-worker. Seeing them get to know each other and flirt was fun and their sex scenes were hot! I love that they both valued family and friendship plus we get treated to Dominican and Latinx culture. Julia and Rocco are perfect for each other and they get their happy ending, as they should.

Adriana Herrera does it again! I've read all of her books but one, and I've completely loved each one. This was no different. I will be purchasing a print copy and I can't wait to come back to this story again.

This book made me feel really good and cozy!
I realy liked the characters and the writing style was phenomenal!
Highly recommend!

Herrera's signature style of diverse Latinx characters, found families, social justice, and steamy romance is on full display in this book and, much as with her other books, it was an absolute delight to read. Her characters always leap off the page making you care deeply about them and their situation. Julia and Rocco were a couple I sincerely wanted to see happy and this story offered some significant challenges to that destination--economic, familial and evil billionaires--which made me quite concerned about the pain of the journey for the characters. In the end, of course, everything was okay, and I truly enjoyed reading about their love story and meeting the Gotham Exiles along the way. Is it too much to hope they will star in their own books some day?

Here to Stay by Adriana Herrera Review | Here for this romance between ex-New Yorkers finding their place in life!

This review will be live on the blog, One Way Or An Author, on August 24, 2020!

Herrera is a new-to-me author, but after loving HERE TO STAY, I’m excited to check out her backlist as well! I loved reading from the multiple perspectives of Julia and Rocco, who were both New Yorkers whose works took them to Dallas. For Julia, it was her dream job to work with a social program for immigrant and refugee children, creating counseling centers and support for families. For Rocco, it was as a consultant brought in to cut Julia’s social program out of the company - success means a promotion that would lead to a better lifestyle for him and his sister and niece. While work creates tension between Julia and Rocco, there’s an undeniable attraction that they can’t let go of which drives the story and their relationship. It was full of chemistry, respect, and understanding of one another. I loved it!

“Here though, in this city and in this apartment, I felt like I was right where I was supposed to be. Like I was a piece of the puzzle, and if I went missing, the picture would not be complete.”

HERE TO STAY followed not only Julia and Rocco’s developing romance, but also the way their actions are centered around family. First and foremost is Julia’s loving personality that is exacerbated by her rowdy and supportive Dominican/Puerto-Rican family (her father is PR and her mother is Dominican!). This includes her grandma, parents, and younger sister. You can really see their love and care for one another, and this translates to Julia’s passion for the social program at the fashion company she works at, Sturm. Julia was so great at bringing other ex-New Yorkers in the company together and creating a wonderful friend group. However, she’s plagued by the mistake of following her long-term ex-boyfriend to Dallas and getting dumped shortly afterwards. She asks herself in this book whether she wants to plan a future based on what SHE wants, rather than following another man… or can a balance be reached?

Next is Rocco, who is Irish/Italian and grew up in an abusive home life where his father treated him and his sister like crap. His parents are also both alcoholic, and generally toxic in general. This home environment led to his sister getting pregnant at a young age, and becoming a young single mother. Rocco is her biggest support system, and he has plans to move her and her daughter to a larger place without the toxicity of their parents. Rocco is super hard-working despite such a difficult background and was really diligent to be where he is now! However, he has to grapple with what he believes is right (keeping the philanthropic endeavors of the company) versus pressure from his superiors, which is cutting them off in favor of increased investments as the company goes public. It doesn’t help that his feelings for Julia complicates things, too.

At first I thought this would be an antagonistic relationship, but NOPE. Both characters are so soft and have crushes on the other from the very beginning, which I found super darling. It creates a wonderful tension where they’re both like, “I have to keep it professional… but I’m so WEAK for them.” Eek, one of my favorite kinds of internal conflicts. Rocco is absolutely charming (what with him finding a stray cat and raising it??) while Julia is caring and resilient (especially as she advocates for immigrant children and their families). They were both superb characters, and were so complementary towards the other.

“‘That man looks at you like you’re the answer to every question he’s ever had. Trust that you can be that to someone.’”

HERE TO STAY features all the best, heartwarming parts of a relationship. The hero Rocco is soft and darling, while the heroine Julia is loyal and full of energy. If you like romances with minor work tension and major attraction, I definitely recommend this one! Also, talk about hot chemistry? Some of these scenes were honestly *fans self*, hehe. Overall, the wonderful family dynamics (found family for the win) and lovable friendships created took this contemporary romance to the next level. I definitely recommend it for romance lovers!

Trigger/Content Warnings: abusive parenting, alcoholism, mention of deportation

Thank you Carina Press and Netgalley for the review copy!

Rating 3.5
Thank you net galley for providing this ARC
Julia del Mar Ortiz relocates from NYC to Dallas. She is involved in the running of a charitable foundation for a high fashion department store chain. She loves her job & is settling into her new city.
When the family owned business decides to go public, they hire a consulting firm to make them look more attractive to the stock buyers.
Rocco Quinn is the man Julia must convince that the nonprofit shouldn’t be on the chopping block. Sparks fly and the resulting fireworks light up this story.
A few pages in I was laughing as Julia talks to her crazy overprotective Spanish relatives back in New York.
Here to Stay is a fun quick read. I very much enjoyed it.

I really loved reading this book. Herrera develops her characters so thoroughly, they feel realistic. I loved learning about Dominican and Puerto Rican culture, but what really drew me in was Julia's family dynamic. As someone who comes from a family like Rocco's, it was such a treat to read about a loving family who opened their arms to Rocco immediately. I also enjoyed Julia's character, and how Herrera portrayed her inner conflict. 10/10 would recommend for contemporary romance readers.

Adriana Herrera takes on workplace romance with her usual sense of verve and style in Here to Stay, a fun take on the rivals-to-lovers trope.

Julia del Mar Ortiz is having a difficult month. Working as a program director for the Sturm Foundation, the charity division of a high-end department store operating under the same brand name, her life is hectic, with her job beginning to shift beneath her feet with budget cuts on the horizon.  Worse yet, she and her boyfriend moved to Dallas from New York to make a fresh start, but said boyfriend couldn’t hack the city or the relationship with Julia, and dumped her for his side chick and moved back home.

Julia is now stuck with an oversized apartment that’s too big for a single person to maintain and an expensive lease on a new car. The last person she wants to deal with is her colleague, fellow native New Yorker Rocco Quinn, part of a consulting firm hired to move the store into public ownership.  Rocco and Julia get on like oil and water – and Rocco thinks axing the Foundation will help them shore things up financially.

It’s now Julia’s job to convince Rocco that the Foundation is worth keeping alive – which throws the twosome together, for better or for worse.  They try to battle their attraction and keep things from getting too personal but well… not much chance of doing that that in a romance novel! Will Julia be able to keep her apartment, her new guy and her job?  Or will everything fall apart instead?

Here to Stay is a ball of charm with a sense of screwball humor and a lot of lighthearted romance to go with it.

Both Julia and Rocco are spirited, well-meaning people with caring families and a lot of work stress. Each of them wants to do well and each of them is a little hard-nosed, so when they melt for one another it happens with both reluctance and delight on both of their parts.

The romance that results is sexy and fun, and that sexy fun romance develops a lot of depth and emotion as the story goes along.  I just loved it.

I adored Julia’s wonderful mother, loving and a little overbearing, and her sister Paula, just a little nerdy and spirited. The rest of the minor characters are fun too – department store heiresses Mitzy and Muffy, boundary-pressing assistant Vicki, and Julia’s no-damns-to-give best friend, Alba, among them. Even Rocco’s cat, the spoiled Pulga, has a sense of personality that’s enviable.

Everything about the prose works, from Julia’s wonderful voice to Rocco’s passionate drive. These are people you’ll love to get to know and aren’t likely to forget any time soon.  Here to Stay is a beautiful delight that anyone who’s had to move far from the familiar will find a wonderful comfort.

Buy it at: Amazon, Audible, or your local independent bookstore
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I sooo liked this.

I loved the "I identify with where I came from but I can't live there anymore" ex-pat vibe. It was so real, so very felt. I loved the found family (I so love a found family) especially because the entire group had that ex-pat vibe. They were such an amazing crew and I loved them.

The connection between Julia and Rocco was electric. All the stars for their chemistry.

What I didn't love so much? And honestly, this is a 4.5 review: I was put off by Rocco needing his sister to be his moral compass.

I was given an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Julia del Mar Ortiz moved to Dallas with her boyfriend, but he ditched her and moved back to New York after a few weeks to be with another woman he kept on the side. She is left alone in Dallas after having all of her family around here in New York. Not only is she stuck with the apartment she was supposed to share with her boyfriend, she is also stuck paying for the car they bought together. On top of it, she is in danger of losing her job when the who ended up ditching her and running back to New York after only a few weeks. The family who owns the foundation has brought in a consultant firm to look at the programs to see what needs to be cut and what should be kept. It turns out not only is the consultant a fellow New Yorker, Rocco Quinn, but sparks fly between them almost from the start. Rocco is in Dallas to ensure a smooth transition of the company where Julia works from a private one to being publicly traded. He doesn't want to be attracted to Julia, but he can't seem to help himself.

Both of the main characters are relatable and l immediately liked them both. Julia's well-meaning, but interfering family made me laugh out loud. It was also a refreshing change for the man to be the one having family drama. The enemies-to-lovers trope is one that is so fun to read and this one was no exception.

Received a ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

2 stars
Another book where I did not care for the main characters, so I could not get into the book. I found Julia to be annoying and not likable. So I struggled reading this one to be honest.

3.5 stars
I have a harder time suspending my disbelief with contemporaries, so it took me a little while to get into this one, but it was very sweet and I ultimately found it immersive, which is what I'm looking for when I'm reading romance.

It was nice to see Dominican culture represented, and I think the author did a great job of integrating it into the story. She pretty seamlessly translates the few moments of Spanish, though if you made it through a couple years of high school Spanish you don't need them. I think it's also really important that she depicted an intact, loving family of color. This is not a story of troubled immigrants; it's actually the hero, a white guy, who has the difficult family background. Having the main character be a social worker who works with immigrant families made the book feel timely, and I generally think the conflict in the book worked really well and felt like a fresh addition to a well-liked trope.

I liked the characters, and I thought Julia was well-rounded and authentic. Rocco was very lovable. The side characters were a little formulaic, but still enjoyable. There was nothing problematic in the MC's relationship dynamic, and consent was frequent and explicit. I didn't love the sex scenes, though. Rocco went from being this incredibly sweet "cinnamon roll" type to suddenly super dirty, and I just don't think the transition was successful; it felt sudden and jarring. I think "Get a Life, Chloe Brown" by Talia Hibbert is an example of how a similar dynamic can be done successfully.

This was an ARC, and I'm hoping it's still going to get a good amount of editing. There were a few typos and awkward sentences, but my main problem was that a few phrases were repeated to the point that it was distracting. Every character "lifts a shoulder" (the author's way of saying shrug?) A LOT. About 1/3 of the lifts should stay in. There are also a lot of times where characters "suck their teeth," which to me seems like an odd gesture for every character to do; I would think it might be a distinctive behavior of a certain character rather than something everyone does, and does frequently.

In the end, this was a fun, sweet read, and I'll probably revisit this author in the future.

Enjoyable romance novel with sizzle and attraction. I liked the strong female character and appreciated that the male lead wasn’t a jerk. A happy ending added to the goodness.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Full disclosure: I requested Here to Stay from Net Galley not realizing that it was an M/F romance. (I thought I was getting Herrera's upcoming M/M book, Finding Joy). I mostly read queer romance these days so in all honesty I'm not the best person to review this book. But I will give a few brief impressions.

Like the American Dreamer series, Here to Stay features a Latinx MC from the Dominican Republic. I enjoyed reading Julia's descriptions of her background, her family's customs and personality, and I could sympathize with her need to establish a life for herself away from her loving but somewhat smothering family. I also appreciated the way Julia took proactive steps to find a friend group of "Gotham Exiles" who turned out to be the support system she needed. Finally, it's rare but rewarding to see a positive portrayal of a social worker from an author who obviously knows about the requirements and responsibilities of the profession.

I'm not really going to comment on the romance because I rarely find M/F couples interesting or fulfilling anymore. I will say that most of Herrera's MCs go heavy on the introspective angst, and they never say one thing without reflecting and overthinking on it three times as much, which can get tiresome after a while. I prefer that my characters reveal who they are through their dialogue and action instead of their internal musings, but YMMV.

So whoops, I didn't mean to read this book but I enjoyed it for the most part anyway. If I were giving this book a rating I would award it an extra star for a cute animal appearance. The critter's name alone is worth half a star.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.