Carmen Aguilar is upset because she has to spend her summer doing an unpaid internship where she has to get all dressed up in the Miami heat and perform for her cousin's quinceanera. What's more, her dance partner is her ex, someone who she never wanted to have to see or interact with again after their breakup. In order to find her "happily ever after," she has to learn to leave the past in the past.

Carmen Aguilar is prepared to grin and bear it for this summer. Literally. As a party princess for Dreams Come True, she's got to smile and make nice for toddlers and more in order to complete her internship and get her high school diploma. Then her awful ex-boyfriend becomes her coworker, the Beast to her Belle. And her company is hired to put on her estranged cousin's quinceañera. Carmen is determined to succeed. She is going to smile and dance and be the best damn princess ever.
People say a lot of things. You of all people know that. What matters is what people do, and what they have done, and that's how you know what to expect.


Okay, this one made me bawl a little (a lot) at the end.

It was definitely good, although not quiiiiiite what I was expecting.

Based upon that blurb, I was anticipating a more light-hearted YA contemporary romance with lots of shade/homage to Disney and their princesses and a little insight into womanhood and feminity, not a book that was going to take my heart and rip it into a million pieces and then sew it back together.

Carmen is a girl with baggage and walls. She has had to build those walls to protect herself, from the assholes who catcall her on the streets to the former classmates who treated her like a whore.

Most of her issues stem from a single instant—three and a half years ago, she dated a boy named Mauro, who incidentally happened to be the son of a very famous photographer. The boy promised his dad would take photos of her for her quince, and Carmen told her younger cousin, who told everyone. Then, after the rumor blew up, Carmen came to Mauro's party, found him with another girl, her 12 year old cousin got drunk and took video of everything, and Carmen called the cops on the party. As a result, Mauro was sent away and Carmen was blamed for everything. Her aunt—who had been funding a small dinner for her quinceañera—revoked the funding and Carmen built her walls.

In addition to all this backstory—the beginning is a little rough due to the immense backstory that has to be handled—Carmen is dealing with her mother and aunt's complicated relationship. Her aunt married her mom's ex-boyfriend, and Carmen's dad was a rich boy who ended up being a fling, and her wealthy aunt looked down upon her "trashy" mom as a result, and continuously insinuated Carmen would be the exact same.

And of course, Carmen constantly feels like her aunt is slapping her in the face. Carmen had been denied her right of passage into womanhood, refused even a small, private quinceañera instead of the semi-traditional over-the-top blowout many girls experience, and to see her cousin get everything she was denied get quite literally rubbed in her face was a lot for one girl to handle. Not including the fact that she had to dance with her ex-boyfriend while her cousin gets jiggy with her crush.

Okay, that's a lot.

Carmen is a girl whose hurt translates to her rebuffing everyone. She's overwhelmed with jealousy and anger—angry at the world for being unfair, angry at her family for forsaking her, angry at the misogynistic wedding photographer who torpedoed her first internship and her ability to graduate, and jealous of her cousin who has everything handed to her on a silver platter with no consequences.

Over time, as her past comes back to haunt her—literally—Carmen begins to grow as a person, and let her walls break down.

While Mauro was pretty much a single-dimensional character devoted to all things Carmen (with little agency of his own), Carmen's cousin Arianna was an interesting character. I wanted more of her personality to come out, but I did like how she was juxtaposed against Carmen, and how her own anger at that night was shown. And how the two cousins eventually breached their past hurt and anger.

However, the part that made me cry was the very end.

Where Carmen realizes that while you can't change the past, you can move past it, and you can forge new relationships with people. And that sometimes true family was right there all along. I wish Carmen's mom and Enrique had more page time, because when they were on page, they sparkled.

Anywho, overall this was about a girl's second chance, and how she found her own happily ever after, even if that looked nothing like what she had anticipated.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

Interesting to see a book that's enemies to lovers and estranged relatives to proper family (enemies to lovers but familial relationships). I get that this is enemies to lovers, but the main character was so angry at the beginning that it was hard to believe the change to lovers. This meant that when the other shoe dropped, I was still processing the change and so I didn't get the full roller coaster effect. I think Beauty and the Beast is overused in YA, but I liked the way it was used here.

3.75 stars

This is a very sweet romance featuring a likable and nicely developed m.c., Carmen, who is at a pivotal moment: the post-high school graduation phase...except she hasn't quite graduated yet.

Carmen is extremely readable because her intentions are pure, she makes a lot of mistakes, and despite her efforts, she has some real antagonists against her...in her own family. I found the adults in this novel wildly frustrating, almost universally, and while that irritated me a bit as a reader, it also made me root even harder for Carmen.

When the novel begins, there are two potential love interests for Carmen: Alex, a person she is interested in currently and Mauro, her ex who appears in a literal fairy tale replication. There is not a lot of surprise in this part of the story, but it's a YA romance, so that can be forgiven. It's pretty sweet overall, and I really like how the romance aspects also facilitate a stronger relationship between Carmen and her mom.

This is a solid YA romance that is better than most because of its great protagonist and the fantastic setting. Maybe it's the 10 months of stay-at-home orders, but wow, I really wanted to go back to Miami the whole time I read. Recommended -

This was an utter delight—the voice is hilarious and pitch perfect, and the characters are well drawn. I honestly felt like I was sitting down at the dinner table with them!

Carmen’s past mistakes - with her senior project, her extended family, and her ex - come back to bite her when she is forced to perform at her estranged cousin’s quincenera in order to graduate high school.

Carmen is unlikeable for a good portion of this novel. And that’s kind of the point. She’s incredibly bitter about past situations that she put herself in, and she blocks people out because that way, they can’t hurt her. Much of her journey is learning to own up and take responsibility for her own choices and learning to trust the people who care for her. There were times when I nearly stopped reading for how bratty she was being - seriously, she’s 18 years old - but I’m glad I stuck with it and got to see her growth and maturation. Similarly, characters who seem unlikeable at first really grew on me as Carmen learned to give them a chance.

On another note, I loved learning about quincenera traditions. I enjoyed practicing my Spanish with all the bilingual conversations, too!

This was the second book about Miami that I have read this year (the other one was "A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow" by Laura Taylor Namey) but both of them have been vastly different flavors of the city.

I enjoyed the Beauty and the Beast underlying storyline while also savoring the growth that these characters had made in the years since Carmen and Mauro had seen one another. It was super interesting to get a behind the scenes look at an over-the-top quinceañera. I did feel as though Carmen was, in all ways, stuck in a tragic hero role and destined to keep repeating history over and over again. In some ways I empathized with her and in others she (and her mother) frustrated me. If family treats you poorly over and over again, why is it encouraged to continue to be a doormat? I wasn't super appreciative that it ends on that note, even while it was a happy ending.

That being said, the romance for Carmen was believable and authentic, even if the people she loved weren't always so understanding.

Fun and fast-paced, this great YA will remind you of your favorite telenovela. As a Cuban-American and native of Miami, reading this book was like seeing my adolescence come to life. Gomez-Hira has perfectly crafted her characters and her setting. While this title will delight Latinx YA readers, it will also appeal to a wide variety of readers as well. Highly recommend!!

I absolutely loved this book. This is the book world needs right now. It has all of the drama, humor, and beauty that you hope for in YA lit, with a strong, independent female main character whose flaws are relatable and redeemable. Wonderful! I can't wait for the next book!

Looking for a book about love, family, and second chances? Take a chance with this one. It’s been three years since the incident that made Carmen miss her own quinceañera, and now she finds herself performing at her cousin’s quinceañera when they haven’t talked for those three years either. Now, throw in a little second chance at love for Carmen and Mauro, and you’ve got delightful drama with a hint of fun tossed in. Enjoyable read.

Just not my cup of tea, personally. It falls into a category of teen books that feature "party" behaviors so different from my own teenage years that I become entirely distracted by the questions of "is this even possible?! Is this what other people did?!" and can't engage in the story. There's also a heavy dose of jerky characters that were supposed to be, I think, funny, but which mostly just make me tired. I'm sure others will adore this book, I just won't be one of those people.

This book is sweet and funny and entirely delightful

Carmen and Mauro are great as is the family dynamics that play such a huge role in the entire book. I love how the family's history informs everything that happens with Carmen and her cousin as well. Very fun, lovely debut.

While I found this book to be really great and super fun, I didn't really like the ending. I think Carmen could have handled things a different way.
Carmen Maria Aguilar never wanted a Quinceanera. All she really wanted was a photo shoot with her boyfriend Mauro's father, who was a famous photographer, but even that didn't work out.. Now eighteen, Carmen hasn't yet received her high school diploma after quitting her video-editing internship, there seems like there could of been more depth and understand in that as it seems the head guy was kind of sleazy. We see Carmen join her best friend Waverly at Dreams Come True, a business that allows parties to hire Disney princes and princesses. Cast as Belle, Carmen thinks the summer is going to be all toddlers' parties with no air-conditioning and stingy parents who don't tip. But she soon learns from her boss that Dreams Come True has been booked for a Quinceanera in town. And it turns out its the delayed one for Ariana Garces, the spoiled cousin who caused the cancellation of Carmen's photo shoot and made their families stop talking for three and a half years. Now she must spend nearly every day rehearsing while trying to avoid Ariana as much as possible. But Mauro has come back to Miami after his freshman year of college to work with Carmen, making them dance partners. Does she want to give him another chance, or is their relationship strictly in the past? Enter complicated teenage romance.
I loved the behind the scenes party-princess moments! I think they really added to the book and gave us a glimpse into what these characters are really dealing with in their lives.
Carmen is also just really trying to find her place in the world through it all while trying not to become the "trashy" stereotype she feels like people already call her.
I think this is a fun book and I know that teens might find themselves within some of these characters. I get in some ways why Carmen was trying to sabotage Ariana's quinces but I don't know if she went about all of that the right way. Teenage complicated drama unfolds.

Read it yourself and see what you think!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

A charming book that features a flawed, insecure protagonist, a villain who isn't really a villain, and a love interest who isn't perfect but is supportive.

Our MC is a bit of a pain in the butt, and she has a tendency to make stupid, thoughtless choices but somehow she never falls into being truly obnoxious. Instead, it is clear that she has some baggage and issues that need to be worked through both in terms of her family dynamic and in discovering meaning in her life. Relationships have been damaged within her family but the quinceañera provides an opportunity to repair these bonds - and gives Carmen a chance to grow.

And, thank goodness, she does grow! Forgiveness and redemption, self-sacrifice and seeing others for who they truly are comprise the themes of this novel, and they are done well.

I also deeply appreciated being introduced to the Cuban culture of Florida, and I enjoyed that Spanish phrases were intermingled in the text - sometimes explained and sometimes not. While we should certainly be normalizing the usage of various languages (especially in books that feature specific cultures) in novels, both YA and otherwise, it is appropriate to provide some contextual hints as to what is being said. Sure, much can be looked up and translated, but it derails a novel when the reader must do so continuously. Gomez-Hira provided just the right balance of translation/explanation versus no translation which keeps the reader continuously engaged but sometimes means having to look up certain phrases or words.

Altogether a nice read, and I'll probably be purchasing this for my library.

This YA contemporary involves a quince and I’m here for it! I’ve seen quincinearas in shows and movies , but this is the second time I’ve read it in a book. I hope there’ll be more books like this one in the future.

Carmen Maria Aguilar never wanted a quinceanera. All she wanted was a photoshoot with her boyfriend Mauro's father, who was a famous photographer, but even that didn't work out when she tracked him down at a party and left her twelve-year-old cousin alone. Now eighteen, Carmen hasn't yet received her high school diploma after quitting her video-editing internship. So as a last chance, she joins her best friend Waverly at Dreams Come True, a business that allows parties to hire Disney princes and princesses. Cast as Belle, Carmen thinks the summer is going to be all toddlers' parties with no air-conditioning and stingy parents who don't tip. But she soon learns from her boss that Dreams Come True has been booked for a quinceanera in town. And not just any quinceanera, but the delayed one for Ariana Garces, the spoiled cousin who caused the cancellation of Carmen's photoshoot and made their families stop talking for three and a half years. Now she must spend nearly every day rehearsing while trying to avoid Ariana as much as possible. But Mauro has come back to Miami after his freshman year of college to work with Carmen, making them dance partners. Does she want to give him another chance, or is their relationship strictly in the past?
There were some great party-princess moments I thought were funny or always wondered how much they actually happen, like when they had to stop and get out of their van while a crew member changed costumes mid-drive, or when a kid caught the actor playing the Beast without his costume head. I've never seen a book with this type of work, and it was cool to see the real lives of the performers Carmen, Waverly, Mauro, Matt, Jessica and Leila.
Carmen is also worried about fitting into a stereotype or being viewed as "trashy," since she isn't going to college in the fall and her former classmates already have an idea of what kind of girl does that. She is supportive of Waverly's plans, though, and I really liked their friendship. But the only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because near the end, Carmen becomes really unlikable and tries to cut people out of her life for no good reason, sometimes even after they've done something nice for them. I liked that Waverly was willing to tell her this, but she didn't really listen. She's even willing to selfishly ruin parts of Ariana's party, and I struggled to reason why.

Carmen never got to experience her quinceanera for a multitude of reasons; one in particular leaving her and her mother cut off from the rest of the family. That night has forever impacted Carmen’s life and she has tried to get over it for three years. A story of understanding your role in mistakes made and the family around you, shapes the lives of the characters. While I enjoyed the premise of the story, there were certain things that I found a little complicated to grasp, but then again any teenager’s life is complicated.