Both super steamy and heartfelt, this was such an entertaining romance. Michelle and Gabe reconnect after many years apart due to teenage misunderstandings and lack of communication, and their chemistry is immediately there. Gabe has a complicated relationship with his family (who live next door to Michelle's parents), and Michelle isn't necessarily interested in being left behind again, but beyond just their intense heat is real connection and understanding. I loved the family relationships and a peek at their Bronx neighborhood and friends, and the Latinx representation.

Adorable quick read with one of my favorite tropes (friends-to-lovers) with a bit of fake dating thrown in!

Michelle and Gabe were best friends growing up, but then they lost contact after Gabe decided he needed to leave New York to become his own person and stopped talking to everyone back home, including his parents. Now he's back in town to scope out locations for the east coast expansion of the gym he founded, and Michelle essentially blackmails him into staying with her while she helps him look and rebrand. Of course sparks fly and these friends can't keep their hands off each other.

I find it so interesting to see the family dynamics play out in Alexis Daria's books, especially involving the Latinx culture. I enjoyed the heat between Michelle and Gabe, the lengths Gabe went to in order to hide from his father, and all the crazy things that happened when they revealed to their families that they were 'dating.' I'm looking forward to reading Ava's story next!

Gabe and Michelle grew up together as neighbors and best friends, but a business opportunity with Gabe’s gym opening a franchise in New York City brings him and Michelle together after over a decade apart. Interlaced throughout the book are the main characters writing sci-fi fanfiction, Latinx family dynamics, and strong female bonds between Michelle and her cousins. This is a second chance, friends to lovers, very steamy romance. Though this book had a little bit of a slow start, I loved how they built up the chemistry between the main characters quickly and held on to it throughout the whole book. I also really liked how the main characters grew in their professional goals, while also growing their relationship with each other. I am not a huge fan of second chance romances, and the relationship issues between Gabe and his parents seemed a little one sided, with Gabe seeming a little immature. But overall Michelle, the main characters' chemistry and growth, and sweetness of their relationship won me over to really enjoying this book. I recommend this book to all romance lovers who loved Daria’s other books, particularly You Had Me at Hola; books featuring complex and beautiful Latinx family representation; and very hot steam in their romances.

This was really fun and sexy and messy and what I want in a contemporary romance! I liked it even more than You Had Me at Hola. It wasn't quite a five star read because the plot that got the two characters together in the beginning was a little too silly/implausible for me, and also I'm just never going to be that invested in a storyline that has to do with a gym.

But I loved that we got a fast burn where the chemistry was there but the emotions had to be sorted out. I loved the way the fanfiction plot wove into the story, it was fun and very cute. I love the Primas of Power, and I love a book that feels breezy but has real heft to it too.

***Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.***

Last year, I read You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria and instantly loved it. It was so exciting to read one of my favorite genres and see myself and my culture represented in the main characters so I knew that I needed to get my hands on A Lot Like Adiós ASAP.

It’s so hard to put into words the way I feel about this book so I’m going to mention all the things I loved as I remember them:
- The queer representation in the main characters.
- The steam🔥, so spicy!
- Michelle’s mom very much reminded me of my mom, 100% chismosa. If I tell my mom I’m mildly interested in someone she immediately hears wedding bells and proceeds to ask me everything about them up to their social security number.
- The way Gabe was so caring and respectful of Mich.
- The big family interactions, being interrogated about “when are you going to ‘conseguir un novio’? or a “real job”? -Mich, I can relate girl!
- The feels! Spoiler: I cried 😂

But the thing I have always loved most about both of Daria’s books is the Primas of Power dynamic, which reminds me so much of my bff cousin!

Thank you @alexisdaria for writing this amazingly funny, sexy and relatable book. It was just what I needed.

I was excited about this book for two main reasons: 1) the cover art and 2) I loved Alexis Daria's You had me at hola. While I did like this book, I definitely wasn't as into it as a I was with Hola. I really liked Michelle as a main character (she's one of Jasmine's "Primas of Power" from Hola), but I'm still not sold on Gabe. These two are childhood best friends who hooked up once when they were both 18, though that hookup was interrupted by Michelle finding a plane ticket in Gabe's pocket and realizing that he was about to leave NYC to go to UCLA and hadn't told her or anyone. In the 13 years since, they haven't spoken to each other, and Gabe has been completely estranged from his family (next door neighbors to Michelle's parents) for over 9 years. He harbors a lot of resentment towards his father and some towards his mother for the way they pushed him in his youth and how unsupportive they were of his dreams to go to UCLA and to eventually become a physical therapist, so he never goes back to the Bronx, where he grew up. He co-owns a successful gym in Santa Monica, but part of their contract with their investor requires them to open up another location in New York City within a year, and that deadline is coming up. Meanwhile, Gabe's business partner unknowingly contacts Michelle to do some marketing for them when he finds out that she was the genius behind another successful gym's marketing campaign. She finds out that Gabe is his partner and he gives her an out, but she decides to work with him on the condition that Gabe stays with her when he's in New York looking at possible locations. Their situation heats up very quickly, and I liked Michelle a lot, but I just couldn't really connect with Gabe's character. He's really just not a good communicator (which goes back a long way, hence his not telling anyone he was moving across the country to go to college). One thing I did love? The interstitial segments that showcased their instant messenger conversations about the fanfic they were writing together as teenagers, a fanfic that imagined a second season of a canceled show that featured Latinos in space that they both loved. A solid read, but I had seen Gabe learn/grow more over the course of the novel rather than right at the end.

Oh, I loved A Lot Like Adios so much! I enjoyed the first book, but this one kept me reading nonstop--I didn't want this smart (and sexy!) story to end. And especially now, who doesn't want to escape into a romance? Now I just need the next book--Alexis Daria has shot way, way up the list of romance authors whose books must be purchased for your library!

A sweet friends-to-lovers romance that was years in the making.

Gabriel Aguilar and Michelle Amato grew up as neighbors and BFFs. However, family drama and some poorly chosen words have separated the two for over nine years. Until one day, when Gabriel’s business partner hires Michelle to help with marketing their new gym in NYC.

Despite the years separated, it was clear that the connection between these two didn't fade, and I liked how they immediately tackled what went wrong years prior and moved past it. I also loved how they were honest about their attraction to one another, cutting to the chase and turning up the heat. And while their reunion started off well, once their families get involved, making big assumptions about the couple's status, things get a lot more complicated.

I love stories that feature strong independent characters that work to solve their own problems. Both Gabriel and Michelle have a great understanding of their skill set and eventually find a way to monetize that into a career. Although they face obstacles along the way, they find a way to work through the issues into something that brings them joy.

I also loved the flashbacks to their teen years as they worked on a fanfic for their favorite show, Celestial Destiny. And how a lot of their story reflected their feelings for one another. If only they both had paid more attention.

Overall, this was a fun read and I'm hoping we get more from these characters. Fingers crossed Ava gets a story next!

I was really disappointed by this book. It read more like a TV script, except we didn’t have the visual aspect to fall back on. I was also disappointed in how underdeveloped the queer identities were.

I love the idea of childhood crushes/romances coming back for round two. Seriously, it's the discovery of 2021 for me and A Lot Like Adiós brings the heat! Not only that, but Daria combines this with queer characters (both leads!), fanfiction chapters, and raw sizzling chemistry. Seriously, A Lot Like Adiós is a slam dunk! I loved reading every moment of it as Gabe and Michelle reminisce on their days writing fanfiction, of the best friendship they had growing up, and that moment of passion.

Another sweet spot for me recently has been characters who are all like, "this is totally casual, chill as a cucumber" as they internally are screaming and in denial. Fighting their feels and thinking that they're being very casual. As if. Needless to say that with the addition of the fake dating and family scenes, A Lot Like Adiós is a book I am eager to re-read. I was consistently eager to come back and read this before bed, to be lost in the characters emotional turmoil, but also in the care they show to each other.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Michelle and Gabe were inseparable best friends until Gabe suddenly moved to the other side of the country for college. It's been thirteen years since then, and Michelle hasn't talked to him even once. Until she receives an email asking her to consult on Gabe's gym's New York expansion. As they work on the campaign together, will their old spark reignite or are the thirteen years of silence enough to break what they had for good?

I absolutely loved You Had Me at Hola, and A Lot Like Adiós was somehow even better! The emphasis placed on both of the main characters' family gave the book more of a down-to-earth atmosphere. Gabe's struggles with connecting to his family after cutting them off when he was eighteen were deeply relatable, and in a way, that felt like a major focus of the book rather than just him and Michelle's romantic progression.

The romance itself was also amazing! The two had a great best friends to lovers journey and they are honestly adorable together. The emphasis placed on the past fanfiction they wrote together was super fun and I loved reading their past text conversations about the fic.

Overall another wonderful and swoony read from Daria, and I hope she writes more about the Primas of Power!! (hint hint, Ava-centric book please!!!!!!)

I really enjoyed the first installment in this companion series YOU HAD ME AT HOLA so when I saw the second book and its stunning cover I was so excited. Unfirtunately, this one just did not work nearly as well for me. For one (major) thing, I didn't love the way the relationship between Gabe and Michelle was handled at all. I was with the author's explanation for why Gabe left and then why Michelle agreed to work with him so quickly even though she had spent years nursing a broken heart. I was even with her when they decided to have sex almost immediately to get over the years of tension. But then they just...keep...having sex? SO MUCH SEX. I am not one to shy away from a steamy rom-com at all, so when I'm skipping sex scenes because I'm so over it, that's not a good sign. It just didn't make sense to me that Michelle could go from heartbroken to constant sex with Gabe without doing any of the emotional work required to rebuild any sort of relationship beyond the physical. I didn't feel any real emotional connection between these characters and they had nothing at all in common, with no shared goals or aspirations for their lives of any romantic relationship. Plus, all the page-filler sex felt more cringe than hot and just made Gabe look like kind of a f*ckboy. I'm sad I didn't love this one but I will always be here for more Latinx romances!

HUGE thank you to Netgalley & William Morrow for this ARC of A Lot like Adiós by Alexis Daria!

Alexis Daria is absolutely an auto-buy author for me now. I loved You Had Me at Hola last year and really enjoyed the Audible Original that came out over the summer, What the Hex. I was hooked from basically the first few pages of this story. Some of the beginning was a little unbelievable but I just went with it and had a blast. The quick pacing of this friends to lovers/childhood friends/second chance type love was so great. I really liked the fanfiction part of this too and the end made me tear up even. Five solid stars from me.

3.5 stars, rounded up

Having loved You Had Me at Hola, I was equal parts excited and nervous to read A Lot Like Adios. And for the most part, it delivered. I've been on quite the friends-to-lover kick lately, and the twist of estranged-friends-to-lovers was just the shake-up this book needed. I loved the premise, I loved the chemistry, and I loved our leading lady. So where did it fall a little short for me? Our leading man. Specifically, the amount of time we spent in his head. The choices he made to remove himself from his family, his rationality for cutting and running at every available opportunity-- I don't typically roll my eyes while reading, but I did cross from feeling sympathetic to actively rolling my eyes the farther into the book I got. I'd rank Michelle's chapters higher than Gabe's for sure.

However, I did still enjoy this book enough to finish it. Enough to recommend it to anyone that enjoyed You Had Me at Hola. A solid second book.

A fun and steamy friends-to-lovers, fake dating, romance! I thought that Michelle and Gabe were compelling characters to read and I enjoyed watching them rekindle their friendship along with starting a romantic relationship. The emotional aspect in this book is strong for both characters and I liked seeing Gabe reconcile with his parents and how perspectives can change as you get older.

I loved this book maybe more than the first one. Daria's stories are very easy to sink into. I really liked that Gabe was mostly the focus as he tried to reconcile his rocky relationship with his family and his career. The love story between Michelle and Gabe was perfect--probably one of the best friends to lovers I've read. These books are an automatic read for me--they are pure joy to read.

I started this book thinking I'd read a chapter and then get on with the chores I needed to do today. Hours later, I am left with a happy book hangover. Daria has knocked this book out of the park. Not quite friends-to-lovers (it's been too long since Michelle and Gabe were truly friends), not quite a fake relationship (they do sort of adopt one for "reasons" but they both acknowledge it is already something more) but it sort of still is both. More, it's two people who have always had simmering feelings for each other and the time apart allows them to jump right into the space they may not have found had they stayed together. And they TALK to each other. Gabe is a little bit of a butthead at the end but he figures it out quickly and gets the girl in the end. I only wish we had seen just a little bit more of Zack and Riva, the space show fanfic written by our main characters that is interspersed throughout the book.
Gabriel Aguilar knows that you can never go home and he doesn't want to. Except that's where his business is taking him. Back to New York and back to his childhood best friend, Michelle Amato. He had basically ghosted her nine years ago and he's not sure of the reception he's going to get but his gym is expanding to NYC and she is a marketing genius whose help they need to grow.
Michelle is pissed. And curious. Why is Gabe getting in touch now? It's been almost a decade. But she once loved him; both as a friend and almost as something more. And when she makes a list, the pros of working with him outweigh the cons. Besides, maybe she can finally get some resolution about what happened so many years ago.

Five stars
This book comes out September 14th, 2021
ARC kindly provided by William Morrow and Custom House, and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

After inhaling A Lot Like Adios, Alexis Daria is officially on the auto-buy list for me. This is one of the best contemporary romance books I've read this year. Daria offers wonderful, diverse rep that was such a breath of fresh air. It felt so incredible to read a bi couple (where both love interests were bi). I really loved everything about this book. Michelle was one of my favorite side characters in You Had Me a Hola so I was very excited to have a book that focused on her. Michelle is fierce and witty and strong. She and Gabe were equally compelling and empathetic to me right from the beginning. They have fantastic chemistry and this book is even steamier than the first, This is one of the best friends to lovers romances I've read.

Thank you so much to William Morrow and Netgalley for the e-arc. I can't wait to see what Alexis Daria does next.

3.5/5 stars

I had really high hopes for this book after reading (and loving!) You Had Me at Hola. Unfortunately, I don't think this book lived up to the hype. I enjoy second chance romances, but this one felt very rushed and unrealistic. I enjoyed the characters but again, the relationship felt so rushed that there wasn't enough time to really get to know them before all the drama kicked in.

I enjoy Alexis Daria's writing style, though, and I will likely read the third book when it publishes!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Gabe and Mich were best friends and neighbors, but Gabe ran away from his family (and by extension Michelle) after high school. He started his life over on the other side of the country, while Michelle got on with her life. Michelle is successful, motivated, and intentionally single, with little desire to cave to her family's marriage-minded proddings. Gabe is equally unattached, focusing on expanding his business. When chance throws Gabe back into Michelle's orbit, the two have a lot of tension to work out, and a lot of history to untangle. Michelle is still angry, and Gabe hasn't fully moved on from what made him leave.
This book bangs, just leading with that. Michelle and Gabe have crazy chemistry and seeing them try to work that out, first physically and then emotionally, really works. I'm also a sucker for a lot of the tropes in this one- it's a second chance, childhood best friends, enemies-to-lovers, and secret-FWB. This is all catnip for me. Just like You Had Me at Hola, these characters have issues that are backed up by a strong emotional core, making the conflict between them feel real and urgent. I think the family stuff (on both sides) was handled very well, without minimizing the past. I loved this book, I think it's incredible. Definitely read it if you liked YHMaH, I think it's even better.