Loved, loved, loved Perla and Gael! Their story (and obstacles), the characters themselves, and just everything about this book!

I love all of Adriana's books and this will definitely be a holiday keeper for a long time. Charming and fun, just what we need during the holidays.

4.5
This is the 2nd in Herrera's Sambrano Studios Novel.
Perla Sambrano, one of the heirs to the studios, finds herself trying to prove herself by hiring her ex bf for a role of a lifetime.
What happens is a warm holiday family get together, forced proximity, one bed, and a steamy 2nd chance romance. I loved nearly everything about this one. I'm also happy we didn't have to hear about the dead CEO deadbeat dad as much in this one.

Adriana can do no wrong. I loved listening to this book. The setting, the family, the drama it was just so good! I love this Dominican family

I love Adriana Herrera's writing and this was no exception. I loved Just for the Holidays...! Perla and Gael were perfection. I highly recommend this one.

3.5/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I had a great time with this book. I really enjoy celebrity romances ( when done right) and this luckily was on the good side I will admit that the hero of this book ( Gael ) irked me a little, so he wasn't my favorite love interest. That being said I did enjoy the second chance romance of it. This was a quick., easy read, and It kept my attention. I would absolutley recommend giving this a read!

This was a decently steamy and equally sweet second chance romance (with a fake dating scenario, another fun trope) between Perla, a movie executive who works for her family’s studio, and Gael, a Latinx movie star she’s tasked with convincing to take a role in her studio’s new project, who just so happens to be her ex-boyfriend.

I felt like I was missing just a little bit of background that would have helped round out the story for me, but that’s only because I haven’t read the previous book in this series. It still works very well as a stand-alone, and there was enough insight into the Sambrano family to give me a general idea of their relationships and what they went through in the past.

Perla and Gael are a couple worth rooting for, and I appreciate that they took the time to talk through what didn’t work for them before and try to grow together both as a second chance couple and as individuals. The tension between them while they figured this out was also palpable, and caused for some very fun scenarios while they were snowed in with Gael’s family and “forced” to share a bed.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of how their families celebrated the holiday season with their Latinx cultural traditions, including Nochebuena and the delicious sounding food.

Perla is a casting director trying to get her ex Gael for a part in the new film. Clearly old feelings of attraction and hurt never really gone away when they meet once again and when a storm causes her to stick around longer then expected they get closer then they ever expected.

While reading this book it was clearly a desire harlequin book, usually I stray away from those because I not into the steamy scenes but for the storyline it was pretty interesting. Clearly Gael and Perla used to have feeling for eachother and I was a bit curious what happened between them and as I got to know them and backstories as well as current feelings get told I couldn't help but to root for them. Overall pretty good book I enjoyed it.

A Hollywood A-Lister has made it to the top, but did he give up his soul to get there? A Puerto Rican Christmas with family and snowed in with the woman he left behind might be just the holiday magic he needs. A new to me author, Puerto Rican heritage, a second chance romance, and the world of movie-making all made me tickled to take this one up.

Gael Montez is at the top of his game playing big franchise roles and getting offered some extremely lucrative parts, but more and more, he is unfulfilled and his creative soul is stifling. He doesn’t just want to be the token brown actor in the show, but wants to work some Latin American projects and get back in touch with his roots. Unfortunately, the big dream project for him acting his Puerto Rican hero, a freedom fighter, depends on being in contact with the woman whose heart he broke back in college when his career took off and his uncle advised him to drop the ‘entanglement’. A snowstorm and his mother’s need to see him happy might just be the catalyst needed to help him put away his fears about Montez men being cursed, his uncle’s lucrative ambitions, and to reach toward the woman he never stopped loving.

Perla Sambrano knows Gael is the perfect person for the part so determines to put the past behind her just as she did her old bland style and go to his place in the Hamptons to sign him for the part before heading out for Christmas with her sister in Puerto Rico. Gael loves his mother who excitedly, but mistakenly believes Gael and Perla are back together. Perla ends up pretending they are together so he can see his mother happy over the holidays in exchange for him bucking against his uncle who will do anything to keep Gael from passing up a big movie contract of his choosing and taking the role with her family’s studio. A storm makes the charade go on longer than planned, the old love has blossomed once again, and now she has to decide if she will trust Gael with a heart he has already broken once before especially since he seems to be fighting his own personal demons.

Just for the Holidays is a quick, engaging read. The pace was good, the characters and situation are developed and lead to a good crisis set against the holiday season. Loved the emphasis on holiday and family traditions as well as the film industry.
There is so much deliciousness- and I do mean delectably delicious because of, first of all, the food from pasteles to tres leche for Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) that the family assembles and eats with mama, grandma, Gael’s sister, Gael, and Perla in the kitchen and during their party. Seeing Perla wow Gael with her new look, poise, and contentedness about her role in her family’s company so different from the little mouse she was back in college days when her domineering mother repressed her spirits. Seeing Gael work through the complicated life of a Latino actor who wants to see his own people represented well on the silver screen and wants to stretch his experiences and talent in acting beyond a one-string banjo superhero role.

At first, I was feeling testy about the way Gael coldly and calculatingly dumped Perla, but then I started to thaw toward him when I realized there was more to that situation including his issues with his own dad leaving the family and then interference from others who didn’t want him with Perla. He knows he should have fought for them and now will do what he has to do to keep her in his life. It turned out so romantic and they are good together.

So, a slightly spicy, tasty, and engaging contemporary holiday romance that had me appreciating the author’s writing and wanting more. Those who enjoy a quick read and want some holiday romancing Puerto Rican-style should definitely gift yourself this lovely one.

It's the most wonderful reading time of the year! I absolutely love holiday romances. I don't typically create monthly TBRs, but I have so many holiday books I want to read that I've been hard at work drafting an entire spreadsheet of books to check out. I started with Just for the Holidays... by Adriana Herrera and it was the perfect way to kick off the season!

Casting director Perla Sambrano volunteers to travel to the Hamptons to convince actor Gael Montez to sign on as the lead in a show being produced by Sambrano Studios. Perla hasn’t seen Gael since they broke up six years ago, but she’s determined to do her job and not let any emotions get in the way. Her resolve is tested when a snowstorm strands her at his mansion, and it becomes impossible to deny the chemistry that still exists between them.

This is the second book in the Sambrano Studios series, and I'm continuing to love the way Herrera balances the fun and drama of telenovelas with the heart and steam that I love from her. I especially enjoyed Perla's connection to Gael's family and her journey towards realizing what it could be like to be part of a family who truly loved and appreciated her, and Gael's coming to terms with where he wanted his career to go and what changes must be made to get there.

Just for the Holidays... definitely has me ready for Christmas!

What an absolutely wonderful Christmas novella! We've got a snowed in second chance romance with fake dating, forced proximity, only one bed, a family curse, and heaps of drama! I loved every page and my only complaint is that I wish I had double the time with Gael and Perla. I love the snowed in aspect of this one especially because they are stuck together in an absolutely beautiful house, decorated to the nines with cozy corners and roaring fireplaces. Their family is there and there's traditional cooking and reminiscing. Because Gael and Perla's two year relationship ended with they were still very much in love, the feelings and chemistry were still there between them and so their instant connection is completely believable even after 6 years apart. The tension between them is delicious and palpable and it was the simplest thing in the world to imagine them falling right back into their physical and emotional intimacy like no time at all had passed.

I love how dramatic and soapy the books in this series are. Gael's meddling uncle was the perfect villain doing everything he could to keep them apart. I absolutely adored the relationship between Perla and Gael's mom, grandmother and sister. It was so sweet the way they welcome her back in like it's nothing and she feels so at home with them. I cannot wait to read this one again next year!

Adriana Herrera’s Sambrano Studios series – about a family-run movie business – adds a charming chapter with Just for the Holidays, a Christmas-themed romance with a lot of wonderful tension and romantic warmth.

Perla Sambrano is a casting director trying to coax her ex into taking a part in a new telenova produced by her family’s production company.  Gael Monetz desperately wants to break out of the stereotypical parts that constantly have him playing tooth-grinding Latino stereotypes. They’d be the perfect solution to each other’s problems, were they not hopelessly attracted to one another in spite of their very messy break-up while Perla was in college (she was Gael’s sister’s roommate at Yale and they’re still friends; this is all detailed in book one of the series One Week to Claim it All) six years before. She’s not going to put herself through that kind of heartbreak again, thank you.

Gael is utterly afraid to get closer to Perla. His family has a horrible track record when it comes to romance, and he’s not going to subject her to that, especially after their previous romantic disaster.  She wants to keep things professional between them because dating one of her stars wouldn’t be a good look for the family business.  But their plans to begin shooting are stymied by a blizzard; they end up snowed in together with his family, pretend-dating to please his mom, who catches them rehearsing a kissing scene and continues her disapproval of their relationship, and sharing the (GASP!) only bed left in the house.  Will their relationship stay platonic or dip back into romance?

This book is a little more tropey than you may be used to from Herrera, but there’s nothing wrong with that.  Sweet, tender and passionate – the author lends all of her strengths to the material and creates a lovable romance from it.

I liked Perla a bit more than Gael, if only because his reasons for avoiding falling back into love with Perla are so predictable (His father cheated on his mother, left the family when Gael was ten and then died, oh no, he can’t put Perla through something like that!).  And yeah, it’s disappointing that Perla waited six years for Gael when he did um, not.  At all.  But those are the worst parts of a very Christmasy romance.  It works beautifully and keeps the reader on their toes throughout.

Herrera knows how to write about attraction, and boy, do Perla and Gael have it in spades.  As always, she makes you feel for her characters, sometime in spite of their outrageousness.  She also manages to make you love them in spite of their flaws.  I will say that I did wish Perla’s stepmother had a little bit more nuance to her, but the rest of the Montez and Sambranos we meet are interesting and fully three-dimensional.

Just for the Holidays is a wonderful quick bite of a romance, and if you like Herrera or forced proximity romance, this will be your cup of tea.

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This is a good book. The two main characters are Gael and Perla. They went to the same college. She was his sister’s roommate. They started dating. Gael wanted to be an actor. So he got offered an acting job so he broke up with Perla. Six years later Perla is helping her sister with a production company. They are starting to hire actors for a movie. They wanted Gael to star in the movie. Perla goes out to the Hampton to see Gael about the job. He says he will do it. They get snowed in for couple of days. They have some issues to work out but together they find love.

Really loved to see several aspect of Latinx Christmas traditions although it wasn't super Christmas-y which could be a positive or negative depending on what you're looking for.

I really like their relationship and interactions but I didn't love the conflict trope of leaving someone for their own good/ for their success. Based on that, I felt like Gael needed to do more groveling.

I liked the insert of the villain and thought that was really interesting so I wanted to see a little more of that. The end was a little rushed.

Overall really enjoyed see Latinx love - it can be hard to find in books but I can always rely on Herrera for this. This would be great for someone who is looking for a sweet, second chance romance that just happens to happen during the holidays.

Perla Sambrano is a casting director and she knows who would be a perfect male lead for the new film. The only problem, he is her ex-boyfriend.

She is determined to get past herself and visits him to present the offer, and ends up in his arm, with his whole family to see. He asks her to pretend that they are back together. With real feelings still there, it's not long until fake become reality.

Gael believes that the men of his family hurt women. He was convinced that he would only hurt Perla if he stayed with her, but seeing her brings all those feelings back.

When they are stranded together for the holidays, it doesn't take much to fall back to where they left off. However, someone is still meddling in their lives.

It's such a romantic story, I read it in one sitting and loved every page!

Thank you to Harlequin for allowing me to feature an excerpt from this title as part of the Blog Tour campaign.
All opinions and mistakes are my own.

This is a second chance romance between an actor and casting director, snowed in together for the holidays. This is truly one of my favorite tropes! This series through Harlequin continues to be amazing, and something that people shouldn't be passing over.
Gael broke Perla's heart back in college, but now he's a big movie star and she's trying to cast him for a passion project. When she brings the script to his family home, they end up snowed in for the holidays- the perfect opportunity to rekindle their passion. They had amazing on page chemistry, I was rooting for them, and he didn't fall into that asshole famous guy trope, and I loved it all the more for that! I want to reread this already!

“Just for the Holidays” is the second book in the Sambrano Studios series. We met Perla Sambrano in book 1. She’s now the casting director of the studios and has grown closer to her half-sister, Esmeralda, the president. Perla knows that actor Gael Montez would be perfect for the studios next film. The only issue is he broke her heart six years ago. Can she put her feelings to the side and focus on business?

Gael is tired of being cast in any movie that needed a “hot ethnic guy”, with no cultural significance. He is in need of a passion project. The newest film that Sambrano studios is pitching would be perfect. He agrees to meet with Perla to discuss the details.

Due to circumstances beyond their control, Perla and Gael were placed in a situation where they had to spend one on one time together. It was awkward and they were uncomfortable, but it also caused them to reminisce about their past. Gael realizes he made a mistake six years ago when he put his career first. Seeing her felt like “an electric current through his veins”. Perla thought he was beautiful, then and now. Gael’s family also gave Perla a sense of belonging that she didn’t get from her own. I enjoyed this second chance love story. This was a good continuation of the series, and I recommend it.

After getting to read the first book in this series, I knew I wanted to pick up the next book. I really enjoy Herrera's writing style as it gives a great flow and pace and makes these short, enjoyable reads. This book does have a good number of cliches and tropes, but the core of the story is a second chance romance, which I felt was done well. The setting definitely made the story cozy and sweet and I really enjoyed how the characters interacted and how their relationship progressed. I will definitely be continuing this series as well as more of Herrera's books.

Now that Perla Sambrano has found the perfect actor for her production, she finds she must resist the mutual feelings of attraction each of them have. She knows that getting involved with one of her stars would really look back. Meanwhile, Gael Montez comes from a background of broken relationships and feels that even though he really likes Perla, nothing can come of it.

There is a catch. Perla and Gael knew each other in college and he broke her heart. There is no way that Perla is going to allow feelings to Gael to rise again. Instead, she wants to focus on her film project.

The film is forced to go on hold due to the weather. What is worse is that they get snowed in due to a blizzard. What are two people to do that find themselves trapped? Especially considering how much they really like each other.

What a wonderful and enjoyable love story. Not only do we see a strong woman with a fabulous work ethic, we see love pushing its way through for a couple who are perfect for one another.

Many thanks to Harlequin Desire and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.