DNF. I enjoyed the Spanish, especially in the audiobook. However, at 16%, this story just isn’t interesting me enough to continue. I haven’t even read any romance yet, but I just found myself really bored and I don’t want to wait it out. I feel like it has potential and maybe I’ll go back to it some day, but it wasn’t working with my current reading mood.
Thank you Harlequin for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Give me a fake dating fake engagement romance trope all day every day. I loved the tension and heat in this book. Definitely pick up!

I really liked the relationship in A Proposal They Can't Refuse. I thought it grew very organically and felt like a couple I could really route for. I loved seeing the main characters grow seperately as the story moved along too. Neither were in a place for such a serious relationship but they both realized that and worked on themselves along the way too which I love to see in a romance novel. Rarely do things go perfectly in real life and I like to see that reflected in what I read as well.
Can not wait to see what this author writes next,

For every reader who enjoys a fun rom-com -- this is a terrific new choice. A couple who have known one another since childhood are "forced" into a fake marriage by their elderly family members -- something I haven't seen before and it really works well. Lots of humor, great banter. I look forward to recommending this title.

I thought A Proposal They Can't Refuse was a great debut release for the author. You definitely get that hybrid of women's fiction and romance, it felt like it went into the women's fic, which is something I don't tend to gravitate toward. And in saying that, I wish there was more on the romance front.

I have to say that I wouldn't call this is a lighthearted romcom, I appreciated the author trying to keep things light, but the undertones were pretty heavy with the MCs trauma.

I truly loved Kamilah and Liam's chemistry, which had a lot of promise towards some great steam, but that fell short for me too.

Overall, not quite what I expected, loved the author's writing and I'm definitely looking forward to what Natalie writes, next.

3.5/5

Kamilah helps to run her family restaurant and was, at one time, an aspiring chef who gave up her big chance to keep her Abuela's dream alive. Liam runs a whiskey distillery founded by his grandfather, who he's very close to, more so since the death of his father. Kamilah and Liam have been best friends since they were kids and work next door to each other. But their friendship has been strained for years and Kamilah can't understand why Liam hates her so much, while Liam does everything he can to avoid her and push her away so that she'll never know his true feelings. When their grandfathers blackmail scheme gives them to opportunity to have everything they've both wanted, but with one big condition, will they say yes?

This book gave me all of my favourite tropes and wrapped them up in family drama, Irish American & Puerto Rican culture and mouth-watering food. I'm a huge lover of the he-fell-first trope and from the moment you realise how Liam feels, to the fake engagement and forced proximity, I couldn't wait to read on. The chemistry between Kamilah and Liam is fantastic and Caña writes their intimacy so well, especially the little unexpected moments that bring them closer and closer together. I also really liked how they navigated their individual issues and the side characters, especially Killian, the Irish grandad and his familiar turn of phrase (apart from "whack in the wanker"- never heard that said before 😆)

Overall this was a great read with loveable characters that made me laugh, and cry (damn epilogue 😢) Natalie Caña has created something really special and I can't see what she has coming next!

I’ve been reading more and more romance lately because it seems to be the perfect escape for the world we live in right now. There’s something to be said for that building of tension, the subsequent release, and the knowledge that there’s a happy ending waiting for you on the final page.

When I was first pitched A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Caña, I already knew I was going to love it. Friends-to-enemies-to-lovers? Yes, please! Fake dating and a fake engagement? You bet. Only one bed? That is quite literally my favorite trope of all time.

What makes or breaks a book isn’t the tropes, however, but the characters. Luckily, this cute little rom-com also contained my favorite dynamic—feisty ball of energy and brooding grumpy-pants. There was simply no way this one was going to flop for me.

I found myself giggling throughout this book, both at the grandfathers’ antics and at the sweet moments these two shared. For a relatively small book, it’s packed with Puerto Rican culture, Irish mythology, food and whiskey appreciation, familial drama, and, of course, lots of love.

“A Proposal They Can’t Refuse” is one of my new favorite books ever.
Seeing my culture, Kamilah’s culture represented on the page was one of my favorite things ever.
Natalie Caña’s writing style wrapped me up, and didn’t let me go.
Liam’s grumpiness and sense of duty towards his family was one of my favorite things, as well as his and Kamilah’s development, individual and as a couple.
Im looking forward to reading more of Caña’s work in the future.

The writing was really good, but HOO BOY, do I have Feelings about this book. I really wanted to give it 4 stars but Kamilah's crap show of a family--GRRRRR.

I'm sick of gaslighting conservative families where men shove all the hard work onto women, women have to take it, and then are chastised (even by other women) for not doing anything "right" when it wasn't their job in the first place. Kamilah's mom is the typical pain in the ass, and her brothers--especially Leo--are overbearing idiots. Even when her family members come to their "senses"--really not really--it's after a lot of emotional damage (see gaslighting above), and was too little, too late for my taste. She had to be sorry for stuff that happened in this book? She is nowhere near at fault the way her family (and even Liam) are. Like I've said before, I'm petty, and I'd happily not talk to my family for a year if they set me up the way Kamilah's family set her up.

This is the family logic, and by logic I mean it makes no sense: you can't tell us what to do about the restaurant, Big Shot Who Went to Culinary School. Everything has to stay exactly the same. But if that means it finally closes down due to lack of business, then so be it. We'd rather let that happen than hand it over to you to adapt it so it can survive. Besides, you're a flake--let us list all the times we didn't support you in things you wanted to do and instead mocked you. That includes learning how to run a restaurant, which you don't know how to, because we wouldn't dream of letting you and would rather this time capsule wither and die instead. HAHAHAHAHA, oh, and why aren't you married yet? Your eggs are dying.

GAHHHHHHH! (Did I mention I had feelings about this book?)

But yeah--Kamilah makes some mistakes in the last quarter of the book, but she's treated like such garbage from everyone, and I mean everyone (including Liam, handsome but Emo FML Liam), that I'd be like "Alright, I guess this confirms what I've suspected all along from all of you. Have a nice life, everybody," then dip.

I could spout on this for another hour (don't even get me started on the Grandpas who basically set up this whole thing), but then I'll wind up saying it's 2.5 stars rounded up to 3, rather than 4 stars rounded down. So I'll quite while I'm ahead.

I have this thing where if I see that there’s a contemp romance and the main characters are people of color, I’m going to buy it. Even more so if its a bookish romance or a foodie romance. And this one just so happened to be a foodie romance where the FMC is a POC. So yeahhhhhh I was hella excited to get to this. And for the most part, I really enjoyed it.

As I said, it doesn’t take much for me to be interested in a book. And this one had all the things I like: it was foodie, it had an illustrated cover, and the FMC was a POC, Puerto Rican to be exact. So it had all the makings of being a 5 star read for me. But alas, I thought it was lacking something. Starting with the romance. Now Liam was hella hot and he owned a whiskey distillery. (If you don’t know, I’m a whiskey drinker, so this was hella interesting to me!) I wanted to hear some more about the process of it, but I know that I was probably the only one lol Anyways, I thought they were so cute together because they were so different. Kamilah was so fiery and passionate and Liam was passionate but quiet. They complimented each other in the best ways. And the way they went from enemies to friends to lovers was so cute to watch. But then once it was time to get to the spice……. It just fell flat. Yes I know every book doesn’t have to be spicy, but when you have a build up like that and the mood is set and you’ve already used certain words, why just make it a fade to black scene like that? It kinda threw me off how it went from open door to closed door so quickly. (I was even more frustrated because Liam seemed like a dirty talker…………………)

The plot was another place where I thought it was weird. I thought the whole thing that their grandparents did was kinda weird. And the fact that they did it was even weirder. I know it’s a fictional thing, but a marriage proposal? They couldn’t just start out with dating? I know they clarify why in the book, but even still. I thought it was a bit much. Especially since they haven’t even cared for each other in so long. And especially since it was obvious that they both needed to work on themselves first before they got together. This is definitely a book where I loved the information that came from the epilogue.

I also admired the family ties in this book. Kamilah’s family is a lot like mine. They were all ride for each other and they all make sure that everyone is being taken care of. They acted all tagged on each other and got on each other’s nerves, but in the end they looked after each other. And after all the crap went down, they didn’t like it, but they still stood behind them. And that’s the REAL meaning of family. I may not like you all the time, but I love you always.

The reason I still rated this so high was because I connected to her writing hardcore for some reason. I was sucked in to the food descriptions, the descriptions of the different whiskeys, and the reason why Liam was the way he was…. When it got to the point of the restaurant being sold, I was crying REAL TEARS. I don’t know, it was just too much for me. And I’m still not even sure why. I also cried when the Epilogue was abuelo talking to his friend and the sunlight beam? LISTEN, again, I was crying real tears. I hadn’t cried the entire book, but the ending was when it all decided to come out. It was just a lot.

Now seeing that there’s more books in this series, I am hella excited to get my hands on them. I hate that I read this so early because I’ll have to wait a year for the second book, but it is what it is. I will still be waiting on them. I can’t wait to see who ends up with who!

Kamilah and Liam were childhood best friends turned enemies turned fake relationship goals. Seriously, their story was funny, sexy, sweet, and compelling. I felt for both characters and loved the silly grandfather antics that led to the romance. Kamilah was from a big family Latinx family full of all the expected pressures to succeed. She was a fierce character who let a lot rest on her shoulders so it was fun to see how interacting with Liam affected that. He was from a much smaller family and yet the pressure to keep his business a lot was also high. They were a great team and overall i enjoyed how everything unfolded.

This book is for you if you love:
Family expectations
interfering grandfathers
fake dating
secret feelings
heated banter

Loved this one! It had me from the hilarious opening scene of the two love interests bailing out their grandfathers when they got in trouble at their nursing home LOL. Can’t wait to read more from this series! 10/10

I really wanted to like this one. It had great promise. However, I just couldn't connect with the main characters, and the whole reason for them being blackmailed into an engagement by their grandfathers just seemed too far-fetched to me. I did absolutely love the Puerto Rican and Irish cultural aspects that were included and since I speak some Spanish, I loved how much was included. That part was great! But overall, the romance fell flat and the plot was otherwise just kind of underwhelming. Thank you for the opportunity to review!

This book was so well done. I thought the author did an amazing job with the different ethnicities and bringing people from entirely different backgrounds together.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kamilah Vega is desperate to convince her family to update their Puerto Rican restaurant and enter it into the Fall Foodie Tour. With the gentrification of their Chicago neighborhood, it's the only way to save the place. The fly in her mofongo--her blackmailing abuelo says if she wants to change anything in his restaurant, she'll have to marry the one man she can't stand: his best friend's grandson.

Liam Kane spent a decade working to turn his family's distillery into a contender. Now he and his grandfather are on the verge of winning a national competition. Then Granda hits him with a one-two punch: he has cancer and he has his heart set on seeing Liam married before it's too late. And Granda knows just the girl...Kamilah Vega.

If they refuse, their grandfathers will sell the building that houses both their businesses. With their futures on the line, Kamilah and Liam plan to outfox the devious duo, faking an engagement until they both get what they want. But soon, they find themselves tangled up in more than either of them bargained for.

While I loved the diverse cast and the family dynamic in this book - it is a book with a lot of heart and core values - I'm sad that I didn't end up connecting more with the main characters and the plot. I really wanted to like it, but the conflict fell a little flat for me and there was a spark that was missing from Kamilah and Liam's relationship. It didn't really stand out.

This review will be published on goodreads.

A Proposal They Can’t Refuse is a book I had pretty high hopes for. It had many of my favorite tropes in it. Fake dating, pushy grandparents, family friends, etc. I was disappointed by the main character’s family. While I loved her and Liam, her family seemed cruel towards her. Not every family in every romance needs to be so overbearing. Kamilah’s family never listened to her and made her seem like some horrible person, which she wasn’t. Honestly, her family ruined the novel for me. It seems like this book is going to be the start of a new series and hopefully the family won’t be so horrible in the next one.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A Proposal They Can't Refuse was such a vibrant, fun, romantic read! If you love: stories rich in family traditions and culture, foodie fiction, sexy Irish guys, frenemies to lovers, fake engagements, and great ensemble casts, I don't think you want to miss this. It was so sweet how the matchmakers were the grandpas, and the development of the relationship felt believable, with a satisfying slow-burn quality. This is the first of what will be a trilogy featuring the Vega family - I'm here for it.

I loved the culture in this book, I felt like I was immersed in both of their families. The author did a great job of that. This is a romance book that dabbled a little too much in the women's fiction part of it. I needed more from the couple to keep that chemistry going. It felt a little disjointed at times. I kept reading because I did want to see how it all worked out.

CW: Death of a parent, grandparents (on and off page)

Whenever I start reading a new romance, I wonder how the MC’s will meet. Sometimes it’s sweet, sometimes cute. But what if it’s a punch straight to the dick? That antagonism sums up the current relationship between Kamilah Vega and Liam Kane, former childhood friends turned enemies.

Kamilah and Liam are “lonely workaholics” according to each of their grandfathers. Both work in the family business - she in the Puerto Rican restaurant El Coquí, and he in the whiskey distillery next door. Each is dedicated to improving it amid gentrification in their Chicago neighborhood, but are getting resistance from the octogenarians who own the building.

The grandfathers offer a proposal: if Liam and Kamilah get married, they’ll receive full support and permission to make the changes they want. A short-term fake relationship seems doable but when Liam’s grandfather gets a terminal diagnosis, the timeline moves up, and real feelings come to the surface.


I loved the Latinx representation in this book! Kamilah’s experience with meeting the expectations of her family really resonated with me. She’s the only girl among boys, and that pressure to take care of everything while also being underestimated was too real! She really needed someone to believe in her, and Liam steps up in quiet ways to show he believes in her dream and defends her when she’s being put down. He’s also a little bit of a dirty talker! Liam has pined for Kamilah for 15 years, and both of their grand gestures are sweet and earned.

The ending also seems like a set up for her Abuelo to use his matchmaking skills again for the rest of his grandchildren. I’m definitely interested in reading more about this family and their hijinks.

My one quibble is I wanted more steam! But that's a personal preference. Also, did Kamilah and Sofi ever make up? That was left unresolved but maybe it will be referenced in another book off page.

A Proposal They Can't Refuse is a charming story about love and family. I had a blast reading this story! It was a remarkably wonderful story about two people who used to be so close and then hormones and adulthood got in the way… Just for their grandfathers to intervene and bring them together. It was definitely an entertaining read for sure and I recommend picking it up .