Absolutely loved this!! If you are looking for a book that centers women of color in history, is well-researched, tackles thorny issues like generational wealth from enslavement, and delivers a steamy, compelling romance with a marriage of convenience then this book is for you!

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris is Adriana Herrera's first historical romance novel and the start to a very promising series. It follows Luz Alana Heith-Benzan, a Dominican woman traveling Paris for the 1889 world exposition where she seeks to sell rum from her distillery. While there, she encounters James Evanston Sinclair, a handsome Scottish nobleman who makes and sells Scotch whiskey, and sparks fly from the very beginning.

I adored Luz Alana- she is fiery, confident, and determined to get what she wants. Evan can get protective and a little possessive but she shuts that down very quickly when it's more than what she wants. The steamy bits take a little longer to get going, but the payoff is there throughout the second half of the book because things do get very sexy!

I love how this weaves in history I wasn't aware of, and confronts the realities of what it means for a nobleman of the time to have inherited generational wealth, likely made off of the slave trade. It deals with microagressions and the couple has frank conversations about how to handle that. This is one of the best romances I've read this year and I hope it's a bestseller! I'm also VERY excited for the rest of the series because Luz Alana's girlfriends who traveled with her are great and one of them is sapphic! Love it. I received an advance copy of this book for review from the author, all opinions are my own.

Well-known contemporary romance writer Adriana Herrera pens her first historical romance with A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, the story of an marriage of convenience between two ambitious, strong-willed people seeking to gain control of their lives.

Caribbean-based Dominican/Scottish heiress Luz Alana Heith-Benzan is headed to the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in the hope of selling her rum.  Caña Brava has existed for three generations, and Luz is bound and determined to make sure that it lasts for many more. In light of her father’s recent death, this is a matter most urgent; none of his partners want to deal with her, declaring that they refuse to do business with a woman. Her trust fund is unbreachable, and won’t be released unless she marries.  And marriage is the last thing on Luz’s mind.  So she gathers her friends and fellow heiresses – Manuela and Aurora, collectively known as Las Leonas, as well as her ten year old sister Clarita – and makes the voyage to Paris. Luz has three months to sell the family’s rum. Then she bumps into an irritatingly handsome Scotsman during her first day in France, and her life changes.

James Evanston – Evan - Sinclair, Earl of Darnick (and heir to the Duke of Annan), is running from his family’s terrible reputation when he meets and sparks with Luz.  He, too, has come to the Exposition to sell his booze – whiskey, a brand he’s built from the ground up with no help from his family’s dirty money, and soon he finds himself selling Luz’ rum at his booth. His mother passed away seven years before, something for which he blames his father. The Duke claimed his mother’s estate because he insisted there was no will and promptly ran the estate into the ground with no thought to the safety and security of his four children, but Evan has at last uncovered his mother’s will and had it authenticated. He learns that all the property promised to himself and his siblings has been borrowed against so many times by his father that it’s in hock to the bank.  But everything else - the house, the land on which he’s built the distillery and - will only become his when he marries.

Thus the two business associates agree to a marriage of convenience so they can lay their hands on the hard cash they need.  Naturally, it’s all about business. Well, at least at first.  Now if only Evan can tell Luz the truth about his messy family’s history…

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris has all of the lovely, character-driven warmth one expects from Adriana Herrera, with a strong feminist punch and a sparkly, lively connection between our hero and our heroine.

Luz and Evan are good for each other, and they’re strongly independent people who suit very well.  Their chemistry is delightfully full-blooded and filled with heat but also with intellectual passion and curiosity.  And the other relationships in the book are excellently portrayed; Luz’s friendships with artistic Manuela is particularly delightful, and I adored watching Luz’s stewardship of her younger sister.  Evan, meanwhile, has a half-brother with a dark past who may or may not be more than he seems. Both Luz and Evan are shrewd in business; one of the reasons she agrees to enter into this marriage agreement is so she can continue to operate as an independent person.  They’re a fun couple to follow.

Evan is witty and flirtatious, but also deeply caring about his family and his business.  He’s admirable, if flawed, as a hero, which makes him feel realistically human.

The setting is impeccably researched, and the history of the booze business comes through the page. This book takes us from the Caribbean to Paris to Scotland, and each setting is carefully and meticulously portrayed.

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris is a lovely romance that opens a promising series and adds to Herrera’s long list of successes.

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Whether you've been a long time romance reader or you're new to the genre 'A Caribbean Heiress in Paris' will steal your heart. Our bada** rum heiress, Luz Alana, is looking to expand her rum company, so she has traveled across the Atlantic to the Exposition Universelle of 1889 where she meets the deviously charming Earl of Darnick. Immediately drawn to one another they realize a marriage will help both of them accomplish their dreams. What neither of them bargains for is their marriage of convenience to lead to love. Bottom line - Adriana Herrera has written a romance masterpiece filled with the most lovable of characters and the steam we all deserve!!

last night I stayed up late reading A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, and while I may have lost sleep i have NO RAGRETS bc it was fuckin fantastic🥰

this book felt in many ways like a love letter to romance readers!! We get a line about a club called Jenner’s, ~multiple~ Pride and Prejudice references, and Luz’s thigh holster & hand gun felt like such a delicious nod to the ever iconic Jessica Trent🙌🏻 my lovely friend Kelleen made the observation that “Las Leonas feel like the Wallflowers for a new generation” and this rang so true for me!! Adriana has always woven beautiful friendships into her romances (#Dreamers4ever) but her first girl gang is a fearsome thing to behold— these are queer women of color who are pioneers in their fields, ambitious entrepreneurs, and fantastically sex positive. I loved every moment with Las Leonas and I can’t wait for the rest of their stories (please Please PLEASE, respectfully, I’m desperate for Manuela’s to be f/f, the sparks between her and the D— of S— were everything😩)

And that’s without even ~touching~ the romance between Luz Alana and Evan, which was utterly incendiary🔥🔥🔥 it’s falls quite neatly into one of my favorite sub-categories of hate-to-love I like to call “antagonism as foreplay” bc like they never ~hate~ each other, but the way these two verbally spar feels practically sensual— its giving Kanthony and I couldn’t get enough!!

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris releases on May 31st and honestly I think it’s gonna be a landmark Historical Romance text💖 I can’t wait for y’all to read it!! Thank you to Harlequin for the ARC

Funny and spicy and sweet, with great banter, and a very feisty heroine. Lots of underrepresented history (colonialism, racism, slavery), all dealt with deftly.

First off, this is really well written and perfectly paced. The main character is a smart, Afro-Latina feminist who has a full life outside the main male character. If it wasn't for racism and misogyny she wouldn't even need him to help her at all! But luckily she meets a kind, extremely woke, progressive and very very hot, bossy, bearded Scottish man with a full gruff Scottish burr who murmurs Gaelic sayings into her ears to take care of the people who are rude and turn her back on her. Evan is a great character. He's sexy but sensitive to her needs and ready to do violence for her. He has his own issues and its really refreshing to see a man see the world as he does. With a full understanding that the world he's benefited from kinda sucks. This is a fully diverse historical romance full of interesting, characters of color and differing backgrounds. It fully understands that it 1880s Europe is a world that has benefited from colonialism and imperialism and the characters try to right those wrongs as well as live in it. It is smart, feminist, sexy and fun and the feels are real!

This is only the second Adriana Herrera novel I've read and I AM IN LOVE with her writing. I love her characters and the stories she gives them. In the case of A Caribbean Heiress in Paris I found myself immediately enamored with Luz Alana and her Leona sisters. In this historical romance, they're fantastically independent, fierce, and fiercely protective of each other, which has me inordinately excited for the companion novels that will follow this one. The main story follows the plight of Luz Alana trying hard to succeed and survive in a very male world of The Exposition in Paris. It seems like the men there are barely humoring her, if at all, when she has a heated exchange with Evan Sinclair. Things change quickly after that...it seems like I'm not the only one enamored with Luz Alana. As Luz Alana pivots from the male dominated world of alcohol to networking with strong women like herself, Evan finds himself able to help her network, while also seeing ways she can help him secure something that should be rightfully his.



Sparks fly. Stubbornness ensues. And yet. And yet, everyone who has eyes can see that there's something there, even if both of them deny it. He proposes a marriage of convenience, she agrees, and of course the sparks between them turn to flames. As it happens in all true romances, there are some oh crap! moments and mishaps and misunderstandings, but thankfully, it all ends happily.



I can't speak highly enough of this novel and the wonderful escape it provided me this weekend. I never wanted to put it down but when I had to, I found every reason to pick it up as soon as possible.

Let me start by saying I wanted to like this book. I really did, but I'm not the reader for it. I love, love, love historical romance. With that being said, it's a given that I would see very little diversity in characters in the genre. When I came across this book, I was ecstatic about the premise. Luz Alana has taken over the family rum business and finds she must now navigate a male-driven space as a woman and a person of color. Her character is strong, knows her challenges, and is determined to overcome them. What she didn't account for was the charming James Evanston Sinclair, an Earl with a troubled family past and the force behind his family's whiskey business. I applaud having a POC as the main character, especially in this genre. I like that the author tackled all that comes with it. It's a part of the story. What I didn't like about the book and ultimately what made it impossible to finish were two things: 1) all of Luz's friends are POCs and all are killing it in their fields, lives, chosen profession. The friends' obstacles are mentioned but those ARE glossed over and they weren't very prohibitive. I don't mind dropping some realism so the story isn't too heavy but that was asking too much. That time period in those setting was not kind to POCs but the characters don't line up with that fact. 2) The romance itself. Much can be forgiven if the romance delivers. For me, it did not. I liked the characters separately, but not together. The instant attraction took center stage and never left, thereby overshadowing any kind of deeper connection I could get behind. To be fair, it may have happened later in the story but too late in my opinion since I couldn't bring myself to get there. Still, I feel I may be the minority in this review. It's unique enough that many will find the good outweighs any drawbacks.

A fun read! I loved the world building of the Dominican heiress selling her rum at the Paris exhibition, her pride in her heritage (many concentric circles: her parents, grandparents, Caribbean, the broader Latin American world). I love that we see her having real challenges, but the book is kind and doesn't show a lot of the misogynoir she encounters on-page; rather it shows her exhaustion from it, and it shows her love interest's commitment to removing obstacles and creating the conditions for her to flourish. The fake relationship is fun and among the more believable (not that believability is always the measure of that trope's success). My attention waned in the plot-plot-drama of the last few chapters. But I believe in the lives these characters will build for each other! And I want to taste their rum and whisky!

Paris - 1889

Luz Alana Heith-Benzan, her younger sister, and her two best friends have arrived in Paris for the Exposition Universelle. The entire reason for this trip is to promote sales of her family's rum, and she has brought hundreds of casks to hopefully sell, and to advertise the company. Luz Alana's Scottish-born father has left her not only the rum business but also a house in Edinburgh where Luz Alana hopes to settle, and to obtain the remainder of her inheritance. But the trustee in Scotland has refused to release any of the funds to her unless she is married. She hopes to go to Scotland and convince the man otherwise.

Being a woman, as well as a woman of color, makes it difficult for Luz Alana to get buyers at the exposition. When she meets the Scotsman who is setting up his table next to hers, she is not only attracted to him, but realizes that he seems willing to help her get clients. Love is not in the cards for this trip, but Luz Alana can't deny that this man is weakening her a bit.

Evan Sinclair, the Earl of Darnick, has his own problems with his inheritance. His father, the duke, refuses to turn over the family distillery business to Evan, although it is clearly Evan's ambition. According to his mother's will, and since the distillery belonged to her family, the only way Evan can claim ownership is to receive the title as a wedding gift.

Enchanted with the fiery Caribbean woman, Evan assists her by introducing her to several of his own clients. Luz Alana's business savvy does the rest, and soon she has sold many of her casks, as well as gained some interest in her own concoction that she developed. But she needs her inheritance, and wants to settle down at her father's home in Scotland for some normalcy for her young sister. Can the handsome Scot who has been helping her sell rum also be the one to assist with getting her trust fund?

A CARIBBEAN HEIRESS IN PARIS is a terrific tale of an independent, intelligent woman struggling to make her way in a man's world. Luz Alana doesn't suffer fools easily, and her business mind doesn't want to deal with romance. Evan has never encountered such a bright, charismatic woman before, especially one so beautiful, and he'll do what he can to help her, but he does have a heart to protect too.

Book one of Las Leonas, A CARIBBEAN HEIRESS IN PARIS is off to a great start. Don't miss this fascinating story.

I'm always glad to see more BIPOC romances. This book had a diverse group of characters. It would be a great addition to a public library collection, especially one that is trying to create a more diverse one.

I absolutely adored this book! I want to be part of Las Leonas - Luz Alana, Manuela, and Aurora are absolute perfection and I cannot wait for the rest of their books.

Luz Alana is the new heir of her families rum business after her parents pass away, but is struggling to be taken seriously. She travels to Paris for the Exposition Universelle to show her rum but deals with microaggressions and is dismissed left and right because she is a woman. Until she meets Evan Sinclair. Their lust is instant, their anger immediate, and the tension is perfect. But Evan is keeping secrets and Luz Alana and Evan will have to figure out how to be together amidst political machinations.

Luz Alana is absolutely amazing and you know I am a sucker for a Scottish love interest. The STEAM! Is off the charts. Besides their relationship I absolutely loved the Leonas. Their friendship, their ride or die, their support and their hilarity. I love a good friendship and theirs is central to the story. Lastly, I loved the historical time period. Adriana obviously did a ton of research and everything is based on fact. Seeing people of color, Black and Afro-Latina women be cemented in history, a true history, is just magnificent. Adriana wrote a marvelous book and everyone should read it!

If you like your historical romance with a diverse character list, strong female friendships, a Scotsman in a kilt, and tons of spice then this is the book for you.

This sweet marriage-of-convenience story features a PoC heroine and a progressive, unconventional hero. The supporting cast of friends, cousins, and siblings give a lot of room for a series.

The love scenes are spicy, but lose a point for me because of the way the hero talks. Like, weird, like grooming. Maybe it was supposed to play up his wealth of experience vs. her lack thereof? It was distasteful to me, not my jam, but maybe just right for someone else.

The romance of convenience is well-paced and reasonable. Some tension in the relationship comes from both parties not communicating, of course, but the majority comes from well-setup outside stressors (family, businesses).

A good series starter to suggest to fans of historical romance tired of straight white heroines. Suggest to readers of Olivia Waite.

I cannot even begin to express how happy this book made me. First, the premise alone is fire! A Latina woman at the Paris world fair. This is what I have always wanted in a historical romance since I started reading romances as a teenager. But then Herrera created an amazing heroine in Luz Alana one who is flawed but is confident, goes after what she knows she deserves, and will not let anything or anyone get in her way. Plus she loves her family and friends. Then Herrera gives us a hero who is aware of his privilege, seeks to correct the wrongs he can, and is not afraid of a confident powerful woman. More than not afraid he welcomes it and knows that in Luz Alana he has someone who makes him better.

In addition, the legacy of slavery and the enormous responsibility that Europeans had is front and center throughout the story.

There is also a scene at the Eiffel Tower that is such fire! I can't wait for everyone to read this book!

I am obsessed with this book. Adriana paints such a beautiful and clear picture of this precise moment of time and I just felt fully immersed in it as I read this book. I wanted to be there and the writing really made me feel like I was.

I love the connection between Evan and Luz Alana. I love how they're both so committed to their business and even though they start as something of convenience to both, they really build that relationship over their love of their work. They have this incredible sexual connection from the start but through their passion for their work and their family they start to truly form a bond beyond the physical and I loved that about them.

I need Adriana to please give me more of the Leonas!!

I have been waiting my whole life for an Adriana Herrera historical. This is a marriage of convenience between a bold Dominicana and a kilt-wearing Scotsman who meet in Paris at the 1880 World's Fair and make an alliance to further both of their families' businesses. And then ooops, they fall in love.

Las Leonas are the Wallflowers for a new generation. They are Black, queer, Latinx, sex positive, body positive, entrepreneurial, contraceptive. They are lush and vivid and sexy and heartachingly romantic. It's low angst but high emotion and high steam and absolute perfection.

The amount of history and heart in this book are exactly why we need diversity in historical romance. This book stares the legacy of slave trade in the face, making the world wide and the globe smaller. It talks about identity and marginalization as it existed in Victorian Europe and as it exists now. This book is a proclamation that Black people and Latinx people and queer people existed in the past with joy and love and luxury and abundance and radical revolution and that not only do they deserve to be included on page in our historical romance, but both truth and liberation require it.

This book is funny and ferocious and I cannot wait for more.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQN for the ARC.

CW: deceased parents, racism, sexism, alcohol, abusive/manipulative father, gun violence

I really enjoyed this book. Both the heroine and hero were likeable. There was a steamy romance and the hero sounded HOOOT. It had representation in races, cultures, and sexualities. I like the way the representation was included, but not made to be the focal point. It felt like real life where you get a little bit of everything. The supporting cast was enjoyable and hopefully results in some spin offs. I would like to read them if they happen. It was kind of instalove, but not in a very unbelievable or irritating way. I do feel like the last 30% or so lost a little bit of steam. I was loving the book, but I just got tired of needless arguments over lack of communication. One or two arguments about that I could have dealt with, but their conflicts just started to feel very repetitive.
I do have one mini rant, so now would be a good time to leave if that isn’t your thing.
OK so, I get sick and tired of these romances that make the man wrong for EVERYTHING. Like no matter what the heroine does somehow its still the fault of the man and he must be the one to apologize to show that he is a good man and understand and yada yada. The main arguments that Luz and Evan had the entire book were about him withholding information. She made such a big deal about it even if it really didn’t affect her in any way. Then when she turns around and does the same thing that resulted in much bigger consequences, somehow Evan is still the one apologizing saying you were probably right to withhold the information. Like no, she was wrong to do so and he shouldn’t have had to apologize for that. It drives me nuts. Like, let’s write understanding and accountable men AND women in these books. I hate to see it. Write realistic romances where women are wrong sometimes too. Ok rant over.
Overall still a really good book and I would recommend it.
Thanks NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. #ACaribbeanHeiressinParis #NetGalley

3.25 stars

Guys listen, I did NOT only pick this up because it had the word Caribbean in the title and because the main character is Dominican. I picked this up because she’s Dominican AND it’s a historical romance I don’t know what you expect from me. Also the love interest being Scottish was a jumpscare. I will never be able to expect Scottish men in my romance books they will continue to haunt me. Anyway this was cute silly crazy goofy fun you should read if you want some historical romance not set in England (hell).

Full review posted to links after embargo date.

I’ve been excited about this book since Adriana started tweeting about it and it did not disappoint!

This was so delightful – full of history and times and places we don’t often get to see in historical romances. Luz Alana and her friends are smart, fun, and self-assured, and I’m looking forward to each of their books. Evan is definitely the first of the two willing to admit he’s in love, and I love a book where the hero falls first. He’s thoughtful and protective, and the way in which he wants to shield Luz Alana from the harsher realities of some elements of their story evolves as she demonstrates to him how she wants to be treated.

The story is very insta-love: it’s days from their meeting to their marriage, and yet they’re not wed until at least 40% of the way through the book. I prefer a marriage of convenience that happens as close to the start as logically possible, so I do wish that this element had been introduced faster.

There’s a lot of plot threads here for the book's length, and to me, the subplot about <spoiler>Luz Alana’s trustee going off the deep end</spoiler> could have been easily eliminated. I also think that Adriana is still working through adjusting from writing mostly contemporary to historical – at times the language feels a little stilted, like she’s deliberately choosing words that feel like they belong in a historical romance rather than a simpler word.

Overall, though, this is wonderful. Smart, sexy, and a really delightful romp. I cannot wait for the rest of this series!