When Madi Ramirez was 13 years old, her abuela passed away. That same night she dreamt of her abuela visiting her & revealing the initials of her future soulmate. As she got older she's been searching for her soulmate but it has never felt right. Following her recent break up, she decides to travel to Puerto Rico for a work opportunity & to fulfill her abuela's wishes of having her ashes scattered on the beach. She meets a man who she feels an instant connection towards but his initials do not match what her abuela told her in her dream. Will she give this mystery love a chance or decide to keep searching?

Although the summary of this book had me intrigued, I decided to DNF this book. The pace was a bit too slow for me & some parts felt too repetitive. I understand why it was so important for Madi to find her soulmate with the correct initials but it felt like she was too focused on it & I didn't enjoy reading much about it. I also just didn't feel like I could connect with the characters or story much once I got into it. I really did love the setting of the book & how descriptive the author was with Puerto Rico & the culture. I would consider giving this book another chance in the future but it just wasn't for me at this time.

Thank you to Netgalley & Kensington Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars for this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for this arc. I was drawn to this because I’m a romantic and love the idea of soulmates, however I did find this one fell a little flat for me.

The instalove romance was cute, but it bugged me how much she focused on the initials not being right. It was a major focus in the book, along with the phrase “love of my lives”, and it got a little repetitive.

I loved the dip into Puerto Rico, though I was a little confused about the business part of it. I thought she was going to explore several options, but only went to one and then it kind of sped up from there. The ending felt rushed, which didn’t give me the satisfaction I was after.

It’s a cute story with characters in touch with their spiritual side, which made a nice change to what I normally read. Definitely one for fans of instalove and miscommunication.

This was a lighthearted destination romance, and had me mentally planning a trip to Puerto Rico! But the key part of this book, the romance, didn't meet expectations. I'm very guilty of judging a book by it's cover here — the cover art is beautiful, and I expected it to be a great book because of that! Unfortunately, I couldn't get myself to root for the FMC and MMC. It didn't really seem like they had a connection, or at least not a believable one, and the closed door romance on top of that left much to be desired. Could be better for people that aren't looking for spice, but this was overall just a bit too bland (romance specifically) for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kennsington for the eARC.

The premise of this novel hooked me instantly. Unfortunately the book just never "got there" for me. I never really understood the romance and it didn't build right for me to fully enjoy the novel.

I loved the idea of the book based on the description but found the main romance lacking. I found the love story between Madi and Peter unbelievable and just wanted more from the couple. I wish I had felt more of a connection to the characters because the premise of the story is so unique. Overall, it is a decent closed-door romance book that would make a good beach or summer read.

Madi wants to find her happily ever after. After receiving visions from her grandmother who has recently passed away, she receives certain clues on who/what to look out for. On a trip to scatter her grandmother's ashes, she comes across Peter. He's everything Madi had hoped for....but he's not what her grandmother has shown her.

This was quite a cute story but it did move slower than I would've liked. There were times when I felt like shaking Madi and telling her to wake up but there were other times when I couldn't help cheering her on. There was no steam in this story so if you like your romances clean, this might be up your alley.

While I loved the premise, setting, and representation in this book, I found it hard to connect with Madi. While I felt like there was an opportunity to see so much growth from her as a person, her fixation on finding her soulmate often made her feel immature to me. The first few chapters had me emotionally drawn in as she deals with grief and loss, but I was hopeful she would grow from that and work on finding/being herself more than we had the opportunity to see.

I’ve seen a few of Yamile Saied Mendez’s books posted on Instagram / Bookstagram and one was a Reese Witherspoon book club pick, so she’s been an author on my TBR for a while. I’m glad I finally took the time and read her new release. It was really well written and such a cute and sweet premise!

I enjoyed the idea that Madi’s grandmother instilled, that you have a soulmate through your various incarnations, the Love of Your Lives, hence the title. After she told her about this, Madi has a dream or future vision of her soulmate, wearing a jacket with his initials. She spends her time only dating men with those initials from then on.

When Madi and her fiancé are on different pages in their life and she goes to Puerto Rico on a business trip, meeting their host who just happens to have those initials, she wonders if she got it wrong with her fiancé and perhaps the connection she’s feeling now is telling her to keep going. Then she discovers this is not the host but his partner with a completely different name, not matching the destined initials, so the pull she feels couldn’t mean anything. She’s imagining it and should go back to her boring old life.

Reading through this book and thinking about destiny and symbols and things in everyday life - it was really interesting and got me thinking about quite a bit not related to the book as well. I really enjoyed Madi and the unexpected romance (not going to say a name and spoil anything), but it’s quite thought provoking as well as just plain being a beautiful story. I highly recommend it, and I’m going to read my copy of Twice a Quinceañera now!

I received a copy from NetGalley and Kensington Books, and this is my honest feedback.

A great read for the #23for23 challenge

This was an entertaining book. It was sweet and fun, though seemed a bit simplistic to me. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

A charming #ownvoices vacation romance set in Puerto Rico about a young woman in her 30s who is searching for her soulmate and also grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother. I really enjoyed this latest by the author of Furia. It was also great on audio narrated by Stacey Gonzales and perfect for fans of authors like Yaffa S. Santos. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

A cute and easy read about finding the love of your life.

The description of Puerto Rico was beautiful and made me want to visit!

I personally found it too insta-love for my tastes and was concerned that the FMC was so focussed on finding the love of her life instead of just living. I was also underwhelmed by the ending as I felt as though the MCs didn't talk through some things that I found to be super important.

All in all it was a fast read with a beautiful setting.

Do you believe in soulmates? Madi does! Madi’s witchy grandmother has helped lots of family members find their soulmates. Unfortunately, she passed away before helping Madi. When her soulmate’s initials appear to her in a dream, she starts her search. Just when she thinks she’s found him, a new man comes into her life. This is Madi’s journey to find the love of her lives and to learn to love herself.

This book is a quick, enjoyable and vibrant celebration of Latin American culture. Although Madi is a little too fixated on finding the love of her lives and more specifically the initials “JR”, we wanted her to find him. We liked the mindfulness, witchy stuff and the idea of having a soulmate, we didn’t really connect to Madi. She needed to practice more of what she preached.

Read if you like:
▪️Instalove
▪️Soulmates
▪️Latinx/Latine diversity rep
▪️Set in Puerto Rico

This book was so beautiful! It was a love letter to Puerto Rico la Isla del Encanto. She wrote it so beautifully I felt like I was right there along with them. Madi feels like she's in a rut in her life and is going to Puerto Rico to figure things out after she feels nothing else has worked out. She's in love with the idea of being in love with a certain type of person but meets someone that's the total opposite of that but makes her feel everything she's always wanted to feel. In turn, she's also found herself.

Yamile has a way of writing these beautiful love stories without shying away from the political strife that is plaguing these countries. There's no way around it, it affects everything that we do we might as well face it and do something about it. That's what makes her books and characters so poignant and relatable. She has definitely become an auto-buy author for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review, as always, all words are my own.

Thank you Netgally for this ARC. Being Puerto Rican I really wanted to love this book. The beginning drew me in and had me tearing up as I lost my grandmother almost 2 years ago and understand that bond. I found myself taking a while to finish this book but did enjoy reading about Puerto Rico and can’t wait to go back. Overall this was a fun, lighthearted beach read but I wanted more connection from the main characters.

I loved everything about the premise of this book, returning to your homeland to find yourself. But I struggled through this book and pushed myself to 54% before DNF'ing. Madi was lackluster and her internal dialogue made it difficult to enjoy and want to keep reading. She just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity. My opinions and review are my own.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley, for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Madi believes in spirit, soulmates, and magic, all her life she kept dating people with the same initials' JR' and all turned out to be jerks just like her last boyfriend was living proof of it all. She always changed herself to fit in and belittled herself to be loved and accepted if it meant finding the one person for herself. She's a hopeless romantic and I'm usually here for it, but the characterization of Madi is just flat. There is no nuance to her and honestly, this is such a promising book but the delivery is just a bit off.

But, if you're just like Madi, a hopeless romantic at heart, this might be a book that you would love.

There is a beautiful hopefulness in this book--in Madi's clinging to visions like prophecy, in the lush way Puerto Rico is described, in the haziness of a whirwind romance. The descriptions of the island do tend towards exoticism, but the author creates a charming depiction of Puerto Rico.

For me, the story was pitched as a romance, but ended up as mostly introspection--and introspection without change, reform, or alteration, at that. Madi holds tightly to her ideals, which could be called naive, stubborn, or both, and we don't see much growth in her. From the romance side, the tropes didn't pull their weight as much as they could've, leaving the story feeling somewhat dissatisfactory. That being said, if a reader is interested in an immersive, instalove, whimsical sort of story, this could be perfect! Just because it's not my taste doesn't mean it isn;t anyone's, and I hope this book finds its target audience.

Love of My Lives is a quick read with plenty of will they or won’t they tension. When they finally do, the scene fades to black.

The descriptions of San Juan, and even more so the rainforest, make the reader want to book a trip ASAP. Everything is described as warm and welcoming, with the rainforest lush and green. There is also a discussion about Puerto Rico being ravaged by storms and earthquakes and struggling to rebuild due to a lack of government assistance. Along those lines, there is also a discussion about tourists, especially those from the “Mainland” (aka Americans), buying properties to rebuild and take from those who live on the island.

Overall, Love of My Lives is a decent read. Madi loves love and wants to find her perfect soul mate. And there is nothing wrong with that. But at times, she tends to be a bit immature about it. As the book progresses, she starts to mature about love.

If you’re looking for a quick read, with closed door intimacy, than you should give Love of My Lives a read.

Thank you to the author, Kensington Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This romcom has a lot of promise, with the connection to Puerto Rico and the longing for a soulmate. However, these are both also the downfall of the book. Part of it reads like a paid editorial from the Puerto Rico tourism bureau - interspersed with some unhelpful stereotypes - and anything to do with the romance trope reeks of the desperation of the female character, falling into insta-love with no idea what love really is, instead of working on herself and her obvious issues. And of course there's a happy ever after, because unthinkable otherwise.

I really, really wanted to love this book but unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me.

I absolutely love the cover and the premise was so interesting but I had a really hard time connecting to the characters.

Although I wasn't a fan, I would definitely check out more reviews on goodreads as there are others that have really loved it!!

While this one wasn't for me, I am definitely interested in reading more from Yamile