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

Things I loved about this book: the Latin-based elements and the Puerto Rican setting. I will definitely need to book a vacation to Puerto Rico very soon!

Things I struggled with: the love story between the characters was too "insta-love for me." I really struggle to find this trope believable. If you can handle the insta-love trope, then this book may be right up your alley!

Thanks to Kensington Press for my ARC!

Our heroine Madi is obsessed with the idea of meeting her soulmate the love of her lives and believes that his name or rather initials should be JR, especially after that vision she had on the night her grandmother died.
Madi believes in spirit, soulmates, and magic as her grandmother did. So , all her life she kept dating people with the same intials and all turned out to be jerks and her last boyfriend was the proof.
She always changed herself to fit and belittled herself to be loved and accepted if it meant finding the one.
So our Madi as u can see is a hopeless romantic, spontaneous, and sometimes naïve.
Heartbroken and feeling down and now that she is 31 she is frustrated and starting to feel like there is no love at all.
Untl, her boss sent her on a work trip to Puerto Rico her family's ancestral land where everything might just work out for her.
However, when she meets someone thinking that he has the same intials and gets love-struck by him Madi is hopeful but fate has other plans for her.
As you can there is a promising story here, however, I wasn't pulled by it and after reaching 50% I DNF it and to make matters worse The chapters are way too long which  is my least favorite thing.
That being said my taste shouldn't determine yours so make sure to check it out.
Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC of #LoveOfMyLives in exchange for my honest review.

Xoxo💋

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book, in exchange for honest feedback.

The whole idea of the book (and title), "Love of My Lives" was very unique. Without giving away total spoilers, Madi's Abuela essentially helps lead her to the 'love of her lives' from beyond the grave. Ever since seeing a vision as a child, Madi is convinced the man of her dreams has the initials JR. Then as an adult, with a recently failed relationship, she meets Peter while on a business trip in Puerto Rico. Peter is who Madi wishes could be the love of her lives, but still believes he is not due to his name, and then the book has a perfectly happy ending.

I have to honestly say that besides the unique idea, I really did not get in to this book, at all! It was just not for me. There was a lot of randomness added, a lot of the parts to the story that should have had more detail seemed so rushed, but then there were other parts that lasted for pages and were irrelevant to the story line. IMO. While I did like the main characters, their story was way too slow of a burn! I also found myself feeling like some of the phrases and wording was just off... Again, opinion, but this one was rough to get through.

If you do not like reading spicy romance books, this is for you. There is some insinuation of spicy time, but no actual scenes play out.

As terrible as I feel doing this, I have to give 2 stars, because I could not see myself recommending this book. I do hope that there are others who find this book, read it and enjoy to give a better rating.

I went in to this book thinking it was a romance, but it def feels like women's lit with some romance in the plot.
I want to clarify. The writing is great. It is more so that the story has so much explaining of the island. You can feel that it was modified so much to make a white or non Puerto Rican audience comfortable with the details. So many city and culture explanations were watered down, as well as overly criminalizing aspects of the island.

I also think the romance was a bit lack luster. This book just wasn't for me, but I still think it could be great for people wanting to diversify their reads.

I was really disappointed with this one. I don't usually love instant love type books, but will still enjoy them. Love of My Lives just really fell flat for me. I enjoyed the writing, it was descriptive and kept my attention but the plot is what fell flat for me. I felt as though the narrator, Madi, was unreliable. Per personal preference, I really didn't enjoy her view on love of your lives, as well as her view on the dreams she had. I thought her relationship with Peter wasn't realistic. She really only accepted him at the end after she realized he was indeed who she saw in her dream as a child. It just made her love for him seem conditional and not real. Overall, I had fun reading the book but didn't love how the plot played out.

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute romance story. I loved that the book took place on Puerto Rico and felt like a love letter to it. I felt the ending was rushed but otherwise enjoyed the book.

I’ll start off this review by saying I am Puerto Rican. Born, raised, wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Obviously because of this I’m gonna be nit picky of some information. I love this Island. I love the people and I will protect at all cost.

To me this book needed maybe more than one person that lived in Puerto Rico to confirm research done by the author. A lot of the information feels like historical info dumping and some ideas of the story would've worked in different parts of the island. I will state that my living experience in Puerto Rico will not the same as other Puerto Rican in the island, but still these are all my thoughts and opinion about this book.

I’m only 25% in and I feel like it's becoming too much. I'll do the big things first and then smaller ones at the end.

First thing that made me feel extremely uncomfortable was when Mariela (the taxi driver or Uber) is telling them about old San Juan and says “don’t go there cause that is a caserio” then talks about la Perla and how you shouldn’t go in there unless you’re invited because it dangerous. The whole thing made me uncomfortable because it keeps adding negative connotations to these area. Caserios are apartment building subsidized by the government for people with love income. Like many of us know these kind of places have been given bad reputations through the years, but just because you live there doesn't mean you're a drug dealer or part of a gang. These are negative ideas of these places and the author by saying that adds to it. I’m not saying la Perla is safe for outsiders, just respect the people that live there, don’t film while being there and you’re good.

Secondly, in one chapter Madi talks about how there are no beaches in Old San Juan only el Paseo de la princesa which is a beach that mostly functions as wave breaker for the for all over the old city. I have seen people in this beach by way of where the old bridge used to be in boats or by jumping the rocks. The next chapter its night already and Madi talks about meeting up with friends to see the bonfire in the beaches and she's still in Old San Juan. Like one minute there are no beaches and the next there are magic beaches with bonfires on them? If the bonfires were so important to the story, Madi and her friend could've stayed in another part of San Juan that is close to Old San Juan and literary has beaches right next to it. You could'v used Condado, Isla Verde or even use the Caribe Hilton Hotel and it has a private beach and a beach right next to it.

The whole Noche de San Juan thing, cause they even dip into the beach that is not a beach in old San Juan, is just weird to me. I really feel she could've picked another night like las fiesta de San Sebastián or going to la placate to dance Salsa in the street. You can go can go and hang out a night in old San Juan everyday, but like Saturday night is the night that actual locals go to hang out there.

Thirdly, the whole cell reception thing not working in old San Juan drives me up a wall. Cell service on metro area is not bad. It gets bad when you're in the mountain or areas that were affected by Hurricane Maria. I kind of wanted to brush it off to something paranormal that it's destiny and that's why her phone doesn't work, but you had to have JR say "This happens on the island all the time, Nothing to be alarmed over". Maybe deeper in the island but not in Old San Juan.

Fourth, the book feels very much like an info dump of information about the island and the struggles Puerto Rican's face every day from people who have been on the island for less than 5 years (Not judging). If you're gonna have a character that talks about the damages after Hurricane Maria, maybe make it someone that was in the island during Maria not someone who came to the island to "help" out the economy. Plus have this same person, that's been on the island for 3 years talks bad about la Ley 22. The info dump is taking more of a focus than the actual relationship or romance.

Fifth, if you're gonna go to a Bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico... VIEQUEZ! (they closed it during after Maria to protect it) but Viequez has the brightest Bioluminescent bay in the world. I'm done. I promise. (JK I have 13% left)

I finished. Finally. This book to me felt more like a romance story with the island than an actual romance. Very insta love and I just didn't see the connection between the characters. She is kind if naive and I don't know. I just didn't like it.

Felt like the story needed at least someone that lives in Puerto Rico to like add or remove some things cause you're experience in Puerto Rico is not the same one as me, someone who actually lives on the island. Maybe I expected to much for a story that is set in Puerto Rico.

Little things that bothered me, airport is in Carolina not San Juan. It’s “buen provecho” not “provecho”, I've never heard el hotel el Convento called Casa Grande Hotel.

Love of My Lives, by Yamile Saied Mendez, is a cute story set on a beautiful island, revolving around friendship, family, and love. Great for a lazy afternoon read. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook to review.

I think the book definitely has potential, but it just wasn’t for me. Instalove and miscommunication are my least favorite tropes which this story is centered around. Unfortunately I ended up DNFing this one, but I may pick it up again later if the mood strikes. I don’t ⭐️ rate DNFs and only chose one star for the sake of having to put a star rating to publish my review.

Thank you to netgalley and Kensington Books for the copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an advance copy of Love of My Lives in return for an honest review.

A cute, easy romance about a woman who believes that she's destined to meet "the love of her lives" and that this soulmate will have the initials 'JR' because of a dream that she had after the death of her grandmother almost 20 years earlier. Madi Ramirez has recently broken up with her boyfriend and travels to Puerto Rico (where I am originally from) on a business trip for the yoga studio where she works that will also provide her the opportunity to finally scatter her grandmother's ashes on a Puerto Rican beach. Shortly after arriving, Madi meets a man that she feels an instant connection to but his initials aren't JR. Perfect read for anyone who enjoys an instant love story. I truly enjoyed the setting and cultural references of my beautiful Puerto Rico! 100% recommended if your looking for a fast, enjoyable and easy read.

I don’t know if it was the long chapters or the boring storyline for me but I just found this extremely hard to get through and it didn’t help that the Spanish in this book isn’t always translated. Clearly I was not the target audience.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC.

Madison has grownup knowing in her heart there is a higher being that will shape her world. Guided by her grandmother and the belief of true love she is set out to find her destiny. Living the life she believes she is set for but is not truly content with she accepts her so called fate. Ultimately her heart, mind, and higher beliefs are wrong. A proposal turned breakup affords her the chance to return to her homeland and give fate another chance.

Does Madi find love or disappointment in Puerto Rico? Was her Abuela right about the loves of her life or was she just a crazy old witch? This cute little romance will have you second guessing love at first sight but buying into all the meet cutes and happily-ever-afters.

I loved this book! Such a cute story. I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.