I really enjoyed A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow and was excitingly waiting for the companion novel!

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Flora. She is the sister of Orion who is happily dating Lila, they were the couple from the first book. Flora was an okay character, but I do think a lot of her actions were self-absorbed and she didn’t have a lot of awareness for those around her. That could be said not just about her family but also when it came to her friends and relationships. The one thing I did understand and could relate to was her not saying goodbye before her mother passed. She pushed it off because she didn’t want to be there and I was like that with my grandma. Grief is a hard thing to cope with even when you know that the death is coming.

There is a bit of a love triangle and I didn’t like it. I felt like she was always leading one on and trying to figure out her feelings for her friend who didn’t really have a big part in the book. She could have easily just became friends with Baz without adding a fake relationship to the mix which didn’t surmount to anything anyways. Both of these tropes just really let me down.

I also wish there had been more from Lila and Orion as well. I loved getting to know both of them in book one and just wanted to see them flourish in this book. I know it’s not a book about them, but they are also a part of Flora’s circle.

As usual the author writes wonderfully and it’s always nice to see where her writing takes her.

Overall, this was good but I didn’t feel as connected as I had with the first book.

I remember really liking "A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow", so I was excited to see this one. But I think I'm just not really into continuations of stories, like with side characters from the first one. It just wasn't super exciting to me.

I really enjoyed this companion book to The British Girls Guide to Tea and Tomorrow.

Both of these books are grief books, connected by the characters (the love interest in book one is the brother of the main character in book two).

I love a good fish out of water story, and these books are what YA should be: about young people exploring the world, learning about themselves, exploring their interests, and even falling in love.

Since books one and two were switcheroo books, the first with a Miami teen heading to the UK and the second about a UK girl heading to Miami, I am curious if there will be another exchange book in the series.

Flora Maxwell’s mom recently passed away and Flora is not handling her grief well. She’s pushing everyone away and destroying relationships. Deadlines are approaching and she has no idea what she wants to study in college. She’s been asked to give a speech about her mom and the thought terrifies her. The only thing that brings her any peace is her camera.

After making a particularly hurtful confession to her family, Flora runs away from Winchester, England to Miami, Florida, to stay with her friend Lila’s family for a while. In Miami, she starts to get some perspective on her losses and her self-destructive behaviors. She also meets handsome Baz Marín, who becomes her photography mentor. Can Flora, who describes herself as a hurricane, learn to trust others–and herself?

Thank you to the publicist for providing me with an early copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak is a spin-off of A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow. You could probably read A British Girl’s Guide first if you really want to and only encounter minor spoilers but I recommend reading them in order. Knowing the background of some characters who take a more minor role in this follow-up adds depth to the story.

Now, hang with me for a minute here. Flora is a difficult character. I struggled a bit with her, to be honest. She’s really prickly and she can get a little too self absorbed at times. I understand that she’s suffered an unimaginable loss but watching her repeatedly push away people who genuinely care for her got to be frustrating for me. I almost rated the book three stars because of her and because I am such a character-driven reader.

But I stepped back and thought about it. We all know people like Flora. She rang very true. But Flora knows she has some serious issues she needs to work through. She starts to engage in some self-reflection, let others in, and seek help. And that’s what redeems her in my eyes.

There’s a maybe/maybe not love triangle which is not my favorite trope. But it sets up an opportunity for some earnest conversations among characters about self-respect and what they want and expect from a partner. It’s another opportunity for character growth and I embraced it.

My husband is Cuban and largely grew up in Miami. His parents moved to Naples at about the time that I came into the picture so I haven’t spent a lot of time in Miami. But it was still a lot of fun to read about the locations that I am familiar with. The heat and humidity ooze out of the pages. I could almost taste the food. One scene takes place at a photo shoot in Vizcaya. Holy smokes. I could see every move of that scene coming to life. Somehow it was steamy in more than one sense of the word even though it was also perfectly innocent. The romantic tension was palpable. That scene was perfection.

Read this one if you like complicated characters and a good helping of romance.

I loved A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow; the characters, the setting, and the premise were wonderful and while those characters are mentioned in this one, they don’t play as big a part. Flora, Orion’s sister, is the focus of this one and her grief is a real, and tangible thing, but instead of making her seem vulnerable, it makes her seem selfish and self-absorbed. This one took me a while to get through – not because of the writing (that flowed well and really pulled me into the story) but Flora wasn’t likeable. I get that she feels a connection to Lila and they’re close but I didn’t understand why she was speaking in Spanglish. I may be nitpicking because this one may have been aimed at younger readers who haven’t dealt with grief before but I think this one just wasn’t for me.

A heartfelt YA love triangle romance that sees Flora, running away to Miami to deal with her grief over her mother's death and try to figure out her post-high school life. I enjoyed the photography focus, the love story plot but I wasn't a huge fan of the audiobook narrator. Overall this was just an okay read for me and won't go down in my favorites of 2023 list by any means sadly. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Got this one juuuust before the pub date, so I put down my other books to read this quick before it archived.

I didn't remember much about the previous book in this "series," but I also don't think I missed out on any major plot points. I remembered there was extended family, one faction in England, and the other in Florida. This time, it's the Brit going across the pond after crumbling into delayed grief over her mother. The whole family planned to go out later in the summer for a wedding, and Flora runs away early.

The ending felt a bit rushed and sudden to me, but that could have just been the way I had to read this title. Either way it was cute while not being fluffy, and it's also fuel for the "get Hannah back to England" fire.

Thanks, NetGalley!

Dealing with the grief of her mother's death, a girl who is known as a chaotic hurricane runs off to pursue her potential career in photography while avoiding the fallout with her family and the fallout of her best friend trying to confess his feelings to her, but can she find her path through the storm? Flora lives in Winchester, England and feels untethered, she's still racked with guilt over her mother's death and doesn't know what she wants to do with her future. Her only real passion is photography, yet when her secret gets out to her family about what happened on the day her mother died she runs off to Miami without telling anyone, especially her longtime friend Gordon, who tried to confess to her but in her fear of hurting him, she pushed him away instead. Yet this new scenery doesn't change the storm she left in her wake, now Flora has to discover her own path, pursuing her interest in photography with a handsome teen influencer who will help teach her photography, and to her surprise... Gordon has come to Miami as well. While discovering herself, Flora will also discover the feelings she wasn't ready to admit and face the heartbreak she's been avoiding. This one really emphasizes the pain and grief of losing a loved one and trying to figure out what path you want to pursue. You understand Flora's fears and her angers, and her decisions and self doubts, and I was happy to see her grow. I however felt like this book was missing the magic of the first book. I loved the first one and found it to be healing and charming and this one just felt like it was missing something. The romance wasn't really there for me and I just didn't feel all that much for it compared to the first book. It is a great book about grief and healing, and if you enjoy that, this book is for you!

*Thanks Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Atheneum Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

After Flora’s mother dies, she feels lost and chaotic. She escapes to Miami without telling a soul, hoping a change of scenery will bring her back to herself. When she’s there she feels more confused than ever, not knowing which passions to pursue, what to do about University, or even which love interest to choose. In this journey she begins to reconnect with herself and heal all at the same time.

I adored A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrowland, so I was highly anticipating this follow up. While I didn’t adore this book the way I did book one, I still appreciated many things about it. I love how Laura Taylor Namey really captures that feeling of being young and lost and having no idea what the future holds. The way she pairs those feelings with grief feels so raw and real, and I felt for Flora. Flora was messy and angry at the world and I loved the way that was captured and how I still was rooting for her to succeed and find her joy. This book definitely hits you in the feels and there is something so beautiful about the way it was written.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak is focused on Flora’s journey. After her mother’s death, she decides to escape to Miami in order to try and find herself again. This is a coming of age, growth story heavily focusing on Flora’s grief journey. While this might seem really emotional and sad, I also found it, in a way, really beautiful. We follow Flora, a messy, complex, flawed, hurricane of a main character. Flora’s unexpected, sometimes you feel like slapping her and some other times, you want to hug her. I just loved how complex, unperfect and real she felt, from beginning to end. Her growth was wonderful.
The characters surrounding Flora are equally as lovely. We get back with a bit of Lila’s family -if you read the first, companion book, A Cuban Girl’s Guide. I just love how warm and full of love they all are. Baz was another fun character to discover, I loved how we slowly got to know him and how, from a mysterious, a little bit inscrutable character, he became someone I loved. Her fake-dating scheme with Baz was fun to follow!

Of course, Gordon’s the highlight of the book for me. Flora’s best friend, definitely feeling the more-than-friends vibe here, he’s fun and endearing and I absolutely adored him okay.
A British Girl’s Guide has Laura Taylor Namey’s signature writing and I loved it. This author has a way with words, metaphors, giving a new, poetic, captivating dimension to what feels like a simple YA contemporary story. Definitely love that.

This is entirely personal, but I just didn’t feel the same spark I felt with Lila, back in A Cuban Girl’s Guide. While Flora was a great, interesting and complex main character, I just didn’t fall for her as much and therefore, didn’t feel as compelled to read on, at times.

If you’re looking for a lovely, heartwarming and filled with feelings, kind of YA contemporary book, I can only recommend A British Girl’s Guide. I can’t wait to read more from the author.

A British Girl's Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak Was SO CUTE. I perhaps liked it even more than the last book, at least equally. Definitely would recommend to YA fans!

I enjoyed this novel! This companion to Namey's novel A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow is beautifully written and transports readers to Miami. The ending is beautiful and so satisfying. 

Here's what you can expect in this novel:
*Coming of age story as Flora seeks a path for her future after her mother's death
*Discussions of grief, death of a parent, following your dreams, and the importance of family
*A small love triangle that moves aside for a lovely love story 
*Lots of fun British vernacular and culture (chips, bins, etc)
*More swearing than I expected (including a few bad ones)

The writing stands out in this novel; it's poignant, beautiful and perceptive. Many times I sighed contentedly as I read her descriptions of places, people or experiences. She has a beautiful way of expressing her story. Namey tackles many difficult topics in this novel including intense grief. There were so many beautiful passages about working through sadness and grief after losing a loved one. I appreciated those words and also the perspectives in the novel. Grief isn't easy and at times it can be overwhelming. Namey gives us that complexity for grief and other emotions. As Flora realizes how important other characters are to her, we can feel her fear, her hope, her joy, her sadness, her hesitation, her courage, everything. Her complexities are beautifully expressed. Likewise, the many descriptions of sites near Miami are absolutely gorgeous. I want to visit the castle and the gardens that Flora gets to see. The locations come alive with Namey's beautiful writing as do the characters.

The characters are well developed and relatable in their imperfections especially Flora. I appreciated how Flora is imperfect. She makes many mistakes. She lashes out at people she cares about. She runs away from home. She says things she regrets. She doesn't know how to deal with her grief. And all that makes her feel more real. Haven't we all experienced emotions that were too big to control? Haven't we all made mistakes and tried to right them? I think the best aspects of Flora's character are her willingness to change and her attempts to make things right, to heal. Luckily, she has an incredible support system around her. I loved getting to know  Gordon, Lila's family in Florida and Baz especially. Baz brings out a side of Flora that can see a future without her mom but that still celebrates what she loves. And I loved the ways Flora is welcomed and brought into Lila's family. They love her and put her to work, no matter her circumstances. And of course, Gordon was a rock and genuine good friend. I loved seeing their relationship progress and seeing how much they care about each other.

The hurricanes were a compelling analogy as Flora feels like the unpredictable hurricane in her family then she actually experiences one. At times, Flora was a bit maddening as she fights against those who love her most. Her revelation about missing her mother's final moments on purpose was so sad. She says things that hurt her brother, dad, and Lila (who is like a sister to her). And she pushes away Gordon throughout the book for various reasons. In many ways, she is a hurricane. Then she experiences one in Miami. The wind, the rain, the destruction, the intensity. It was overwhelming! I was pretty annoyed that she decided she would go outside in the middle of it (come on girl, that's obviously a bad idea!) but I appreciate the things she learns from that experience especially about Gordon. Their race to be reunited afterwards is probably my favorite part of the book.

Overall, a delightful and beautiful novel about finding your place in a world after your world shifts. I loved the writing and the journey Flora goes on in this novel. The swearing was a bit much for me and the almost love triangle wasn't my favorite. But overall, I really enjoyed it!

This book was a pleasure to read! For one, the references to weather and hurricanes were accurate, instead of being dramatic for the sake of the story like is sometimes done. (I'm a meteorologist, what can I say.) I think for a while Gordan was my favorite character. Though I understand the grief and choices Flora made, I occasionally wanted to fight her. I think the journey of her learning to deal with her grief and also find her passion is a really important one. I also likes the inclusion of different cultures in the south FL area and the way they accept Flora and Gordan into their craziness. Overall, a really cute and good story. Very heartwarming by the end.

Rating: 4.5/5

A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak was my first book by Laura Taylor Namey and it definitely won’t be my last. I’ve wanted to read A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow for the longest time, but never got around to it, that will be changing soon.

The way that loss and grief were handled was actually quite beautiful. Flora was definitely a destructive character and she doesn’t handle her emotions well, but the fact that the ‘heartbreak’ part of the title wasn’t related to romance was completely unexpected but in the best way possible.

I’ve already mentioned that Flora has destructive tendencies, but I did really love her. She constantly found herself in the most ridiculous situations, but it was so entertaining.

My favourite thing about her is when she talks about the spiders in her room being able to stay as long as they stay away from her bed. This is my exact attitude towards spiders. They can stay living as long as they don’t come anywhere near me.

As a photographer, I absolutely loved all of the camera talk. I’m not sure if the author knows about photography or not, but they definitely did their research and I feel like even if you don’t like/know anything about photography, you will understand these sections.

This cast of characters was amazing. I think the Reyes family are my new favourite people. I’m not sure to what extent all of these characters are in A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, but the way they treat Flora like a member of the family is so cute.

My biggest issue with A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak was the use of American English in a book with a British main character. I get that the majority of the book takes place in Miami but it feels wrong.

A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak was a very good read. I got so invested in the characters so quickly that it felt like I finished the book in no time at all. There are moments of grief, joy, drama and love and it’s all incredibly written. I’d definitely recommend you pick this up when it is available on September 26th.

A British Girl's Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak (the sequel to A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow but can be read as a standalone) was a delightful read. It follows Flora, who in the wake of her mother's death, flees to Miami to rediscover herself and come to terms with her grief. She's a messy character with jagged edges and I loved how raw and real this book was as she started on her healing journey. Plus, who doesn't love some fake dating and pining?

Overall the character development was wonderful, the characters were real and people I genuinely enjoyed discovering, and the story was beautiful.

Thank you so much to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

In the companion book to A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, we follow Flora (younger sister of Orion) as she flees grief at home and goes to Miami to discover new aspects of life and love.

What I liked: The setting! I have never given Miami and its adjacent cities a second thought until reading this book. It sounds colorful, lush, and full of life and music. I could picture it so well and I loved being immersed in it. I also enjoyed the character of Baz and the whole friend group. It reminded me of being younger and how fun it was to hang out in a group setting and maybe a couple different people had crushes on each other.

What I thought was just okay: The character of Flora, which I know is quite a statement considering the whole book is about her. I know she was going through a lot, but nothing about her (besides her blonde curly hair) stood out to me. I think I was missing the warmth and passion that Lila (who is the MC in Laura Taylor Namey’s previous book) had.

Overall, it’s an endearing quick read with a happy ending that probably won’t stick with me for too long.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't love this sequel as well as the first book, but it certainly had its moments. I appreciated how much both books focus on grief AND romance, for YA books, and I'm glad that's clear in the synopses for both. The cover, as ever, is incredibly cute and can give such happy/fun vibes that there does need to be a content warning about the heavier topics inside.

Thanks NetGalley for a ARC in exchange for a honest review! This is a companion novel to A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow (which I LOVED), but can absolutely be read as a stand alone. Overall it’s an enjoyable read for fans of romance and coming of age tales. The standout thing that I disliked about this one however was the main protagonist. Flora drove me a little crazy and it was honestly hard to want to root for her when she was just kind of a horrible person to everyone around her. I get that part of it was to show her growth etc, but that made it tougher for me to get into fully. The secondary characters though were brilliant. I loved every single one of them and they were what carried me through more so than Flora. I also liked that this was a bit of a flip from Cuban Girl’s Guide and the reader is able to see the British girl in a Miami setting this time. A cute realistic fiction with some drama and romance.

After her mother dies from a long illness, Flora doesn’t know what to do with her life. Winchester, England has always been her home, but it’s strange without her mother. She feels like a chaotic hurricane, not able to manage her emotions. After a particularly bad scene with her family, she decides to escape to Miami.

But going to Miami doesn’t immediately fix all of Flora’s problems. She still doesn’t know what to pursue when she goes to university. And now, romance is added to the mix. She just met a cute new boy, Baz, but also starts to see her best friend Gordon in a new light. A hurricane seems to be an apt comparison for all the things she’s feeling.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy of A British Girl’s Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak by Laura Taylor Namey to review! While this book is a spin off to A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, it didn’t feel too confusing to not have read the first book. There were just some character backgrounds I was missing, but the plot still made sense.

You do get a sort of classic YA love triangle in this book (which I still argue is more of a love angle, but I digress). It does reflect the choices that Flora is making in life in general, though, so the plot device does work in this instance. It’s sort of a “which path will she choose” kind of story, and that’s something a lot of teens will be able to relate to.

This is also a story about Flora trying to grapple with her grief and learning that being messy is okay. She realizes that she doesn’t have to have it together all the time, and that allowing herself to just feel is okay too. An overall really heartwarming message to have in a YA romance.

It’d be fun for me to go back and read the first book now that I’ve read this one, I think. Even without it, the characters are well fleshed out, and just make the book an overall delight to read. A romance you definitely won’t want to miss this fall!

The follow-up to A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, Laura Taylor Namey does not disappoint with A British Girl's Guide to Hurricanes and Heartbreak. After a long illness, Flora's mom passes away, but because she couldn't handle it, Flora is not present at the moment her mother departs. Not able to share that she missed it on purpose, Flora takes off to the only safe space she knows... Miami, home of Lila Reyes' family. The Cuban love surrounds her as she works on finding solace in photography, new friends, and the capacity to admit what's on her mind and in her heart.

There's the fun of fake dating, the whirlwind of exploring a new place, and the personal journey of a young woman who must admit where her heart is.

YA, but appropriate for middle school.