LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!!! Natalia Caña has become one of my favorite authors! the audiobook was chef's kiss!!! I was pinning for the two main characters.

I loved Natalie Cana's first books and this one was just as quality . A second chance romance with Latinx representation,a strong fat bisexual FMC , a single father , an fantastic 4 year old , meddling grandparents , family , and chemistry . With dual point of views and quality banter I really did enjoyed this one.

This was cute! Second chance will always be my favorite! My favorite scene how hot and bothered Lola got when Saint was doing Rosie’s hair 😍

Lola had flaws but that’s why I liked her, she felt real! The abuelos were funny and the narrator for the audio was especially great for them! Lastly, I loved the use of Spanish in this book. As a Spanish learner, it made me work my brain a little to translate, and didn’t let me cop out with directly translated English.

This was supposed to be a buddy read with @delightfullychaotickay but it became more of a I’ll-catch-up-with-you -in- a-week read. Thanks for being a flexible friend lol

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy!

Wow! Natalie did it again. A Dish Best Served Hot was a lot more emotional and heavy than I expected. Saint and Lola? ♥️ The mental rep? ♥️ The grandpas? ♥️ Cameos of Liam & Kamilah? ♥️♥️

Last year I read and loved Natalie Caña's first novel in her Vega Family Love Story series A Proposal They Can't Refuse. I loved it so much, it earned a place on my Most Compelling Books of 2022. (see post here.) Two grandfathers scheme to get their grandchildren to fall in love, which of course they do after much ado. The characters and story drew me in right away, and it was steamy.

Her second book in the Vega family series is A Dish Best Served Hot. Saint Vega is single dad raising his young four year-old daughter after the death of his wife. He discovers that his daughter's new teacher is Lola Leon, who was his high school love.

Saint left to join the Marines and Lola moved away with her mother and the two never had closure to their budding relationship. Each believes the other was responsible for the ending of their relationship.

Saint's grandfather and Lola's grandfather (who raised her) are "mortal enemies" who live in the same assisted living facility. The pranks they pull on each other may amuse each other but as they escalate, Saint and Lola are being called constantly to come to the facility to deal with the men. If they don't behave, they will be forced to move out.

Now Saint and Lola are being thrown together, sparks begin to fly again. Can they reignite what they had years ago? Lola's family is very different from Saint's- her father and brother are in prison, and Saint's family are very close, upstanding members of the Puertominican community of Humboldt Park outside Chicago.

Lola volunteers for the community center that not only houses a school but also a shelter for LGBTQ+ youth, a cause close to Lola's heart. When Saint's family gets a construction contract from the company that bought the center's building and plans to kick the shelter out, Lola and her friends mobilize to stop the demolition. This puts Lola and Saint on opposite sides, until Saint offers to help the shelter find a new home.

A Dish Best Served Hot takes on some timely social justice issues which elevates the book from the usual romance novel fare. Of course, Natalie Caña's steamy scene (or two) heats up enough to fog up your glasses as you read them. Characters from the previous Vega novel make some cameo appearances, but this book belongs to Saint and Lola, and once again Caña mixes the right blend of heart and heat to the delight of readers. I recommend it.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Fall 2023 Blog Tours.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Being a Latina woman, I've always felt as if I'm too much. This book touches on the sentiments of that and the way that Saint accepts her for her warms my heart and brings me peace.

The push and pull that we get between our main characters keeps you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. You see glimpses of their previous relationship and how it affects them now and guides them through the turbulence in there adult life.

This is the second book in the Vega Family series and again, Natalie has given life to two characters who's love story is deep and complex while sweet and spicy. The diversity and representation in her books gives them depth and heart, and while she incorporates some more serious topics, she balances it really well with humour and banter.

Lola is a social justice activist, back in her Chicago hometown after years away. She's passionate about supporting the youth in the community, opposing gentrification and advocating for marginalized people. Saint is an army vet and single dad who is fiercely protective of his family and will do anything for the ones he loves. Lola and Saint were high school sweethearts and are reunited when Lola comes back to town and ends up as his daughters teacher.

I really enjoyed this. I love the dynamics in the Vega Family and between all the side characters. Saint was dreamy and Lola was ballsy - a great combo! I can't wait for the next book in the series. Thank you to netgalley for the chance to read an advance copy of this!

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Thank god for Natalie Caña breaking me out of my reading slumps.

Of course I knew I would love A Dish Best Served Hot after reading her debut and first in the Vega Family Love Stories, but I had no idea how much. Normally the second book in a series isn’t my favourite. This one was just as amazing as the first.

I loved the book. I thought it was hilarious, heartwarming, real, and so romantic. 10/10 will recommend to everyone, I’m dying for the next instalment in the series.

As a mixed Latina, I have never seen representation like this. The characters in this story are so relatable and I am so, so grateful for Caña’s writing because I see representation I have never before.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

One of my pet peeves is running into people from high school. I’d actively go in the opposite direction anytime I saw them before they saw me. Unfortunately for Lola León, being back in her hometown means seeing her ex-boyfriend Santiago “Saint” Vega when they’re at the retirement home trying to make peace between their abuelos: “There are approximately a hundred of you Vegas strutting around Humboldt Park. Why did it have to be you?” Ha!

In Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot, some forced proximity between Lola and Saint- she’s his daughter’s new kindergarten teacher, their abuelos are in a prank war, he’s the contractor in charge of tearing down her LGBTQ+ shelter - means they’ll have to resolve their feelings if they want to work together.

Lola is one of the most fierce heroines and I loved it! She’s outspoken, fights for social justice and her community. She’s the daughter of a notorious gang leader and when her life is threatened she’s willing to protect everyone even if it’s from herself. She and Saint share the burden of responsibility in their families. As the eldest in my own Mexican-American family, I can relate to putting everyone before yourself and wanting to break the cycle but not knowing how. While Lola and Saint are stubborn, they both realize allowing people to help them isn’t weakness, it’s strength for the people they trust and themselves.

I can’t wait for Sleeping With the Frenemy about between Leo and Sofi, Kamilah’s friend from the first book. Papo Vega will be at it again!

Thank you to @netgalley and MIRA Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

There were parts of this that I really enjoyed, for instance the shenanigans with the grandparents. I liked the second chances romance aspect a lot and I think it was really well done. I think at the end, I just wasn’t as interested in the story though.

It took me a minute to read this because I didn’t LOVE the first one. As a matter of fact I think the only thing I really liked was the abuelos so I was nervous to see if they were back or if they were there at all. But I needent have been worried. Not only were they there, but I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I’m thinking it was the social justice component.

I can say with certainty that I liked these characters more than the first ones. Saint was most definitely someone I related to. I also have anxiety, so I felt literally everything that he did. I also really felt the way he went hard for Rosie. I’m not a single parent, but I am a parent and he felt so authentic and real. Especially in the one scene at the end where everything else didn’t matter. I quite literally said the same words along with him. But I guess because I related to him so well its no surprise that I thought the same thing he did about Lola. I understood why she was the way she was, but I also didn’t agree at all about her not saying anything knowing that those people might be visiting her. Especially with Rosie around. I just thought she should have been more careful. And before y’all attack me, she thought the same too, she even mentioned it. I just think that’s something you don’t play with.

The plot was just ok for me tho. It dragged a little in the middle when the focus was still mainly on them fighting and the abuelos. But it wasn’t too bad. Because once the romance started heating up, things got so much better. I did appreciate that Caña made her a social justice advocate for her community. And even more than that, I loved that Caña didn’t shy away from talking about the work she was doing in it. That also felt real. Especially with the fight to Right all the wrongs that have come to light across the world. This was the perfect read to figure out how to be a better advocate. Now don’t think her way is the ONLY way to do it. I’m just saying she could be used as a good example. There was also a gentrification conversation happening. It was a pretty big part of the plot so I thought it would be more involved, but it only made appearances in spurts here and there.

The narrator was also really good. I’ve listened to two other books by them so it was easily recognizable, but it was still good. I don’t know how they managed to get the voice of Saint so well. It was so so good. I think if I had been reading this I would have given this a 3, but because I was listening and the performance was done so well, I changed it.

This book was fun. I had some doubts about it but I should have known not to worry. All this really did was set me up to get ready for the next book. And Idk if you heard about it, but man it sounds so messy. AND I’M HERE FOR IT lmao And we got a little sneak peek into who it is at the end. I really hope it is actually them!

Natalie Cana has quickly become an author I trust for close-knit romances - I love the interconnected family and shared histories and strong local customs. I love the social elements explored in A Dish Best Served Hot - gentrification, community activism. I made the world feel just as well realized as the characters.

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up

This book gave me complete mixed feelings and over complicated what felt like it could have been a sweet and meaningful story into an intermixed web of subplots that felt misplaced (Lola’s family’s history for one). It felt like the novel was trying to do too much and didn’t do quite enough on the romance side of things to tie it all together.

Thanks to the NetGalley team for the ARC.

This book is full of a cast of diverse and fun family characters. I don't think the synopsis does the best job explaining the actual plot of this book. It's less about LGBTQ kids and. more about gang rivalry and prison. Trigger warning for gun violence and literal attempted kidnapping.

I loved this book! I devoured it in only a few sittings and wish there was more to read. The story line was paced very well and the characters were easy to love!

I loved this second chance romance. Great tension between Lola and Saint. The build up was well written and perfectly paced. I felt invested from the very beginning. I loved their backstory too.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for an ARC of this book!

- I enjoyed this one, but I think a fair amount of it was based on how much I loved the characters from the first one.
- This book has a ton going on, and I started to struggle with juggling who was who with the characters from the first book mixing with more from the second book.
- I love love love Papo, and seeing him and Saint was so much fun. This, along with Rosie, helped gloss over some of the other parts of this book.
- Saint and Lola are so hard-headed, and I think it was dealt with pretty well until the third act break up. The way that played out was incredibly frustrating, and some parts of it felt a little out of character.
- The way the book ended did get me very excited for the next one, so I plan to continue reading!

Read if you like: Second Chance Romance
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Saint and Lola were high school sweethearts who became separated due to outside circumstances. Years later they reconnect when Lola moves back to the neighbourhood, but while there is still chemistry and a spark between the two, both have grown and changed a lot since high school.
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I really liked both protagonists. Lola is fiery and fierce and is willing to fight for those who are marginalized. Saint is a dedicated member of his family and an amazing dad who would do anything for his daughter. I appreciated how the author handled Lola's relationship with Rosie and how she went about getting to know her.