Here to Stay by Adriana Herrera

Starting over is more about who you’re with than where you live...

Julia del Mar Ortiz is not having the best year to start with.

She moved to Dallas with her boyfriend. But the guy ended up ditching her and ran back to New York after only a few weeks. Left alone with a massive apartment by NYC standards anyway, Julia is struggling though that’s not all that bad. Running the charitable foundation of one of the most iconic high fashion department stores is her serious #1 lifegoal.

It’s more than enough to make her want to stick it out down South.

The only monkey wrench in Julia’s plans is the blue-eyed, smart-mouthed consultant the store hired. Fellow New Yorker Rocco Quinn’s first order of business is putting Julia’s job on the chopping block.

When Julia is tasked with making sure Rocco sees how valuable the programs she runs are, she’s caught between a rock and a very hard set of abs. Because Rocco Quinn is almost impossible to hate—and even harder to resist.

About the Author:

Adriana was born and raised in the Caribbean, but for the last fifteen years has let her job take her all over the world. She loves writing stories about people who look and sound like her people, getting unapologetic happy endings.

When she’s not dreaming up love stories, planning logistically complex vacations with her family or hunting for discount Broadway tickets, she’s a trauma therapist in New York City, working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

Adriana’s Dreamers series has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. She has been featured in The TODAY Show on NBC, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Library Journal and The Washington Post. Her debut, American Dreamer, was selected as one of Booklist’s ‘Best Romance Debuts of 2019’. Her third novel, American Love Story, was one of the winners in the first annual Ripped Bodice Award for Excellence in Romantic Fiction. Adriana is an outspoken advocate for diversity in romance. She has written for Remezcla and Bustle about Own Voices in the genre. She’s one of the co-creators of the Queer Romance PoC Collective. Represented by Taylor Haggerty at Root Literary.

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Here to Stay Review:

“Here to Stay” is a very nice romantic comedy with lively, diverse characters that will make you smile.

The highlight of the story are the characters. Julia is hilarious! She says the goofiest things that made me laugh out loud. Rocco is also adorable as the male lead. In fact, I thought Rocco’s story-line had more meaning than Julia’s due to his family problems. Moreover, I loved Julia and Rocco together. They complement each other so nicely. There are so many scenes which were just so cute and romantic. One of my favorite scenes was when Rocco shows up for Thanksgiving and meet’s Julia’s family.

Even the supporting characters like Jose and Alba were so sweet. I love how they lighten the mood with their advice to Julia. Similarly, Muffy and Mitzy are quirky and eccentric wanted them to be prominent like the others. On a side note, I also liked the side story of Vicki and her escapades.

Moreover, the author writes the story in such a charming way. Even though there are no villains as such, the story never appears boring. The characters feel real and face challenges like any average person. The romance is fun and sweet, and emotional too. Also, there are some very explicit scenes and boy are they hot! The author makes you laugh and cry one moment, and steams up the pages the next.

However, what I felt could be improved was if there was a better closure given on Rocco’s family problems. The ending felt a bit open ended and left me hanging. But apart from that, this was delightful. Overall, this book was very entertaining, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a nice rom-com.