Author: Alexis Daria
Publication Date: 4 August 2020
Publisher: Avon
Page Count: 384
Reading Method: Physical
Synopsis:
Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.
After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.
Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy.
After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had.
Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars.
With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.
Oh my yes. I loved this book. Jasmine lands a dream role and her character’s love interest is a real life dream boat. When the on-screen romance ventures off-screen, they both realize they might be in for more than they can handle.
There were so many things I loved about this book. The chemistry between our MC’s is off the charts and oh so sexy. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it must be to do romantic scenes on-screen – all those people watching you and offering critiques… no thanks! But what I loved about this is the use of an intimacy coach. The showrunners bring on an intimacy coach to make sure there re boundaries and that all the people involved in the scenes are completely comfortable with what is happening. It was refreshing to see! And while we’re talking about the cast – I loved that the entire crew was incredibly diverse and that there was a conscious effort made to make the cast and crew as inclusive as possible. I also liked the switch between writing what is happening and what happens in the show – like we get to see actual scenes in the show as they are being filmed, which I though was a fun touch. I also love Jasmine’s cousins and can’t wait to get my hands on the next books that feature them more.
While I enjoyed this book overall, there were a few things I wasn’t in love with. I had a hard time feeling anything for Ashton’s character. He remains pretty closed off throughout the story, and though he has a good reason, it still made it hard for me to connect with him. I also felt like every time we get into Ashton’s head, it becomes increasingly redundant. He’s literally always thinking the same five thoughts and it was a bit boring to read.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend giving You Had Me at Hola a read. It was quick and steamy and oh-so-fun. I can’t wait to see what else Daria has in store for the next book.
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