*I received the E-Arc and physical copy from William Morrow Paperbacks via Net Galley. All reviews are my own.*
We are back with another Alexis Daria novel entitled A Lot Like Adios! The way I squealed when I found out Daria was working on the follow-up of You Had Me At Hola. And then the way I doubled squealed when I was given access to check out that sequel! This "Primas of Power" edition features prima Michelle Amato, the cousin of Jasmine Lin Rodriguez, and her woes about her abandoned relationship with her best friend, Gabriel Aguilar. Get your translators ready (don't be like me and slack off on the DuoLingo lessons), and let's dive into this review!
"After burning out in her corporate marketing career, Michelle Amato has built a thriving freelance business as a graphic designer. So what if her love life is nonexistent? She’s perfectly fine being the black sheep of her marriage-obsessed Puerto Rican-Italian family. Besides, the only guy who ever made her want happily-ever-after disappeared thirteen years ago.
Gabriel Aguilar left the Bronx at eighteen to escape his parents’ demanding expectations, but it also meant saying goodbye to Michelle, his best friend and longtime crush. Now, he’s the successful co-owner of LA’s hottest celebrity gym, with an investor who insists on opening a New York City location. It’s the last place Gabe wants to go, but when Michelle is unexpectedly brought on board to spearhead the new marketing campaign, everything Gabe’s been running from catches up with him.
Michelle is torn between holding Gabe at arm’s length or picking up right where they left off—in her bed. As they work on the campaign, old feelings resurface, and their reunion takes a sexy turn. Facing mounting pressure from their families—who think they’re dating—and growing uncertainty about their futures, can they resolve their past mistakes, or is it only a matter of time before Gabe says adiós again?"
I really am starting to like Daria's writing. It's fun, light, and has the right amount of smut to make a girl dream. So knowing that information, the story jumps right into it. It sets the steam level pretty high for two friends to be beefing for the past decade, and they automatically rip each other's clothes off less than 24 hours of reuniting. There was no cat and mouse game, no protests or pushback. Just straight bow chicka wow wow. As sexually charged as this book seems, I felt Michelle and Gabriel's happenings were a little too processed. I understand chemistry and the familiarity they have with one another, but if I haven't spoken to my best friend in years, hopping in bed with them is the furthest from my mind. Being the ultimate petty is! I saw Michelle's potential trying to achieve that goal, but alas, sexual tension won that fight.
I would say this story revolved more around Gabe than it did Michelle. With You Had Me at Hola, we had a nice balance between Jasmine and Ashton's story. In A Lot Like Adios, we have to break down why everything turned out the way it did for both parties, and that mainly had to do with Gabe leaving and ghosting everyone. Communication is key, and it seems like there's always someone losing the skeleton. Gabe deals with his problem by running, and he ends up hurting everyone in the process, which is why Michelle turned out the way she did.
One part of the story that got me in a tearjerker moment is when Michelle and Gabe finally laid it out on the table. I won't detail it to stray away from the spoilers, but I can personally say it was a real emotional moment. I'm not a crier of books, but I actually FELT a book for the second time ever (see Chlorine Sky).
Overall I gave this a 4-star rating. It's a standalone sequel with friends to lovers, fake dating, parent peer pressure, and a lot of sex. We can't forget the bawdiness! It's a cool edition that adds to the Primas of Power dynamics. Now that I know this PoP is a thing, I can't wait to see how cousin Ava's turns out.
A Lot Like Adios is available now.
