You Had Me At Hola is Latinx at its core. With a full Latinx cast, it shows the joy of the Latinx community, their relationships, their struggle to move up in the entertainment industry, and the big chaotic families. It has everything that you can expect from a good romance book - well-defined characters, compelling chemistry between the main leads, emotional arcs and necessary conflicts.

Jasmine is a Puerto-Rican-Filipino soap-opera actress who lands a big role in a telenovela remake for a popular streaming service, after her very messy public breakup. But just before the shoot starts, her opposite lead is replaced with Ashton, a Puerto-Rican telenovela star who is always guarded because of the secrets he has to protect. Their first meet-up was awkward but soon that turns into an amazing friendship. The sizzling attraction between them soon turns into a secret relationship where they both are trying to protect themselves from unwanted attention from the paparazzi. But how long the secrets can be hidden?

The show that Jasmine and Ashton are playing leads in the book is like a second story and is going parallelly. They find that their real life is not much different from the ones they are pretending to play. Their character arcs developed as they grew up in their respective relationships. You can call both of them cinnamon rolls. The romance is slow-burn but it was well written.

We get to see many aspects of the entertainment industry. It was a joy to see an all Latinx crew for the show and the kind of friendship they formed altogether was amazing. Both Jasmine and Ashton have high regard for their families and that shows in their relationships.

Absolutely enjoyed this fun and lighthearted read which is a perfect combination of drama and romance.

Trigger warnings: panic attack, anxiety

I love nothing more than a romance book teaching me something new. Last time it was, [b:The Right Swipe|39863092|The Right Swipe (Modern Love, #1)|Alisha Rai|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564550901l/39863092._SY75_.jpg|61659253] by Alisha Rai that taught me about CTE, and this time it is Tourette syndrome in Y&IL. Listening to this audiobook was a fantastic experience. The narrator, Desireé Ketchum, did a fabulous job, not just with Hollyn's chapters but with Jasper chapters too.

Hollyn is a blogger and writes a popular entertainment review column under the name Miz Poppy. She is living her life with Tourettes and social interactions are a big challenge for her. Jasper is the new coffee guy at Workaround and he does improv shows with his group. Coming out of a messy relationship, he is now trying to take his life on the right path. When Holly's boss asks her to do video columns moving forward, Jasper and she come to an arrangement to help each other.

Jasper and Hollyn’s first meeting was a disaster. But it was soon resolved when Jasper realises Hollyn's condition and doesn't make fun of her. He understood her because he too had ADHD. This character-driven plot has so much to offer - complicated protagonists, wonderful chemistry, sexual tension, workplace romance, lots of great sex, funny improv theatre group, unconditional support, fun banter and CONSENT! Not just for the girl but for the boy too. The support that Jasper and Hollyn provided each other was heartwarming to see.

Hollyn’s Tourettes has been portrayed beautifully, not as a disability but rather as a part of who she was. At the core, this story is about finding your place in the world despite the hurdles in your life that society considers to be 'abnormal'. Hollyn and Jasper’s friendship was amazing because of the way they were vulnerable to each other. And of course, the sex scenes were legit hot.

There is humour, emotions and heat - everything that you could ask for in a romance book.
Highly recommended.

22nd April, 2022: Reread for the 3rd time because the TV show is here!! And like the first time, this story is still magical. Charlie and Nick.. my precious babies <3

The debut novel of Neel Patel, Tell Me How to Be is an epistolary saga of a mother and a son, both addressing to their first loves. Whether they are writing letters or journal entries, it is not clear, but one thing is — they are unable to forget them and thus have made some terrible mistakes in their lives.

The story follows Renu and Akash, each taking their turn in narrating the story about their past and present, after Renu arranges a family prayer on the occasion of her husband’s first death anniversary. The event brings forth many memories for them, good and bad, and through their narration, we too are entwined in their lives. Renu never actually came to love her husband, Ashok, in the way she loved Kareem, her first love. Akash couldn't come out to his family, especially her mother, and neither could forget Parth, his first love. Now, Renu is leaving the town which was her home since her marriage and is moving back to London. But it might not be that easy for her, for this home holds too many memories for her and her children.

One of the biggest takeaways of this story is probably how our past choices influence our present behaviours and relationships. Akash while struggling with substance use disorder messes up a bunch of his relationships. His childhood experiences of bullying due to his queerness contributes to this disorder along with his family, especially his mother's, view on the same. This whole thing together contributes to his subsequent feelings of shame and disconnection from his family and society. Renu, on the other hand, shows a cold shoulder to everyone around her because of her strong will and the life she never got to live. She displaces her anger and frustration toward her family members, especially her husband. The characters make human mistakes and the story is woven quite cleverly by Patel to take us on a backstory journey of these characters to understand them better.

The themes of homophobia, racism and classism are quite evident and are handled pretty well. There are some particular scenes -- Parth's embarrassment because of his family's accented English, Bijal's comment on Akash that he better not be a gay, Renu thinking about Parth's family status as low since they own a motel, Bijal feeling ashamed of some new Indian in American store because he wasn't able to communicate well -- and more, through which Patel interweaved issues of racism and other oppressions in a very subtle way.

Renu, though written as a character to be sympathised with, hardly made me like her with the choices she made throughout her life and the way she handled Akash. But her wit was on point and she added some great humour to the book. Check out some of my favourite remarks from Renu in the reel. They definitely cracked me up.

My favourite character has to be Ashok, Renu's deceased husband, who we got to know only through Renu and Akash. He seems to be full of confidence, love and energy. And most hated character should be Kareem (if you have read the book, you would know why).

As much as this is a story of complex Indian American family dynamics and secrets, it is about the adult queer man of color's journey, not only about his pain but about his path towards healing too. It's a deeply intimate love letter to 90’s R&B music, food, identity, relationships and unrequited love.

I am not usually the one to pick up a self-help book. But picking up Be a Triangle by Lilly Singh proved to be an amazing decision. If only every self-help book were written this way!

Why did it work for me? Well:
- It is brutally honest and funny at the same time (classic Lilly style)
- It is inspiring and hits all the marks.
- The title 'be a triangle' is such a unique concept (you'll get it when you would read the book)
- The illustrations done by Simmi Patel perfectly fit the context
- No unnecessary beating around the bush, saying the same thing in 5 different ways, trying to be a self-help guru -- Lilly is her most authentic self
- Lilly talks about her own journey through her dark phases and that is what makes it more relatable
- did I tell you it is funny?

Definitely would recommend this.