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Average rating4
"A sexy, emotional, and pitch-perfect romance." —NPR on Lush Money Opposites attract in this rivals-to-lovers romance from Lush Money author Angelina M. Lopez Guapo pobrecito her grandmother calls him. The “poor handsome man.” Professor Jeremiah Post, the poor handsome man, is in fact standing in the way of Alejandra “Alex” Torres turning Loretta’s, her grandmother’s bar, into a viable business. The hot brainiac who sleeps in one of the upstairs tenant rooms already has all of her Mexican American family’s admiration; she won’t let him have the bar and building she needs to resurrect her career, too. Alex blowing into town has rocked Jeremiah to his mild-mannered core, but the large, boisterous Torres clan is everything he never had. He doesn’t believe Alex has the best interest of her family, their community, or the bar’s legacy in mind. To protect all three, he’ll stand up to the tough and tattooed bartender with whom he now shares a bedroom wall—and resist the insta-lust they both feel. But when an old enemy threatens Loretta’s and the surrounding neighborhood, Alex and Jeremiah must combine forces. It will take her might and his mind to save the home they both desperately need. "Sparks fly and tempers flare in this passionate, un-put-downable rivals-to-lovers romance that launches a sizzling new series...Lopez seamlessly blends high-heat romance with discussions of Alex’s heritage and the fascinating history of 19th-century Mexican immigrants to the Kansas plains. This is a treasure." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Featured Series
1 primary bookMilagro Street is a 1-book series first released in 2022 with contributions by Angelina M. Lopez.
Reviews with the most likes.
As a rule, I don't really like contemporary romance. I tend to find them one-dimensional — I prefer my romance with a side of adventure, magic, and/or history.
This is the best contemporary romance novel I have ever read.
Both main characters feel like real people with real wounds. And their love story is taking place within a multigenerational mystery on the plains. There is so much important history and present-day truth incorporated. It is an urban planning and academic romance! There's archival research and a local historical society, discussions of displacement and predatory real estate development, and the importance of community. It's about family and home and everyone pitching in with their skills to save a beloved institution, and to heal some fractured hearts along the way.
Even when I expected some of the twists, this book is so heartfelt and the execution was so strong that I was only delighted to have guessed right in some places.
If it weren't so spicy, I'd recommend it to my planning students :)
It took me a minute to warm up to Alex but I think the author did a good job of showing how she got to where she was at the beginning of the book.