Stevie‘s review of American Sweethearts (Dreamers, Book 4) by Adriana Herrera
Contemporary Bisexual Romance published by Carina Press 30 Mar 20
One of the pitfalls in writing a romance series that focusses on a different couple in each book – particularly when those couples are linked by familial or friendship ties – is how to strike a balance between updating loyal readers on what has happened recently with the already established couples and putting enough focus on the central characters in each new book. This can get ever trickier as the series progresses, such as here in the fourth book of this series, in which all the characters go away together on two separate occasions, with the book’s central couple having to give up centre stage in those scenes in favour of the ensemble as a whole. Fortunately, both the characters in that couple have strong personalities in their own right.
Priscilla (Pris) Gutierrez and Juan Pablo (JuanPa) Campos grew up on the same street, and have been on-off lovers their entire adult lives. The one obstacle to them getting together permanently is the divergence in their career plans. As teenagers, they had both planned to join the NYPD – inspired by JuanPa’s father – after college. However, while Pris signs up just prior to graduation, JuanPa makes the decision to continue his studies and ends up as a sports physiotherapist working for a team he already follows. The sense of betrayal Pris feels drives a wedge between them, even as she takes pride in the progress of her own and JuanPa’s careers. As the book opens, the pair are meeting up for the first time in a while, on the way to their mutual friends’ big, extravagant wedding in the Dominican Republic.
Sparks fly between the two, amid all the partying and other celebrations, partly fuelled by discussions around Pris’ second job – running an online sex toy store and leading sex-positive workshops. JuanPa is very encouraging of Pris’ work and thinks she could make a full-time primary career out of it, but Pris is concerned that quitting the police in order to do so will disappoint her parents, even as she is becoming disillusioned with her current work in child protection. Things come to a head during another group holiday – this time taking place between Christmas and New Year – when JuanPa calls on some members of the group to help Pris move into what he considers to be a more emotionally satisfying career.
Pris, understandably, is not impressed, wanting to make her own decisions without interference from well-meaning but ultimately overly-assertive men. This threatens to make the rift between the two permanent, and they have a lot of work to do if they are to rebuild their friendship, never mind form any sort of lasting romantic relationship. This being a romance novel, obviously everything works out in the end, and I feel that part is handled well. What I feel works less well, are the insights we receive into their respective careers. These seem to be less filled-in than the job details we got for the couples in previous books, with more emphasis being placed on the how relationships from previous books had developed in the intervening months and years.
So, while it was interesting to see an opposite-sex couple feature in a previously same-sex relationship based series, particularly where the man in that couple was bisexual, I’d have liked to have seen a lot more of Pris and JuanPa’s lives. Hopefully, though, this will help set a trend for series that cover a range of relationship types in the different books.
Grade: C
Summary:
Juan Pablo Campos doesn’t do regrets. He’s living the dream as a physical therapist with his beloved New York Yankees. He has the best friends and family in the world and simply no time to dwell on what could’ve been.
Except when it comes to Priscilla, the childhood friend he’s loved for what seems like forever.
New York City police detective Priscilla Gutierrez has never been afraid to go after what she wants. Second guessing herself isn’t a thing she does. But lately, the once-clear vision she had for herself—her career, her relationships, her life—is no longer what she wants.
What she especially doesn’t want is to be stuck on a private jet to the Dominican Republic with JuanPa, the one person who knows her better than anyone else.
By the end of a single week in paradise, the love/hate thing JuanPa and Pris have been doing for sixteen years has risen to epic proportions. No one can argue their connection is still there. And they can both finally admit—if only to themselves—they’ve always been a perfect match. The future they dreamed of together is still within reach…if they can just accept each other as they are.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
