Title: Ramon and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spicy: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Culture: Mexican
Themes: Love, Food, Family business, Gentrification, Culture and tradition

Culinary rivalry meets star-crossed passion, the recipe for love gets spicier!

Too many times we have seen white owned land development businesses buy land within a culturally diverse community with the intention of making things better and supporting the local businesses and artisans in that community.  But time and time again, these same businesses push out local businesses and community by raising rents to unaffordable levels which makes way for large corporate stores to move in and take over. Their goal – bring in more tourists and “revive” the community.  Gentrification at its finest.  But what if the land development company is owned and operated by someone of the same culture?  Is it still gentrification? Or is it something else. Albertson dives deep into this very concept with the romance of Ramon and Julieta; intertwining passion, street smarts and entrepreneurship to tell their story.

With an easy-to-read flow, fast pace, and spicy romance Ramon and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson delivers a masterclass in what it means to be a proud Mexican community, their culture, and how to persevere in the face of adversity. Full of rich historical culture from references to the Zoot Suit riots to the Day of the Dead festivities, I was completely immersed in Mexican culture. From traditions to rituals to food, I gained so much from reading this novel. Oh, the food! These are some of the best and vivid cultural descriptions of food from breakfast to dinner and everything in between, they made me so hungry! I don’t think I have ever wanted a taco so bad! I wanted to taste all the food Julieta made – I wish her restaurant was real. What surprised me was figuring out the plot of the story within the first few chapters but as I kept reading, I kept asking myself how this story was going to end? Many times, I thought I figured out the solution but then a plot twist and I was back to square one.

I fell in love with Julieta and Ramon and their forbidden romance (kudos to the Shakespeare reference!) as I read the story. Albertson does fantastic character development from their physical characteristics to the personalities to their interaction with the other characters of the story. I knew the role each character would play in the story and what they added to Julieta and Ramon’s romance. And I can’t forget the spicy scenes between the two of them that were perfect placed and created so much intense heat and tension. Just not enough to get you excited but with delayed gratification until the big bang.

If your looking for a spicy romance that’s also delicious with a recipe for success, then Ramon and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson is the perfect read!