Book Review: ANCHORED HEARTS

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I don’t read a lot of romance, BUT WHEN I DO, I love being pulled into the story and falling in love not only with the main characters but their familias! This was such an enjoyable read. 🌸

The story is about two high school sweethearts who grow apart—physically and otherwise—when Alejandro leaves Key West after high school grad. Unexpected circumstances bring him back a dozen years later, and their meddling mamis are essentially forcing them to face decade-old feelings. Right from the get-go, I could hear the Mamis’ voices speaking. I could feel the love radiating from Annamaría’s familia and Alejandro’s familia, who are closely connected in their communidad. And I could feel her disdain for her ex, the tension between them—but I could also feel all the unspoken words, over a decade of denied feelings, presumptions. The tension kept building and I was rooting for Annamaría and Ale the entire time!

I loved how Oliveras uses Spanish throughout the book—and she seamlessly weaves in subtle translations in a way that doesn’t detract from the story or pacing. I don’t know a lot of Spanish, but I easily understood what was being said, and I enjoyed learning some new words and phrases.

The closeness of their familias was admirable.

There was undeniable attraction between Annamaría and Ale, and the more she told herself she wasn’t going to let old flames spark up again, the more I was like, “oh yes you are!” lol.

Photography has a special place in my heart as well, so the fact that Ale is a famed photographer, how Oliveras describes his photos as well as the act of him setting up for them spoke to me. And the scene at Bellísima’s brought tears to my eyes!

Having the story take place in Key West does NOT hurt, either. I visited Key West for a few days about 12 years ago and absolutely fell in love with the area. Even though it’s been a while, I recognized some of the areas mentioned and even some street names and it was kind of a trip down memory lane. If I wasn’t wanting to go back before, I certainly am now!

Overall, if you like to read contemporary romance novels, I definitely recommend Anchored Hearts. It uses beautiful imagery, it’s intense, it’s 🔥steamy🔥, and there’s a huge sense of familial bond which I adored. I loved all the characters—including Ale’s papi!

You can follow Priscilla Oliveras on Twitter @PrisOliveras and on Instagram @PrisOliveras. Click on the book image above to visit her website.