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More Like Enemigas

Not yet published
Expected 7 Apr 26
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One wedding, two rivals and a whole lot of secrets…

As the daughter of Cuban immigrants, Isabella Valdes knows three things for her late father’s restaurant is thriving she owns lots of designer things both of those statements are absolute lies to make her mother happy

Isabella would do anything to keep her father’s legacy alive, including attending her estranged cousin’s weeklong wedding extravaganza. Because once Sofia’s wealthy fiancé tastes the recipes Isa prepares from her father’s cherished journal, he’s sure to invest.

To Isa’s annoyance, she’ll be sharing a cabin with Valentina, the former friend turned rival who ruined her quinceañera. But Val is offering an unexpected deal—she’ll help Isa unravel an old family secret found in her father’s journal in return for help sabotaging the wedding and winning the heart of the bride.

Saying yes is a bad idea. Isa’s perfectionism meets its match in Val’s carefree demeanor, but as they work together, the usually responsible Isa can’t seem to say no to Val’s shenanigans. There’s no hiding from Val, no ignoring this complicated but undeniable connection that’s changing Isa’s beliefs about love, loyalty and just how much she owes to her family—and to herself…

Kindle Edition

Expected publication April 7, 2026

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Stephanie Hope

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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Yeri (wildflowerreader).
1,519 reviews78 followers
October 29, 2025
Holy telenovelas!

Okay, let me start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this. It truly was such a good read. I was entertained the entire time.

The bochinche: family drama and family secrets.

It was wholesome in a latine family kind of way.

I really enjoyed Isa’s character. Loved Valentina, wish I could have gotten in her head ONCE. The shenanigans were so much fun.

This was my first book by this author and you know what? Yo quiero más. Honestamente, el mundo necesita más libros escritos por latine, con personajes latine.

The cover is gorgeous.

My only complaints: two characters should have 100% been dragged, it was deserved. And I felt like Val and Isa needed more fleshing out as a couple, I felt the tension and chemistry, but I wasn’t entirely convinced they were into each other for real.

This aside, I had a good time and I recommend it.
Profile Image for paula a.
150 reviews5 followers
December 29, 2025
4/5

First of all, thanks to netgalley and Harlequin for this eARC!

This was a very cosy read. Romance is always such a nice read during the holidays, and this one fit right in.

Isa is a young cuban girl trying to keep her restaurant afloat without any ability of communication due to losing her father and an abstent-present mom. She goes to a wedding trying to save her restaurant, and everything unfolds from there. There’s mystery, there’s romance, there’s miscommunication and there’s wholesome interactions.

I also loved how there’s a non-binary character *and* there’s no homophobia on the plot. Sometimes you need a romance book that is simply romance and grief.

If you like romance, this one is for you!
Profile Image for Emma Ashley.
1,364 reviews49 followers
November 15, 2025
This was such a cute and easy to follow read. I enjoyed the author's writing style and the pacing was just right. I also loved the characters in the story. I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading more by the author.
💖 Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my arc ebook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Casey.
14 reviews1 follower
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
December 27, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Maybe you two should finally stop bickering and…" Rosita raises her eyebrows suggestively. "You know, get together."

Absolutely nothing is going right for Isabella Valdes. She's broke, her family restaurant is struggling, and she's dancing on eggshells trying to keep everyone from finding out.

But that's not a big deal. Of course not. It doesn't matter that they're three months behind on rent and not even close to turning a profit. Because she's going to attend her estranged cousin Sofia's wedding and win over Sofia's investor fiancé to secure the future of La Mariposa.

Sure, she might have to stretch the truth a little bit, but white lies never hurt anybody… Right?

What matters is that she keep the restaurant afloat, even if it means pulling herself into the current. So that's exactly what she's going to do.

More Like Enemigas is an earnest, low-heat rom-com that follows Isabella Valdes as she solves a family mystery, tries to save her dad's restaurant, lives out her childhood dream of going to summer camp, and falls in love. Not necessarily in that order (both sequentially and of importance).

In a broad stroke, More Like Enemigas is about three things: food, family, and finding yourself. For Isabella, all three might as well be synonymous.

Ever since her dad died a few years ago, Isabella's been running his dream restaurant in his steed. She lives and breathes La Mariposa. Literally, she has zero life outside of the restaurant, too focused on making sure her dad's dream doesn't die with her. It's not just about the restaurant, it's about what it represents.

La Mariposa is supposed to be her legacy, his legacy, and she can't let it go down without a fight.

And oh man does she fight.

She's willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means defying her mother and reconnecting with the side of the family she hasn't seen since her quinceañera, when something big went down between her mom and Sofia's mom, Rosita. Big enough that her mom cut them off and refused to interact with them for a decade, despite how close Isabella and Sofia were as kids.

It's not easy, but Isabella isn't about easy.

If that weren't hard enough, she also has to share a cabin and a kitchen with none other than Valentina Garcia—successful chef, Sofia's best friend, and the girl who ruined her dress and left her in tears at her quinceañera. It doesn't help that she's painfully beautiful and disarmingly charming.

Together, they conspire to sabotage the wedding and uncover the secrets left in Isabella's father's journal. All the while trying not to fall for each other.

Plot-wise, it's fun! It's easy to rip through and enjoy. The premise is unique, but grounded and the characters are flawed in that oh-so-human way that makes them fun to root for.

I liked seeing Isabella's insecurities and her (bad) coping mechanisms, her rocky relationship with her mother, the ghost of grief and love from her father, the ever-present connection she has with Sofia and Val despite years apart, and everything in between. Even if she was so dense and in-her-head sometimes that I wanted to shake some sense into her.

The development of her relationship with Val is quick but fluid, based on their shared history. Val is such a charming love interest, but sometimes I was like… man Isabella is fumbling so bad it's hard to watch.

All in all, More Like Enemigas is a good beach read. It's essentially what you expect out of a rom-com with a mystery b-plot that's interesting, albeit a little predictable. It's a solid 3 stars for me because things got pretty heavy-handed towards the end and I just didn't find myself enjoying the last act of the book nearly as much as the start. But if you're craving something light, sweet, and low-stakes, you can't go wrong with More Like Enemigas.
Profile Image for Lindsay Ottens.
421 reviews8 followers
December 5, 2025
First off thank you Netgalley and Harlequin books for the ARC!!

I really struggled with this. It’s an extremely good possibility that I am in a reading slump as of right now, but I figured out the whole point of this book very very quickly. I struggled to keep up with things as far as the backstory goes there was so much inner monologue and not enough dialogue between the characters that I failed to become connected.

WARNING!!!!! SPOILERS!!!!


OK, you’ve officially been warned because now I’m gonna really dive into what bothered me the most first off. It wasn’t the fact that she had crappy family and friends such as Muriah who was all about trying to push her in Valentina together and Sophia, who was one happy to push her in Valentina together, even though she clearly did not like Valentina. Second of all Valentina extremely immature write out the gate. I don’t care if they’re in the late 20s and she’s a professional chef extremely immature not a good time second of all CI rolls up to this wedding for her best friend by the way, and she is admitting out loud that she wants to ruin the wedding because she is in love with the bride and has been so she sets out to destroy the wedding intentionally losing the wedding rings. And then for a few days later to develop feelings and fall in love with Isabella. Yeah not at all. Be believable. They hardly ever had any real time to actually develop a relationship so I did not feel connected to that romance whatsoever even though they were pushed in every trope you could think of one bed force proximity and it means lovers that’s type of situation and they still didn’t have that relationship.

Now let’s go with what is actually really bothering me. Isabella’s father was made out to be this incredible guy who was such a great dad and had built the restaurant up for her mother and all of these things only to find out that her dad is actually quite the piece of crap. Who originally was in love with Rosita who is Sophia’s mom and well Rosita is pregnant with Sophia. He decides to go sleep with Mariposa. No I’m not by any means an expert in these types of things, but I’m pretty sure that is a cheater Rosita and Mari we’re best friends and Mari still slept with Roberto and got pregnant with Isabella. That is not a great guy in my opinion.

So now at the end of the book, we’ve got Sophia and Isabella, who are half sisters and takes less than a few hours for Sophia to forgive Isabella for attempting to ruin the wedding. I will say that Isabella finally standing up to her mother, was probably one of the better points of this movie because Mariposa was a horrible person.

Now onto some more editorial errors that bothered me quite a bit. Faye is a friend of Isabella‘s and helps at the restaurant, and I do believe that they are non-binary since a majority of the book. The author refers to them with the they/them pronouns. However, there are a few different instances where they are miss gendered so I think it would be prudent of the editorial staff to make sure that is corrected. There were also several other grammatical and punctuation errors that would be easy to fix.

Overall, this had a really great concept and I would’ve really enjoyed it more if it wasn’t just all over the place and the relationships were able to develop appropriately.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
12 reviews
November 22, 2025
First, thank you to Harlequin Romance for the e-ARC!

For me, this book struggled to really find its footing. When I read a romance, I don’t want to feel stressed, but this story is built on a foundation of stress and chaos. Isabella is narratively all over the place, and that frenetic energy transfers directly to the reader. I often felt more frustrated by Isa than I felt empathetic towards her.

Plot-wise, there was a lot happening at any given time. In theory, this could have leaned into a fun, telenovela style story, but instead it felt overwhelming, especially since the core premise was meant to be a romance. Unfortunately, the romance ended up feeling like the weakest part of the book. Isa and Val barely had any meaningful time together, making it hard to believe in their connection. There were also tropes set up for them, like forced proximity, that went completely unexplored.

There is a solid skeleton for a good story here, but for me the execution and the extremely predictable twists fell flat. The standout moments were the wedding events and the bits of genuine humor and connection sprinkled throughout, but overall this simply wasn’t a great read for me.
Profile Image for Aura C.
147 reviews1 follower
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 16, 2026
This one honestly felt like stepping into a telenovela my mom would have on in the background—dramatic, a little chaotic, heartfelt, and surprisingly comforting.

More Like Enemigas is packed with family secrets, rivalry, and emotional history, all wrapped in a wedding-week setting that keeps things moving. The dynamic between Isa and Val was fun to watch unfold, especially with their shared past and constant tension. There’s a lot of bochinche here—family drama, old wounds, buried truths—and that was definitely part of the charm.

I really appreciated the cultural elements and the way family expectations, loyalty, and love were woven into the story. It felt familiar in the best way, like stories I grew up around, even when things got messy. While the romance could’ve used a bit more depth in places, the chemistry was there, and the emotional beats still landed.

Overall, this was a cute, light read that didn’t try to be more than it needed to be. If you’re in the mood for a fun, slightly dramatic rom-com with telenovela vibes and a strong family thread running through it, this one is worth picking up.
Profile Image for Febe44.
123 reviews13 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
December 14, 2025
I don't think the plot was very strong, like there was just a lot going on and the plot twist was so predictable. Furthermore, I feel like there were a lot of plot holes or just stuff that the author seems to have forgotten, such as Faye looking after the restaurant Isa is obsessing over, but she doesn't think about it when she's at the wedding.
I also didn't really feel the chemistry between Val and Isa, but that might just be me.
At times I was speed-reading because I just didn't really feel the book that much.

If you're gonna use Spanish in a book, please use accents and please be consistent, because how was "tía" written with an accent but "como estas" not?

I got a free arc from NetGalley and Harlequin - Romance
Profile Image for KatesEndlessTBR.
42 reviews3 followers
November 21, 2025
This was a cute and fun read, I feel like it would have been great to read on the beach in summertime. It was a little too silly at times for me but I could get past it and just go with the craziness for a while. There were also some inconsistencies in the story which bugged me a bit but again it wasn’t enough to stop me from enjoying the book overall. The characters were likeable and entertaining, I found Isa quite frustrating at times but as she’s 25 and figuring things out that was fairly realistic to be fair.
Profile Image for Fallon.
35 reviews
December 3, 2025
3.5/5 ⭐️
I went into this with quite an open mind and honestly I didn’t hate it. That being said, though I liked the characters and the plot was interesting, this book felt chaotic. Now this isn’t to say it was BADLY chaotic there was just so much going on I wasn’t quite sure.. what was happening. This being said, the characters had likable chemistry and I overall did enjoy the book (even if some parts I had to reread). I do reccomend you check it out just be warned for the chaos! THANK YOU NET GALLEY AND PUBLISHER FOR THE ARC!
Profile Image for Janessa Nations.
207 reviews1 follower
November 13, 2025
• I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. Thanks, NetGalley! •

I liked this book - I read through it pretty quickly. The mystery behind everything kept me hooked pretty well. I did end up guessing the big secret, but I didn’t mind. The story ended up being a feel-good type of story. I wish there had been more development in certain areas - side character growth, the feelings change between Isa and Val. But overall, it was a pretty good read.
Profile Image for beyondthebookcase95.
57 reviews1 follower
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
December 22, 2025
I dnfed at about 35%. It was a rough read in some parts and it did not flow. There was also some misgendering of a nonbinary character using the wrong pronouns immediately after using the right ones so that should be looked at and corrected. I just didn't gel with the characters and they acted really really young and weird. The potential was there but it did not carry over.

ARC gifted by Edelweiss+ and Publisher, all thoughts are my own.
Profile Image for readingatwork.
73 reviews
November 5, 2025
An interesting story about family secrets, familial expectations, and knowing when to choose yourself. I enjoyed the characters and dynamic between Isabella and Valentina as well as their high jinks.

There were certain areas that were lacking with the mystery subplot that I wish were a little more fleshed out but overall it was an enjoyable read.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!
Profile Image for Ashley   Tate.
Author 3 books4 followers
November 11, 2025
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Okay, this story was really cute and I enjoyed the little mystery subplot that Val and Isa were working on, alongside their banter and chemistry.

I wish we could have seen more of Val and Isa, romantically, but I didn't take too much away for me.

There was so much humor and warmth to this.
Profile Image for Raluca Matara.
Author 8 books24 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
December 22, 2025
More Like Enemigas is a delicious story about secrets, family history, and overall a fantastic display of traditional values. Plus, the romance is off the charts.

I loved the dynamics from the start, the blending of new vs old. The peppered Spanish was a refreshing surprise. Many books talk about Spanish heritage, but you rarely see honest representation and this made me love the book even more.
3,701 reviews17 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 18, 2026
cute and pretty telenovela-y sapphic romcom with some fantastic character-building throughout. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

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