By: Cait Marie
Blurb
Julieta isn’t looking for her Romeo–but she is writing about love. When her summer writing teacher encourages the class to publish their work online, the last thing she’s expecting is to get a notification that her rom-com has a mysterious new contributor, Happily Ever Drafter. Julieta knows that happily ever afters aren’t real. (Case in point: her parents’ imploding marriage.) But then again, could this be her very own meet-cute?
As things start to heat up in her fiction, Julieta can’t help but notice three boys in her real life: her best friend’s brother (aka her nemesis), the boy next door (well, to her abuela), and her oldest friend (who is suddenly looking . . . hot?). Could one of them be her mysterious collaborator? But even if Julieta finds her Romeo, she’ll have to remember that life is full of plot twists. . . .
Review
I absolutely adored this book!!
I read and write a lot of YA romance, so it is very rare that one surprises me at this point. Most are fairly predictable. Julieta and the Romeos was not. To the point where it was difficult to put down, or in this case, turn off because I was listening to the audiobook. I had to know what would happen next, who Julieta was working with, and who she’d end up with. That little bit of mystery was perfect.
Overall, this was a fun, light romance, but there were also really important and moving subjects, such as Julieta’s family struggling to keep their business open and Julieta herself trying to figure out her path in life. When she starts bonding with the three guys and suspects one of them is her anonymous writing partner, it wasn’t like a typical love triangle situation. It felt very different and like a fresh take on the possibilities. And the situation really showed how Julieta was growing and developing into a young adult.
Julieta was a fantastic character in general. I really love that she was a writer and confident that she wanted to work toward that as a career. She had normal doubts about her skills, but it was great reading about a character who was sure in her passion. As an author myself, it was incredibly inspirational. There’s a little speech her teacher gives near the end of the book that made me rewind to listen again because it was absolutely perfect. Even as someone who’s published multiple books, it was something I needed to hear myself.
All of the characters felt well developed, and everything honestly just felt natural between them all. The story flowed so well. I didn’t want it to end. It was genuinely just a great book that I highly recommend.
I will say I did slightly predict part of the ending, but I still wasn’t completely right. It’s extremely rare that I don’t guess what’s going to happen, and this managed to surprise me. Regardless, it was fun to reach that point and find everything out. It was such a fantastic ending that felt realistic, and I can’t imagine it being any better. If you like YA romance, or any romance, I highly recommend this one.
Functionally Fictional 