RAMON AND JULIETA – Alana Quintana Albertson
Love & Tacos , Book 1
Jove
ISBN: 9780593336229
February 1, 2022
Romantic Comedy

San Diego, California – Present Day

Chef Julieta Campos was raised in a traditional Mexican family by her mother and works in their sea-to-table taqueria serving the best food in the Barrio Logan area of San Diego. But their quiet life in that neighborhood is being threatened by the anticipated buyout by the Montez family, who run a successful restaurant chain of bland Mexican food. Julieta’s mother hates the family because the father stole her fish taco recipe years ago in Mexico.

On the Night of the Living Dead, Julieta goes out to enjoy the festivities and encounters a good-looking Hispanic male named Ramon. She even feeds him some of her mother’s delicious fish tacos. They hit it off and are soon in his apartment. But it is shortly after arriving there that Julieta learns via pictures in his home that he is Ramon Montez, the son of the man her family hates. She takes off, pushing him away, without telling him the truth. However, Ramon soon learns the truth when he pays a visit to the property they are in the process of acquiring. It's Julieta’s livelihood and buying and evicting them will put a big crimp in his plans to woo her.

If you didn’t already figure out, the title of RAMON AND JULIETA, it is a play on Romeo and Juliet. For this couple, it seems like they are a lot like the ill-fated couple due to the longstanding feud between Julieta’s mother and Ramon’s father. While visiting Mexico years ago, the man had met her mother and after wooing her, had stolen her fish taco recipe, and returned to the United States, where he built an empire around it. However, due to so much cutting of corners, it is no longer the same recipe. Does Julieta’s mother have a claim for theft?

Meanwhile, Ramon resumes his pursuit of Julieta. She is a hard nut to crack because she is protective of her family. Ramon offers her a job in the new restaurant that would replace hers—with a generous salary—and she accepts. Of course, this gives him an excuse to work closely with her to plan the new menu. It isn’t long before their attraction deepens into something more. But the recipe theft claim still stands between them, as does the fact that the Montez family buyout of the property will force the neighborhood to shut down. His father freely admits it but refuses to pay any compensation for the recipe or cares about how it will end up shutting down the neighborhood. In fact, it only deepens his conviction to evict the Campos family. Ramon’s mother is a snob and thinks Julieta is beneath her son’s class. They do live in different worlds. Is there any way to bring it all together—and find love? But it still causes tensions to rise between them as each tries to do right with their respective families.

A romance with a blend of hot sauce and spicy banter, RAMON AND JULIETA is an enjoyable tale from the first page right until the end. If you love a story that is a blend of Mexican cultural and American modernness, then don’t miss RAMON AND JULIETA.

Patti Fischer