Ramon Montez, heir to the Taco King throne, is ready to let go a little at the local Dia de los Muertos celebration.  He serenades a beautiful woman bearing tacos, and they nearly douse the fire burning between them -- before she runs away the second he gets her home.  Julieta Campos cannot believe she nearly hooked up with the Taco King CEO, son of the famous gentefier of Mexican food and the secret thief of her mom's fish taco recipe.  Good thing she'll never see him again: until he's in her restaurant the next day, telling her he's her new landlord and she'll have to close so he can open a Taco King.  The two must balance their dreams, their responsibilities to their communities, and their new relationship, and Ramon is ready to show Julieta that true love is worth a risk.

This is such a fresh-feeling romance, centered around Mexican/Chicano culture and beginning with a Dia de los Muertos festival.  The instant chemistry is totally believable, and I really valued the gentefication/gentrification plot here -- obviously you're rooting for all of the local businesses to remain open and the community to stay intact, but if you squint you can almost see the argument Ramon is making that it's better for the block to be bought by a member of the community.

A lot of the characters and plot stay surface level, though.  I'd be interested to learn more about literally everyone here, and I know that it's the first in a series but I don't think that's the issue.  I also think the gentrification plot could have been deepened a little more.  It's a relatively short/quick read, and I definitely could have done with 50 or 80 pages more, particularly since the end felt a little rushed.  

Overall, though, I loved this new addition to the "fall holiday romance" canon, I will definitely grab the next in this series, and I am absolutely craving fresh fish tacos now.  Too bad I live in Missouri... 

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

CW:

absentee parents, deceased parent with implied addiction issues, death of a parent (off-page), racism & gentrification