The Jane the Virgin finale aired last night. We’re not okay, and neither are you. Luckily, we’re here to save the day! As @shereadhesaid on Instagram requested, here are some great book recs to help you fill the void it left behind!
Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno
If you’re yearning for the family ties of Jane the Virgin, Don’t Date Rosa Santos is your next great read! With prose that reads like ocean waves and a love interest to die for, we’ll be reading this one more than once.
Blurb: Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea—at least, that’s what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you’re a boy with a boat. But Rosa feels more caught than cursed. Caught between cultures and choices. Between her abuela, a beloved healer and pillar of their community, and her mother, an artist who crashes in and out of her life like a hurricane. Between Port Coral, the quirky South Florida town they call home, and Cuba, the island her abuela refuses to talk about. As her college decision looms, Rosa collides—literally—with Alex Aquino, the mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean whose family owns the marina. With her heart, her family, and her future on the line, can Rosa break a curse and find her place beyond the horizon?
Block Shot by Kennedy Ryan
Enemies to lovers. Enemies to lovers. ENEMIES TO LOVERS! We love how much they hate and love each other. Like Jane and Rafael, the protagonists of Block Shot get off to a rocky start. But it’s all uphill from there.
Blurb: A STANDALONE second chance, enemies-to-lovers romance set in the cutthroat world of sports management.
They’re two sharks in a fish tank…
JARED
If I had a dollar for every time Banner Morales made my heart skip a beat…
The heart everyone assumes is frozen over.
Her anger is… arousing.
Every glare from those fire-spitting eyes, every time she grits her teeth, gets me… well, you know.
If I had a dollar for every time she’s put me in my place, I’d be an even richer man.
I’m a successful sports agent because I assume “no” means you’ll think about it.
I’m sure what you meant to say is “Coming right up.”
They say even rich men don’t always get what they want, but those men don’t know how to play the game. The trick is to keep them guessing.
Take Banner. She assumes she’s winning, but this game?
She doesn’t even know how to play.
BANNER
If I had a dollar for every time Jared Foster broke my heart, I’d have exactly one dollar.
One night. One epic fail. One dollar… and I’m out.
I’ve moved on.
I’ve found success in a field ruled by men.
Anything they can do, I have done better.
They can keep the field while I call the shots, blocking them when I have to.
And Jared has the nerve to think he gets a second chance?
Boy, please. Go sit down. Have several seats.
I’ll just be over here ignoring the man carved from my fantasies with a lust-tipped chisel.
Oh, I didn’t say the struggle wasn’t real.
But I’ve got that one dollar, and Jared won’t have me
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
A multi-generational saga of love, courage and family secrets, Next Year in Havana will make you feel all the feels. Each page is filled with the same delicious tension we’ve grown to know and love onscreen with Jane the Virgin.
Blurb: Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba’s high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country’s growing political unrest—until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary…
Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa’s last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth.Â
Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba’s tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she’ll need the lessons of her grandmother’s past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.
Grumpy Fake Boyfriend by Jackie Lau
If you know Frolic, you know that we LOVE a good forced proximity romance. Like Jane and Rafael have been forced together along the way, the leads of Grumpy Fake Boyfriend find themselves trapped together in more ways than one.
Blurb: I’m a pretty simple guy. When I’m not writing a science fiction novel, I’m watching a good movie or reading a book. Alone. I like my reclusive life. That is, until my only friend asks for a favor—pretend to be his baby sister’s boyfriend on a couples’ getaway. Her ex is going to be there and she needs me as a buffer.
I should have said no, but Naomi is bubbly, energetic, and beautiful. She also means everything to her brother. But now, our fake romance is starting to feel all too real, and I find myself stuck between the promise I made to my friend and risking my heart to the one woman who might actually get me…
The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio
If you love the Marbella, you’ll love the beautiful, enchanting hotel featured in The Beautiful Strangers. While not strictly a romance, this family drama with romantic elements will have you falling in love.
Blurb: 1958. Kate Morgan, tethered to her family’s failing San Francisco restaurant, is looking for an escape. She gets her chance by honoring a cryptic plea from her grandfather: find the beautiful stranger. The search takes her to Hotel del Coronado, the beachfront landmark on the Southern California coast where filming is underway on the movie Some Like It Hot.
For a movie lover like Kate, it’s a fantasy come true. So is the offer of a position at the glamorous hotel. And a new romance is making her heart beat just as fast. But as sure as she is that Coronado is her future, Kate discovers it’s also where the ghosts of the past have come to stay. Sixty years ago a guest died tragically, and she still haunts the hotel’s halls.
As the lives of two women—generations apart—intertwine, Kate’s courageous journey could change more than she ever imagined. And with Coronado wending its way through her soul, she must follow her dreams…wherever they may lead.
