Sleeping with the Frenemy by Natalie Caña

Welcome Back Booklovers! I'd been meaning to get back to the Vega Family Love Stories series and Hoopla alerted me to a new release called Sleeping with the Frenemy. I saved it and put it on my list to read in the future. However after seeing it come across my Instagram feed for Puerto Rican Heritage Month I knew I had to read it right away.

Leo Vega has been in love with Sofi, his sister's best friend for years. But despite their aside on and off hookups Sofi has sworn off the Vega family after a revelation from Kamilah. Now Sofi is back after spending time in Europe and trying to mend her friendship. Leo just so happens to have an extra room when she needs a space to go and their grandparents see sparks between them.

There's a lot to love about this one from the Chicago setting to the big Puerto Rican familia. There's so many different nods to Puerto Rico from the music, to the cuisine, and traditions the characters hold. And it's done in a realistic way through things like the Puerto Rican Festival. It's truly a great cast of characters from Abuelo Papo to Tostone the dog. Readers who enjoy families being heavily involved in their romance stories will like how there's always a sibling or a grandparent popping up in the scene.

Though this is a second chance romance it's not solely focused on the romance. There's a lot of interpersonal drama that keeps the book moving aside from the standard second chance  romance plot. Sofi and Kamilah are working on mending their friendship with Kamilah helping her plan her wedding. Sofi also has a barely existent relationship with her father and she doesn't know how to approach wanting to confront him about her feelings of abandonment.  Leo is recovering from a gunshot wound and wants to get back to his firefighting career but he's also battling his feelings of inferiority compared to his siblings.

The author does a decent job showcases how the world if a little bit different for Sofi as an Afro-Latina even among other Latines. Even though this is a slower paced book it stays engaging through out. Sometimes the transition into flashbacks scenes could be a little abrupt and not all feel totally necessary.  But the most important flashback did it's job of showcasing that turning point in their relationship. The narrator was great and added that extra touch of playfulness when it came to the book's spicier scenes.