WoW: Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zea Kemp

This bookish meme tells the blogosphere what we’re waiting patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) for! It’s hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine!

I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter meets Emergency Contact in this stunning story of first love, familial expectations, the power of food, and finding where you belong.

As an aspiring pastry chef, Penelope Prado has always dreamed of opening her own pastelería next to her father’s restaurant, Nacho’s Tacos. But her mom and dad have different plans — leaving Pen to choose between disappointing her traditional Mexican-American parents or following her own path. When she confesses a secret she’s been keeping, her world is sent into a tailspin. But then she meets a cute new hire at Nacho’s who sees through her hard exterior and asks the questions she’s been too afraid to ask herself.

Xander Amaro has been searching for home since he was a little boy. For him, a job at Nacho’s is an opportunity for just that — a chance at a normal life, to settle in at his abuelo’s, and to find the father who left him behind. But when both the restaurant and Xander’s immigrant status are threatened, he will do whatever it takes to protect his new found family and himself.

Together, Pen and Xander must navigate first love and discovering where they belong — both within their families and their fiercely loyal Chicanx community — in order to save the place they all call home. 

Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Expected Publication: April 6, 2021

Why I’m Waiting: Another contemporary romance that’s also a foodie book and features diverse characters! Between this and A Pho Love Story, I’m beginning to think they wrote these books specifically for my taste! And this one sounds so good! I need to know what Pen’s secret is!

What about you? Will you be reading this? Don’t you think it sounds good too? Do you like diverse, foodie romances? Let me know in the comments!