Don’t Date Rosa Santos

By Nina Moreno

Rating: 4.5/5 Stairs

OK, for those of you looking for a fun summer read, you have got to pick up Don’t Date Rosa Santos.

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?

I just loved this book. It really had a Gilmore Girls vibe to it. A small town full of great personalities (my favorite was the Instagramming viejitos). Rosa working to navigate her relationship with her loving-but-absent mother and find her heritage in her steadfast grandmother, while at the same time trying to figure out her own future. Rosa’s determination to bring the town together to save the place she loves. And her conflicted emotions when she meets Alex – a boy connected to the sea.

I laughed. I cried. I really enjoyed this read.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.