A Proposal They Can't Refuse by Natalie Caña Series: Vega Family Love Stories #1
Published by Harlequin Enterprises ULC on June 7, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Romantic Comedy
Pages: 336
Goodreads
"Utterly charming... A Proposal They Can't Refuse is a surefire winner!" --Mia Sosa, USA Today bestselling author of The Worst Best Man
Natalie Caña turns up the heat, humor and heart in this debut rom-com about a Puerto Rican chef and an Irish American whiskey distiller forced into a fake engagement by their scheming octogenarian grandfathers.
Kamilah Vega is desperate to convince her family to update their Puerto Rican restaurant and enter it into the Fall Foodie Tour. With the gentrification of their Chicago neighborhood, it's the only way to save the place. The fly in her mofongo--her blackmailing abuelo says if she wants to change anything in his restaurant, she'll have to marry the one man she can't stand: his best friend's grandson.
Liam Kane spent a decade working to turn his family's distillery into a contender. But just as he and his grandfather are on the verge of winning a national competition, Granda hits him with a one-two punch: he has cancer and has his heart set on seeing Liam married before it's too late. And Granda knows just the girl...Kamilah Vega.
If they refuse, their grandfathers will sell the building that houses both their businesses. With their futures on the line, Kamilah and Liam plan to outfox the devious duo, faking an engagement until they both get what they want. But soon, they find themselves tangled up in more than either of them bargained for.
When I first jump into a debut novel, I try to reset my expectations. I shouldn’t expect a new author to be writing at the same caliber as my favorite author who has been releasing books for many years. That being said, the author blew every expectation out of the water and I absolutely loved this book. One of the tropes isn’t one that works for me, but everything else made up for the use of this trope; making this a 5 star read.
TROPES
Fake engagement, friends to lovers, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, miscommunication.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Cancer, loss of a loved one, drowning, grief, sexual content,
WHAT WORKED FOR ME
Liam and Kamilah were wonderfully flawed characters. Childhood best friends, Liam undergoes a traumatic life event as a child (see above content warning regarding grief) that causes him to be more withdrawn into himself. Since that event, Kamilah feels as if they’ve grown apart. The two people who used to do everything together appear as if they cannot stand to be in the same room together.
Fake engagement. Did I love how the fake engagement came to be? Not necessarily. But I am a sucker for fake engagement/dating/marriage of convenience. I love watching the characters reluctantly find themself falling for the each other. Add in some forced proximity when the characters have to move in with each other (I would’t consider this a spoiler, as it happens pretty early in the novel) and you have a recipe for the sexual tension I love for in these books. Overall, I’d call this a medium burn where we were about 50% of the way through the book before sexual activity occurred.
Liam’s grumpiness. Now, I am a sucker for a grumpy character (specifically heroes). I love the cinnamon roll types where they might be grumpy on the outside, but they’re definitely a softy that is totally gone for the main character. I love learning about why a character is the way they are and the author gave us enough throughout the story before getting in the detail of the why.
The groveling. To not share any spoilers, that’s all I’m going to say. The way in which the groveling occurs and realizing the true depth of the feelings all made my cry. I felt all of the feels – which tends to be a five (5) star read for me.
WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME
The third act break up. It relied very heavily on the miscommunication trope. While not my least favorite, it is not one that I particularly enjoy. I will say, though, I enjoyed the way in which the author uses the miscommunication trope to fuel character growth. The trope itself was not one for me.
Kamilah’s family. They honestly suck for a large portion of the book. I didn’t like how they treated Kamilah and appreciated how Liam became her support system.
SPICE RATING
2.5 chili peppers. Sex itself is not full described on page, but other sexual acts are more descriptive.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The things I didn’t really care for really didn’t rain on my enjoyment of this book. I fun contemporary romance in the restaurant industry. Definitely would recommend this book and I look forward to reading other entries in the series as they are published.
[…] A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Caña; a debut novel following childhood friends to lovers. This book gave me all of the feelings, made me cry multiple times and had me totally invested in the relationship between our main characters. Caña is an author that I will be reading from again in the future. […]