Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet by Laekan Zae Kemp is another one of this year’s Rosie nominees. The novel switches between two points of view: Penelope (Pen) Prado and Xander Amaro. Pen grew up at her father’s restaurant, Nacho’s Tacos, and always dreamed of taking over. But when her parents found out about her secret, her plans changed and she had to find a new job. Xander has been searching for a place to call home since he was little. A job at Nacho’s quickly becomes that for him. And when the threats start to come in, he does what he has to protect his new family and himself. When their paths cross, they start asking themselves questions they’ve always been too scared to ask. Overall, I really liked this book. I thought the characters had good backstories and interesting lives. However, I did find parts of their personalities to be a bit on the extreme side. (3.99/5 stars on Goodreads)