A review by bookshelvesandtealeaves
Amor Actually by Adriana Herrera, Sabrina Sol, Diana Muñoz Stewart, Alexis Daria, Zoey Castile, Mia Sosa, Priscilla Oliveras

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I won’t lie, some of these I really enjoyed and some of them I really didn’t, and overall I felt it lacked substance and cohesion. It felt like I was reading short stories about characters I should have already known and that made it really hard to form any attachments to any of the characters.

That being said, All I Want for Nochebuena, Santa’s Eager Little Helper, Love in Spanglish and To Us, You are Perfect at least left me wishing for more.

All I Want for Nochebuena by Alexis Daria focussed on Honey and Julie, two adult film stars hired to promote some sex toys. This was a riff on one of my favourite romances from Love Actually with the nude body stand-ins, and I really felt this short story captured the essence of their story, adorable shyness and all, while also making it entirely its own, beautiful thing.

Santa’s Eager Little Helper by Mia Sosa followed Sarita and Carlos and their workplace hijinks. Parts of the characterisations in this felt a little exaggerated, but that whole grumpy/sunshine mutual pining thing really worked for me, especially combined with the absolute romcom-absurdity of the situation.

Love in Spanglish by Zoey Castile was my absolute favourite from this collection. I would KILL for a full-length novel about Ángel and Callie, but what Castile wrote here was enough. I fell in love with these characters and this story in such a short amount of time. I can’t exactly pinpoint what this one had that the others were lacking, but this story completely melted my heart. (This is also a play on my absolute favourite love story from Love Actually, the English writer and the Portuguese housekeeper, and yet I almost love this story more than the original?)

To Us, You are Perfect by Alexis Daria & Adriana Herrera was really, honestly, what that stupid love triangle in Love Actually should have been. I know 2003 would never have allowed a throuple in a mainstream Hollywood Christmas romcom but dang if it isn’t the perfect story.