Taming Romeo by Rachelle Ayala

 Evie Sanchez is recovering from heartbreak by working at her parents’ Filipino restaurant when in walks Romeo Garcia, the boy she left behind. Only now, he’s a hot movie star surrounded by gorgeous actresses and adoring fans.

Bad boy Romeo Garcia never understood why Evie stood him up at the prom. When he rescues her from a flying coconut in the dumpster, he is determined to dig into her heart for the reason. Their mutual attraction and unresolved feelings ignite in a scintillating night of daring sex, and Romeo shows Evie what she’ll miss the rest of her life if she walks away again.

Evie lands a part as Romeo’s co-star and falls into her role, totally in love. He plays his part, too, with his romantic gestures and skillful lovemaking. But is the fantasy real or revenge? Evie and Romeo are about to discover if their buried feelings will explode in pure delight or utter disaster.

Taming Romeo is a contemporary romance featuring family secrets, delicious food, and hot, steamy loves scenes. Due to mature content, recommended for readers aged 18+.

To this day, one of my favorite romance books is about a normal girl who falls in love with a movie star.  So, when I saw the description to this book I was all “sign me up!”.  I glad I did, too, because this was a refreshing take on a very familiar story.

Evie is back at home trying to figure out where to go from here.  She’s just had a breakup  and left medical school because of it.  She’s working in her parent’s restaurant one day when her old high school boyfriend, Romeo, comes in.  The twist is, Romeo is not a hot movie star.  Unable to face him, she runs out the restaurant to hide.  He discovers her, and they both discover the way they felt each other once upon a time is not a thing of the past.  Problem is, can the past be let go in order to move forward together?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how incredibly hot the sex is in this book.  Oh. Em. Gee. Romeo is off the charts sexy, and the chemistry between he and Evie is awesome.  You may find it shocking, but my favorite part of this book was Evie’s voice.  She is hilarious, and has a very unique perspective that will keep you entertained throughout the story. Plus, Romeo is like a dream book boyfriend, because he’s so incredibly selfless.  He will melt your panties and your heart!

My only criticism of this book is that the ending felt a bit rushed.  Other than that, I fell totally in love with not only Evie and Romeo, but their families and their Filipino culture as well.  I seriously have got to get my butt to a Filipino restaurant.  4 stars.

Taming Romeo was a fun read for me. Evie is home after a disappointing semester at med school – her fiancé cut her out of his life with no warning and her grades suffered because of it. Because of the situation, she took the semester off at the urging of her advisor in order to get herself together. So of course, she’s feeling like a failure and is depressed and overwhelmed with life. Fortunately for Evie she comes from a large family that are there for her to help her deal with the situation. Unfortunately for Evie, she comes from a large family that does not seem to know when to butt out of her personal life. This is why she gets blindsided by the appearance of her former high school sweetheart, Romeo.

I will admit that I enjoyed the Karma-like situation as Evie faced the same kind of freeze out from her fiancé that she subjected Romeo to five years ago. And because we all know that Karma’s a bitch, Romeo is now a successful actor with a former music career, so this just intensifies her feelings of failure. We quickly learn that while Evie may have cut Romeo out of her life, he never cut her out of his heart. What ensues is a sometimes emotional, sometimes funny, always hot & sexy courtship as Romeo sets out to win back his girl.

Taming Romeo was a well-written book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I appreciated the glossary of terms that Ms. Ayala provided. I am looking forward to reading the author’s next book about Evie’s sister Choco.