Reviewer: Rowena When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
Publisher: Penguin, Berkley
Publication Date: April 9, 2019
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: First
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Women's Fiction
Pages: 368
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Rowena's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
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In 1960s Florida, a young Cuban exile will risk her life--and heart--to take back her country in this exhilarating historical novel from the author of Next Year in Havana, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.
Beautiful. Daring. Deadly.
The Cuban Revolution took everything from sugar heiress Beatriz Perez--her family, her people, her country. Recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro's inner circle and pulled into the dangerous world of espionage, Beatriz is consumed by her quest for revenge and her desire to reclaim the life she lost.
As the Cold War swells like a hurricane over the shores of the Florida Strait, Beatriz is caught between the clash of Cuban American politics and the perils of a forbidden affair with a powerful man driven by ambitions of his own. When the ever-changing tides of history threaten everything she has fought for, she must make a choice between her past and future--but the wrong move could cost Beatriz everything--not just the island she loves, but also the man who has stolen her heart...
Chanel Cleeton strikes again with another emotionally driven story that hit me in every single feel in my body. After finishing Next Year in Havana, I looked forward to jumping into this book because I was mighty interested in getting Marisol’s Great-Aunt’s story. Beatriz Perez was the real deal in the first book and she is just as intense and amazing in her book…maybe even more so because we got her front and center with every single page.
Beatriz really stands out in this book. She makes this entire story work. She’s bold, she’s beautiful and she makes no apologies for who and what she does. She was also brave as hell. She knew what she stood for and even though she fell in love with a man who complicated the hell out of her beliefs, and her life, she didn’t apologize for her love for him either. I admired the hell out of her because she was fierce in her beliefs and her loyalties.
This story takes place when the relationship between the US and Cuba was not good and it shows us how complicated living during this time was and I just really enjoyed the drama, the passion and the romance between Beatriz and her boo thang. It wasn’t an easy read. There are things that happen that I wasn’t too comfortable with but because Chanel Cleeton wrote these things in (see content warning above) a way that I couldn’t help but understand, I didn’t mind it too much. There were times when my heart hurt for everything that Beatriz went through and there were times that I about swooned over how passionate Nick and Beatriz’s romance was. There was also times when I cheered for Beatriz because the bitch likes to get shit done. She’s probably my favorite character in both this book and Next Year in Havana and I’m SO glad that I read it.
Do I recommend this book? You bet your ass I do. Go forth and read this one, you won’t regret it. I promise.
Grade: 4.25 out of 5
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I keep hearing good things about Chanel Cleeton; I’ll have to give one of her books a try. Thanks for the review, Rowena.