Kiss Me, Mi Amor


 
 
 
 PRAISE FOR
 Ramón and Julieta
 “Ramón and Julieta is a passionate and joyful romance about honoring family legacies, celebrating your heritage, the importance of community, and the power of love. A beautiful novel!”
 —New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton
 “This novel’s got a little Shakespeare and a lot of tacos, with a very steamy haters-to-lovers relationship at its core.”
 —NPR
 “Albertson gives Romeo and Juliet the rom-com treatment in the delightful Ramón and Julieta.”
 —PopSugar
 “As this love story shaped by the complexities of Latinx communities unfolds, Albertson insightfully dramatizes the contrasts between Julieta and Ramón as he becomes increasingly conflicted about his identity as a Mexican American and his business plans for the neighborhood and its impact on the culture.”
 —Booklist
 
 
 ALSO BY ALANA QUINTANA ALBERTSON
 
 Ramón and Julieta
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 BERKLEY ROMANCE
 Published by Berkley
 An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
 penguinrandomhouse.com
 
 Copyright © 2023 by Alana Albertson
 Readers Guide copyright © 2023 by Alana Albertson
 Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.
 BERKLEY and the BERKLEY & B colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Quintana Albertson, Alana, author.
 Title: Kiss me, mi amor / Alana Quintana Albertson.
 Description: First edition. | New York: Berkley Romance, 2023. | Series: Love & Tacos; 2
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022054537 (print) | LCCN 2022054538 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593336243 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780593336250 (ebook)
 Classification: LCC PS3617.U589655 K57 2023 (print) | LCC PS3617.U589655 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022054537
 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022054538
 First Edition: July 2023
 Cover illustration by Carina Guevara
 Cover design by Farjana Yasmin
 Book design by Kristin del Rosario, adapted for ebook by Molly Jeszke
 Title page art: Sugar skulls pattern © xenia_ok / Shutterstock
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 pid_prh_6.0_144196919_c0_r0
 
 
 
 This book is dedicated to my nana, Susana Quintana Viramontes, who raised ten children.
 
 
 Chapter One
 
 
 
 Enrique Montez bit into his carne guisada taco. The spices from the braised beef were cooled from the neutralizing dollop of fresh crema.
 “Thank God,” Enrique said to his older brother, Ramón, gesturing across the table with the taco still in hand, “that this badass woman agreed to marry you.”
 His future sister-in-law, Julieta Campos, had cooked a meal for her family and his brothers at their now weekly Sunday dinner in her restaurant, Las Pescas. Julieta and her mother, Linda, adored taking care of their loved ones, which now luckily included Enrique.
 Julieta’s lips twisted in a wry smile. Ramón simply looked at her with eyes of love. “I thank God every day.” He pressed a kiss to her hand, then looked back at Enrique. “But after putting up with you for the past twenty-eight years, I deserved a miracle.”
 Enrique glared across the table at Ramón and his future bride. His brother whispered something into Julieta’s ear, which caused her to giggle.
 Enrique rolled his eyes. He should simply be happy for his brother and his fiancée. Still, a brief stab of envy tore through him . . . “Man, you’re so whipped. I’ll never be like that.”
 His younger brother, Jaime, rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because no one would deal with your weird bullshit. Do you have to do yoga on our deck every morning?”
 “Better than you flipping tires in our yard,” Enrique retorted.
 Julieta’s cousins Tiburón and Rosa laughed while Julieta’s mother scooped out a huge portion of rice onto everyone’s plates. What a trip to see the Montezes and the Camposes, formerly mortal enemies, breaking bread—well, more accurately, tearing tortillas—around the table. Notably absent, and most certainly not invited, was Enrique’s father, Arturo. He’d begun the family feud decades ago when Arturo stole a fish taco recipe from Linda, his spring break fling. But Enrique was a peacemaker, and he hoped that even though his father’s actions were unforgivable, one day, his father would repent and make amends with Linda, Julieta, and Ramón, though deep down he knew that with his father’s deeply ingrained machismo, that fantasy happy ending was probably a pipe dream.
 Enrique’s immediate concern was spending quality time in a warm family environment that he and his brothers had never known. This connection had already changed Ramón significantly. His elder brother had benefited in amazing ways, even though Enrique teased him. Ever since Ramón and Julieta had become engaged, his workaholic sibling was now all about the family life. Ramón spent his free time playing Lotería with Julieta’s overbearing tías, and he’d started volunteering at the Barrio Logan College Institute in his newly adopted community. He even hosted the weekly La Vuelta Lowrider Cruise with Tiburón.
 Enrique studied Ramón, who had a big grin on his face. Enrique couldn’t imagine being in such a committed relationship. Not until he struck out on his own and became something more than just the middle Montez brother. Ramón was the smartest, Jaime was the cutest, and Enrique was always the peacemaker.
 “¡Salud!” Linda held up her sangria, and everybody clinked glasses before continuing to eat. This was the life—family. All together.
 Exhaling a healing breath, Enrique reflected on how much he had changed in the past year. After the social media attention from their company’s quest for gentefication turned ugly, Enrique spiraled into depression. He had spent the last