Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo, my hearts!

How are you celebrating? Tacos? Tequila? Reading Full Moon over Freedom by Angelina M. Lopez, narrated by Stacy Gonzalez?

Me? I’m spending the day doing something far less glamorous but deeply important to the cause of romance: double-checking the Spanish in Ximena’s HEA.

Because apparently... it is shockingly hard to write bad Spanish on purpose.

Especially when the man delivering said Spanish is actually incredibly smart, just a little out of his linguistic depth when he tries to say "I want to pack and ship this to the United States.” It came out like this:

"Yo quiero… um… embalar y ship-par? Para el Estado Unidos?"

Friends. I cackled.

And so does Ximena—eventually.

A deep baritone interrupts my reverie, butchers my language with the confidence of a man who has never been corrected to his face. I turn, curiosity winning over my general disinterest in men. Not because I like the timbre of his overconfident voice. Just because I’m a good person who helps lost puppies and gringos alike.
“¿Papel burbuja? Caja grande?” the ridiculously hot, exceptionally tall, obviously American man adds.
The shopkeeper stares at him, unmoved.
“¿Muy… fuerte? No, no… um, mucho grande?”
I snort.

Cinco de Mayo might be best known in the U.S. for its margaritas and mariachi playlists, but here in Jennifer J. Coldwater Land™, it’s a perfect excuse to celebrate cross-cultural chaos, slow-burn flirtation, and the art of falling in love in translation.

And here’s your spoiler alert: By the end of the book, Reed speaks flawless, fluent Spanish. Not because Ximena asks him to. Not because he wants to impress her. But because he’s a man who shows up. Who listens. Who learns. And because when you love someone, you learn to speak their language—literally and metaphorically.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo, babes. May your tacos be spicy and your romance audiobooks even spicier.