The Infamous Miss Rodriguez

I really enjoyed this, and I'd rate it somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. I'm sure I'll reread it in the future. Graciela is like a modern woman in many ways, but there's something even more appealing about such a bold heroine living 100 years ago. She acts in her own best interests and doesn't need a champion, but she appreciates having someone to stand beside her. It's great.

I especially liked how the plot about Vicente leaving was handled. I thought, because I've read so many romance novels, that he would vanish after their wedding night without explaining. But he didn't, and there was no deception (apart from both characters concealing their love for each other). Instead, Graciela doesn't want to take away Vicente's freedom as Alvaro would have taken away hers. She expects him to leave, and I feel it was well-established in the story, because of all of her self-directed schemes, that she would've been fine on her own (although of course I didn't want him to go).

Vicente and Graciela are both flawed characters which makes them human and easy to relate to. Alvaro is a familiar kind of bad guy, with no real redeeming qualities, but I was okay with a villain like him being somewhat one-dimensional; I don't really want to read an exploration of the misogynist mind. I love that the ending is all about Graciela in the spotlight, because it suits her so well.

This book is also very funny, with many laugh-out-loud moments. I wonder if there will be a book about Beatriz, with her violent embroidery scenes. I'm really looking forward to reading the author's other work. I'm not rating this one 5 stars because I would've preferred to see Vicente introduced slightly earlier, with more about his backstory revealed to the reader. But overall, I loved it. Great book.