You Had Me at Hola Book Club Kit

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria is the official July 2021 pick for the Peanut Blossom Book Club for Recovering Readers.

A copy of the book You Had Me at Hola is on the table.

During every lunch hour on my college campus, you would hear the stereo sounds of Days of Our Lives streaming from the open doors of every dorm room in the hallway.

Though it has been years since I’ve sat and watched a soap opera, the genre still holds a special place in my heart.

This month’s book takes place on the set of a telenovela, a Spanish-language soap opera. I was so excited to discover this unique plot set-up in You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria and thought it would be fun to revisit the soap opera watching days of my college years.

Not familiar with this kind of show? Maybe you’ll want to prep by watching a telenovela on Netflix before you start the book, see my list below!

Peanut Blossom Book Club

This book club pick is one of the awesome books from our seventh year of book club.

We’re still going strong! Want to join us?

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Best Way to Enjoy This Month’s Book

Special Note: There’s a fair amount of Spanish in this book club pick.

This would be an excellent month to try out purchasing the Kindle + Audible combination so you can both SEE and HEAR the Spanish.

Buy the Kindle edition first and you’ll get a discount on the Audible version:

Get Your Copy:
Audiobook | Kindle | Paperback

What Is You Had Me at Hola About?

“RITA® Award Winning author Alexis Daria brings readers an unforgettable, hilarious rom-com set in the drama-filled world of telenovelas—perfect for fans of Jane the Virgin and The Kiss Quotient.

Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.

After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids.

When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.”

Read the full description of the book here.

You Had Me at Hola Discussion Questions

I believe the best book club questions to spark a lively discussion in your group help readers make personal connections to the story.

You can read about how to write the best book club questions on your own here, but hopefully these will get you started!

Question 1:

Would you watch Carmen in Charge if it was an actual TV show? Who would you cast in Jasmine and Ashton’s roles?

Question 2:

Do you have a large family like Jasmine’s? Do you have any family traditions?

Question 3:

If you didn’t know Spanish before reading the book, did you find yourself looking up words and phrases that were used?

Question 4:

This month’s read had racier love scenes than our previous books. Were you okay with this, or did it make you uncomfortable?

Question 5:

Have you ever watched a telenovela before reading this book? If not, would you be more compelled to watch one now?

Question 6:

What did you think of Jasmine’s “Leading Lady Plan”?

Question 7:

Would you have made the choice’s Ashton made concerning his son?

Question 8:

Do you think there should be harsher laws against stalkers and intrusive paparazzi, or do you feel public attention just comes with the territory of being a celebrity?

Question 9:

Will you be more likely to read books with Latina representation after reading You Had Me At Hola?

Book Club Party Menu

I think it is so fun to plan your book club dinner menu or dessert list based on the theme of the book.

For your You Had Me at Hola book club party, prep a pitcher of blood orange mojitos with plenty of fresh mint and lime.

Get to chatting about the book over a bowl of fresh homemade salsa served with tortilla chips that you warmed in the oven for a minute or two.

Prep ahead a batch of crispy baked turkey taquitos, you can bake them while everyone is enjoying their drink. A pan of my easy taco bites would be just as easy to prep ahead and serve, too.