American Dreamer

Herrera’s entertaining first Dreamers romance is fueled by love, community, and plenty of Afro-Caribbean food. Ernesto Vasquez has one dream: to sell Afro-Caribbean cuisine out of his food truck. After struggling to turn a profit in his hometown of New York City, Nesto follows his mother’s advice to move his business upstate to Ithaca, where there’s less competition. There he finds instant success and an instant crush in the form of blond, Spanish-speaking librarian Jude Fuller. After a slow start, Nesto and Jude embark on an adorable, delicious foray into hapless romance. The story is full of memorable, outlandish characters who leap off the page, including Nesto’s “queer brown” best friends from the Bronx, who inspire and champion him along the way; his loving, no-nonsense Dominican mamí; and Jude’s meddling foodie of a best friend. The food descriptions are mouthwatering and the relationships ring with authenticity, but the flat, cartoonish antagonist robs the otherwise realistic romance of some of its hard-won satisfaction. Nonetheless, it’s sure to excite fans of contemporary foodie romances. Agent: Linda Camacho, Gallt & Zacker. (Mar.)