A woman enlists the help of her favorite musician to win her ex-boyfriend back in this sparkling romantic comedy set in Venezuela by debut author Maria J. Morillo.
Maria “Marianto” Camacho is a planner. At twenty-seven, she has her life perfectly mapped out. Her long-term boyfriend, Alejandro, is perfect on paper, and she’s expecting a proposal any day now. She has a stable job as a lifestyle columnist at Ellas, one of Latin America’s biggest digital magazines. Her future is set; she’s sure of it.
Until everything falls apart overnight: Marianto loses her boyfriend and her job. But she’s determined to get them both back with an idea that is either delusional or ingenious—a juicy new article for Ellas that documents a series of romantic experiments to get her ex back. Thus begins The Ex-Perimento. With her bank account dwindling, however, Marianto lands a temporary gig on Venezuela’s hottest new singing competition show. Her job? Personal assistant to Simón Arreaza, the lead singer of her favorite indie band.
It’s only her second day on the job when Simón discovers Marianto’s list of romantic experiments, striking her ideas and replacing them with his own better ones. Out of desperation, she offers a proposition: Help her win back Alejandro, and she’ll give Simón’s band a profile in the magazine once she returns to Ellas. But between the close quarters on set and the blurred lines of a budding friendship, Marianto and Simón find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other, caught in a whirlwind of unexpected romance.
Maria “Marianto” Camacho is a planner. At twenty-seven, she has her life perfectly mapped out. Her long-term boyfriend, Alejandro, is perfect on paper, and she’s expecting a proposal any day now. She has a stable job as a lifestyle columnist at Ellas, one of Latin America’s biggest digital magazines. Her future is set; she’s sure of it.
Until everything falls apart overnight: Marianto loses her boyfriend and her job. But she’s determined to get them both back with an idea that is either delusional or ingenious—a juicy new article for Ellas that documents a series of romantic experiments to get her ex back. Thus begins The Ex-Perimento. With her bank account dwindling, however, Marianto lands a temporary gig on Venezuela’s hottest new singing competition show. Her job? Personal assistant to Simón Arreaza, the lead singer of her favorite indie band.
It’s only her second day on the job when Simón discovers Marianto’s list of romantic experiments, striking her ideas and replacing them with his own better ones. Out of desperation, she offers a proposition: Help her win back Alejandro, and she’ll give Simón’s band a profile in the magazine once she returns to Ellas. But between the close quarters on set and the blurred lines of a budding friendship, Marianto and Simón find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other, caught in a whirlwind of unexpected romance.
Title: The Ex-Perimento
Author: Maria J. Morillo
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Expected Publication Date: February 17, 2026
Review:
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I love me some rock star romance so of course I had to grab this one to read. It's also a cultural book that takes place in Venezuela so I was interested in learning about some of the culture through the author's writing (she was born and raised in the country).
Maria is a journalist who finds herself jobless and suddenly the assistant of her rock start crush after a break up with her boyfriend of four years. Still reeling from the breakup she thought would be a marriage proposal, she schemes to win her ex back with the help of Simón, the lead singer of her favorite band.
I'll start by saying I know this a debut novel and often times they are a bit choppy. This one fit that bill. There was a lot of down time in the book. A lot of repetitive things happening, and it kind of stalled the momentum of the story. The bones of the story are great but overall my expectations were not met. That's not to say this author doesn't have promise because I truly think she does. But this book needed a bit more time under the editors pen to make it feel more put together and exciting. There was a lot of telling in this story rather than showing me how the characters were connecting and falling for each other.
Maria is just an ok character for me. She pines a lot, is stuck on her ex, and then finds herself falling for her rock star crush. The issue is, I didn't feel any of that from her. She tells us over and over again how she feels but I never see it through the story telling. The conflicts were typical of a girl who spent many years with someone she thought was for her and ultimately realized was not but I could not see well how it got there. But she seemed so very desperate throughout the book. Desperate to have her man back. Desperate to have any type of job. Desperate for her mother to see her and treat her as an adult. But she never tells anyone any of this, or at least doesn't until the very end. While this seems like it was supposed to set up her ah-ha moment and how she comes into herself, it just didn't work. Her character felt very immature for someone who was 27 and had experienced life and it's ups and downs. It was hard to connect with her and see her as relatable.
Simón did not strike me as a rock star in the least. Perhaps this is cultural and I don't understand it from that perspective but I truly don't think that is the case. I have loved many artists who do not speak my language and have watched them perform and be rock stars and he did not fit the bill of what I think that should look like. I will give the character credit for being the emotionally stable part of the duo. His support of Maria is truly respectable. But did I feel his growing attraction to her or the chemistry heating up between them, not at all. Even when they finally kiss there was nothing for me. It didn't make my heart race or make me feel an emotional connection to them. I love a slow burn but this did not come across as that at all.
The plot had it's fast and slow points, but mostly slow. I felt like I was often trudging through what was happening and just needed more. I will say the author does a nice job explaining the culture and I could picture the scenery and way things were when the characters were exploring. The setting and descriptions were unique and interesting.
Over all I was bored with the story and pushed myself to finish it. I wish I could say I loved it but I just didn't. I do see much promise with this author and would give her future works another try in the hopes she will hone her craft a bit more.
Author:
Maria J. Morillo is a born and raised Venezuelan ESL teacher, translator, and author of love stories featuring Venezuelan women getting absolutely everything they’ve always wanted. When she’s not writing, you can find her leading the choir at her local church. She currently lives in Maturin, Venezuela, with her family.
No comments:
Post a Comment