Ben and Beatriz
A Novel
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
There’s nothing like falling for your worst enemy.
Beatriz Herrera is a fierce woman who will take you down with her quick wit and keen intellect. And after the results of the 2016 election worked hard to erase her identity as a queer biracial woman, she’d be right to. Especially if you come for her sweet BFF cousin, Hero. Beatriz would do anything for her, a loyalty that lands Beatriz precisely where she doesn’t want to be: spending a week at the ridiculous Cape Cod mansion of stupid-hot playboy Ben Montgomery. The same Ben Montgomery she definitely shouldn’t have hooked up with that one time… The things we do for family.
White and wealthy, Ben talks the talk and walks the walk of privilege, but deep down, he’s wrestling with the politics and expectations of a conservative family he can’t relate to. Though Beatriz’s caustic tongue drives him wild in the very best way, he's the last person she'd want, because she has zero interest in compromising her identity. But as her and Ben’s assumptions begin to unravel and their hookups turn into something real, they start wondering if it’s still possible to hold space for one another and the inescapable love that unites them.
This retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is both razor-sharp and swoon-worthy: the perfect love story for our time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gamarra debuts with an equally steamy and thorny adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing set in the early days of Trump's presidency. Beatriz "Bea" Herrera feels lost in the wake of the 2016 election, uncertain where she—a queer, biracial Latinx woman—will fit into America after graduating from Harvard in the spring. Her solace is her cousin, Hero. So, when Hero asks Bea if they can spend spring break with Hero's new boyfriend, Claudio, Bea suppresses her hatred for Claudio's best friend, Ben Montgomery, and agrees. Ben is a rich, straight, white man from a conservative family—the antithesis to Bea in every way. The trip proves tumultuous as the quartet contends with Ben's antagonistic brother and his frequent microaggressions against Bea—and, of course, Bea and Ben match wits. But beneath their verbal sparring, the pair can't ignore their lingering attraction from a one-night stand three years ago. Gamarra uses their love story to explore race, colorism, sexuality, and privilege, crafting a romance between two people who are all too aware of their differences but still find a safe space in each other. Fans of the original sparring hearts love story will find this a worthy update on the classic.
