Liana De la Rosa (Gabriela and His Grace) steps away from the 19th century and into the 21st with Mutual Discord. Sofia Mendoza loses her job after a man steals her ideas, so she starts a TikTok series highlighting women through history who have met similar fates. She soon gains a following, which includes a budding friendship with one commenter in particular, who calls himself A. As they plan a video together, they discover that they have excellent digital chemistry. Then Sofia's friend, Caitlin, introduces Sofia to Alex, who has just moved to their city of Phoenix, Ariz. Face-to-face in real life with A, Sofia must fight her attraction to whom she assumes is Caitlin's new boyfriend.
Alex is a green-flag man: supportive, funny, and kind. It's obvious to everyone except Sofia that Alex isn't with Caitlin and is absolutely smitten with Sofia. Sofia and Alex develop a connection as they pine for each other but never take the next step for completely different reasons. Mutual Discord is not a novel for those who hate the miscommunication trope; readers will be screaming at the pages for Sofia to just ask Alex if he is dating Caitlin. Aside from the delightfully frustrating romance, De la Rosa brings a love of Puerto Rican culture to Mutual Discord; in addition to showing him around Phoenix, Sofia introduces Alex to the Puerto Rican staples like tostones and mofongo that he missed out on as a child.
Full of the charmingly witty banter and romantic tension readers have come to expect from De la Rosa, Mutual Discord is an excellent first entry into contemporary romance for the author. --Alyssa Parssinen, freelance reviewer and former bookseller