Acapulco Nights by K.J. Gillenwater

Acapulco Nights Reviews

• 
  Kasey Cocoa

  Review by Samantha: "I enjoyed reading this book so much I didn't want the experience to end. I found myself laughing so many times I ended up needing a tissue. I felt for Suzie and really wanted to be there for her. I love a book that can do that to me. Her narrative flows naturally and her reasoning for her decisions and for what she shares with the reader make perfect sense to me. Thank you for sharing your story with us." We received an ARC through the author in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced our opinions. Thank you Sam for helping with reads and reviews!
• 
  Debra Barstad

  cute little romance type book. fast read.
• 
  Christi Snow

  My Review:
  This is a mixed review...just because this is a tough book for me. I read it all the way and never really considered DNF'ing the book because the book is definitely engaging. I was caught up in the story and wanted to know how everything would play out and what exactly has happened over the years. The book is told in a series of flashbacks as well as current time for the book.
  
  This is the story of Suzie. The book takes place during her ten-day trip to Acapulco with her best friend Janice. When they were in college, they spent a semester in Mexico studying and Suzie secretly dated Joaquin...also marrying him...in secret. Something she's never told anyone since she left 12 years ago. Now she has her fiance, James, who really wants her to set a date for their marriage, but she has to get a divorce first. And she has no plans to ever let James know the truth about why she's waffled for years over this.
  
  And this is where I'm torn. I understand why Suzie hasn't ever told James. He was in another serious relationship where the woman cheated on him, so he has trust issues. I get that...I don't agree with her methods, but I understood why.
  
  Overall my issue with Suzie in this book wasn't her relationship with the guys...and that shocks me because I'm not usually a big fan of triangle relationships. My problem with her was over her friendship with Janice. She doesn't respect her friend and that bugs me. It comes through in little comments...like talking about her friend's "stick legs." But it also comes through in that for years, Suzie has never come clean with her friend. When she was 19 I could see why she would lie...a lack of maturity. But there are so many lies and little deceitful things that she does during this trip and that she did back then that were just hurtful. I just don't understand it. And that goes both ways. Janice immediately does something to Suzie when she finds out about the marriage that's just wrong...no matter how much she hurt. It just felt really jr. high-ish.
  
  I also never really connected with either of the guys. The book is told entirely from Suzie's pov so there was never a chance to get to know them. There was never a point where I felt strongly about which guy I wanted her to end up with...and that doesn't feel right, although this was definitely a story about Suzie's journey. That being said though, I adored the ending. I thought it was fabulously done and worked really well with the overall story. It felt right.
  
  So kind of a mixed review. My recommendation (since triangle relationships are not my favorite) is that if the story line appeals to you, read the sample on Amazon and then make a decision from there, because the author does know how to write an engaging book. It just maybe wasn't the perfect book for me to read of hers.
  
  I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.
• 
  Silvana

  Suzie and her fiance live together in suburb house. They are together for years but something isn’t right, something stops Suzie to merry her fiancé James. She canceled three dates. James is very kind and patient man, so he convinces his loved fiancé to go on the girl’s trip with her best friend Janice. Acapulco covers Suzie secret, so she doesn’t want to back there, but she saw bright light to this trip to get read of the past and start new life with her fiancé. She goes there in Mexico with one purpose to get divorce. Oh yes, you heard me a divorce, she is already married to Mexican man Joaquin. That was the reason why she canceled their wedding dates three times. But does Joaquin want divorce?
  
  When I read the synopsis of this book I was frightened that everything is revealed and I couldn’t enjoy reading the book. I was wrong, very wrong. It’s not that simple. The story goes smooth from present then the next chapter goes with the past what was happened and reveal part by part. I was hardly wait to read the chapter and continue where the story from the present stops. Story from the past and the story from the present told intermittently was motivating thing to read forward till the end.
  
  The story is told by main character Suzie in first person. The author keeps my attention with the things that Suzie has and what will be losing if she doesn’t repair the things from her past, then in Acapulco Suzie and her husband Joaquin when she reveal those things I clearly understand “why”.
  
  Suzie is bright person but very naïve. She made mistake and that cost her very much in her life, makes her wonder if she did the right thing or not, if she hurts someone or not, repairing things will she hurts people who love her. Naively and believing in honesty in other people she goes in Mexico to fix her life. Doing right thing Suzie jumps in many funny situations which make me laugh.
  
  Janice is very good friend, but I don’t like how she act when she finds out the truth; she should wait and clear the things between her and Suzie. She is smart, she has the right well paid job and she finally leads her love life in right direction.
  
  I recommend this book to romance lovers and to the people how like light, funny and warm read with captivating story for the true love and how everyone should fight for it.
• 
  TheCosyDragon

  This review has been crossposted from my blog at
  The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.
  
  Suzie’s current lover is pushing her to set a date for their marriage. The only thing stopping her is the fact that she is already married to a man in Mexico. When an old school friend is planning to go there, Suzie jumps at the chance to set things right, and move on with her life.
  
  Romance. Romance, romance, romance. I forget that I generally don’t enjoy the ‘smoking’ sex scenes or powerful erections. I appreciated the differences between James and Joaquin’s love-making styles, but I wasn’t left asking for more. I read other great romances (Deep Blue) lately, and they just have an individual spark that makes them great. This novel attempted to keep me interested in Mexico, specifically Acapulco, but it just didn’t happen.
  
  I struggled to finish this, and left it sitting on my bedside table, half read for more than a month. When I picked it back up again, I finished it off in half an hour. There just wasn’t enough substance for me in there.
  
  Isn’t Suzie an adult? She is a complete and pathological liar. Poor Suzie, she has to choose between two smoking-hot men, and to do that, she has to insist on having a divorce from a mistimed earlier marriage. Excuse me for not feeling more sympathetic. If you can afford to live in a house by yourself and buy an overpriced coffee once a week, I’m pretty sure you could afford the trip to end the marriage yourself.
  
  I didn’t find myself satisfied with the Mercedes-Suzie dynamic at the ending. I also couldn’t have cared less about who she ended up with. James might be a soft-touch, but I don’t think he’s blameless either, even if he isn’t the total user of Joaquin-standards. Perhaps I would have enjoyed reading it from different perspectives instead.
  
  Didn’t love it. Unless you have a thing for Mexico and love triangles, don’t worry about reading it.
  
• 
  Kendra Needs

  ACAPULCO NIGHTS by K.J. Gillenwater was a fun filled read, with a few serious moments thrown in for good measure.
  
  
  The story in this book was very well written and developed, it is written so well that you would believe that it could happen to anyone (I mean we all take tropical vacations) and the plot is fast paced and will have you busting a gut laughing so hard during some parts of this book. The characters in this book are very well written and Suzie will make it easy to follow her through her journey of life.
  
  
  The story of this book is based around Suzie, who at the tender age of 19 went with her friend to Mexico for a year of school abroad and did the unthinkable and "feel in love" with a local and then did worse than unthinkable when she married him, before they can settle into a life together Suzie runs home when she finds out her father has past away. Fast forward 12 years later, when Suzie has moved on with her life, never have contacted her husband Joaquin again, but she has met and fallen head over heals in love with James. When Suzie's friend Janice invites her for 10 days of fun in Acapulco, Suzie does not want to go, but James encourages her to go, giving them time apart and a chance for Suzie to think, as she has cancelled their wedding three times now. With a plan in mind Suzie heads to Acapulco with her bestie Janice with the hopes of coming home as a divorced women, but we all know life is not the easy. I loved being along for the ride with Suzie as she sees Joaquin again and even more when James surprises her by coming to Acapulco too. Will Suzie get her divorce, will James/Janice find out about her already being married???
  
  
  ACAPULCO NIGHTS by K.J. Gillenwater was my first read by this author, and if she were to write another book about Suzie and her love life I would be first in line to read that book. I would give ACAPULCO NIGHTS 4/5 stars.
  
  
  Reviewed on behalf of Once Upon an Alpha
  
• 
  Colleen (Soggywarmpockets)

  I was sent a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
  
  I’m going to be honest here, this isn’t a book I normally would have picked up for myself. I’m generally not a fan of romance novels, especially ones involving characters older than myself. That being said, this book was somewhat of a pleasant surprise. For one, it most certainly is not a romance like I expected it to be. I found myself drawn in pretty easily and the frequent jumps between flashbacks and the main narrative made it hard to put down. I ended up finishing it in one afternoon. While the characters and dialogue fell a bit flat for me, the story kept me going. I was seriously concerned that things were going to take a very problematic turn when Suzie was reunited with her extremely possessive husband and nearly ended up in bed with him, but thankfully that did not happen. Instead I was caught off guard by an unexpected, yet well-played plot twist that neatly tied everything together. And while I struggled to identify with a protagonist who could have solved all of her problems by simply being honest, I was satisfied with the punishment she received for lying to her fiance and her best friend. Overall it wasn’t a bad read, just not my cup of tea. I have recommended it to my mother and a few others who expressed interest after I told them what it was about.
• 
  Star

  ACAPULCO NIGHTS is Suzie’s story. During her time at college in Mexico, Suzie was wooed and won by Joaquin, eventually resulting in their courthouse wedding. After the wedding, Suzie’s father died and she went home to the States to be with her mother and never looked back. Twelve years later, Suzie has found the man of her dreams and now she must get a divorce from Joaquin in order to marry her fiancé, James. While the story was interesting, I didn’t like Suzie or Joaquin. My favorite characters were Janice and James. I didn’t like Suzie because she knew James had been hurt before from an ex who cheated on him and Suzie never divulged she was married. I also didn’t like Suzie because of t he way she treated Janice, both in the past (through flashbacks) and in the present day. Suzie didn’t come across as a genuine caring friend and she is very immature, especially for a 31-year-old woman. Joaquin is a user and a poser who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. However, ACAPULCO NIGHTS is, overall, a charming story.
• 
  Danielle Urban

  Acapulco Nights by K.J. Gillenwater is magnificently stunning. The plot is incredible. Readers will be sucked into this exciting and adventureous trip as they follow Suzi. Suzi wants a divorce from her Mexican husband and no one but her knows they are still married. Soon things get more stressful and much more complicated. Where will Suzi's heart lay at the end? Acapulco Nights is definitely a novel I would recommend to all. Entertainment, fun, and highly suspenseful. Reader's won't know what to expect next as they follow along. K.J. Gillenwater is a talented writer whose words come right off the pages. This is the first novel, I have read by K.J. Gillenwater and I look forward to reading more by her in the future.
• 
  Susan Csoke

  Suzi and her friend Janice go on an all girl vacation to Acapulco to visit with a third friend, Mercedes and her family. Unbeknowist to her friends Suzi only agreed to go along because she needed to aquire a divorce from her husband Joaquin Hernandez. They have been apart for many years and Suzi has fallen in love with a new guy named James, who has no idea that she is married. THANK YOU GOODREADS FIRSTREADS FOR THIS FREE BOOK!!!!!
• 
  Cheryl

  I received a copy of this book from Goodreads Giveaways. It was a good quick read. Nothing profound. Fun and enjoyable. I would read other book by this author.
• 
  Antoinette Famiano

  I thought the book was great. I loved the characters and I loved the ending. It was an easy book to read and would make a good summer read, but I could not wait till the summer.