It was a powerful romance, but so was Beatriz commitment to the cause. I adored them together even when they fought. The romance is a forbidden one and the kind you never forget. I fell hard for the characters, especially Nick and her cousin. While the story is entirely fictional, Cleeton does weave in factual history giving the story an authentic vibe I love in stories such as these. I loved her story and the forbidden romance nestled amongst the pages between daring missions and covert spying. She is young, about twenty-two at the beginning of this story, but the tale begins with her as an older woman and ends the same. From the history to the culture she captured everything from the political climate to the Cuban people.

I adored Cleeton’s contemporary romances, but you can tell she has come home in this genre. While her father tries to rebuild his wealth and her mother tries to marry them off, Beatriz Perez works with the CIA, to infiltrate Fidel Castro’s inner circle. The Perez family has left Cuba and relocated to South Florida.

Rich in the history of the 1960s and the Cold War, it also shares a forbidden romance as Beatriz fights to free her beloved Cuba.

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton shares Beatriz Perez’s story. When the ever-changing tides of history threaten everything she has fought for, she must make a choice between her past and future-but the wrong move could cost Beatriz everything-not just the island she loves, but also the man who has stolen her heart. Recruited by the CIA to infiltrate Fidel Castro's inner circle and pulled into the dangerous world of espionage, Beatriz is consumed by her quest for revenge and her desire to reclaim the life she lost.Īs the Cold War swells like a hurricane over the shores of the Florida Strait, Beatriz is caught between the clash of Cuban American politics and the perils of a forbidden affair with a powerful man driven by ambitions of his own. The Cuban Revolution took everything from sugar heiress Beatriz Perez-her family, her people, her country. In 1960s Florida, a young Cuban exile will risk her life-and heart-to take back her country in this exhilarating historical novel from the author of Next Year in Havana, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.

When we left cuba book review