THE BROPOSAL

A queer bromance between two Latine men touches on the structural racism in American immigration policy.

Roommates Alejandro and Kenny have been close since childhood, but Han’s status as an undocumented Mexican immigrant and Kenny’s relationship with an abusive girlfriend have increasingly strained their bond. Then Kenny breaks up with Jackie, who wants him to choose her over Han, just as Han loses his job and a chance to apply for permanent U.S. residency. When Kenny, who’s bisexual, proposes that the two of them marry to protect Han, who is straight identifying, their troubles seem to be over—but fake love starts to feel all too real, even as the two men are beset by a cascade of problems: Han’s new job at a restaurant is shadowed by fears of deportation and a shady manager’s creative accounting; Jackie continues to reappear like a horror-movie monster; Han’s family trauma ratchets up with his mother’s death back in Mexico; and he also sustains an injury at work. Reyes’ take on the “fake dating” and “marriage of convenience” tropes focuses on Han’s precarious citizenship as the primary tension in the story, rather than homophobia or the aftereffects of coming out, the more commonplace barriers in a queer romance. The men’s Mexican and Mexican American families are largely supportive, rather than being portrayed as more stereotypically conservative characters, but Jackie is a caricatured spurned woman who uses pregnancy to manipulate people. The two men’s affection and sexual chemistry are fun to read, but several episodes of teary melodrama bog down the book’s second half.

A slightly overwrought but sweet romance for readers who enjoy New Adult angst.