Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream

Last year I adored Tehlor Kay Mejia‘s adult debut, Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review, and I knew I wanted to read more from them. So I was excited to read their new romance, Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream. Set in the same world as the previous book, this one introduces us Cash, a single mom, and the queer awakening she goes through when she starts having sexy dreams about best friend, Inez. The two women are also trying to save the bar they work at, rallying their small town community to stop gentrification.

Special thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Dell and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Review

Just like the author’s previous book, Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream is written in such an engaging way. The characters jump off the pages from the beginning, and falling into their vivid world is easy. Cash (short for Cassandra) is a single mom to her six-year-old daughter, Parker, and runs the only bar in town, Joyce’s. But when her ex-manager (and former hookup partner) Chase returns from Seattle with plans to open a new bar, Cash is determined to not only prevent his gentrifying mission, but to spruce up Joyce’s to make it an even better place for locals to gather. Joyce’s owners are reluctant to put in the money needed for its makeover, but together with Cash’s best friend Inez, they’ll do what it takes to rally the whole town of Ridley Falls together. Speaking of Inez, is it normal that Cash, a straight woman, is having sexy dreams about her best friend? What does it mean? How would Inez feel if she knew?

The biggest theme throughout Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream is Cash’s queer awakening. Despite her many rebellions as a teenager, she’s always seen herself as straight, so she doesn’t know what to do about her naughty dreams starring Inez. Is Cash a lesbian and never knew it? How could she have missed this at her age? Cash may also be using Parker as an excuse not to explore her sexuality; indeed, small towns aren’t always kind to those in the LGBTQ+ community, and Cash doesn’t want Parker to take the repercussions of her mom’s lifestyle. Moreover, Cash doesn’t want to ruin the only real friendship she has. What would Inez (an out lesbian herself) think? What if things didn’t work out between them?

In addition to the tentative friends-to-lovers romance, I also liked seeing Cash’s career perseverance and how she is able to connect with her small town community. She has big ideas and isn’t afraid to go after them. It may even involve help from Sammy Espinoza, star of the previous novel. It’s nice to catch up with where she’s at, some five years after those events. (Some other characters also make small cameos.) Cash had dropped out of high school and doesn’t have much, but she’s determined and has been a skilled manager at the bar. She deserves so much more success and control, especially given how much she’s putting into saving Joyce’s.

Cash is also a wonderful mother to Parker. Really, Parker steals every scene she’s in. She’s such a fun character, and so wise beyond her years! Granny O’Connor is on the other end of the age spectrum, but she also lights up each scene she appears in. Leave it the the very young and very old to bring the sass and charm!

Final Thoughts

Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream is a wonderfully written and captivating novel about when two women realize they may be more than just friends, even when one of them is facing redefining her entire sense of identity in the process. It straddles the line between women’s fiction and romance, creating a rich world that feels amorous yet so real. I adored this book and already can’t wait to read more from Tehlor Kay Mejia.

Get the Book

You can buy Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Cash Delgado Is Living the Dream by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Series	(#2)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Romance; Women’s Fiction
Setting	Washington State
Number of Pages	288
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	July 2, 2024
Publisher	Dell

Official Summary

A small-town bartender juggles motherhood and a sexual awakening in this heartwarming queer friends-to-lovers romance from the author of Sammy Espinoza’s Last Review.

Cash Delgado has a good life in the quaint town of Ridley Falls. She has Joyce’s Bar, where she manages a familiar group of regulars and emcees the ever-popular Karaoke Thursday. She has her six-year-old daughter, Parker, whose spunky attitude always keeps life interesting. And she has her best friend, Inez O’Conner, who improves Cash’s sometimes overly responsible outlook with one full of joy and potential.

But change is on the horizon when Chase Stanton, the former bar manager at Joyce’s (not to mention Cash’s last hookup), returns to town with business prospects that could threaten the local institution and all of Cash’s plans to someday bring new life to the place. And if that isn’t enough, Cash starts having very intimate dreams of Inez. Dreams that could threaten the foundation of her well-ordered life.

As Cash embarks on a reluctant journey of self-discovery, she’s forced to confront all the ways she’s been hiding in her own life. But will she choose to remain the same, or will the desire for love (even a love that looks different than she ever imagined) prove worth the risk?