Reviewed by Grant Leishman, Reader's Favorite March 2020

 

I found Puerto Rican Love Stories a nice break from my usual reading fare.   

For me, the standout story in this collection is actually the first one; The Oligarch and the Poet. Two things that attracted me to this story were the wealth of information on Puerto Rico’s culture and history that was uncovered in the telling of the narrative, along with a beautifully crafted and written love affair. I enjoyed this story immensely. Similarly, the story of Isabel was sweet, heartrending, and inspiring, as we see the courage of a young, incredibly smart girl growing up in a rough neighborhood of New York and the struggles she faced every day just to attend school and to keep safe. This story was one of the highlights of the book. Finally, the tale of unrequited love that was Ventura’s story was sad, sweet, and poignant. All the stories in this book have something to commend them but those three certainly stood out for me.    

 

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Review Rating: 5 Stars                      Reviewed By Maria Victoria Beltran for Readers’ Favorite June 2020

 

Nenadich Street: Poems and Passages is filled with provocative poetry and essays mainly on love and romance. Sometimes strong, sometimes vulnerable, but always feminine, the poems are like streams of thoughts that accidentally group together to form beautiful metaphors and similes. 

. . . a collection of poems and essays coming from a proud feminine voice. Humorous, sarcastic, playful, and socially relevant, the theme revolves around a woman's journey and how she handles feelings of love, hope, failures, relationships, romance, and yes, sex. Some poems are very earthy, while some are extremely delicate and seem too perfect for this imperfect world. The poems and essays in this collection are relatively short but, surprisingly, they manage to tell a lot of stories. C. P. Florez is indeed a poet and essayist with her own distinct style and voice, and her next book is definitely worth watching out for.

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                                                                    The Daughter Bond Reviewed by Booklife  2025

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Set in 1994 when the new Crime Bill included the Violence Against Women Act, Florez's evocative, heart-rending debut plunges readers into a moving exploration of grief, trauma, and the painstaking journey toward healing.

Florez compellingly illuminates the systemic struggles faced by Puerto Rican women: entrenched racism, cycles of abuse, and the infancy of mental health treatment

Florez's prose is laced with solemnity and empathy while remaining incisive against these urgent biases.

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Florez's prose is laced with solemnity and empathy while remaining incisive . . . an intriguing supernatural twist drives the narrative with eerie mysticism.