SPOILERS IN THIS POST
I devoured the Latine Romantic Comedy First Comes Amor by Cynthia A. Rodriquez in about 24 hours over Mother’s Day Weekend. It stars Dani, an accidently pregnant FMC who is tenderly cared for by a chef named Quintin. In this post, I’m sharing all the cute interconnected things I decided to annotate in the novel.
A Note on My Edition:
The page numbers for the quotes and patterns I suggest annotating below correspond to the gorgeous Cover Snob LLC special edition of First Comes Amor by Cynthia A. Rodriguez (ISBN: 979-8-9996174-2-2). If you ‘re reading a different version, page numbers may not exactly match up, but chapters certainly will remain the same. I recommend using the chapters to find the quote in your exact edition, if pages do not match up with my lists below.
Annotation Topic: Quintin Buys a House
In his first scene, Quintin stands outside his new apartment thinking about how he is not ready to buy a house. Little does he know, he will be family man by Christmas Eve, renovating a brownstone for himself, the woman who lives in the apartment next door, and the daughter have together.
quote one
“While this building isn’t one I’d typically be interested in, it’s close to everywhere I need to be, and I’m not ready to buy a house right now. Not when all that empty space will only serve to remind me just how alone I am.
I can’t give up living in the city. It may be the only thing keeping me from feeling lonely. Someone is always coming or going.”
Chapter 1, p 5
quote two
“I wonder what home will feel like for the baby,” she whispers, and I remain silent, hoping she’ll continue. “Home for me feels like my mom’s house. We moved there when I was around ten, but I can’t remember a happier place. All my happiest holidays were there.”
[…]
I want to buy her a house where she can make those same kinds of memories with the baby. I mean, if I’m treating her like the woman carrying my baby, which, for all intents and purposes, is the case, I would be buying her a house.
Chapter 20, p 228-229
quote three
“Life felt so much easier when I knew what I was getting into. I knew I’d buy us a house, knew I’d be getting a family vehicle. I knew that, in this life, I would come home to her every night.”
Chapter 23, p 287
quote four
“I was working on buying her a house—”
“Buy the lucky bitch a house.”
Chapter 26, p X
quotes five-eight
He shuts the door behind him, and then I’m sitting in silence as I watch him walk up to the front door of one of the houses. It’s beautiful, the Victorian style making me sigh at its charm. The brick exterior feels like it’s a piece of the city, those brownstones always feeling so homey and appealing to me.
Chapter 27, p 295
“Home,” he tells me, a secret smile on his face. “Or it could be. I asked for it to be staged for you to decide if you could see us here.” Us? “Us?”
Chapter 27, p 296
This single man put a car seat in the brand-new SUV he bought to drive us to the house he wants us to live in. Certainly not the way I pictured my Christmas going when I woke up this morning.
Chapter 27, p x
quote nine
It’ll be months living together in her tiny apartment, but the baby will come home to our house, and that’s what matters most.
Chapter 28, p 303
Annotation Topic: Did you notice that Santana opens and closes the novel?
I LOVED how the final line answers the opening line, which are both uttered by Santana. The novel starts racously with Santana frankly talking about sex, as is her style.
opening line:
“I’m pretty sure there’s a shortage of decent penis in this city.”
Chapter 1, page 1
The novel ends just as raucously with her too in “The Lost Chapter.” She’s tired of the Chicago “shortage,” which she spoke of so boldly in the opening line. Plus, at this ending point, she he’s fresh off of kneeing the groin of a very indecent man on Dani’s behalf. The assault is her final piece of retributive business before jet setting to Vegas, a city where things are hopefully much more “decent” for her over the weekend.
final line:
“But I’m headed to Vegas for the weekend anyway.”
The Lost Chapter, p 318
Annotation Topic: Rose Scent & The Fondant White Rose
Dani smells like roses, something Quintin notices and loves right aware. In a sweet ode to the scent he loves, Quintin sculpts her an edible a fondant rose in his kitchen and gives it to her.
annotate the rose scent he loves
I can still smell her in my apartment, some sort of rose scent that knocked me silly when she first opened her door.
Chapter 4, p 39
I want to steal her next breath, feel her flesh beneath my palms, immerse myself in her rose scent. Her eyes sparkle as my thoughts take this turn, and I let myself sink into the warmth of the moment.
Chapter 9, p 92
annotate the rose gift he made
“I brought you food and—”
I notice the white rose in his hand, sitting perfectly in a small plastic container, and he pauses, glancing down at it. He offers a grin that only perks up one side of his face and a shrug. “I made this. As a friendly gesture.”
“You made it?” I ask, peering at the white rose he holds up. I bring my hand up to rest my fingers on my lips, waiting for him to respond. He licks his own lips before he answers.
“Well, I’ve been taking some baking and cake decorating classes from my dessert chef in my free time, and…”Chapter 11, p X
“I tried to replicate the flower from Beauty and the Beast,” he confesses, and I squint as I grin at this beautiful cheesy man.
Chapter 13, p 133
Annotation Topic: Quintin’s Penchant for Fairy Tales
A list to annotate!
- Cinderella, Chapter 6, p 55
- Cinderella, Chapter 6, p 60
- Prince Charming, Chapter 13, p 131
- Beauty & The Beast, Chapter 13, p 133
- Little Red Riding Hood, Chapter 14, p 152
- Cinderella, Chapter 16, p 171
- Happily Ever After, Chapter 20, p 230
- Villain or Prince Charming, Chapter 21, p 236
- Fairy Tale, Chapter 27, p 297
- Happily Ever After, Chapter 29, p 311
The quote below is worth tabbing within the category of fairy tales too, even though it isn’t 100% a fairytale quote. The quote touches on innocence, pretend, and childhood dreams, all of which are adjacent to fairy tales.
For all this time, we were able to ignore that this isn’t his biological child. We pretended and played house like some lovesick kids. But today, reality stared us down, forcing us to acknowledge the truth.
Chapter 22, p 246
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If you liked the way the pregnancy trope was handled in First Comes Amor, be sure to check out Tarah Dewitt’s final novel in the Spunes trilogy Lost and Found. I think you’ll appreciate the pregnancy story in that novel too. I reviewed an ARC of this story here: https://annotatewithsara.com/2026/04/05/arc-review-lost-and-found-by-tarah-dewitt/
Annotate With Sara 