Review: "The Ex-Perimento" by Maria J. Morillo

The Ex-Perimento by Maria J. Morillo
Published February 2026 via Berkley
★★★★

Maria has it all worked out—her next career step, her boyfriend's (imminent, she's sure) proposal, what the wedding will look like and where they'll live and vacation. Yes, her boss is a bit of a diva, and no, Alejandro's family doesn't like her much, and no, her friends and family don't like Alejandro much...but they're meant to be. That is, until he breaks up with her, and the resulting fallout torpedos her job, and suddenly all of those plans are dust. There's just one thing to do: Get Alejandro—and with him her job—back.

I read this for the setting. I've read precious few books set in Venezuela—the most recent was Paula Ramón's memoir Motherland, I think, and the idea of a romance novel set in Caracas piqued my interest. So I think this'll be a two-parter: the romance, and the setting.

The romance: In her quest to get Alejandro back, Maria enlists Simón, the lead singer of one of her favorite bands...who just so happens to be the on-screen talent she's assisting at the temporary gig she scores while trying to find her way back to her journalism job. As a male lead, Simón is super solid: He's honest about what he thinks of Maria's "experimento" (that Maria can do better, but if Alejandro is the guy she wants, she's going about it all wrong), but when Maria is determined to sally forth anyway, he commits to his job as wingman. There's clear chemistry between Maria and Simón, but he lets her figure it out on her own time, which felt surprisingly refreshing. It probably helps that his band is written as popular, but in an up-and-coming way rather than an international-sensation way—the book doesn't have to take pains to paint him as down to earth despite his success, because that success is...aspirational without being unrealistic, I suppose.

The setting: I'm guessing here, but I'd say that Morillo is making a concentrated effort to depict a Venezuela that she knows and loves—not the side of Venezuela that is so often depicted in the international news. I've never been to Venezuela and am running on guesswork and Googling, but my understanding is that most people in Venezuela are not living as comfortably as Maria. I noted three (relatively oblique) mentions of Venezuela's precarious political/financial situation in the book, but other than that the book is largely written in a way that suggests that the worst is over and things are stable again. Again, mine is not the analysis I'd trust on the subject, but I don't know how realistic it is. That isn't really a criticism, though: This is romance, not hard-hitting nonfiction, and more than that I can well imagine an author from a country that does not get a lot of press, let alone good press, wanting readers to come away from the book focused on the country's treasures, not its struggles. So: Don't read this to learn about Venezuela's current political situation, but do read it if you like having fuel for your wanderlust.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.