THE LATINA BOOK CLUB

  The Latina Book Club is doing something different for Valentine’s Day .  We bring you an interview with Juana Velasco  the Heroine of MELT WITH YOU by S.E. Lewinski. We wanted some friendly romance advice.     Juana is a tough, sassy, street-smart, food truck loving, proud Mexican woman. She has a great sense of humor and doesn’t let anything get her down, not being poor, not being fired again!, and not finding Mr. Right. It takes work and “huge fricking cojones,” but Juana makes her dreams come true and opens her own nail salon. Her success brings prosperity to her family, gives her brothers new purpose, and makes Taco, her furry partner, an overnight sensation. The search for Mr. Right might be over if Antoine gives her a second chance.  Our fingers are crossed for Juana!  Read Chapter 1 by clicking here .     Q&A WITH JUANA Latina Book Club: Have you heard from Antoine? How is the long distance romance with your undercov...

   Vibrant. Sexy. Fun.      Alexis Daria reminds us that telenovelas are pleasurable and sexy.   This is NOT your Abuela’s telenovela.    YOU HAD ME A HOLA is an amusing romp with memorable characters set in the Big Apple, in the middle of soap opera central.   (Published by HarperCollins.) BOOK SUMMARY:   Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.  After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.  Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy .  After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worri...

Delacorte Press, 1991 But just then, for that fraction of time, it seems as though all things are possible. You can look across the limitations of your own life, and see that they are really nothing. In that moment when time stops, it is as though you know you could undertake any venture, complete it and come back to yourself, to find the world unchanged, and everything just as you left it a moment before. And it's as though knowing that everything is possible, suddenly nothing is necessary.   Before there was GAME OF THRONES, there was OUTLANDER.   A time travel romance with an epic love triangle, spellbinding passion, rich history, exhilarating adventures and extraordinary characters.   Eight books and several novellas later, the OUTLANDER series is a major hit on paper and on screen.   In fact, PBS’ The Great American Read declared it one of the Top Ten Best-Loved Novels in America.   And, Starz is currently playing Season 5.  ...

The Latina Book Club supports our Black Brothers and Sisters   and our Afro Latinx / Black Latinx Communities during these hard times.   Black Lives Matter.    We See You. We Hear You.   We Support You. Aside from donating money to the different organizations supporting the movement and the protesters, we want to support Afro-Latinx / Black Latinx authors by purchasing and reading their books.   Below is a short list in no particular order.   We welcome additions to this list.     Happy Reading.   Take care and Stay Safe.   20 AFRO LATINX  /  BLACK LATINX WRITERS  NO ONE IS ILLEGAL: FIGHTING RACISM AND STATE VIOLENCE IN THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER   by Justin Akers Chacón and Mike Davis (Haymarket Books) AN AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINX HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES By Paul Ortiz (Beacon Press) 13 WAYS TO LOOK AT A BLACK BOY By Tony Medina & 13 Artists ...

Vintage Books  1985 Think of love as a state of grace: not the means to anything but the alpha and omega, an end in itself. —Florentino This novel by Gabriel García Márquez seems very apropos for this time. We are under a pandemic, and the protagonists in this historic novel are under their own pandemic.   Of course, it takes 50+ years before the boy gets the girl, but love is forever. Some readers have problems with Florentino.   He seems an obsessive Don Juan – bedding everything with breasts—and yet still insists that he is a “virgin,” that he only has one love. Is it because Fermina is the one who got away, or because she is the other half of his soul? Readers have been battling over this question for over 50 years, and will probably continue to do so for another 50.   Read it again and let us know where you stand.   Happy Reading.—mcf LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (EL AMOR EN LOS TIEMPOS DE COLERA) was first published in 1985. It...

Happy Valentine’s Week!   The Latina Book Club is doing mini interviews with Latino / Latinx authors about Latin Lovers, favorite couples, and best presents to give this week.    We are pleased to welcome USA Today Bestselling Author Priscilla Oliveras.   She is a double RITA Finalist.   The RITA is the Oscar for the romance industry.   (Congrats, Congrats, Priscilla!!)    Her novel, THEIR PERFECT MELODY, is book three in her Matched to Perfection series, about three sexy, sassy Puerto Rican sisters.  And we are looking forward to her new series from Kensington in 2020. Photo by Michael A. Eaddy LBC:   Welcome, Priscilla.   Valentine’s Day is upon us, and nothing says romance more than a Latin Lover, or does it?  What do you think of the Latin Lover— is he a Macho Man, Eye Candy or other?   PRISCILLA:   Honestly, I tend to shy away from the idea of the “Latin Lover” because often it b...

Quintin Bauer Press To all the girls I’ve loved before… Guillermo Vidal is grateful for all the women who came into his life to teach him many valuable lessons about beauty, love and hope.   He’s also grateful to his brother Roberto from whom he got the title for this book.   Guillermo Vida’s new memoir -- CATCH AND RELEASE: One Man’s Improbable Search for True Love and the Meaning of Life -- is funny, surprising and entertaining.   It’s Golden Girls meets Grumpy Old Men.   Readers will be please to learn that men also angst over meeting women, about what to wear, what to say, what to reveal.   A cute read about a man looking for love. Guillermo had a hard upbringing as he came to this country from Cuba as a child and a political exile.   He was raised in a Colorado orphanage, but he grew up to be Mayor of Denver, and almost Governor of Colorado and almost a member of Obama’s cabinet.   But two divorces and some negative politi...

KENSINGTON Sensual. Daring. Funny. Heartfelt.   Zoey Castile’s debut contemporary romance sizzles.   It’s Magic Mike meets Bridemaids.    STRIPPED is the first in what promises to be a very hot and erotic series full of skilled, sculpted and sexy men in the adult entertainment industry.   Readers will enjoy the bold characters; the novel’s fast pace; and, the seductive dance between our protagonists.   Robyn Flores is in bridesmaid hell.   Her best friend is getting married; she’s a horrible maid of honor; and the groom’s sister is coordinating all the fun bachelorette activities that Robyn is supposed to be doing. And, if that didn’t prove she was a failure, her continued lateness at the school where she teaches gets her called into the principal’s office.   Only good thing in her life is the sexy guy next door.   Their laundry bags were switched and she ended up with his star-spangled thong.   Of course, she wants to ...

The Latina Book Club has been celebrating Valentine’s and Galentine’s Days all week long. Each day we featured a new Latina romance author for your reading pleasure. We’ve come to the end of our celebration. We know that there are other numerous Latina romance authors out there and we are on a mission to discover them all. Meanwhile, w e wish you much joy in the New Year and remind you to always Read Latino Lit and Read Romance. DID YOU KNOW?! Romance Readers are loyal. 61% of them are reading the same amount of romance novels as they were a year ago.  In fact, 23% of romance readers are reading more! MEET LIANA DE LA ROSA Liana De La Rosa writes historical romance with a touch of spice.  Her stories are set in the Georgian and late Regency periods. She is a longtime fan of the romance genre, and can remember sneaking Harlequins into her bedroom to read on the sly. After her second child was born, her husband challenged her to write her own ...