Sunday, September 20, 2020

8 Books by Latinx Authors on my TBR for Latinx Heritage Month

*Please note: Each book has a link to Amazon, which is an affiliate link - all earnings go into the upkeep of this blog, and I truly appreciate your support - but if you have a local indie bookshop you can support, please be sure to do so!


Latinx Heritage Month or Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated yearly from September 15th through October 15th in the United States, while Hispanic Heritage Month or Latin America Heritage Month is celebrated in October here in Canada. Whatever you call it and whether you recognize it from mid-September to mid-October or through the month of October, it’s the perfect time to learn about and celebrate Latinx culture and history. Like with other yearly month-long observances - Pride Month, Black History Month, Indigenous History Month, etc - we should be celebrating and learning all year long, not just during the ‘designated’ month, but that designated month is a good place to start!


I’ve been doing my best to diversify my reading in the last few years, but especially this year. As a white person, I feel it’s important to read about experiences that are different from my own and to read not just books about racism and anti-racism or the hardships people of colour face, but also the stories about people of colour experiencing joy and getting their happily ever afters. Everyone deserves to see themselves on the pages of books about magic and romance and happiness, and I’m so excited to see more of these books coming out every month, written by BIPOC authors and featuring BIPOC characters.


So, to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, I’ve compiled a list of eight of the books on my TBR that are written by Latinx and Afro-Latinx authors that I’m most excited to read. I’ve become a mood reader and I’m in a bit of a weird semi-slump, so I have no idea how many of these I’ll actually manage to read in the next month, but I’m going to try for at least three.



You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria
Published: August 4th, 2020

Publisher: Avon

Genre: Contemporary Romance

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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 worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had. 

 

Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars. 

 

With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.



The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
Published: February 4th, 2020

Publisher: Avon

Genre: Contemporary Romance

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A wedding planner left at the altar. Yeah, the irony isn’t lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina’s managed to make other people’s dreams come true as a top-tier wedding coordinator in DC. After impressing an influential guest, she’s offered an opportunity that could change her life. There’s just one hitch…she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials.


Tired of living in his older brother’s shadow, marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he’ll be working with his brother’s whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.


If they can survive the next few weeks and nail their presentation without killing each other, they’ll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina’s ready to dish out a little payback of her own.


But even the best laid plans can go awry, and soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn’t interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again...



Finding Joy by Adriana Herrera 
Published: June 22nd, 2020

Publisher: Self-published

Genre: Contemporary Romance/LGBTQ+

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As his twenty-sixth birthday approaches, Desta Joy Walker finds himself in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the one place he's been actively avoiding most of his life. For Desta, the East African capital encompasses some of the happiest and saddest parts of his life--his first home and the place where his father died. When an unavoidable work obligation lands him there for twelve weeks, he may finally have a chance for the closure he so desperately needs. What Desta never expected was to catch a glimpse of his future as he reconnects with the beautiful country and his family's past.

 

Elias Fikru has never met an opportunity he hasn't seized. Except, of course, for the life-changing one he's stubbornly ignored for the past nine months. He'd be a fool not to accept the chance to pursue his doctoral studies in the U.S., but saying yes means leaving his homeland, and Elias isn't ready to make that commitment.

 

Meeting Desta, the Dominican-American emergency relief worker with the easy smile and sad eyes, makes Elias want things he's never envisioned for himself. Rediscovering his country through Desta's eyes emboldens Elias to reach for a future where he can be open about every part of himself. But when something threatens the future that's within their grasp, Elias and Desta must put it all on the line for love.



Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Published: September 1st, 2020

Publisher: Swoon Reads

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy/LGBTQ+

Add to Goodreads || Buy on Amazon


Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

 

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

 

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.


 

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova
Published: September 6th, 2016

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy

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I was chosen by the Deos. Even gods make mistakes.

 

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo she can’t trust, but who may be Alex’s only chance at saving her family.

 

 

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez
Published: January 7th, 2020

Publisher: Page Street Books

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Add to Goodreads || Buy on Amazon


Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena’s motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight.

 

When Atoc demands the real Condesa’s hand in marriage, it’s Ximena’s duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc’s no longer carrying his deadly relic. If Ximena can find it, she can return the true aristócrata to their rightful place.

 

She hunts for the relic, using her weaving ability to hide messages in tapestries for the resistance. But when a masked vigilante, a warm-hearted princess, and a thoughtful healer challenge Ximena, her mission becomes more complicated. There could be a way to overthrow the usurper without starting another war, but only if Ximena turns her back on revenge—and her Condesa.

 

 

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Published: May 7th, 2019

Publisher: Quill Tree Books

Genre: Contemporary Young Adult

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With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain—and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free. 


 

Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemorePublished: September 22nd, 2020

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: Young Adult Magical Realism/LGBTQ+

Add to Goodreads || Buy on Amazon


There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or why her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands. So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.



Have you read any of these books? Who are some of your favourite Latinx authors?



 

 


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~Marie

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