Acclaimed author of the Reese Witherspoon YA Book Club Pick Furia, Yamile Saied Méndez makes her adult fiction debut with this sparkling, whimsical novel of an accomplished young woman who discovers what it really means to come into her own … One month short of her wedding day—and her thirtieth birthday—Nadia Palacio finds herself standing up to her infuriating, cheating fiancé for the first time in … well, ever. But that same courage doesn’t translate to breaking the news to her Argentinian family. She’s hyperventilating before facing them when she glimpses a magazine piece about a Latina woman celebrating herself—with a second quinceañera, aka Sweet 15! And that gives Nadia a brilliant idea … With a wedding venue already paid for, and family from all over the world with plane tickets, Nadia is determined to create her own happily-ever-after. Since the math adds up perfectly, she’ll celebrate her treintañera, her double quinces. As the first professional in her family, raising a glass to her achievements is the best plan she’s had in years. Until she discovers that the man in charge of the venue is none other than her college fling that became far more than a fling. And he looks even more delicious than a three-tiered cake … Full of exuberant heart, Twice a Quinceañera is a pure delight for every woman who needs to be her own biggest fan—and who dreams of a second chance at first love.
Release date:
February 9, 2022
Publisher:
Kensington Books
Print pages:
44
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If only there were a way to one-click a magic control remote to rewind, speed up, or pause time! If only there were a way to get a second chance, to do things right once and for all.
It wasn’t the first time Nadia Palacio wished for this. But now, sitting in her car as she tried to gather the strength to face her family, the desire was stronger than ever. The difference was that this time, it wasn’t because she regretted what she’d done. Quite the opposite.
Finally, she’d stood up for herself like she stood up for other people. She just wasn’t ready to deal with the consequences. Not yet.
What she needed was a pause button that would give her space to breathe. To think. But even if her world had come crashing down, Planet Earth still kept spinning like a music box ballerina.
Instead of a waltz, the sounds playing in Nadia’s mind were like Thor having a demolition party with his hammer in her life.
Since last night, she’d done a lot of breaking.
She’d broken up with Brandon, her fiancé of five years. Her boyfriend since high school. She’d demolished his lies, his endless gaslighting.
But she hadn’t come out unscathed. She’d walked out of the fight with a heart smashed to smithereens and her confidence the size of the dust motes dancing in the sunbeams that slashed through the windshield of her car.
And now, no matter how Nadia broke the news to her family, her Wonder Woman alter ego would go down the toilet. Part of her wanted to barge inside the house to get it over with. It’s not like she was a teenager who’d stormed out of the house, screaming an empty threat never to return, only to do so three months later with the tail between her legs to own up to her errors.
But that’s how she felt, sitting in the driveway of her parents’ home.
From the moment her family had arrived in the United States from Argentina when she was twelve, Nadia had been happy in the split-level cream-colored house. She still made her run for it at the first chance she got, with a full-ride scholarship under her arm and the expectations of the whole family on her shoulders. When she returned a few years later, it was with two shiny diplomas and a set of fancy letters at the end of her name: Nadia Palacio, JD.
The first professional in the family. Not just her parents, Ernesto and Virginia, and her sister, Isabella. No. She was first in the whole Palacio clan, an irrational number of people scattered all over the world, most of whom were getting ready right at this moment to make the trek to Orem, Utah to celebrate Nadia’s wedding with her trophy fiancé, Brandon.
Except that there wasn’t going to be a wedding anymore. Brandon was vacating their apartment—her apartment—as she tried to gather the courage to come clean to her family.
Nadia placed her forehead on the steering wheel of her sensible slate Subaru Outback. “Ay. Dios mío, help me,” she whispered. She wasn’t particularly religious. But she needed divine intervention now more than ever.
She waited for a heavenly voice to tell her what to do, how to do it, or at least, comfort her and assure her that everything would be all right. But the only sounds were the birds fluttering among the trees and Tinkerbell the Yorkie barking at them. Maybe the gods were sending her a saving message, but Nadia didn’t speak bird nor dog. She was on her own.
She dried the sweat off the palms of her hands on her magic black slacks. They were magic because they had the power to erase her curves from the eyes of the jerks at the law firm. It had taken four years, but after holding off indecent advances and demeaning comments, she had her first solo case in a family feud over some property. There was something soothing in using the law to help other families fix their problems when she couldn’t even face her parents.
As if she had summoned the devils from the office, her phone chirped and vibrated in her pocket, startling her. She glanced at the screen. . .
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