firewhiskeyreader

This is Round Five of the ContemporaryAThon, hosted by Chelsea from chelseadolling reads, Julie from pagesandpen, Natasha from myreadingisodd, and Melanie from meltotheany. I think I’ve participated in every round of this readathon and this year, since it falls within Latinx Heritage Month, I’m going to try to tailor this TBR to maximize reads from Latinx authors. Let’s get to the books!

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Read a 2019 Release

Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno is my pick for this challenge. From what I understand, this book is a YA contemporary about a Cuban American teen whose family has been cursed in a way that makes it dangerous to date them. So, of course, there’s a love interest (specifically a boy). And I think there’s an element about needing to save her town.

Read a contemporary with yellow on the cover

Level Up by Cathy Yardley is my pick for this one and I am so excited. An adult romantic comedy, Level Up follows Tessa Rodriguez, a woman determined to get a promotion to video game engineer. She asks her roommate, Adam, for help and sparks fly!

Read a diverse contemporary

Pride by Ibi Zoboi is narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo so I am pumped about listening to this book. Pride is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice and tackles topics like gentrification.

Read a contemporary with an illustrated cover

Dani was kind enough to send me her ARC of Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory, which is about Maddie’s (from The Wedding Party) mom, whom Maddie asks to accompany her to London. Maddie’s mom meets a man in London and romance ensues. I have always enjoyed Guillory’s writing in the past, though I must admit her marketing strategy has left quite a lot to be desired.

Read a dark / hard-hitting contemporary

Thirsty by Mia Hopkins. If I keep putting this book on TBRs, at some point I’ll actually read it, right? Thirsty is written solely from the hero’s, Salvador Rosas, perspective after he gets out of prison and finds a place to stay at Vanessa Velasca’s place. Vanessa is a single mother. I think the gang that Salvador was in comes back at some point?

Read a contemporary with plants on the cover

This is maybe cheating, but The Write Escape by Charish Reid (out on September 30th, aka my birthday!) has grass on the cover and grass is basically a plant. In this book, the main woman character goes to Ireland on a solo honeymoon after losing her job and her love interest. But she obviously finds a new one in Ireland, so all’s well that ends well (to end up with you).

Read a contemporary that is beloved by a member of the book community (and shout out the creator!)

Stripped by Zoey Castille is my pick for this one, which Paola Mancera shouted out specifically in this really awesome Latinx Book Recommendations collaboration video that I would highly recommend watching.