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Twice a Quinceañera
An accomplished young woman decides to throw herself a quinceañera (times two) for her 30th birthday after calling off her wedding, but then 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.
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.
312 pages, Paperback
First published July 26, 2022
195 people are currently reading
14431 people want to read
About the author
Yamile Saied Méndez
44 books723 followersYamile (sha-MEE-lay) is a fútbol obsessed Argentine-American. She’s the mother of 5 kids and 2 adorable dogs. Yamile’s an inaugural Walter Dean Meyers Grant recipient, a graduate of Voices of our Nation (VONA) and the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA Writing for Children program.
She’s represented by Linda Camacho, from the Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
She’s represented by Linda Camacho, from the Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 563 reviews
August 20, 2023
I myself was going to have a quinceañera but decided last minute that I didn’t want to when my dad convinced me to instead 1) use some of the money to go somewhere and/or do something I like instead (I went to a concert in Las Vegas) and 2) save that money up for college. Truly one of the best decisions of my life for me. I don’t regret it at all. My mom is still sad I didn’t have it because I was going to be living one of her childhood dreams, but I always look back to it and think about how uncomfortable and exhausted I would be during that event, especially considering what I was going through at that age. But, I think the idea of having your own “treintañera,” which is what Nadia in Twice a Quinceañera has, is something that should be somewhat common. The concept of this story is quite unique and interesting. The idea of a thirty-year-old woman deciding to cancel her wedding after catching her fiancé cheating on her and making it into a “treintañera” is fascinating. But the entire premise of it did not live up to the expectations I had of this.
I absolutely loved this author's YA debut, Furia, so I was excited for this when I heard about it. I requested an ARC on NetGalley immediately after hearing about it and was shocked and happy when I found out I got approved. But as I continued reading, my excitement only dwindled, and I found myself not rooting for any of the characters, reading for the sake of finishing, and feeling miserable as the story progressed.
For starters, I think it’s important to note that this story is not a contemporary romance, more like women’s fiction. It centers on the life of Nadia and her self-discovery, including the people around her, the relationship she develops, and the new life she makes for herself. We mostly follow her and the new journey she decides to make for herself as she gets inspired to celebrate her thirty years instead of her marriage.
Nadia, in some ways, was a very lovable character. Strong and inspiring, she had qualities about her I absolutely loved. Not only was she a first-generation Argentinian-American lawyer who decided to pursue her career after being inspired by a situation I can relate to (which is what made me curious about immigration law in the first place as well), her determination to make a change in the world to help people like her and her family was nothing but inspiring. I loved her confidence and capability of knowing what she was doing without bringing herself down with self-doubt every time. Even though she struggled with different areas of her self esteem, it was easy to understand where she was coming from. She was still able to keep her head up on many occasions without belittling herself too much. Truly a heroine that felt completely realistic, not only with what she did but how she acted, looked, and pursued some situations. She also had so much pressure growing up, especially from her family, which, although I can’t relate (thank you God for giving me immigrant parents who were able to break from the toxic mindsets immigrant parents have for their first-gen kids), was still entirely felt. Nadia’s life felt dictated at times, and so many times she struggled on bringing herself back up not because she couldn’t, but because there were too many steps she couldn't take anymore. From insecurities to pressures, Nadia was trying to make it day by day to accomplish one thing at a time that she thought would be enough to feel and be valid, but would only realize that no matter how hard she tried, she would always be a disappointment one way or another. Being her school's valedictorian and earning a J.D wasn’t enough. Even Brandon insulted her and brought her down for how she was starting to look, not understanding the stress and pressure she was under. My heart did break for her many times.
But despite how likable Nadia was, her redeeming and memorable qualities were later forgotten as the story was making progress. I found myself becoming very disinterested in many aspects of her life, including the main plot of the story of her party. While Nadia is described by me as strong, there were some moments I wanted to slap her and make her see reality. It would feel like she was contradicting herself sometimes, such as when she said she actually hadn’t loved Brandon (her ex fiancé) in a while, which is why calling off the wedding and separating from him didn’t affect her too much, yet a little after she would be thinking about him, wondering what he was doing. Most of her weaker moments felt like low points about her, and I wanted to try and feel sympathy but instead I found embarrassment and pity.
Secondly, I’m not a fan of side characters taking over some of the spotlight, no matter how important and/or relevant they are to the main character(s). From the beginning, we are thrown into almost the entire family of Nadia. Look, I’m Central American. I get it. Latinos have a shit load of family members that it’s impossible to make note of everyone because of how many people there are in our families. From parties, to weddings, to hangouts, if my mother says “small party,” we know what that really means. But, it makes it difficult to follow along when you give me multiple names at once right at the beginning. I feel as if introducing character after character, little by little, would have helped the pace a lot more. Instead, because of how many characters were introduced in the beginning, the pace felt off, dry, and too fast, making it hard to follow along with who was who and what was happening. I found myself repeatedly going back to check who was who, as well as even looking up the names in the search bar (like Nadia’s parents, sister, etc) and previous events because I couldn’t remember everyone.
Furthermore, when I read that this was about Nadia giving herself her own version of a quinceañera, I didn’t think the side characters would be involved so much. While I understand the process is fairly long (essentially changing a wedding process), for a book about “an accomplished young woman who discovers what it really means to come into her own . . .,” it felt weak, to say the least. Sometimes it felt like Nadia’s decisions were being made for her. I went into this expecting to have read about a female attorney ready to forget about her lying, cheating ex-fiancé, make herself feel like he lost, and plan out exactly what the little version of her wished she had. Despite what I said about how strong and inspiring Nadia felt, these times it felt like I was reading about a teenager instead, complaining about far too many things. On certain times I could understand her, especially how she was feeling, but other times, I found myself stopping to read because I couldn't take her inner monologue anymore. It didn’t have anything to do with the qualities I liked about her or the realistic flaws she had, but instead the way she took things at a time, developed them, and developed around them. Her actions felt disjointed, making it confusing as I read, and her feelings on people and things felt disconnected from the story. Sometimes it felt like the message of the story was never even there and instead skipping pages as it came along and then left.
As for my third point, it goes back to how I would not classify this as a romance, which would be okay, if that wasn’t what I was expecting. While I appreciated the second-chance trope of Nadia and Marcos—who Nadia met in college and had a small fling with—it was very underdeveloped. I certainly think there was some sexual tension oozing off the pages on certain scenes, but even those weren’t enough to keep me entertained. Their chemistry felt forced for most of the story, as if they had to rekindle and bring back the feelings and attraction they had for one another before. Yet, it had been a whole decade since they last saw each other. Look, I’m sorry, but I cannot and I refuse to believe that in ten years nothing has changed, especially when you weren’t actually together ten years ago; especially when it is impossible for a lot to NOT change in ten years. Yet, it’s as if Nadia and Marcos hardly needed to get to know each other after reuniting unexpectedly. While I knew about both characters, Nadia and Marcos didn’t. There was too much backstory on both sides that they were missing from each other, which took away from the belief that I was supposed to understand the two liked each other. Before I knew it, Marcos was confessing to Nadia that he loved her, and I was looking up, down, left, and right trying to piece the pieces together and understand where exactly that love came from. Most of their moments were through the work progress (since Marcos is the man in charge of the venue that Nadia is planning on having her party at), so there weren’t any moments between them that made me root for the relationship. There weren’t any moments where they spent together, outside of work, that added to the growing feelings they were having. This really has to do with me, since I was expecting more from their relationship. More tension, chemistry, and even banter. Instead, I ended up even skimming some portions of the book due to the boredom it started giving me. Even if this wasn’t a traditional romance, there weren’t enough moments between the two that made me root for them.
I can’t say I didn’t like this book at all, but I also can’t say I recommend it. I don’t hate it, but I already have forgotten a big portion of it. Most of it has to do with the high expectations I had, especially after I loved Furia (which I recommend instead). Overall, an interesting idea for sure, and it’s even something I wish was more common, but the overall execution was poorly done. Because I loved Furia, I am planning on reading more from this author when she releases something in the future. As for now, Twice a Quinceañera was definitely an exciting and anticipating release but lacked development, felt rushed, and overall was a pretty unpleasant read.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I absolutely loved this author's YA debut, Furia, so I was excited for this when I heard about it. I requested an ARC on NetGalley immediately after hearing about it and was shocked and happy when I found out I got approved. But as I continued reading, my excitement only dwindled, and I found myself not rooting for any of the characters, reading for the sake of finishing, and feeling miserable as the story progressed.
For starters, I think it’s important to note that this story is not a contemporary romance, more like women’s fiction. It centers on the life of Nadia and her self-discovery, including the people around her, the relationship she develops, and the new life she makes for herself. We mostly follow her and the new journey she decides to make for herself as she gets inspired to celebrate her thirty years instead of her marriage.
Nadia, in some ways, was a very lovable character. Strong and inspiring, she had qualities about her I absolutely loved. Not only was she a first-generation Argentinian-American lawyer who decided to pursue her career after being inspired by a situation I can relate to (which is what made me curious about immigration law in the first place as well), her determination to make a change in the world to help people like her and her family was nothing but inspiring. I loved her confidence and capability of knowing what she was doing without bringing herself down with self-doubt every time. Even though she struggled with different areas of her self esteem, it was easy to understand where she was coming from. She was still able to keep her head up on many occasions without belittling herself too much. Truly a heroine that felt completely realistic, not only with what she did but how she acted, looked, and pursued some situations. She also had so much pressure growing up, especially from her family, which, although I can’t relate (thank you God for giving me immigrant parents who were able to break from the toxic mindsets immigrant parents have for their first-gen kids), was still entirely felt. Nadia’s life felt dictated at times, and so many times she struggled on bringing herself back up not because she couldn’t, but because there were too many steps she couldn't take anymore. From insecurities to pressures, Nadia was trying to make it day by day to accomplish one thing at a time that she thought would be enough to feel and be valid, but would only realize that no matter how hard she tried, she would always be a disappointment one way or another. Being her school's valedictorian and earning a J.D wasn’t enough. Even Brandon insulted her and brought her down for how she was starting to look, not understanding the stress and pressure she was under. My heart did break for her many times.
But despite how likable Nadia was, her redeeming and memorable qualities were later forgotten as the story was making progress. I found myself becoming very disinterested in many aspects of her life, including the main plot of the story of her party. While Nadia is described by me as strong, there were some moments I wanted to slap her and make her see reality. It would feel like she was contradicting herself sometimes, such as when she said she actually hadn’t loved Brandon (her ex fiancé) in a while, which is why calling off the wedding and separating from him didn’t affect her too much, yet a little after she would be thinking about him, wondering what he was doing. Most of her weaker moments felt like low points about her, and I wanted to try and feel sympathy but instead I found embarrassment and pity.
Secondly, I’m not a fan of side characters taking over some of the spotlight, no matter how important and/or relevant they are to the main character(s). From the beginning, we are thrown into almost the entire family of Nadia. Look, I’m Central American. I get it. Latinos have a shit load of family members that it’s impossible to make note of everyone because of how many people there are in our families. From parties, to weddings, to hangouts, if my mother says “small party,” we know what that really means. But, it makes it difficult to follow along when you give me multiple names at once right at the beginning. I feel as if introducing character after character, little by little, would have helped the pace a lot more. Instead, because of how many characters were introduced in the beginning, the pace felt off, dry, and too fast, making it hard to follow along with who was who and what was happening. I found myself repeatedly going back to check who was who, as well as even looking up the names in the search bar (like Nadia’s parents, sister, etc) and previous events because I couldn’t remember everyone.
Furthermore, when I read that this was about Nadia giving herself her own version of a quinceañera, I didn’t think the side characters would be involved so much. While I understand the process is fairly long (essentially changing a wedding process), for a book about “an accomplished young woman who discovers what it really means to come into her own . . .,” it felt weak, to say the least. Sometimes it felt like Nadia’s decisions were being made for her. I went into this expecting to have read about a female attorney ready to forget about her lying, cheating ex-fiancé, make herself feel like he lost, and plan out exactly what the little version of her wished she had. Despite what I said about how strong and inspiring Nadia felt, these times it felt like I was reading about a teenager instead, complaining about far too many things. On certain times I could understand her, especially how she was feeling, but other times, I found myself stopping to read because I couldn't take her inner monologue anymore. It didn’t have anything to do with the qualities I liked about her or the realistic flaws she had, but instead the way she took things at a time, developed them, and developed around them. Her actions felt disjointed, making it confusing as I read, and her feelings on people and things felt disconnected from the story. Sometimes it felt like the message of the story was never even there and instead skipping pages as it came along and then left.
As for my third point, it goes back to how I would not classify this as a romance, which would be okay, if that wasn’t what I was expecting. While I appreciated the second-chance trope of Nadia and Marcos—who Nadia met in college and had a small fling with—it was very underdeveloped. I certainly think there was some sexual tension oozing off the pages on certain scenes, but even those weren’t enough to keep me entertained. Their chemistry felt forced for most of the story, as if they had to rekindle and bring back the feelings and attraction they had for one another before. Yet, it had been a whole decade since they last saw each other. Look, I’m sorry, but I cannot and I refuse to believe that in ten years nothing has changed, especially when you weren’t actually together ten years ago; especially when it is impossible for a lot to NOT change in ten years. Yet, it’s as if Nadia and Marcos hardly needed to get to know each other after reuniting unexpectedly. While I knew about both characters, Nadia and Marcos didn’t. There was too much backstory on both sides that they were missing from each other, which took away from the belief that I was supposed to understand the two liked each other. Before I knew it, Marcos was confessing to Nadia that he loved her, and I was looking up, down, left, and right trying to piece the pieces together and understand where exactly that love came from. Most of their moments were through the work progress (since Marcos is the man in charge of the venue that Nadia is planning on having her party at), so there weren’t any moments between them that made me root for the relationship. There weren’t any moments where they spent together, outside of work, that added to the growing feelings they were having. This really has to do with me, since I was expecting more from their relationship. More tension, chemistry, and even banter. Instead, I ended up even skimming some portions of the book due to the boredom it started giving me. Even if this wasn’t a traditional romance, there weren’t enough moments between the two that made me root for them.
I can’t say I didn’t like this book at all, but I also can’t say I recommend it. I don’t hate it, but I already have forgotten a big portion of it. Most of it has to do with the high expectations I had, especially after I loved Furia (which I recommend instead). Overall, an interesting idea for sure, and it’s even something I wish was more common, but the overall execution was poorly done. Because I loved Furia, I am planning on reading more from this author when she releases something in the future. As for now, Twice a Quinceañera was definitely an exciting and anticipating release but lacked development, felt rushed, and overall was a pretty unpleasant read.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 25, 2022
Nadia is about to get married -- just before her 30th birthday. She never had a Quinceañera, so she has been planning this wedding for years. When the wedding is a no go, she sees a magazine article about women who are celebrating their 30th birthdays with a Treintañera. She goes to the reception venue to iron out some details about the party change and a smoking hot ex, Marcus, is the manager.
Both have baggage and are dealing with a need to change the direction of their lives. Perhaps the two will be better together than apart? The cover was so inviting, but the story left me a bit underwhelmed and seemed to dilly dally a bit too much and there were just too many relatives floating around. Could not keep them all straight. I did like having both Nadia and Marcus tell the story from their own perspectives. A Reading Group Guide is included.
Thank you to Kensington and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
Both have baggage and are dealing with a need to change the direction of their lives. Perhaps the two will be better together than apart? The cover was so inviting, but the story left me a bit underwhelmed and seemed to dilly dally a bit too much and there were just too many relatives floating around. Could not keep them all straight. I did like having both Nadia and Marcus tell the story from their own perspectives. A Reading Group Guide is included.
Thank you to Kensington and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
August 20, 2022
This was a fun novel. I enjoyed how the main character (Nadia) and everything in her life happens and how she reacts to it. By deciding to make the wedding a party for herself instead of being in the slumps about calling off the wedding, was such a girl power move. I enjoyed Marco. Absolutely my favorite character in the book, however, Bisa was a close 2nd. Lol This is something I could see as a cute romantic comedy movie. I will have to check out other books by this author now, as I hear she has another that is superb!
August 12, 2022
**ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review**
I have no words to express how I wanted this book to be good. Strong main heroine that cancels her wedding and instead throws herself an epic birthday party was everything I wished for. She is getting a handsome guy in the process? Even better. To some degree this book provides all that but unfortunately it's weighted down by too many pointless details that bring nothing interesting to the story but manage to kill all the tension. For the first half of the book I wasn't even able to like anyone - Nadia has this really strained connection with her closest family and I was feeling like they were gaslighting her, providing no emotional support. Around the middle of the book Nadia's extended family from all over the world arrives to Utah and I stopped caring about anyone altogether.
Romance is of the insta-love variety and the third act conflict is based on miscommunication that is made even worse than usual because it is requiring main heroine to be very, very stupid. I did not enjoy it. I also really hated the scene where teenage boys tell Marcos (main hero, I guess) that he is very lucky right after there were ogling Nadia at the gas station. Like, what kind of weird validation is that?
Representation. You have your one black person that happens to be a part of the token gay couple. Token gay couple exist only to kiss each other on the lips and stare at people defiantly. Bare minimum achieved.
Get this book if you want to read a ~300 pages that feels like you have been reading at least 600.
I have no words to express how I wanted this book to be good. Strong main heroine that cancels her wedding and instead throws herself an epic birthday party was everything I wished for. She is getting a handsome guy in the process? Even better. To some degree this book provides all that but unfortunately it's weighted down by too many pointless details that bring nothing interesting to the story but manage to kill all the tension. For the first half of the book I wasn't even able to like anyone - Nadia has this really strained connection with her closest family and I was feeling like they were gaslighting her, providing no emotional support. Around the middle of the book Nadia's extended family from all over the world arrives to Utah and I stopped caring about anyone altogether.
Romance is of the insta-love variety and the third act conflict is based on miscommunication that is made even worse than usual because it is requiring main heroine to be very, very stupid. I did not enjoy it. I also really hated the scene where teenage boys tell Marcos (main hero, I guess) that he is very lucky right after there were ogling Nadia at the gas station. Like, what kind of weird validation is that?
Representation. You have your one black person that happens to be a part of the token gay couple. Token gay couple exist only to kiss each other on the lips and stare at people defiantly. Bare minimum achieved.
Get this book if you want to read a ~300 pages that feels like you have been reading at least 600.
June 21, 2022
I am very conflicted about this book.
It was fairly quick to read but the pace was off and at certain points, I was a little bit bored. I think the author has something going on with the writing and readers who enjoy second-chance romance will enjoy it.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review
It was fairly quick to read but the pace was off and at certain points, I was a little bit bored. I think the author has something going on with the writing and readers who enjoy second-chance romance will enjoy it.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review
October 4, 2022
Bored. I was so BORED.
August 4, 2022
This felt more like YA and reads that way start to finish.
I found it hard to connect with a 30 year old who's conversations felt more like a 16 year old was conducting them. I think I would have enjoyed this more if the character was at least a decade younger, but alas, the story doesn't work if she isn't 30.
Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for my DRC.
June 4, 2022
2.5 stars
rep: Argentine-American protagonist and side characters, biracial (Uruguayan, white) protagonist, Latine side characters; (Argentine-American author)
cw: mentions of death of a parent (mother)
I genuinely thought about putting this book down multiple times but in the end decided to finish it since it's relatively short. In short, I just found this book to be incredibly boring. I realize that I just don't like dual-PoV romances in general, but I seriously didn't see a point to having Marcos's PoV. He added barely anything to the narrative and his chapters just slowed the story down.
The writing and the dialogue also just felt off to me, but that's really a personal preference. I would also say nothing really happened throughout the book. Like obviously things did, but I thought some of the planning lasted way too long and then some other aspects were too short.
Also, I'm fine with having big family casts but I feel like there were too many characters introduced all at once and I couldn't keep all the different people straight. And??? Now that I'm thinking about it, Nadia's best friends show up like once at the very beginning (and only one of them in-person??) and never appear again? Or maybe I just got confused because there were sooooo many characters at the end. Again, I didn't have an issue with having her entire extended family appear, but the writing definitely made it difficult to distinguish between all the new characters, to me at least.
The only thing I did like was that Nadia having a second quinceañera reflected her journey of discovering herself and being her own person. I could talk more in detail about everything that didn't work for me in this book, but I try not to rag on books anymore...usual disclaimer that these are my own opinions, and I truly do hope this book works for you! You might like it if you like self-discovery character arcs in your romances and/or a second-chance romance.
rep: Argentine-American protagonist and side characters, biracial (Uruguayan, white) protagonist, Latine side characters; (Argentine-American author)
cw: mentions of death of a parent (mother)
I genuinely thought about putting this book down multiple times but in the end decided to finish it since it's relatively short. In short, I just found this book to be incredibly boring. I realize that I just don't like dual-PoV romances in general, but I seriously didn't see a point to having Marcos's PoV. He added barely anything to the narrative and his chapters just slowed the story down.
The writing and the dialogue also just felt off to me, but that's really a personal preference. I would also say nothing really happened throughout the book. Like obviously things did, but I thought some of the planning lasted way too long and then some other aspects were too short.
Also, I'm fine with having big family casts but I feel like there were too many characters introduced all at once and I couldn't keep all the different people straight. And??? Now that I'm thinking about it, Nadia's best friends show up like once at the very beginning (and only one of them in-person??) and never appear again? Or maybe I just got confused because there were sooooo many characters at the end. Again, I didn't have an issue with having her entire extended family appear, but the writing definitely made it difficult to distinguish between all the new characters, to me at least.
The only thing I did like was that Nadia having a second quinceañera reflected her journey of discovering herself and being her own person. I could talk more in detail about everything that didn't work for me in this book, but I try not to rag on books anymore...usual disclaimer that these are my own opinions, and I truly do hope this book works for you! You might like it if you like self-discovery character arcs in your romances and/or a second-chance romance.
September 29, 2022
Not just delightful, but just what I needed right now! How did Yamile know?! She's awesome like that!
Nadia, who has done everything everyone expected her to do, has just realized that all she has to show for it is low self esteem and a cowardly jackass fiance. She kicks him out, a month before the wedding, and decides to use the venue and the family gathering to celebrate herself! Along the way she meets an old love, and falls in love at last . . . with herself!
This book about taking time for yourself, celebrating yourself and your accomplishments, letting your friends and family help you, letting yourself be vulnerable, was just so beautiful to me, and it's something I needed to hear, right now especially!
Nadia, who has done everything everyone expected her to do, has just realized that all she has to show for it is low self esteem and a cowardly jackass fiance. She kicks him out, a month before the wedding, and decides to use the venue and the family gathering to celebrate herself! Along the way she meets an old love, and falls in love at last . . . with herself!
This book about taking time for yourself, celebrating yourself and your accomplishments, letting your friends and family help you, letting yourself be vulnerable, was just so beautiful to me, and it's something I needed to hear, right now especially!
June 1, 2022
The clock is ticking. Only one month before Nadia's Palacios wedding to Brandon . She and Brandon have been an item for a long time. Now when only a month out Nadia doesn't want to marry Brandon.
He has been unfaithful to her.
When Nadia was sixteen she had no Quinceanera, now at age thirty she feel she should have a double Quinceanera.
With all the family coming to her wedding, she changes it to her party.
I received this ARC book from Kensington Publishers
He has been unfaithful to her.
When Nadia was sixteen she had no Quinceanera, now at age thirty she feel she should have a double Quinceanera.
With all the family coming to her wedding, she changes it to her party.
I received this ARC book from Kensington Publishers
March 26, 2022
Thanks Netgalley for a arc copy of this book for a honest review
Twice a Quinceañera is a 5 star read. Thus is the kubd of booking needed in my life. It was a fun and enjoyable read can't wait for the book to cone out physically I'm going to pre-ordered.
Happy Reading
Lisa
Twice a Quinceañera is a 5 star read. Thus is the kubd of booking needed in my life. It was a fun and enjoyable read can't wait for the book to cone out physically I'm going to pre-ordered.
Happy Reading
Lisa
February 13, 2022
Marcos needs to be my boyfriend, thanks.
June 11, 2023
1.5 stars but I opted to round up (nearly rounded down.)
For some of this it hovered at 3 stars, so I kept going, because I've read Méndez before and liked two of her other books.
The premise of this sounded fun, although the average rating of less than 3.5 stars should have been a warning. I didn't expect deep character development in a fun romance like this, but some of them were just like cardboard stock characters.
In addition it was a bit sloppy in the story telling because there were some plot holes in this for some important side issues that 100 percent affect the protagonists in huge ways and also this entire story even if it's not the romance itself; these are mainly evident by the end. And I can't believe anyone would start a law firm and name a paralegal in the business name, but if any lawyers read this and known differently, I'd be glad to know although that won't change my rating of this book.
On the other hand at least the author of some of the cultures she knows.
After reading 4 of her novels I really feel like Furia was the exception to the rule and is significantly better than the other books I read (I gave it a full 4 stars) although one of her children's books got 3 stars from me.
For some of this it hovered at 3 stars, so I kept going, because I've read Méndez before and liked two of her other books.
The premise of this sounded fun, although the average rating of less than 3.5 stars should have been a warning. I didn't expect deep character development in a fun romance like this, but some of them were just like cardboard stock characters.
In addition it was a bit sloppy in the story telling because there were some plot holes in this for some important side issues that 100 percent affect the protagonists in huge ways and also this entire story even if it's not the romance itself; these are mainly evident by the end. And I can't believe anyone would start a law firm and name a paralegal in the business name, but if any lawyers read this and known differently, I'd be glad to know although that won't change my rating of this book.
On the other hand at least the author of some of the cultures she knows.
After reading 4 of her novels I really feel like Furia was the exception to the rule and is significantly better than the other books I read (I gave it a full 4 stars) although one of her children's books got 3 stars from me.
August 2, 2022
I really enjoyed this #ownvoices story about Nadia Palacio, an Argentinian American woman who calls off her wedding and decides to throw herself a double Quinceanera party instead. Part women's fiction, part second chance romance and hundred percent fun! This book is all about self-love and doing what you want despite societal (and familial) expectations. Recommended for fans of 30 things I love about myself by Radhika Sanghani. Much thanks to NetGalley and Kensington books for early digital copies in exchange for my honest review.
September 24, 2022
I just happy cried all through the last chapter 🥲
This book deserves a more thorough review… I’ll come back later!
This book deserves a more thorough review… I’ll come back later!
August 30, 2022
Nadia is about to get married just a day before her 30th birthday. She has been planning for this wedding for years and is shocked to see her fiancé cheating on her weeks before the wedding. She immediately throws him out of the apartment.
Now she has a wedding all set up but no groom. She decides not to be sad about it but use this party as a way to celebrate herself with her family, a second Quinceañera or Treintañera.
Now she has a wedding all set up but no groom. She decides not to be sad about it but use this party as a way to celebrate herself with her family, a second Quinceañera or Treintañera.
April 2, 2022
This book has lots of stuff going for it. It had an adorable cover, a great premise, and a fun family, but it ultimately just didn't come together for me.
This book was both slow and rambling and too action packed for me. It felt like we were just jumping from scene to scene with a lack of character development. One example of this for me was Marcos's sister and dad, and Nadia's friends. They feel like props instead of fully developed characters that added to the story line. Nadia and Marcos's relationship also suffered. By the time they are declaring their love for each other, I think they had been on page together about 4 times. It just made this second chance love story feel very insta love for me.
The part of this book that did work well for me was Nadia's extended family. Once they finally all arrived and party planning commenced, it was so great to get to know this big, fun family. I truly wish we could have skipped the first 50% of this book and built up the second half when the extended family enters the scene.
I really wanted to love this book, but in the end, it just wasn't a good fit for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the free ebook in exchange for my honest review.
This book was both slow and rambling and too action packed for me. It felt like we were just jumping from scene to scene with a lack of character development. One example of this for me was Marcos's sister and dad, and Nadia's friends. They feel like props instead of fully developed characters that added to the story line. Nadia and Marcos's relationship also suffered. By the time they are declaring their love for each other, I think they had been on page together about 4 times. It just made this second chance love story feel very insta love for me.
The part of this book that did work well for me was Nadia's extended family. Once they finally all arrived and party planning commenced, it was so great to get to know this big, fun family. I truly wish we could have skipped the first 50% of this book and built up the second half when the extended family enters the scene.
I really wanted to love this book, but in the end, it just wasn't a good fit for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the free ebook in exchange for my honest review.
April 20, 2022
Ay bi ara hiç bitmicek sandım bu kitap 🙈 çok güzeldi aslında özellikle kitabın ana teması, verdiği mesajlar beni aşıııırııı mutlu etti ve kendime dönüp bakmamı ve kendimle gurur duymamı sağladı 🥺💙 Nadia ve Marcos'a bayıldımmm ama Brandon olacak ex aptalından nefret ettim. Yavrum Nadia'm ondan kurtulduğu için çok mutlu oldum🥂 ayrıca kitapta Arjantin-Uruguay gibi latin amerika ülkelerinin kültürlerine dair çokkk fazla bilgi var okumam bu yüzden uzun sürdü (2.5 gün gün abartma) yani kitap yurtdışında çıkınca şans vermenizi önerir miyim? Kültürel bilgiler, kalabalık aile beni boğmaz diyorsanız mutlaka okuyun çünkü hem Nadia'nın özgürlüğünün kutlanma süreci ve kendine olan sevgisi ve inancı beni çok mutlu etti hem de Marcos'la aralarındaki çekim çokk güzeldi ✍️
August 22, 2024
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed parts of this story, but it felt a lot like a Mormon romance, which I wasn't really prepared for. The MMC relationship wishes also felt very insta, so pluses and minuses for this one.
I really enjoyed parts of this story, but it felt a lot like a Mormon romance, which I wasn't really prepared for. The MMC relationship wishes also felt very insta, so pluses and minuses for this one.
Read
August 27, 2022DNF at 45%
Boring. Flat. Bleh.
Boring. Flat. Bleh.
September 17, 2022
Very fun and enjoyable reading, a touch of romance and lots of family love
August 6, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twice A Quinceañera was my first book by Yamile Saied Méndez. What attracted me to the title was that I also celebrated a Treintañera 😅 or Twice A Quinceañera as well! Slide to see me almost three years ago! Haha
While I entered this book with a great love life, it wasn’t the case for our main character, Nadia. Engaged and ready for a wedding a month away, life throws her a huge curve ball and a wedding is no longer taking place.
“Because everyone is settled at thirty, aren't they? You're an adult at thirty--fully-fledged--and everyone knows who they are. Or at least, everyone knows exactly where they are going, even if they haven't quite made it there yet.” Breaking stereotypes is hard for this Latina girl. In her attempts to continue moving forward, she decides to use this opportunity to celebrate herself. For the first time in her life, she was going to put herself first and that was what I loved the most about this book. Celebrating her double Quinceañera or Treintañera became a mission of finding her strength, solidifying her goals, and fighting for what truly matters.
This book is also about second chances at first love. No other than her first love is in charge of her venue, and finding him again is the best sign that life is giving her second chances for the best!
A fun book that motivates us, women, to be our biggest fans!
Release Date: July 26, 2022
*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Twice A Quinceañera was my first book by Yamile Saied Méndez. What attracted me to the title was that I also celebrated a Treintañera 😅 or Twice A Quinceañera as well! Slide to see me almost three years ago! Haha
While I entered this book with a great love life, it wasn’t the case for our main character, Nadia. Engaged and ready for a wedding a month away, life throws her a huge curve ball and a wedding is no longer taking place.
“Because everyone is settled at thirty, aren't they? You're an adult at thirty--fully-fledged--and everyone knows who they are. Or at least, everyone knows exactly where they are going, even if they haven't quite made it there yet.” Breaking stereotypes is hard for this Latina girl. In her attempts to continue moving forward, she decides to use this opportunity to celebrate herself. For the first time in her life, she was going to put herself first and that was what I loved the most about this book. Celebrating her double Quinceañera or Treintañera became a mission of finding her strength, solidifying her goals, and fighting for what truly matters.
This book is also about second chances at first love. No other than her first love is in charge of her venue, and finding him again is the best sign that life is giving her second chances for the best!
A fun book that motivates us, women, to be our biggest fans!
Release Date: July 26, 2022
*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
July 6, 2022
Thanks Edelweiss and the publisher for providing a digital reader copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
This was a very nice story full of latin cultural references that I understood because I'm from Brazil. Sorry, but it always gets me when I read a book with latin characters and I can read about their families and their experiences and relate to them.
It was great to follow the story of Nadia, a woman who is about to turn thirty and finally decides to break up with her fiancé, who everybody seems to think is so perfect that she should be glad he decided to marry her. When Nadia takes that step, she decides to use the arrangements for the wedding to make instead a trentaceañera, a party to celebrate herself.
Nadia goes through a lot of discoveries about herself and what she cherishes, and even meets again Marcos, the one who got away. Actually, who ran away when they were still in college, but who is counting, right?
That was a bit that confused me: when I first started reading it, I thought they had a one night stand, but actually they spent quite some time together in college and they still didn't know each other's names? It seemed a little weird for me but ok, I guess.
Anyway, this was a great book about putting yourself first and not settling for anyone. And that's always a kind of story I'll love to read about.
This was a very nice story full of latin cultural references that I understood because I'm from Brazil. Sorry, but it always gets me when I read a book with latin characters and I can read about their families and their experiences and relate to them.
It was great to follow the story of Nadia, a woman who is about to turn thirty and finally decides to break up with her fiancé, who everybody seems to think is so perfect that she should be glad he decided to marry her. When Nadia takes that step, she decides to use the arrangements for the wedding to make instead a trentaceañera, a party to celebrate herself.
Nadia goes through a lot of discoveries about herself and what she cherishes, and even meets again Marcos, the one who got away. Actually, who ran away when they were still in college, but who is counting, right?
That was a bit that confused me: when I first started reading it, I thought they had a one night stand, but actually they spent quite some time together in college and they still didn't know each other's names? It seemed a little weird for me but ok, I guess.
Anyway, this was a great book about putting yourself first and not settling for anyone. And that's always a kind of story I'll love to read about.
March 29, 2022
When I first saw the cover of this book, I was instantly intrigued. The blurb and the storyline were unique and the book was such a light, fun and engaging read that got me through a monotonous day. There was so much representation of characters from different cultures (the main character Nadia's friends were from mixed backgrounds and she herself was Argentinian). It was really nice to learn about the culture and the family interactions were really relatable. Nadia's family gathering made me miss my own and I devoured this book in just a few hours! Though Nadia & Marco's chemistry was a bit off in the first few chapters. There should have been some more build up between them. Regardless, the last few chapters made up for the lack of romance. This book was more about how Nadia takes a chance and finally does something for herself amidst the chaos in her life. Overall, this was a pretty light-hearted and entertaining read with familial feels, self-love and some good representation.
Thank you Netgalley & Kensington Books for the ARC
Thank you Netgalley & Kensington Books for the ARC
Read
October 23, 2022Argh, I really wanted to like this! I love the idea of celebrating a "double quinceañera" to celebrate yourself at 30, and I was super interested in reading about the two main characters because of their background. See, Nadia, the heroine, emigrated from Argentina to the US as a little kid, and Marcos, her love interest, had a Uruguayan mother. I'm Uruguayan myself, and a first-generation migrant (although I didn't go to the US, and I left much older, in my late 20s). And we're very close to Argentinians, culturally, so this was really exciting. I very seldom see myself in any stories with "Latin" protagonists in the US (yep, Latin America is a big place, and the culture varies a whole lot between different countries).
But ugh, I just couldn't with the writing. Just didn't click with it, and it kept pushing me out of the story. And honestly, in the first half that I read, these people didn't feel distinctly Argentinian or Uruguayan, despite the author's attempts. DNF'd with much regret.
But ugh, I just couldn't with the writing. Just didn't click with it, and it kept pushing me out of the story. And honestly, in the first half that I read, these people didn't feel distinctly Argentinian or Uruguayan, despite the author's attempts. DNF'd with much regret.
December 30, 2021
“Twice a quinceañera” is a romantic love story that will make females rethink their lives and draw on their inner Nadia to boot out anything keeping them down to celebrate their successes. Read more about this amazing book on my blog: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress....
January 6, 2023
I genuinely enjoyed this book at first. The difficulties I experience with my own Latino family are strikingly comparable to those Nadia faces in the story. It initially appeared to be a romance novel as well, but as I read on, it became evident that it was more women's fiction. There is nothing wrong with this, other than the fact that it was marketed as a romance book and that Nadia and Marco rarely spend any time together in the book, making it difficult to believe that they fall in love at the end. Although the reader isn't given much, they are supposed to support them and be satisfied with this result. The book instead centers on Nadia's quest to reclaim her former, more self-assured attitude as well as introduce new things that will make her happy. It's hard to enjoy Nadia's journey when she frequently goes back and forth on several issues. As a result, I found myself getting frustrated with her and wishing she would just grow a backbone. Around the 40% mark is when I completely checked out and basically had to force myself to finish this. The amount of time spent explaining how Nadia had to change the party from a wedding theme to a quinceanera theme dragged out the story. Even worse was the number of characters who had little relevance but were given multiple paragraphs.
Despite everything, there were still some positive aspects to the plot that I enjoyed. As I've already said, Nadia's experiences, especially those involving her family, made me think about my own. Nadia's immigrant parents put a lot of pressure on her in school to do well, get a good job, and always be there for her family, and that's a really relatable experience for children of immigrants. I found the story's premise to be really original, and that's what first caught my attention. The narrative had a lot of potential with such an intriguing premise, but unfortunately, it failed to deliver. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
Rating: 2.5
Despite everything, there were still some positive aspects to the plot that I enjoyed. As I've already said, Nadia's experiences, especially those involving her family, made me think about my own. Nadia's immigrant parents put a lot of pressure on her in school to do well, get a good job, and always be there for her family, and that's a really relatable experience for children of immigrants. I found the story's premise to be really original, and that's what first caught my attention. The narrative had a lot of potential with such an intriguing premise, but unfortunately, it failed to deliver. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
Rating: 2.5
September 8, 2022
3.5 ⭐️ Kicked off with a great start! I loved the concept, the execution, and was genuinely interested in both MCs introduced. Buuut then it lost my interest after about the 35% mark, because the pacing was off. The beginning was well-developed, it really felt like the author took time to decide who they wanted these characters to be but that level of attention seemed to go away and the rest get rushed.
I also think this should be marketed as women’s fiction rather than romance because while there WAS a love match, it was mostly a story about Nadia finding herself, facing her family, and celebrating her accomplishments (which, tbf, were also not talked about much other than the fact that she has a law degree). I enjoyed Nadia’s interactions with her family the best and I liked seeing her family come together to back her up!
Oh also, there’s a big emphasis on how Marcos (the MMC) doesn’t believe in love, but we aren’t really told why (not in anyway that makes sense?). And, not enough time is spent on that deeply rooted belief changing the second he sees Nadia again. It just kinda evaporated away, but at least some fun little tropes were thrown into the mix!
And if you don’t want to read the blurb, it’s about a woman who calls off her marriage but decides to throw herself a second quinceañera to acknowledge all of the great things she has managed to do in life! The MMC, Marcos, is now running the wedding planning business/venue but he also happens to be a life changing fling from college!
I also think this should be marketed as women’s fiction rather than romance because while there WAS a love match, it was mostly a story about Nadia finding herself, facing her family, and celebrating her accomplishments (which, tbf, were also not talked about much other than the fact that she has a law degree). I enjoyed Nadia’s interactions with her family the best and I liked seeing her family come together to back her up!
Oh also, there’s a big emphasis on how Marcos (the MMC) doesn’t believe in love, but we aren’t really told why (not in anyway that makes sense?). And, not enough time is spent on that deeply rooted belief changing the second he sees Nadia again. It just kinda evaporated away, but at least some fun little tropes were thrown into the mix!
And if you don’t want to read the blurb, it’s about a woman who calls off her marriage but decides to throw herself a second quinceañera to acknowledge all of the great things she has managed to do in life! The MMC, Marcos, is now running the wedding planning business/venue but he also happens to be a life changing fling from college!
October 10, 2022
3.5🌟
In general, I really enjoyed this book! I would, however, warn that it’s definitely more contemporary than it is romance. There’s definitely a strong romance subplot, but other aspects of the lives of the protagonists take priority.
The main reason I enjoyed this book was because Nadia and Marcos both really felt like they had lives outside of their interactions with each other.
Nadia was dealing with having just left her fiancé, and the majority of her family coming from different parts of the world to a wedding that is no longer happening. We saw in this a lot of interactions between Nadia and her family. We also had to navigate with Nadia her conflicting feelings about her relationship with her ex-fiancé. It wasn’t always straightforward.
In the case of Marcos, he was dealing with guilt after the death of his mother. He felt like a bad son, and he felt like he couldn’t live up to the expectations of his father. This last point being especially true as his father is losing his memory and only seems to treat him kindly when he thinks he’s someone else. All that while he’s trying to keep his asshole uncles from taking the property his family has used to host events for decades!
All this meant that I was totally fine with Nadia and Marcos taking a bit to rekindle their romance. They met when they were in college, and they had a missed connection. Seeing the sparks start flying again was lovely 💖
My main complaints about this book are around the length and repetition. The book felt longer than it needed to be. In large part this is because the author repeated the same message over and over again with slightly different scenes. So, I sometimes felt like I was experiencing deja vu.
Regardless, I would still highly recommend this! I still enjoyed my time with it.
In general, I really enjoyed this book! I would, however, warn that it’s definitely more contemporary than it is romance. There’s definitely a strong romance subplot, but other aspects of the lives of the protagonists take priority.
The main reason I enjoyed this book was because Nadia and Marcos both really felt like they had lives outside of their interactions with each other.
Nadia was dealing with having just left her fiancé, and the majority of her family coming from different parts of the world to a wedding that is no longer happening. We saw in this a lot of interactions between Nadia and her family. We also had to navigate with Nadia her conflicting feelings about her relationship with her ex-fiancé. It wasn’t always straightforward.
In the case of Marcos, he was dealing with guilt after the death of his mother. He felt like a bad son, and he felt like he couldn’t live up to the expectations of his father. This last point being especially true as his father is losing his memory and only seems to treat him kindly when he thinks he’s someone else. All that while he’s trying to keep his asshole uncles from taking the property his family has used to host events for decades!
All this meant that I was totally fine with Nadia and Marcos taking a bit to rekindle their romance. They met when they were in college, and they had a missed connection. Seeing the sparks start flying again was lovely 💖
My main complaints about this book are around the length and repetition. The book felt longer than it needed to be. In large part this is because the author repeated the same message over and over again with slightly different scenes. So, I sometimes felt like I was experiencing deja vu.
Regardless, I would still highly recommend this! I still enjoyed my time with it.
March 31, 2022
Cute, cheesy, and lighthearted read. Overall enjoyable with like able characters as well. I found myself skimming and skipping some pages because I felt some parts were dragging and not feeling completely invested either. The romance between main character Nadia and Marcos was cute- the trope, their pasts, and few moments they share but didn’t completely feel the chemistry. I also really liked the cultural ties to Argentina and Puerto Rico (where the families of the mc’s were from).
Also in light of the whole Oscars drama, a scene I really thought about was when Nadia slapped her idiot ex boyfriend who she just found out was cheating in her; was that if it were really necessary… I just wish homegirl classily walked away and never look back. And to be honest I never thought about this before in books and usually wouldn’t have had a problem in the past but now I really think it’s a problematic trope to normalize (women slapping a jerk just to express anger). Anyways sorry for really bringing that up, just felt I should mention this. I still really enjoyed this and small minor detail didn’t at all deter me away from doing so!
Thanks NetGalley and Kensington Books for letting me view this book for honest feedback
Also in light of the whole Oscars drama, a scene I really thought about was when Nadia slapped her idiot ex boyfriend who she just found out was cheating in her; was that if it were really necessary… I just wish homegirl classily walked away and never look back. And to be honest I never thought about this before in books and usually wouldn’t have had a problem in the past but now I really think it’s a problematic trope to normalize (women slapping a jerk just to express anger). Anyways sorry for really bringing that up, just felt I should mention this. I still really enjoyed this and small minor detail didn’t at all deter me away from doing so!
Thanks NetGalley and Kensington Books for letting me view this book for honest feedback
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