When her wedding is called off with a month to go, Nadia decides to celebrate herself and her thirtieth birthday with a double quinceanera. Since she has the venue, the food, and a guestlist, she takes advantage and throws a different kind of party instead of her wedding. However, the man in charge of the venue is her college fling, and working together on this treintanera brings some feelings back, making it all a bit more complicated.

After reading this book I’m very mad I didn’t throw myself a treintanera. Seriously, what a fun idea and storyline! I loved all of the pieces of Latinx culture thrown in this story. And the second chance romance was just so good! Most importantly, I loved how Nadia took a heartbreaking event and still found a way to celebrate herself and her accomplishments. I love that independent woman energy she had going. Overall, this was a fun read!

Thanks to Kensington Books for the advance copy!

The first thought that came to my mind when I finished reading was that this would be a great book club read. There are plenty of life decisions and situations there that are worth discussing.

An entertaining romance that offers a peek into the lives and traditions of Argentine-American families. I loved Nadia's supportive family, I was envy of her financial background (no matter what costs are coming up, she is ready to pay double!), and I rolled my eyes out loud at the far too many "coincidences" in the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for an Advance Review Copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Nadia has called off her wedding a month before it's due to happen, and good riddance to the man who wasted so many years of her life. With everything still booked, she decides that she still wants to celebrate herself - why not have the Quinceañera she never got, but double since she's turning 30?

There's so much more to this story than you can put in a short blurb and still capture all of it. This book has dual points of view, and both characters are the kind you root for. There's even a hint of second chance romance, depending on how it all plays out...

I was thrilled to be approved for this book after reading the author's first novel, Furia, at the beginning of the year. Though this novel takes a different path, there are cultural elements that are similar between both, and I really enjoyed that. The book as a whole was so much fun and I definitely recommend it!

CW: infidelity, illness, grief/loss, gaslighting, death of a parent, car accident

I'm going to echo several others here - big fan of Furia and eagerly requested this ARC, only to be really surprised how hard I found it to get into these characters' stories. Nadia & Marco weren't all that interesting individually, or romantically. The premise was so good it hooked me, but the further I read in the book, the more lost I got & eventually lost interest. I'll still look for the next book by Yamile!

If you want a second chance romance, this is the book with it,

Our FMC called out her wedding and turned it into a "twice quinceañera" all while reconnecting with her ex, her ex who is also a sweetheart with a back story to give.

I recommend it for those who want second chance romance, because it was sooooooo goood,

Twice a Quinceanera was not as exciting as I thought it would be. I thought there was a ton of build-up that fell flat for a moment. I absolutely adore this concept, and the synopsis is why I picked up this book. I thought the idea of canceling a wedding, turning it into double quince, and then watching this down-hearted and broken woman find herself again would be the best read, but it didn't pan out that way. Nadia was complicated and insecure, both completely understandable and relatable. But perhaps the second-chance romance felt forced. We didn't get enough of the story between Marcos and Nadia to care that they didn't get to see their love story come to fruition. Marcos was a flat character who managed to be incredibly flawed and complicated but also the best option for Nadia while still adding nothing to the plot. He is probably the character I didn't care for because I never truly understood his motives, choices, or backstory.

I understand why the book had to be the way it was, but it didn't deliver the punch I was hoping to experience.

Nadia Palacio calls off her wedding but decides to go through with the party to celebrate; she never got a quinceañera when she was fifteen. She gets the idea from a magazine article about women who are celebrating their 30th birthdays with a Treintañera. She goes to the reception venue to sort out some details about the party and finds that her ex, Marcus, is the manager. A light, fun and engaging read with a strong family feel to brighten a dull afternoon.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This was a great lighthearted read about celebrating yourself and your life! I really loved that the new love interest was an old flame it brought an extra layer of drama. Perfect for fans of romcom and latine romances!

For some reason I really struggled to get into this. I think perhaps it struggled to work out what genre it was supposed to be. I struggled to connect with either protagonist and wished they were a bit more fleshed out or that we got into their heads more.

Twice a Quinceañera read exactly as promised- a heart warming "coming-of-age" story with a side of second chance romance.

I raced through this book in a day, mostly in part to the wonderful pacing and the lovable characters that shined through from the very first chapter. I loved Nadia's loud family and loyal friends, and I felt like the author dumped you right into the middle of the action rather than giving too much backstory or unnecessary details.

The love interest, Marcos, provided more than enough swoon-worthy romantic moments that you hope for in a romance novel, but also gave added heart to the story as he balanced caring for his father who suffers from early-onset Alzheimer's and joining the family business. For such a fast-paced love story, I really appreciated this touch as it gave more depth to the characters and to the overall story itself. As did Nadia's journey of self discovery and learning to appreciate and have the confidence to brag on herself & her accomplishments. Her story and struggles were empowering without being stereotypical and provided a strong female main character you could root for.

The main plot of Nadia turning her wedding into a double Quinceañera while fighting her growing feelings for an ex was perfect with the blend of second chance romance and a dash of fake dating, but the author did a fantastic job getting the reader invested in the subplots as well (ie: the success of the venue business, Nadia's relationship w/ her family, and her job).

Other great elements worth noting was the representation of a strong male character struggling openly with anxiety (I've seen this so much w/ female characters and appreciated the role reversal), as well as the look into the meaning of a Quinceañera and the cultures associated with this celebration.

At times, the mention of Nadia's weight and size of her body in her negative self-talk were difficult to handle for me personally, but I saw this used more as a way to show her growing self-confidence as the book progressed, rather than used as a "personality quirk" like a lot of books do with their female characters.

Overall, this was a great, fun read that I would definitely recommend to readers of contemporary romance!

**Thank you to Kensington Books & NetGalley for the chance to read & review this title**

I think 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 fiance cheating on her and deciding to make it into a “treintañera” (essentially a quinceañera but for 30 years old) 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 safe to note that this story is not really 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 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. She was 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 JD 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 liable 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 fiance) 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. 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 this, 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 search bar names (like Nadia’s parents, sister, etc) because I couldn’t remember everyone. Furthermore, when I read that this was about Nadia giving herself her own version of a quinceanera, I didn’t think of how much the side characters would be involved. While I understand the process is fairly long (essentially changing a wedding to a different party), but 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-fiance, 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 instead reading about a teenager, complaining about far too many things. On certain times I could understand her, especially ohw 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 at times, 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, 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. 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). 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.

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.

I absolutely love the idea for this book — a woman calls off her wedding but decides to go through with the party to celebrate herself with the quinceañera she never got. But the first half was a bit of a slog for me — Nadia is extremely in her head, which makes sense as she was in a toxic relationship for more than a decade, but her running through things again and again started to feel repetitive. However, her family arrived for the big party about halfway through and I started to enjoy things a lot more because of their interactions. I know the author previously wrote a YA book, and that makes sense because stylistically, the writing does read young despite the protagonists being about 30. There were also a number of editing mistakes that took me out of the story, but I have an ARC so I assume those are fixed in the final copy!

Nadia is engaged to be married and the wedding is coming up soon. Her family has booked their tickets to fly from Argentina to the US and everything is planned and paid for. Then suddenly the relationship ends and Nadia is left with a big party celebrating a wedding that isn't going to happen. When she goes to talk to the wedding planning company, she discovers that the man coordinating her event is her former fling from college.
This book is a romance, but it also focuses on family dynamics and independence/self-confidence. It talks about Mormon culture (it's set in Utah) and Argentine culture a lot. There's many scenes where food and drink play a role in the story and I loved that.
I found the main characters easy to like and I wanted them to be happy, but my favorite moments of this book were the scenes with the family. I really enjoyed this one overall and it was sweet and endearing.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC to review. This book is out today!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington, and Ms. Méndez for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I really, really wanted to like this - I was all in on the Latin family aspect and the treintañera was intriguing. I live and work in an area with many Latinx readers of various Caribbean, central and South American extraction and I was really envisioning this book as a window into new aspects of the culture.

Unfortunately Nadia was not a character I felt a lot of connection to. She really dragged her heels on admitting the wedding was off, which was cringe-y for me. I don’t love the “keeping secrets” trope. She was also repeatedly portrayed as a strong woman celebrating herself, but she mostly seemed to complain and question everything endlessly. I wish she was could really celebrated herself instead of hurtling into another relationship immediately, guy of her dreams or not.

The pacing was also way off for me. There was a LOT of internal monologue and party planning, and very little time was spent on interactions or growth of feeling between Nadia and Marcos. Nadia and her giant family’s interactions had probably quadruple the page time of Nadia and Marcos. Some of the party planning really dragged, too, around 30% or so. I had to force myself to pick up the book and keep going when I wanted (badly) to switch to something else. Tbh I may have stopped altogether if it wasn’t an ARC.

YMMV. This may be the festive treintañera romance of your dreams… it just wasn’t my favorite. I appreciate the opportunity though. I did walk away with a vague desire to go try some mate, so there’s that.

I love Furia and that’s the only reason I requested this book. But this didn’t work out for me, sadly. What I love about the book is the idea of double quinceañera or the treintañera where you celebrate everything about you. The family visits, gathering, feasts on the table are something close to home. Other than those, everything falls flat or force for me. I didn’t get to connect with the characters. The romance is dull. I find some scenes a bit rush. Overall, this isn’t for me but would like to get author’s further work.


Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

An engaging second chance romance. Heart-warming moments with family and friends. A few surprises. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

I wanted to like this, but was unfortunately unimpressed. I felt completely disconnected from our leads - especially the love interest - considering there were too many named, underdeveloped characters.

The pacing was way off for a romance novel; as of halfway through, the couple had only talked in-person once. After such a slow start, the third act breakup was briskly resolved in a handful of pages. The relationship between Marcos and Nadia felt very insta-lovey, considering they confessed their love to one another following only a few interactions.

All in all, this story was bogged down by way too many side tangents and random details about side characters. That space should have been used to develop the relationships between everyone, especially between Nadia and Marcos.

I want to start off by saying I wouldn’t consider this book romance, maybe more women’s fiction. Romance is more of a sub genre, and barely.

I did enjoy, and even love, a lot of aspects of this book. Starting off with the treintañera (double quinceañera) concept. I love the fact that Nadia wanted to regain control of her life. Find herself. She wanted to celebrate all her accomplishments and her life after a very crappy end to an engagement. There were parts where she would feel lost and alone. But it was all part of her journey and growth. I enjoyed everything about Nadia’s story.

The conversation surrounding big Latin families was also one I enjoyed. They’re overbearing, in your business and sometimes not as touchy-feely as it’s led to believe. It felt authentic.

Now here’s what I didn’t like.

This book is sold as a romance. From the blurb and the way it starts off, it gave me the vibe of a romcom. With the double POV I was expecting a second chance slow burn and slight banter. But unfortunately the romance isn’t there. Which makes me question what was the point of Marcos POV.. it felt as if I were reading two different plots. And since Marcos is barely in the book I really didn’t feel much for him.

I don’t mind books where romance is a subplot I usually get enough where I can still enjoy the romance aspect. But by the time I hit 70% Marcos and Nadia had like four interactions. Sure, HE liked her. But I had now idea how she really felt about him.

And I won’t even go into detail about how so many chapters dragged and it felt a bit boring. Some of the inner dialogue felt repetitive and unnecessarily.

Needless to say I’m a tad disappointed with this one. I appreciate the book for the narrative it provided and Nadia’s storyline. However, I was expecting much more.

2.5 stars

After loving _Furia_, I was thrilled to see that this author was releasing this new book in a new genre. My expectations were pretty high, so it pains me deeply to note that this most recent read just did not work for me.

Nadia and Marcos share perspectives, though Nadia's story is a bit more prominent (see the title and cover, for example). When the novel begins, Nadia is calling off her impending nuptials to Brandon, a creep she's been with for well over a decade. Rather than letting the venue and other financially secured items go to waste, Nadia is welcoming herself to the new trend of the double quince. She'll be celebrating herself instead of legally binding herself to a jerk, and for me, this motif is the best of the whole piece. Now, in the process of updating her arrangements, Nadia encounters Marcos. This is when readers discover that these two have a romantic past and that we are all in for a second chance romance.

Both characters possess many ingredients of successful romantic leads, but I just never found myself too connected to either or to their success as a couple. The pacing felt slow to me throughout the novel, and this made the infusion of SO MANY CHARACTERS difficult to manage. A favorite element of this author's last book is the careful and thorough character development, and perhaps because there were so many characters popping in and out - and not as much focus on either lead's personal growth - I just felt a little disconnected from HOW they were growing. Additionally, Nadia is painted as this strong woman whose self-assuredness drew Marcos to her in college (and even scared him a bit), and while it's encouraging to watch her start healing from the bad relationship, it's also frustrating to hear her kinda cliche thoughts about "all life wants from her" and "what life is about." I struggled (and am still struggling in retrospect) with how a woman coming into her own could also 'live, laugh, love!' her way through a burgeoning life philosophy.

My love for the previous book remains strong, and I'm going to be hoping for more like that (and unfortunately less like this one) from this author.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of "Twice a Quinceanera" by Yamile Saied Mendez. This book is scheduled to be released on July 26th, 2022.

This novel follows Nadia, who breaks up with her boyfriend/fiance' of 13 years named Brandon, very close to the date of their wedding. While browsing through a magazine, she decides to have a double quinceanera for her herself so that everything revolving around the venue choice do not go to waste (money deposits, etc) The person who is hosting the wedding and making sure that everything goes smoothly is none other than Rocket (Marcos) whom she had a fling with many years ago.

The part that was the most relatable for me was when Nadia's mother was going on and on about how she should still marry Brandon anyways because the whole family loves him. It reminded me so much of my own parents, who said that if anything ever happened between me and my husband, they'd keep him. Uhm, thanks? LOL I also really enjoyed the grandmother with Alzheimers thinking that Nadia and Marcos were lovers, because it set up some cute scenes within the book as well.

Overall, I rated this novel a 3/5 stars!