The Friday 56: Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno

The Friday 56 is a weekly blog meme hosted by Freda’s Voice. Join us every Friday and share an excerpt from a book you’ve been reading.

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
*Find any sentence (or a few, just don’t spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post here in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It’s that simple.

**Be sure to leave a link to your Friday 56 post in the comments!**

“Papá El was out with his Popsicles. The flavors rotated every day, but there was always something tropical and sweet. Spring was blossoming and my mother was back, but I only knew how long one of those would last. I took a big bite of my pastelito, sinking my teeth into the guava and cheese.”

I’m so excited about today’s excerpt. I’m sharing a passage from Nina Moreno’s Don’t Date Rosa Santos. It’s my favorite debut and book so far in 2019. The setting is one of my favorites in a contemporary novel and I especially appreciate the complex mother-daughter dynamics in this one. You can read my review here. Cover is linked to Goodreads.

From the Goodreads Synopsis:

      “Rosa Santos is cursed by the sea-at least, that’s what they say. Dating her is bad news, especially if you’re a boy with a boat.
      But Rosa feels more caught than cursed. Caught between cultures and choices. Between her abuela, a beloved healer and pillar of their community, and her mother, an artist who crashes in and out of her life like a hurricane. Between Port Coral, the quirky South Florida town they call home, and Cuba, the island her abuela refuses to talk about.
      As her college decision looms, Rosa collides – literally – with Alex Aquino, the mysterious boy with tattoos of the ocean whose family owns the marina. With her heart, her family, and her future on the line, can Rosa break a curse and find her place beyond the horizon?”