Melissa Senate

It's Labor Day weekend, which for me means lots of juicy reading and lazy enjoyment of these last days of summer. Here's a terrific sounding novel for you about a college-bound young woman who learns some very valuable lessons in and out of class: 

The captivating story of a young woman’s adventures in reinvention and self-discovery

from the author of Adiós to My Old Life  

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT

 With her debut novel, Adiós to My Old Life (MTV Books; July 2006), Caridad Ferrer proved her talent for riveting fiction with bicultural teen appeal.  For her encore, she presents the story of a young woman’s quest to reclaim her Latin roots and escape her boring vanilla identity. 

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT traces the bold transformation of Caroline Darcy, a college-bound beige-blonde born and bred in small town Hampshire, Ohio, into “Carolina,” a half-Cuban aspiring actress, with striking Havana Brown hair, a caliente wardrobe, a taste for platanos, and a hunger for adventure.  Carolina has no problem dressing, dancing, and talking the part, down to her effortlessly rolled rrrs – even though she’s only one-eighth Cuban.  She owes her attraction to her exotic heritage and her yearning for something… different to Elisa Maribel Teresa de La Natividad Sevilla y Tabares – her Nana Ellie, the great-grandmother she loved, dearly and fiercely, and lost when she was thirteen.  Carolina vividly remembers Nana Ellie’s romantic stories of her encounters with everything from the Eiffel Tower to Russian nobility.  And she regrets missing the chance to unravel the facts from the fantastic tales – and learn more about her Nana’s mysterious, scandalous past.

The story opens at the beginning of Caroline’s Latina rebirth and undergrad career at the University of Southern Ohio for the summer session.  To her thrill and amazement, her Cuban act works like a charm on the opposite sex.  Faster than her first beer buzz, Caroline finds herself becoming more popular and getting increasingly intimate with Erik, a smooth-talking frat guy with gorgeous baby blues.  The only male on campus who doesn’t fall for Carolina’s Latina allure is Peter, the full-blooded son of Cuban immigrants, who hails from Miami.  Despite the danger of being exposed as a fraud, Caroline is drawn to this quiet, serious student – on a strictly friendship basis.  But when Carolina gets in over her head and on the edge of a dangerous situation, Peter is the one who comes to her rescue.  What’s more, he accepts her for who she is – and leads her on a real adventure to discover the truth about Nana Ellie and the very wealthy family she left behind in Cuba.  What Caroline discovers about her ancestors – including one unknown living relative – is more exciting than she ever could have imagined.         

Part mystery, part romance, and all captivating, IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT affirms Caridad Ferrer as a gifted teller of stories that resonate with young women, both Latina and Anglo.                                                                                                                          

CARIDAD FERRER is a first generation, bilingual Cuban-American, born in Manhattan and raised in Miami.  Her debut novel, Adiós to My Old Life (MTV Books), was named Latinidad’s Top Teen Read for 2006 as well as winning the Romance Writers of America's 2007 RITA® for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance.  Writing as Barbara Ferrer she has also contributed to the anthology, Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and Other Quinceañera Stories (Harper Collins/Rayo).  Find her on the web at CaridadFerrer.com and BarbaraFerrer.com.