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Mayra Cuevas

Mayra Cuevas is the award-winning author of picture books and novels for readers of all ages. Her young adult novel Does My Body Offend You? (co-written with Marie Marquardt) was long-listed for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Mayra is a former award-winning CNN producer, and currently a creative writing professor. She co-founded the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival and its Latinx Storytellers Conference. Mayra keeps her sanity by practicing modern Buddhism and meditation. She splits her time between Atlanta and Puerto Rico. Her new book with coauthor Marie Marquardt is How to Fake a Southern Gentleman, and her new children’s book is We're Going on a Parranda! A Puerto Rican Navidad Story.

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Mayra Cuevas

How to Fake a Southern Gentleman

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This bighearted rom-com debut reimagines My Fair Lady, as two women team up to make over a sexy hustler and take down one of Atlanta’s most corrupt men. Along the way, their story sizzles with unexpected friendship and swoony love.

Proud single mom Holly Simmons and ambitious journalist Luisa Martín Moreno have nothing in common—until Atlanta’s most powerful man, Griggs Caldecott Johnson III, turns both their lives upside down. Griggs is threatening Holly’s job as the events manager at the hoity-toity Dogwood Hills Country Club, while Luisa gets fired for trying to expose his scheme to defraud an immigrant family and snatch up their land for a luxury development.

Determined to fight back, the women team up to infiltrate Griggs’s inner circle. Their secret weapon? Elijah Denvil Sweet, a sexy hustler with a knack for reinvention. With a makeover, etiquette lessons, and a little help from Professor Pridmore—a charming, handsome, and single linguistics professor—Eli transforms into “Tripp,” the kind of Southern gentleman Griggs might just trust.

But as the plan takes shape, so do tender and unexpected feelings neither woman saw coming—with the very men helping them get justice.

With sparkling wit, strong female friendship, and slow-burn romance, How to Fake a Southern Gentleman is perfect for anyone who’s ever felt underestimated—and longs for a love that plays by its own rules.

We're Going on a Parranda! A Puerto Rican Navidad Story

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A little girl discovers her own unique rhythm while going on a parranda (Puerto Rican Christmas caroling) with her family in this charming and energetic Navidad story that integrates Spanish words, perfect for fans of Coquí in the City and Pepe and the Parade.

During the holiday season, a little girl joins her family on a parranda for the first time. The parranderos arrive at each new home, singing and dancing to their favorite Christmas songs. The little girl tries singing and playing different instruments, but nothing seems quite right.

As the night nears its end, she starts to worry she’ll never find a rhythm of her own—until a special gift from Papi helps her realize that la música del corazón (the music of the heart) has been inside her all along!

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