author results for Garza Villa, Jonny,

Canto Contigo

Garza Villa, Jonny — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

When Mariachi star Rafael Alvarez moves to a new school, he anticipates claiming the lead vocalist role, but instead faces a rival with a familiar face as he navigates family issues, competition, and complicated feelings for his rival.

Futbolista

Garza Villa, Jonny — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A classmates-to-friends-to-lovers romance that's equal parts raunchy, heartfelt, queer, and Mexican-American, perfect for fans of The Prospects and Red, White, and Royal Blue!

Gabriel Piña knows who he is: a college goalkeeper, a future Liga MX or MLS star, and definitely straight. He's starting his freshman year with a lot of eyes on him and even more potential, but he's got this. Nothing will have him straying off the path to greatness.

That is, until his philosophy classmate Vale volunteers to tutor him. Vale, the same guy who Gabi, in a moment of history repeating itself, might've kissed very briefly—and only once—just to help him out at a party. Vale, the smart, supportive, compassionate new friend with beautiful brown eyes and a smile that keeps Gabi, for completely inexplicable reasons, constantly in a daydream.

As a friendship blooms and the two spend more and more time together, Gabi finally begins to recognize something about himself: maybe he's not as straight as he thought he was. But a larger and darker realization lingers. Someone like Gabi—a brown, Mexican futbolista with dreams of playing for El Tri—can't also be bisexual. He's seen the way his teammates and community react to queerness in their sport. It would be the exact type of straying off path that destroys his future.

Or, maybe Gabi could be brave enough to embrace all those parts of himself and forge his own path, one that includes a boyfriend and the beautiful game.

A sports romance for those who keep rewatching Bend It Like Beckham and rereading Red, White & Royal Blue and the incredible collection of queer soc—football romances out there, Futbolista follows the first semester of one guy's freshman year of college, navigating who he is, who he's allowed to be, and who he wants to be.

P R A I S E

★ "Irresistable... Garza Villa makes Gabi's coming-out/coming-of-age both moving and inspiring as he finds the courage to buck expectations and live life on his own terms. There's plenty of heartfelt wisdom—and thrilling soccer matches—along the way, but it's the sweetly sexy romance between Gabi and Vale that really makes this shine. It's a winner." —Publishers Weekly (starred)

"A heavy story about the challenges a young Mexican guy (and an athlete, no less) faces in coming out, but also a story bursting with joy and love, endearing family and male friendships and the expected but no less gratifying happy ending. Such a treat of a book, how could you not indulge?" — Jacob Orlando, Porter Square Books

"In their first foray into adult fiction, Jonny Garza Villa tells a classmates to friends to lovers romance between college soccer (Futbol) star Gabi and his classmate Vale. If you loved Red White and Royal Blue, this is a great new book for you!" — Cathy Berner, Blue Willow Bookshop

Ander & Santi Were Here

Garza Villa, Jonny — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

"[Avi] Roque's warm and musical narration is utter perfection. They capture Ander and Santi's fear with vivid immediacy and also infuse their voices with bubbly happiness. In moments of tenderness, their breath catches. They switch easily between Spanish and English and use a half-dozen unique accents for different characters. This audiobook is a heartbreaking, joyful love letter to queer Latinx communities."- AudioFile

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe meets The Sun is Also a Star in this YA contemporary love story from Jonny Garza Villa, Ander & Santi Were Here, about a nonbinary Mexican American teen falling for the shy new waiter at their family's taqueria.
Finding home. Falling in love. Fighting to belong.
The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Martínez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce. The mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially their job at their family's taquería. It's the place that has inspired Ander as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it's all of these things that give them hesitancy. That give them the thought, are they ready to leave it all behind?
To keep Ander from becoming complacent during their gap year, their family "fires" them so they can transition from restaurant life to focusing on their murals and prepare for college. That is, until they meet Santiago López Alvarado, the hot new waiter. Falling for each other becomes as natural as breathing. Through Santi's eyes, Ander starts to understand who they are and want to be as an artist, and Ander becomes Santi's first steps toward making Santos Vista and the United States feel like home.
Until ICE agents come for Santi, and Ander realizes how fragile that sense of home is. How love can only hold on so long when the whole world is against them. And when, eventually, the world starts to win.
A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.