Kiss Me, Catalina

Catalina Capuleta is still flying high after her family’s recent win of the Battle of the Mariachi Bands competition in San Antonio. Record executives, so impressed with the all-female band and their original songs, immediately tap Cat to assist with writing songs for Patricio Galán, the Grammy-winning son of the king of mariachi. Patricio has hidden his writer’s block from everyone, including his record company and especially his overbearing father. Sparks start to fly between the two when Cat doesn’t shy away from speaking her mind and pushing against the status quo of the male-dominated field. Oliveras, inspired by The Taming of the Shrew, creates a bold and feisty main character in Catalina, though the characterization of Patricio is less than magnetic. It’s technically a stand-alone, but readers may feel that they missed some background details if they haven’t read Oliveras’s previous novel, West Side Love Story.