The top of the year often means a slower start for new releases. But as winter gives way to spring, there are more new books on the horizon, and I’m here to highlight a few by Latine authors to add to your reading lists. We have a mix of debut and established authors, books for adult as well as YA and middle grade readers, and a mix of genres overall. There is a fair bit of romance in the mix, and I’m not mad at that. The world is on fire, who doesn’t want to read about love?
In February, we got a debut rom-com set in Venezuela about a down-on-her-luck lifestyle columnist on a quest to get her ex back, a sexy horror thriller about a newly turned Mexican vampire, and a work of romantic fantasy set at a magical carnival. In March, we’re getting a fake dating romance about a woman whose side gig is dating her client’s exes, a novel told in prose and poetry about a young Latina poet, a gothic thriller I haven’t been able to shut up about, and more.
Where to start?! Good question. I’ll let you make that call.
February 2026
The Ex-perimento by Maria J. Morillo
Jess Pryde put this debut on my radar, and I’m so glad she did. Set in Venezuela, this rom-com’s MC is Maria “Marianto” Camacho, a lifestyle columnist who’s just lost both her job and her boyfriend in a cruel life double-whammy. The one piece of good news: she’s landed a temporary gig on Venezuela’s buzziest singing competition show as a personal assistant to Simón Arreaza, the singer of her favorite indie band. When Simón discovers a list of “romantic experiments” Marianto has designed to get her boyfriend back for a piece in the very magazine that fired her, he doesn’t just offer to help her. He strikes down a bunch of her ideas and replaces them with better ones of his own. Surely this plan will go accordingly!
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Maria the Wanted by V. Castro
Author V. Castro isn’t quite done with her bloodsucker era; in Immortal Pleasures, she gave us a vampire version of La Malinche, and now we’re being introduced to Maria, a would-be immigrant and newly turned vampire. She is married and pregnant with her first child when three mysterious men attack the factory where she is working to raise the money to make the journey to America. The men kill everyone but spare her, and when she loses her child, she leaves the remnants of her old life behind, embarking on a journey across Mexico in search of her creator, purpose, and bloody vengeance against the enemies she makes along the way.
Carnival Fantastico by Angela Montoya
Esmeralda is posing as a fortune-teller at the Carnival Fantastico, a magical traveling carnival where magic and mischief thrive. Landing the lead role at the carnival is her ticket to freedom from her former employer, the commander of the king’s army, and it’s here that her fate collides with the handsome boy who once broke her heart. Ignacio recently defected from that same army and is looking for proof of his father’s corruption. They strike a bargain to help one another: Esmeralda will help Ignacio expose his father if he’ll help her get the role she’s after—if they can figure out a way to ignore their feelings for each other along the way.
Only Friends by Lydia San Andres
I was so excited to see that Lydia San Andres has a new book out! I’m a huge fan of her Arroyo Blanco historical romance series, and this time she’s trying her hand at contemporary; she’s known for historical romances set in the Caribbean with Latine characters, and I’m excited to see her take on a modern romance. This setup is great: an aspiring screenwriter and a model team up to create Regency era thirst content for online fans. Say less!
March 2026
Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer
Eek! I forgot until about 30 seconds ago that Alvaro Enrigue has a new book this year! If you haven’t read You Dreamed of Empires, stop what you’re doing and track a copy down. Now I Surrender is being described as a part epic, part alt-Western tale with a cast of imaginative characters, some real historical figures and others completely fabricated. Set in the contested borderlands between Mexico and the United States, it is a revisionist telling of how the West was won. In Enrigue’s hands, that is something to be excited about (and afraid of?) indeed.
The Starter Ex by Mia Sosa
The premise of Mia Sosa’s latest romance was an immediate yes for me, and not just because the MC and I share a first name. Vanessa Cordero’s very profitable side gig is dating people’s crushes and making their lives miserable–she’ll be clingy and jealous and terrible to their parents, anything to make her clients look pretty damn attractive by comparison. Her younger sister has a crush on a certified commitmentphobe (who incidentally is on the hunt for a fake girlfriend to appease mom) and begs Vanessa to take on one last gig. Her instructions are clear: Lisa wants her to date Jason, scare him off, and send him running to her, and not to touch or fool around with him on the mission. The trouble is, Vanessa can’t seem to shake the guy, no matter how hard she tries.
Estela, Undrowning by René Peña-Govea (March 3)
Estela Morales just started her senior year at San Francisco’s most exclusive public high school, where she’s one of the only Latinas who tested in. All she wants is to graduate and get into her dream college, which means keeping her head down and getting her racist Spanish teacher to give her a passing grade. But the “head down” part gets derailed when Estela comes in second in the Latiné Heritage Poetry Contest behind a non-Latine student, thrusting her into the spotlight as a citywide debate ensues. She clings to poetry as the situation unfolds, all while her home life falls apart and she navigates a new romance. This debut is told in both poetry and prose and is being compared to the great Elizabeth Acevedo.
If We Never End by Laura Taylor Namey (March 3)
You may know Laura Taylor Namey as the author of The Library of Lost Things and A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow (a personal favorite). In this romantic YA ghost story, Sylvie Castellanos wants an adventure, but she is spending her summer, like she spends every summer, with her Aunt Viv while her friends vacation and her parents work on a luxury yacht. While thrifting, she finds an expensive vintage watch worth a lot of cash that feels like a sign of good luck. But when she turns the watch dial, she summons the ghost of a boy, a boy whose death is a mystery that needs solving.
You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom by Vincent Tirado (March 10)
I just mentioned this book a couple of weeks about in my post on Afro-Latine authors, and here I am again to remind you it drops next week! Papi Ramon is the recently deceased patriarch of a wealthy family, and he’s sown some light chaos in his final will and testament: he reveals that someone in the family is a demon he made a bargain with long ago, and they need to suss out and get rid of said demon or else be damned. No one takes it seriously, save for his undisputed favorite, Xiomara. But when the rest of the family sends the lawyer away to retrieve the original will—you know, to be sure—a storm hits and leaves them all stranded together. Over a harrowing 12-hour time period, all hell breaks loose, and it’s up to Xiomara to find the demon and take them out.
No Way Never Sisters by Chantel Acevedo, Natalia Sylvester (March 10)
Roxy and Meli are opposites in every way and can’t stand each other’s faces—and their parents just got engaged. That marriage cannot happen, not if they have anything to say about it! So they join forces and form a plan to prove to their parents that they’re actually incompatible by sabotaging the renovations of the home they plan to share. What could go wrong? I do love this flavor of hijinks, and can’t wait to read this middle grade story from two fantastic authors.
Behind on your new book reading? You can catch up on January’s new Latine releases here. And if you came across this list online or got an email forwarded from a friend, subscribe to Latine Lit here to get it straight in your inbox.
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