If I Bring You Roses

if i bring you roses

A passionate story of love and hope that has “everything you want in a novel—flawed, complicated characters, lush descriptions, breathtaking plot, and a fierce beating heart” (Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage).

In a small town in Puerto Rico, Felicidad Hidalgo spends her days serving busybodies in her aunt's bakery, and her nights dreaming of home. Closing her eyes she can almost hear the sweet songs of tree frogs, reminding her of the mountain village of her childhood, and the family she hasn't seen in nearly a decade. Her new life in town has delivered her from poverty, but not from loneliness—until the afternoon Aníbal walks through the door.

Aníbal Acevedo is not in need of a wife, but when he meets Felicidad while visiting family, he is stunned by the power of his attraction. Almost before he realizes what’s happening, he has taken the girl into his bed and into his home—in Chicago. Yet soon the young lovers discover that married life is anything but idyllic. Can they find the courage to overcome the obstacles and temptations of their new world and rediscover the passion they once shared? Or will each find love and redemption in the arms of another?

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Praise for If I Bring You Roses

If I Bring You Roses is a stunning novel of love and longing between deeply affecting characters who struggle for intimacy despite the constraints of their time and milieu. Marisel Vera immerses readers in mid-twentieth century Puerto Rico and then Chicago with the same eloquent ease that she draws us into the richness of her characters’ lives. This is a moving story, an amazing debut by a gifted author, and a book to keep for reading again and again.”
Lorraine M. López, PEN/Faulkner finalist for Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories

“Rich with fascinating detail and engaging characters.”
Rosellen Brown, Author of Before and After: A Novel

“Marisel Vera is a gifted storyteller with an eye for the subtle motions of the human heart… Vera understands her characters and brings them to us with lyric intensity, humor, and perfect pitch so that they live in us long after the last page is closed.”
Jonis Agee, Author of The River Wife