I’m happy to participate in the book tour organised by Shalini and her Digital Reads PR.
BOOK AND AUTHOR DETAILS
Blurb
The clouds above were dark and ominous. Moctezuma lay there bleeding, tears rolling down his swollen, bloodstained face. He thought of his firstborn, Isabella, at the mercy of the murderer of his people, Hernán Cortés, and it made him tremble with anger and loss. In a last act of defiance, Moctezuma murmured his revenge:
”Oh powerful god, I ask you to avenge my people. I ask that the next daughter of Hernán Cortés and her seed be cursed.”
With that he closed his eyes and destiny was set in the stars above him.
Daughter of the Boricua continues the saga of the award winning book, Song of the Boricua, and follows the story of Puerto Rico, told through the lives of three generations of women.
Liani; a Taino torn between her loyalty to her people, and her love for a Spanish officer.
Isabella; direct descendent of Aztec princess Isabella Moctezuma, cursed as her grandmother was.
Josephine; daughter of Isabella, afraid to love, but finding herself caught between love or career.
Are they cursed? Will they succeed or will their lives converge and end with the storm of the century?
BOOK LINKS
AMAZON USA: https://amzn.to/3xVifOd
AMAZON UK: https://amzn.to/3xUbFaF
GOODREADS:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61055722-daughter-of-the-boricua
AUTHOR BIO
Olivia Castillo is a New York native. After going to the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, she went on to study graphic design at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. Along with being an entrepreneur, she is the mother of three children, and grandmother of two. When not writing or spending time with her family, she travels the world and paints.
Song of the Boricua is her first novel in her trilogy series called Songs of the Boricua. Daughter of the Boricua is her second book.
SOCIAL MEDIA DETAILS
INSTAGRAM www.instagram.com/OliviaCAuthor/
FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/songoftheboricua
GOODREADS www.goodreads.com/work/be
TWITTER Twitter.com/OliviaCAuthor
WEBSITE www.oliviacastillo.org
Excerpt #1
“Isabella lived in a daily state of fear. She was so tired. She had gotten up early and was dressed by her servant. Today she wore her huipil, a closed tunic, with gold hummingbirds embroidered on it. On top, she wore a cloak trimmed with rabbit fur. Her ears were adorned with plugs of jade, and on her feet were elaborate sandals that tied up to her calves.
The hummingbirds gave her courage. It was the hummingbird god that led them to find Tenochtitlán. Her father had told her the story many times while they walked the elaborate palace gardens filled with exotic fruits, and many-colored hummingbirds flying to and fro. How she missed him! She had been much closer to her father than to her cold and distant mother.”
Excerpt #2
“Cristobal Vega Alta,
Puerto RicoApril 2015
The past is only a shadow emerging from nowhere. (Julia de Burgos, “Farewell from Welfare Island”)
Cristobal felt the darkness growing within him. He didn’t know what was happening to him, but as the months went by, he felt the dark cloud grow over him and over his marriage.
He would catch Isabella staring at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. He felt terrible, sad, and melancholy, but he couldn’t stop the growing feeling of impending doom.
He worked on his import-export business from the home office. His window overlooked the beautiful sea and the lush avocado trees they were growing.
Even with the paradise before him, he could not shake the feeling that something was going to happen.
He had read about the multigenerational curses in Valvina’s book, Secretos del Palo Alto.”
Excerpt #3
“Liani
Ponce, Puerto Rico
November 1898
The Puerto Rican WomanWoman of the earth Venus and at the same time MaryIndian of the west I come to sing poetry (Luis Lloréns Torres, “For Puerto Rico”)
Liani began her ride from her village in Cerro de Punta near Jayuya, to the town of Ponce. Her father’s caneye was high in the mountains and to get to the town of Ponce, it was a bit of a trek. She didn’t mind. It was early in the morning. The early dew had settled on the ceiba trees, giving the jungle a green, misty haze. She followed along the route. Her long, black hair flowed behind her and as the sun began to rise higher in the sky, it lit her long, wavy hair into a fiery glow. She had tied a large burlap bag to the side of the horse that was filled with the mangos her father grew.”
Excerpt #4
“Cristobal and Isabella
Hotel San Castillo de Felipe,
Puerto Rico-
April 2014
I love you, because in my thousand and one nights of dreams, I never once dreamed of you. I looked down paths that traveled from afar, but it was never you I expected. Suddenly I felt you flying through my soul in quick, lofty flight, and how beautiful you seem way up there. (Luis Lloréns Torres, “Love Without Love”)
She stood by the emerald sea. The seagulls above soared and swooped into the water, then flew up high again, circling them.
Then they were looking into each other’s eyes and Isabella felt the love of a thousand nights crash into that one moment. She would soon become Mrs. Cristobal Carrasco.
Milo was to be her escort down the aisle. He was so handsome at twenty-four—tall like Calix, but he had Isabella’s features. He wore an off-white tux with a blush boutonnière made of a small sweetheart rosebud, a succulent, curly willow, and white hyacinth.”
Kurian 