Inspired by their good-natured rivalry, career-oriented best friends Julia Juarez and Ime Benevides have never let anything come between them. Then enters Julia's new coworker, Ilario, who pulls both women's heartstrings, disrupts their friendship, and brings Julia's career to the brink of disaster.
Looking for support, Julia turns to her other friends: Concepción, a party-obsessed dance instructor; Nina, a timid but shrewd seamstress who's not too taken with her fiancé; and Marta, owner of the Revolutionary Cantina, who is preoccupied with the details of a Hollywood murder case. When they involve Julia in a risky scheme, she must choose between her loyalty to her friends and a chance to live the life she's worked so hard to achieve.
Boasting irreverent, edgy humor and a clear sense of Southern Californian culture, this hilarious, insightful debut novel by award-winning author M. Padilla brilliantly captures the comforts and dangers of friendship.
"Padilla's compulsively readable novel is centered around a group of Mexican American friends living in California's San Fernando Valley....Readers will find these gals great company, and Padilla's second outing is a rollicking good ride with plenty of flare and heart."
Booklist
"Who needs sisters when you have friends like The Girls from the Revolutionary Cantina? Padilla's debut novel delivers plenty of laughter, a pinch of intrigue and a whole lot of drama. Readers will be so eager to find out what happens next, they won't be able to put this down."
Margo Candela, author of More Than This
"Padilla has written a charming and offbeat tale of a group of Latina women. It is the tale of women finding the way together until they must grow apart."
