SLOW-BURN ROMANCE

4:00 pm - 4:45 pm
| Location of Session: Library Auditorium
Adult Sessions

Start of Signing: 5:00 PM
| Signing Location: Adult Signing Tent

My Schedule

About the Event

Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt combine their pens once again for this big-hearted rom-com! How to Fake a Southern Gentlemen reimagines My Fair Lady with two women teaming up to make over a sexy hustler and take down a corrupt businessman. Filled with sparkling wit, strong friendship, and swoony love, this session is perfect for anyone who feels underestimated—and longs for a love that plays by its own rules!

About the Authors

Photo Credit: Angie Terrell

Mayra Cuevas

Mayra Cuevas is an award-winning author and journalist. Her young-adult novel Does My Body Offend You? (cowritten with Marie Marquardt) was longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award, named a Book All Young Georgians Should Read, and appeared in multiple Best Books lists. In 2023, she was named Georgia Author of the Year (young-adult category). Mayra is also the author of the teen foodie rom-com Salty, Bitter, Sweet and the short story “Resilient,” published as part of the anthology Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and Writing YA. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Mayra is a former award-winning CNN producer and now a creative-writing professor. She also cofounded the Latinx Kidlit Book Festival and its Latinx Storytellers Conference. Mayra keeps her sanity by practicing modern Buddhism and meditation. She splits her time between Atlanta and Puerto Rico.

Her debut adult romance, How to Fake a Southern Gentleman, was cowritten with Marie Marquardt.

Photo Credit: Virginie Kippelen

Marie Marquardt

Marie Marquardt is an author of young-adult novels, including Dream Things True and The Radius of Us. Her books have earned many awards and commendations, including BookExpo America’s Buzz Books, Books All Young Georgians Should Read, and the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs’ Américas Commendation. Her coauthored novel with Mayra Cuevas Does My Body Offend You? was longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Marie also has published articles and coauthored two nonfiction books about Latin American immigration to the US South and has been interviewed on National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and BBC America, among many other media outlets. How to Fake a Southern Gentleman (also coauthored with Mayra Cuevas) is her first novel for adults.

Moderator

Sheryl Stoeck

Sheryl Stoeck is the librarian at Sandra Day O’Connor High School in Northside ISD. She is the planning chair of LibraryPalooza, an annual Young Adult author festival for teens in San Antonio and Central Texas.