"A finely rendered story of a multigenerational Latina family overcoming individual setbacks and tragedies." -- Shelf Awareness for Readers "Far from the cholos and maids of a cliché Latino Los Angeles, these beautiful Amado women dine at chichi hotels and restaurants, carry plush designer bags, and steer new cars into suburbias. But Zamorano doesn't leave it at that--because even an American dream-fulfilled life is still full of real life, and what alone endures is family." --Dagoberto Gilb, author of Before The End, After The Beginning "Desiree Zamorano's first novel explores a world of Latinas that belongs to her alone. Such originality predicts a notable career in the world of fiction. The author's voice is true, and her stories feel real." --Mark Childress, author of Crazy in Alabama and Georgia Bottoms "What's it like reading Zamorano's debut novel? Take three wildly divergent sisters, a worrying mother, and an electrifying city. Blend in the heartache of marriage and an arsenal of secrets.

Serve to all your comadres with a jalapeño twist." --Stephanie Elizondo Griest, author of 100 Places Every Woman Should Go "From its shocking opening to its dream-like ending, Désirée Zamorano's The Amado Women dishes out secrets, lies, and hurts as fast as we can gobble them up." -- Hometown Pasadena "Stunning, original, beautiful, mesmerizing. It's a fast paced, emotionally-packed tale that will captivate readers from the start." --Latina Book Club "A haunting, well-crafted story from a novelist at the peak of her powers." -- The Rumpus "Zamorano says she wanted to portray the life of "the invisible Latina," but this novel will appeal to . readers of any ethnic background who enjoy a fast-paced story with lots of family drama and strong characters who overcome bad relationships and the other adversities life hands them." --Library Journal "Zamorano set out to write Latinas who broke out of stereotypical media caricatures, and in this, she succeeded.

The novel's domestic struggles hold the reader in a constant state of suspense, and the character's actions seem at once unpredictable and inevitable." --Chicago Literati "This is spot-on writing from Zamorano.The Amado Women is an important work because its women, like many others, pay a price for leaving home and seeking their versions of success . But daughters do return, and at its conclusion the novel seems to suggest that we will eventually find that we value and embrace every part of ourselves more than before we first left." --Vickie Vértiz, Los Angeles Review of Books.