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Welcome back to the kingdom of Cincamarre
Stealing Luna by Carla de Guzman
Contemporary Romance, Filipino Lit
April 26, 2019 from Midnight Books
Cora Justa Dumagat has had enough.
She is tired of watching the corrupt, fat cats of the council override the monarchy and risk the people’s lives in exchange for a payday. Despite advice from her Queen, Cora has decided to take matters into her own hands and hit the Joaquins where it hurts—to steal their precious Juan Luna painting right from under their noses in Barcelona.
The job shouldn’t be too difficult. If only Luis Ang, her ex-boyfriend, wasn't hired to be her bodyguard.
Luis knows that Cora is up to something, and will stop at nothing to make sure she’s safe, even at the cost of Cora’s plans.
As Luis and Cora become more and more deeply entangled into each other, the more dangerous the situation becomes. Will Cora have her revenge? Or will stealing Luna be the last thing she ever does?
🌱 Related post: {Story Diary} The Queen's Game (Cincamarre series #1) by Carla de Guzman
Setting/Places
Cincamarre
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| [Batanes | Image Source] |
Barcelona, Spain
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| [Image Source] |
Who's ready to join Cora and her bodyguard Luis on an art heist in
Barcelona?
Reasons to Read Stealing Luna
♚ Art heist + art forgery. Apparently heists runs in Cora's family. 🎨
♚ A ball and a coronation that doesn't last long enough but still manages to
have some rival family cattiness and fabulous ball gowns 👑
♚ While it's set in a fictional kingdom in the Philippines, the painting is very real.
☀ Filipino cast
☀ Queer Filipino secondary character
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
You see his soft side here. He's also hiding a sensual/sexy side - just keep
reading.
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
Yeaaaahhhh, he never stopped loving her.
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
Where's the fan?? 'Cause... It's getting hot in here.
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
--Carla de Guzman, Stealing Luna
Her books Sweet on You (published by Carina Press), If The Dress Fits and The Queen’s Game are explorations of her favorite tropes, places and food.
For her, there is always something new to share with the world through her art and her writing in order to give her readers maximum amounts of kilig. She believes that every person needs a safe space, and she hopes her books provide that too.
She is a part of #romanceclass, an online community of writers, readers and creators of Filipino romance in English, and will always say yes to a café invite.
♚ Filipino royalty/council family intrigue with a
side heaping dose of family rivalry
♚
Ex-friends/crush to strangers to work relation to lovers second chance
bodyguard romance. Whew, say that three times fast. 💕
♚ Can't have an art heist without discussions of appropriation of artwork
and art galleries in Western countries filled with stolen artifacts
♚ The Y E A R N I N G and
pining is so palpable you may need to borrow the fan from Cora to cool
yourself down. You don't expect a bodyguard and an ex-friend/mutual crush
who reunites after a few years forced to work together and not have tension
between them, do you? 🔥🥵
♚ Cursed paintings? Don't be scared surprised. 🖼️
♚ A story of
art, Philippine history, duty, family, second chances, forgiveness,
tension, yearning, challenging the status quo/justice system, and love.
♚ The way Cora and her bodyguard/former crush Luis goes back and forth with
banter, flirting and sexual innuendos is very cheeky and cute, and it just
makes you want to smush their faces together already. 😏
♚ At first you might ship Cora and Luis, but the couple you'll ship even
more is Mimi and her girlfriend Jin. They're pretty different from each
other but so darn cute together. 🥺👉👈👩❤️💋👩
♚ Does not shy away from addressing the real atrocities of colonialism,
imperialism, monarchies, nepotism and corruption from colonizers in the
Philippines. It also addresses how capitalism and government neglect after
natural disasters has harmful consequences/effects for their land and
people.
♚ Steal from the rich. Actually, the characters partaking in the art heist
take back something the rich (i.e. colonizers) stole from its origin. In
short, EAT THE RICH.
♚ While it's set in a fictional kingdom in the Philippines, the painting is very real.
Art References
¿A Do…Va la Nave? - a Juan Luna painting
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| [Image Source | Rappler ] |
Book References
Noli Me Tangere
by Jose Rizal
The Art of War
by Sun Tzu
Tropes / Themes
☽ Art heist
☽ Royalty
☽ Bodyguard romance
☽ Second chance romance with ex-friend/crush
☽ Romantic and sexual tension
☽ Yearning/pining
Representation
☀ Filipino cast
☀ Queer Filipino secondary character
☀ Lesbian Filipino character
☀ Lesbian biracial (Filipino, Black) character
☀ F/F secondary couple
☀ F/F secondary couple
☀ Author of color (Filipino)
➤ Alcohol use
Content/Trigger Warnings
➤ Alcohol use
➤ Mention of death threats
➤ Mention of past natural disasters + deaths
➤ Vomiting
Favorite Quotes
"The art world is full of mysteries we can't explain."
"Don't overthink it. It's art. It evokes reactions, either in the
form of modern-day curses or why-is-this-art confusion. Art has
meaning because it was assigned meaning."
Cora didn't have a lot of people in her corner, and he was
determined to be one of those people, if she'd let him.
The justice system means cases that lead nowhere, inquiries that
are quietly quashed. Sometimes we get the victory, but its not
enough.
"I'm fighting for what's right. What's fair. What are you
fighting for, Luis?"
"You're really good at convincing people. Are you sure you don't
want to be a politician instead of a thief?"
"You don't have to fix everything," Luis told her. "The nature of
life is that it has problems. Take them all on, and you'll crumble
under its weight."
He tried his hardest not to breathe in her scent--it was
something soft and flowery, like clean linen and some mild
blossom. He tried his hardest not to notice the way his body
leaned against hers, pressing lightly and them fitting together
like it was where he belonged.
"I didn't know heists required declarations of love," he murmured
right into her ear, and he decided not to comment on the
gooseflesh he saw rise over her skin at his words.
He closed his eyes for a moment to try to commit the image to memory, breathing her in.
He closed his eyes for a moment to try to commit the image to memory, breathing her in.
"It reminds me of Palasyo Pacita," he commented. "Or maybe
Intramuros."
"Well, this is the land of our colonizers," Mimi pointed out as they walked past the staircase and toward the museum entrance.
"Well, this is the land of our colonizers," Mimi pointed out as they walked past the staircase and toward the museum entrance.
She was taking justice into her own hands. It was a thought that
shouldn't be entertained, but when they lived in a place like
theirs, it was hard not to.
Meet Carla de Guzman
Her books Sweet on You (published by Carina Press), If The Dress Fits and The Queen’s Game are explorations of her favorite tropes, places and food.
For her, there is always something new to share with the world through her art and her writing in order to give her readers maximum amounts of kilig. She believes that every person needs a safe space, and she hopes her books provide that too.
She is a part of #romanceclass, an online community of writers, readers and creators of Filipino romance in English, and will always say yes to a café invite.
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