Through earthy, charming stories that blend songs, letters, and prayers, Patricia Preciado Martin explores the hidden places of the soul and the human longing for amor eterno, eternal love. Forbidden love, enchanted love, and desperate love are just some of the varieties of love that get mixed into this sweet concoction of romance, wit, and instruction. A delicious combination of modern sensibility and folk wisdom—including recipes for fresh breath and special prayers to Saint Valentine—this book tells universal tales of devotion and desire.

Amor Eterno is Patricia Preciado Martin's third book of short stories; her earlier works were El Milagro and Other Storiesand Days of Plenty, Days of Want. She has also authored two collections of oral histories, Songs My Mother Sang to Me and Images and Conversations, and a children's book, The Legend of the Bellringer of San Agustín; her work has been excerpted widely in anthologies and literary journals. She is a former teacher and Peace Corps volunteer who lives in Tucson with her husband, Jim, and keeps busy with writing, lecturing, and celebrating love and life with her familia and amistades.
 

"How do I love thee? Let Martin count the ways. Just as she did in El Milagro, oral historian Martin draws on the oral literature of the Mexican American community. . . . These short stories transcend their regional milieu to tell universal amorous truths. Written with finesse and without pretension, they are charming and appealing."—Library Journal

"Forbidden, enchanted, desperate—these are some of the varieties of love in this charming concoction of romance, with, and instruction by the Arizona oral historian."—Latina

"The technique is unique; the combination of epistolary form, songs, recipes, prayers to Saint Valentine, promises to Mother Mary, and stories told in flashback all reveal the many expressions of love. Highly recommended."—Multicultural Review

"The stories are windows onto a culture. A beautiful weaving of historical sensibility and contemporary situations."—Demetria Martínez

"These 'Eleven Lessons in Love' string together like clear crystal beads—each one innocent yet wise."—Alma Luz Villanueva