Women's Fiction author of That Was Then, Say You’ll Be Mine, and Evenings at the Argentine Club, Julia Amante writes emotionally rich stories about family, love, and the passion of chasing and achieving one’s goals. Julia began her writing career in 2000 writing Latina romance under the pseudonym, Lara Rios when Kensington Publishing released a new line of Latino romance books. These books reflected the flavor and rhythm of Latino communities in the U.S. and delivered richly textured commercial fiction about a population that had been mostly ignored by publishers at the time. Julia sold four romances to this publisher before moving on to write longer Chick Lit novels for Berkley Publishing by 2006. Her book Becoming Latina in 10 Easy Steps was optioned by Disney’s ABC Family to become a future TV series.

In 2009, Lara Rios became Julia Amante when she changed her writing style to reach a new audience. Amante wanted to expand her writing to include not only romantic relationships, but the more complex bonds women have with parents, children, and friends. These novels continued to feature Latino characters and the cultural flavor of Hispanic life in America, but they also dealt with universal issues that appealed to women of all cultures.

Julia learned to value her roots and to be proud of her Latina heritage, as well as to be grateful for the life her parents built in the U.S.  The beauty of America is that both cultures could be interwoven together, and Julia illustrates this in her novels. To her, being Latina is not separate from being American; her immigrant story is part of the great history of this country.

Julia’s other passion is education. She received her B.A. at the University of California, Riverside, and her M.F.A in Fiction from California State University, San Bernardino. She currently teaches writing at Crafton Hills College and California State University, San Bernardino.