Nearly 17 years after Selena’s death,  her widowed husband Chris Pérez  is opening up about his love for La Reina de la Musica Tejana.

The 42-year-old Mexican-American guitarist—who first met Selena as a teenager when he was hired as a guitarist for her band, Los Dinos—has released a book entitled Para Selena con Amor.

Published simultaneously in Spanish and English, the book is a love story told from Pérez ’s point of view, “written in a way that expresses the dignity of the person I loved so much and who was my wife,” says Pérez .

“What I tell is the truth about what we felt as two young people in love, the way young people today feel about things as they walk around holding hands,” he said.

Selena—born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson—was gunned down by Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her fan club, on March 31, 1995, in Corpus Christi.

“My book isn’t focused on the horror of her death – many years have passed and today I feel it is at last time to write about all we felt, things I simply couldn’t talk about or write about before,” said Pérez , who married Selena on April 2, 1992 in Nueces County, Texas, when she was 20, despite her father’s disapproval of their relationship.

Pérez—who went on to launch the Chris Pérez Band—and his band won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album at the 2000 Grammy Awards for the band’s album Resurrection. In the album, Pérez dedicated the song, “Best I Can” to his deceased wife.