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Playing with Boys: A Novel (2004)

by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
348579,161 (3.56)1
From the author of The Dirty Girls Social Club comes another fast, funny, soulful, and sexy novel about friendship and love amid Latinas. It's a jungle out there -- in Los Angeles, that is, where the tangle of freeways and ingrained insincerity can make a girl feel very alone, no matter how fabulous the weather or how cute the clothes at the South Coast Plaza mall. With very different styles and attitudes, Marcella, Olivia, and Alexis are trying to crack the code in L.A, trying to snare love and success. But first they have to come together-to make their marks and plan the fun they're going to have along the way. Marcella is a hot, sharp young television actress who's barely able to enjoy the life she's bought for herself and certainly isn't enjoying her body, which is never quite perfect enough. Olivia, whose life revolves around her toddler son, Jack, is tethered to her suburban mommy track so tightly she can almost forget the horrible thing that happened to her family when she was a child herself. Alexis is a musicians' manager with a smart mouth, an ample body, and loads of style but barely enough self-esteem to fill a Prada card case. And the boys in their lives? Marcella's had about enough of them throwing themselves at her; Olivia's boy is her son; and Alexis is still searching, not for a boy this time, but for a man. Playing with Boys is a savvy novel with charm, style, and heart to spare.… (more)
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Showing 5 of 5
Narrated by Isabel Keating. Follows the career trials and romantic tribulations of three Latina women in Los Angeles: Marcella, star of a "Baywatch"-style show is sexy, book smart and cynical. Meek Olivia is the mother of a toddler and suffers PTSD from witnessing her father assassinated in El Salvador. Alexis is an up-and-coming talent agent and manager who discovers them both but suffers from low self-esteem because of her heavyweight appearance in sleek L.A. At book's end, Marcella is a respected, acclaimed actress; Olivia divorces her husband and is immersed in public TV projects; and Alexis marries the poetic Cuban rapper she signed to her stable.
  Salsabrarian | Feb 2, 2016 |
Was so bad I couldn't finish it. ( )
  Kimberly_P | Nov 14, 2014 |
Rowena (my daughter) read it and enjoyed it very much. She asked me to check if Alicia has written any other books. She has and I've bought a book which I will give Rowena in 2 days on her Birthday.

I finished this book this morning and I agree, it was a good read. I like the roughness, the honesty. Only thing I wasn't very happy about was the end. Everybody has a happy end? come on now.
But I want to read more by this author ( )
  Marlene-NL | Apr 12, 2013 |
I am dumber for having read this book... I encourage everyone to stay the hell away from it and to ignore the reviews on the back touting it as some kind of awesome beach read. This book is stupid... and I generally enjoy chick lit. I hated the characters, hated their choices, hated the men in their lives, hated them hating themselves, hated their clothes and cars, hated their vocabulary, hated their jobs and hated their animals. I hated the beginning, middle and end. If you read this book, even after I have begged you not to, I am not going to feel bad for you when you gouge your eyes out and poke at your brain through your empty sockets in an attempt to erase any memory of this book. ( )
  TeenieLee | Apr 3, 2013 |
Showing 5 of 5
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Charm is the product of the unexpected.--Jose Marti
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This book is dedicated to the wonderful actress Mara Holguin, who taught me you're never too old to make a new friend; and the brilliant Elsa Menendez, who made me realize a friend had been there all along. (Gracias, Faustino, wherever you are, for bringing the 'burque girls together again.)
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There were times that made me s'dang proud to be a Mexican, I wept 'til my mascara melted---say, when Vincente Fernandez sang "Cielito Lindo" for the Republican National Convention in 2000.
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From the author of The Dirty Girls Social Club comes another fast, funny, soulful, and sexy novel about friendship and love amid Latinas. It's a jungle out there -- in Los Angeles, that is, where the tangle of freeways and ingrained insincerity can make a girl feel very alone, no matter how fabulous the weather or how cute the clothes at the South Coast Plaza mall. With very different styles and attitudes, Marcella, Olivia, and Alexis are trying to crack the code in L.A, trying to snare love and success. But first they have to come together-to make their marks and plan the fun they're going to have along the way. Marcella is a hot, sharp young television actress who's barely able to enjoy the life she's bought for herself and certainly isn't enjoying her body, which is never quite perfect enough. Olivia, whose life revolves around her toddler son, Jack, is tethered to her suburban mommy track so tightly she can almost forget the horrible thing that happened to her family when she was a child herself. Alexis is a musicians' manager with a smart mouth, an ample body, and loads of style but barely enough self-esteem to fill a Prada card case. And the boys in their lives? Marcella's had about enough of them throwing themselves at her; Olivia's boy is her son; and Alexis is still searching, not for a boy this time, but for a man. Playing with Boys is a savvy novel with charm, style, and heart to spare.

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