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Author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez booklist (click here)

Book Review By Susanna Marlowe
Playing with Boys by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Alexis is a young Latina from Texas who moved to Los Angeles to be a publicist for Hispanic musical groups. She loses her job when her boss is arrested for drug smuggling. She decides to start her own publicity company by representing her friends, who are also Latinas. Marcella is beautiful, but belligerent. She wants to be a serious actress, but is stuck doing a Baywatch style TV show. Olivia has written a screenplay about watching her father being murdered by a right wing death squad in El Salvador.

Alexis contends with her ex-boyfriend, Daniel, a journalist who covers "gangsta rap". He wages a campaign of increasing harassment and violence against her.

Alexis also falls in love with another one of her clients, Goyo, a Cuban rap star. However, she puts aside her feelings for him and helps him rescue his girlfriend from Cuba.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - upbeat
Time/era of story - 1980's-1999
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Kind of romance:
Life of a profession:
Ethnic/Regional/Religion
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status:
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb: Yes
Eccentric:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 5 ()
United States Yes
The US: - California
City? Yes
City: - Los Angeles
Misc setting

Writing Style
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - licking - impregnation/reproduction - Weiner talk! - rape/molest
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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