Customer Reviews

In Between Men

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was SO excited for this book to finally come out, especially after enjoying Hot Tamara so much. Mary has such a magic touch when it comes to comedy and drama. Isa is so dang lovable, you have to check out this book! Congrats Mary, on a job well done. now - when is the next one coming?

The book is a quick read. The writing is fun and the story is interesting enough even though the characters are pretty flat and predictable. The author touches on some good subject matter and issues many Latinas can relate to which I really liked, but she also uses too many cliches and I wanted a better exploration of the characters.

it started off kinda dull but then it just picked up and i couldnt put the book down!

In Los Angeles though she and her husband Carlos recently divorced high school ESL (ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE) teacher Isa Avellan enjoys her work and is proud of her son Andrew. Life is good that is until she is voted the least sexy teacher in the school, which includes some educators old enough to be the twenty-nine years old Isa's grandmother. Adding to her humiliation, Carlos reveals in detail on national radio what a failure in bed she is.

When she is knocked unconscious by a soccer ball, she finds coach Alex looking into her eyes asking if she is all right. She decides then and there pushed by a beautiful sexy guardian angel to do a complete makeover from frump to siren to score with Alex. However becoming a glamour queen is hard work when teaching and raising an eight year old son while Alex seems immune to her advances when in fact he debates with himself whether he should drop his pride to date the sexiest woman in the L.A. school system.

IN BETWEEN MEN is an amusing lighthearted romp starring a wonderful Latina-Americana protagonist who became complacent failing to care for herself and in turn lost respect. Her guardian angel is a cute aside that allows comparisons between the two beauty enhancing-detracting extremes while the hunk, who corner kicked his way into her life, provides the incentive more so than the school sexometer scoring system. Fans will enjoy Mary Castillo's satirical glimpse at sex appeal of a working mom.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by: Bela M.
Member of Livin' la vida latina
[...]

Review: This book was a little bit better than Ms. Castillo's first novel, Hot Tamara First of all, the whole "working, single mother" routine is a very common scenario among women, and I felt that it was well-portrayed with genuine sincerity. Isa Avellan is one of those single moms, who is struggling to get over a bad divorce and raise a son the best way she could. She has also been recently voted as the unsexiest teacher in school. How humiliating is that? Then comes Alex, her son's soccer coach. And who could not fall for Alex? He shows Isa that, yeah, even moms can be sexy. One of Ms. Castillo's gifts is the ability to draw men realistically--with flaws, fears, and disgruntled emotions that are often hidden behind a sheath of masculinity. I can see these men in real life (not literally, of course, although I wish I could.) However, we still ran into the same writing issues from Hot Tamara--like the bad Spanish and awkward phrasing. Still, they don't detach the reader from the story too much. I'd say this is probably Ms. Castillo's best book.