Make Him Look Good [Bargain Price] [Audio CD]

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (Author), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Reader), Orlagh Cassidy (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2006

The “him” in Make Him Look Good is Ricky Biscayne, sexy Latin singing sensation who has taken the pop world by storm. But it takes more than swiveling hips and dreamy eyes to get to the top of the charts. The women who orbit Ricky are:

• Milan, Ricky’s new publicist, and her sister Geneva whose Club G promises to have Miami’s hottest opening ever
• Jill Sanchez, a media-manic Latina star who has crossed over from CDs to perfume, clothes and movies and Jasminka, Ricky’s gorgeous Croatian model wife and...
• Irene, a firefighter whose high school romance with Ricky was the last love in her life, eking out an existence for herself and her daughter Sophia, who is beginning to suspect that she and Ricky Biscayne look a little too much alike

With several satisfying romances set against Miami’s music, club and modeling scenes, Make Him Look Good is irresistible fiction from one of America’s most original voices.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Valdes-Rodriguez (Playing with Boys) shows she can brand name–drop with the best of them in her third chica lit offering, a busy celebrity fantasy populated by six women and the "him" of the title, Latin pop sensation Ricky Biscayne. Beyond product placement for Rock & Republic jeans, Dolce & Gabbana shoes and Cristal (and that's just the first page), this Miami yarn is heavy with dramatic touchstones: an abandoned child, domestic abuse, sibling rivalry, romantic infidelities and the pregnancy of Ricky's wife, Jasminka. Narrated mostly by Ricky's new publicist, Milan, the story shifts perspectives—sometimes changing narrators without warning—among Milan's sister, nightclub entrepreneur Geneva, Ricky's high school flame Irene, fatherless teenager Sophia, the famous (and familiar) singer/actress/brand Jill Sanchez, and Jasminka. Though a boon plot-wise, this crowd gives individuals little room to come alive; mostly, characters are either underdeveloped (Jasminka) or conform to types (Jill and Geneva), and they all resemble celebrities (Ricky: a "less greasy Antonio Banderas," Geneva: a "slightly prettier Penelope Cruz"). The villainous portrayal of Jill, obviously modeled after a real-life pop star, is particularly unimaginative, as is the predictable message she sets up. Despite these problems, however, our refreshingly imperfect and insecure heroine, Milan, shines, and there are enough reversals of fate and fortune to make this a satisfying read. (Apr. 18)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This lusty novel set in Miami focuses on six women whose lives are connected by one man--Latin pop singer Ricky Biscayne. Behind the handsome face, thrusting hips, and chart-topping hits is a man who abandoned his first love and child, a womanizer and a liar. It's going to take all the women in his life joining together to expose him for what he really is to change him. Valdes-Rodriguez relies on the sex and sass that made her debut, The Dirty Girls Social Club (2003), a runaway hit, and her strong suit is still creating realistic female relationships. Otherwise, many of her characters and plotlines seem ripped straight from the pages of tell-all tabloids--take the Latina diva with a famous derriere for example. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, readers will snap this book off the shelves and not be disappointed: Valdes-Rodriguez delivers the raunchy packed-with-attitude tale that her fans expect. Aleksandra Kostovski
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio; Abridged edition (April 18, 2006)
• ISBN-10: 1593978561
• ASIN: B001G7R7RA
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,049,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Make Me Feel Better, March 28, 2007

By 

KSW "Girlwithemail" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make Him Look Good (Paperback)

Oh my, this was probably the one of worst pieces of fiction I have read in a while, and definitely the worst book I've read of Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. I am so flustered, I just don't know what to say. I've read Ms. Valdes-Rodriguez's other two novels -- Dirty Girls Social Club and Playing With Boys -- and could not put those books down. However, this one? I had to force myself to keep reading it was so bad. From the overexaggerated characters (the ultra-obsessed groupie Milan, the eternally vain, shallow characters of Ricky and Jill, the uber-innocence of Jasminka) to the overbearing plot and numerous subplots, it was hard to get into this book. This is the first time that I didn't relate to the protagonist (Milan) in a novel.

While there were some delightful punches of humor, mostly provided by Milan's narration, and Milan and Geneva's fiesty mom, overall Make Him Look Good made me feel bad. Really bad. For starters, there were glaring inconsistencies throughout the novel, including one where Milan pops a Ricky Biscayne tape into the tape deck while driving, but a few sentences later and a few miles down the road, Milan is listening to a Ricky Biscayne CD?!?!

What stood out with me most is the fact that Ms. Valdes-Rodriguez's personal vendetta against Jennifer Lopez (aka Jill Sanchez) almost overtook the whole premise of the book! By the end of the book, it is no secret that the author has an axe (or two, or three, or fifty) to grind with Lopez (and for what reason, I don't know). The paralells and the digs were endless...down to the JSan (JLo anyone?) clothing and accessory line and recollection of the romance with rapper D-Kitty (P. Diddy). Many an author have characters based on their own personal antagonists in their real lives, but with enough creativity and level of disguise, the average reader wouldn't know. But this one? Jill Sanchez? Please.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Make him look bad, January 27, 2007

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Make Him Look Good (Hardcover)

It's somehow comforting to know that ethnic chick-lit can be as vapid and annoying as the typical mainstream variety. One good example of this is Alisa Valdes-Rodrieguez's "Make Him Look Good," a hideously inept satire on celebrity and self-absorbed males.

Chubby, fangirlish Milan is president of an online fanclub for Ricky Biscayne, a sexy crossover singer; so when her chic, urbane sister Geneva offers to get her a meeting -- then a job -- with Ricky, she jumps at the chance. Suddenly she's his new publicist, hobnobbing with the rich and famous -- and a convenient sex partner.

But Ricky's life is swarming with women -- his fragile, newly pregnant supermodel wife Jasminka, his disapproving mom, an ex-girlfriend who bore his daughter as a teenager, and man-hungry A-lister Jill Sanchez. When Ricky disgraces and lies to the various women, they band together to revenge themselves on him and the cunning Jill.

I love soapy chick-lit as much as the next person, but "Make Him Look Good" is almost offensive in its thinly-veiled, smug attitude. Instead of satirizing and condemning sleazy stars, celebrity-worship and marital cheating -- as it seems to at first -- it lingers on them like a lustful cameraman.

Valdes-Rodrieguez seems more interested in lingering on Miami chic clubs, A-list housing and clothing than on plot. She also apparently gets tired of certain storylines -- Geneva stealing Milan's past boyfriends is awkwardly dismissed with "oh... I was wrong, sorry." The climax is the height of the hilarity, with a "surprise" expose with the media that is more fantasy than Harry Potter, and written with campy ineptitude.

The characters aren't so great either -- our heroine Milan is a pitiful, spineless girl who lives in a fantasy world, and sleeps with a pregnant woman's husband without remorse. Why should we care about her? The other characters are "types" rather than people: sexy successful sister, arrogant and sexist Latin guy, fragile child-woman from war-torn country, vaguely butch firewoman and feisty teen.

The only really amusing aspect of this book is the affair between Jill and Ricky (also known as Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony), along with the fictional counterparts of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Jill is so nasty, conniving, cunning and manipulative that she's funny in a campy way, even if it's an easy stab.

"Make Him Look Good" doesn't make anyone in it look good, let alone Alisa Valdes-Rodrieguez. This vapid chick-lit book aspires to be a soapy guilty pleasure, but the only guilt is in reading it to the end.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not her best, May 1, 2007

By 

Candice Simone "bookworm" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Make Him Look Good (Paperback)

I bought this book after reading the author's first two novels. The first two were great, this one was barely ok. The materialism and brand-name dropping is gratuitous and distracting. The characters are shallow and underdeveloped. Some characters -- Jill Sanchez, for one -- are so clearly based on real-life celebrities that there is no originality to their story. And the main character and narrator, while initially sympathetic, later becomes almost unbearably naive and annoying. I love high-end fashion, I love South Beach, and I subscribe to US Weekly. And even I thought this novel overdid it.

However, there are some bright spots -- a short chapter told from the perspective of a cat was amazingly written. Some of the romances are touching. And the plot is interesting, even though the climax and ending seemed a little farfetched. Hopefully the author's next offering will have more originality and substance, and less flash.