One Hot Summer (Hardcover)

by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
On her way to a wake in Coral Gables from her Miami Beach home one July evening, 35-year-old Margarita Solana savors her purchase of a new black dress with practical joie de vivre. Margarita has the proverbial everything: she enjoys a successful career as an immigration lawyer and a good marriage to a handsome, successful self-made Cuban lawyer who adores her; their life in the upper-class Cuban-American enclave is enviably comfortable. The only question troubling her is whether she should resume her career now that she's reaching the end of parental leave following the birth of her son. Her husband, Ariel, and her mother are encouraging her to have another child, but what does she truly want? Things heat up when Luther Simmonds, her gorgeous, Anglo college boyfriend and first love reappears, intent on winning her back. Even after a visit to her psychic, Margarita can't decide whether to change her life, but soon questions about adultery and other moral choices are inevitable. Meanwhile, her best girlfriendsVivian, an attorney, and Anabel, an architectare facing decisions of their own. Garcia-Aguilera perfectly captures the conflicts of these cosseted Cuban-American women. Her tongue-in-cheek humor enlivens the situations she describes with intimate familiarity, and she treads gently around other aspects of the exile experience (including the Eliùn Gonzalez case). Despite Margarita's emotional conflicts, the outcome is never seriously in doubt, but no matter, it's how she reaches it that provides this zesty tale with its sparkle. Garcia-Aguilera's Miami sleuth, Lupe Solano (Havana Heat and Bitter Sugar), has won her the Flamingo and Shamus Awards. By sticking to a world she knows well, the author has produced another crowd pleaser.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The Cuban-born author of the popular "Lupe Solano" mystery series here makes a foray into contemporary romance with disappointing results. Living in Miami, successful Cuban American lawyer Margarita inexplicably threatens her admittedly wonderful life with her Cuban American husband and their young son for a tryst with her "American" (i.e., not Cuban) college flame, who wants her to leave her husband and marry him. Margarita also has to decide whether to return to work after a yearlong leave of absence to spend more time with her son. Her husband and mother think that she should stay at home and have more children, but Margarita has worked hard to become a partner and doesn't want to throw her law career away. This book is often laugh-out-loud ridiculous, with unbelievable plotting straight out of a daytime soap opera. In addition to frequent references to Margarita's gas-guzzling Cadillac Escalade and designer clothes, barely a page goes by without a reference to Cuba or something Cuban. Although the characters are Cuban American, these references often seem gratuitous and overstated; the author's opinions on the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Eli n Gonzales ordeal, for instance, have no bearing on the story and seem particularly out of place in this romance. Not an essential purchase, though there may be demand. Samantha J. Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Rayo; 1st edition (May 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060009802
• ISBN-13: 978-0060009809
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,379,762 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the hype, July 21, 2003

By A Customer

I had "One Hot Summer" on my Books to Read list for so long, I bought it ready to enjoy a quick beach read while on vacation. I don't know what I was thinking when I included this book on my list because it wasn't a good beach read. It wasn't a good book for anything.

To summarize, Margarita Solana is a successful lawyer and loving mother that has to decide if she's going back to work after her year of absence ends or if she'll remain a stay-at-home mom to her 3-year-old son. First of all, this woman was rarely at home. She employed a woman that worled as maid, cook and nanny. Margarita drove around Miami in her too-big SUV dining with friends as shallow as her, exploring an affiar with her college boyfriend, and grappling with her overbearing mother and sexist husband. In short, she is a spoiled woman that uses her parents exile from Cuba and her family background as an excuse for every unlikeable quality she has.

The story is supposed to be about Margarita and her life during three months. Instead of sticking to that, the author gets preachy with Cuban American issues, reviews Miami's hot spots, and tries a subplot involving one of Margarita's friends that comes about suddenly, then ends with no explanation.

Summer can't end fast enough.

I didn't hate the book. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it either. It took me until Vivian, Margarita's friend, broke her news to actually like the book and care how things turned out, but was dissappointed with how the author handled that story. I view it as "poor little rich girl" and had no empathy for anyone except Marti, Margarita's son. He's a little boy that's paid attention to only when his parents feel guilty. How wonderful (typed with great sarcasm).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book, Unfortunate Cover, October 20, 2003

By	Imperial Topaz (Marrakesh, Morocco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Hot Summer (Paperback)

The cover on this book was unfortunate. Why ? The skimpy bathing suit implies light (airhead) reading to me. Yet this book is not only fun, but surprisingly MEATY, with a lot of serious issues to think about. Don't let the cover put you off.

I picked up the book expecting a continuing saga of the Lupe Solano series (private investigator in Miami), but soon found that the main character was a different woman, a partner in a Miami law firm. Once I got over that initial disappointment, I was more than pleasantly surprised. The book is about a happily married woman whose former boyfriend arrives in town, and the consternation caused when he tries to get her to leave her husband. The main character is pulled into a quagmire. The BEST part is the ABSOLUTELY SATISFYING ENDING with how she gets herself OUT of this quagmire, in a way that leaves you REALLY admiring the heroine.

Suffice it to say that my turn in our bookclub is coming up, and this is the book I will be choosing ! After reading two books by this author, I plan to read every book of hers that I can get my hands on.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite Hot, but nice and warm, July 14, 2003

By	sunshine608 (Baton Rouge, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Hot Summer (Paperback)

I picked up this book so I would have somthing to read on the beach, and In that aspect I was not dissaopoinnted. Ms. Garcia is a talented and gifted writer and I enjoyed reading this book, and will continue to read her others. The only problem I found with this book were the constant refrenced to "Cuban Miami" and Miami in general, after the first 20refrences or so, it just got annoying. Also Ms. Garcia tended to talk give long descriptions and backgrounds that were irrelevant to the story and just held up the story line. Other than those issues this is a good read and i recommend it to book lovers everywhere.