Houston, We Have a Problema (Paperback)

~ Gwendolyn Zepeda (Author)
Key Phrases: rue plant, broker job, Madame Hortensia, Gwendolyn Zepeda, Amber Chavez (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For single Houston gal Jessica Luna, deciding what she really wants involves searching for signs and sage advice from a fortune-teller in Zepeda's snazzy first novel (after short story collection To the Last Man I Slept With and All the Jerks Just Like Him). The superstitious Latina becomes devoted to Madame Hortensia, a psychic with questionable abilities (but a good heart) after three eerie predictions come true. So it's with Hortensia's help that Jessica hopes to overcome her professional, personal and romantic woes. Jessica has a B.A. in art history yet unhappily toils for an insurance firm, is torn between two men—one a sexy but flaky artist, the other a rich but snobby businessman—and believes her parents may be on the verge of divorce. Jessica's evolution from self-uncertainty to self-empowerment is amusingly charted, and Zepeda's take on the popular fascination with good luck charms, horoscopes, psychics and unreliable predictions is laced with rueful zeal. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

Whether it’s planning her career or choosing whom to date, Jessica Luna doesn’t make big decisions without the advice of psychic Madame Hortensia. She is tired of waiting for enigmatic artist Guillermo to be ready to settle down, yet when her sister sets her up with handsome, smart, and wealthy Jonathan, she is hesitant about dating a non-Latino. She is bored at her job as an assistant at an insurance firm, but she can’t decide whether to follow her dream of being a Web designer or pursue a more secure position with her current employer. Her superstitious nature puts her under greater pressure to pick the exact right path and leaves her vulnerable to missteps. Zepeda, who writes the popular blog gwenworld.com, presents a debut about the everyday struggle to find one’s way but adds unusual and alluring touches, namely the vibrant Houston setting and the novel’s emphasis on Tex-Mex culture, art, and folklore. --Aleksandra Walker

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446698520
• ISBN-13: 978-0446698528
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #504,906 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and heartwarming 20-something's journey through love and life!, January 5, 2009

By	Mint910 (USA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

This is a really fun and heartwarming book about a twenty-something's journey through love, work and family. During the day Jessica works a dull job at an insurance firm but all she wants to do is design websites. To ease her stress she's been seeing a sexy artist but she's unhappy about where the relationship is going. Jessica is superstitious and turns to signs, omens, and especially Madame Hortensia to help her decide what path to take in love and life. Mix in a little family love, drama and some cultural tension and you have the makings of a lovely story!

I really enjoyed this book! Starting my first full-time job about a year ago I'm always interested in stories involving twenty-somethings in the work place. It's fun to compare and contrast their experiences with my own. I also loved Jessica's background and interest in the arts, seeing as though I have that same background!

Going into this I thought this would be your basic chick-lit, but it was more than that. It deals a lot with family and the tension that can arise between sisters and even husbands and wives. I also was very interested in the growth that Jessica goes through when it comes to accepting others for they are on the inside rather than what they appear to be on the outside.

This is a great book, full of interesting characters, humor, and growing up! It's very satisfying to see a character evolve throughout a book, learn to depend on themselves, and go out and get what will really make them happy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Solution is within, July 27, 2009

By	Jennifer Coissiere (Georgia) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

Jessica Luna, like many people in the world, believes in good luck charms and psychics. Though no one can really say whether these things and people are nothing but a hoax, some still swear by it. There is nothing wrong with that, unless you are Jessica in Gwendolyn Zepeda's Houston, We Have a Problema.

Jessica is a melodramatic, 26 year-old, Mexican, wondering what the cards say is in her future. Each time she returns to Madame Hortensia to get guidance she leaves with information not as clear as a crystal ball. It was not until Madame Hortensia put aside all her charms, that Jessica was able to see what lay ahead in her future. In seeing what she wanted in a job and possibly in a relationship, Jessica grew insight into herself as a person. Did she like who she was? Or would she have to make a drastic change in order to find happiness?

Jessica reminds me of someone near and dear to me. They ask for a person's input, but do not always hear the words spoken to them. Both Jessica and my love one learn best from their own personal mistakes. They have to have a light bulb moment in order to realize the same flaws they saw in others, they actually possess themselves. Zepeda created a realistic 26 year-old. Her topsy-turvy emotions and decision making skills reminded me of people I have known, including myself. I recommend Houston, We Have a Problem to readers who enjoy multicultural books and a melodramatic character.

Jennifer Coissiere
APOOO BookClub

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read that transcends genre, April 22, 2009

By	Robert Rummel-Hudson "author, SCHUYLER'S MONSTER" (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Gwen Zepeda's novel "Houston, We Have a Problema" is bound to be pushed into some pretty narrow genre categories -- latina chick lit, perhaps -- which is a pity, because Zepeda has written an engaging and fun work that transcends its regional and cultural environment and is quite simply a well-written and entertaining piece of work.

Jessica Luna is a single twentysomething standing on the edge of change. She finds herself confronting the prospects of changing jobs while at the same time hurtling towards decisions that must be made in her dating life, romantic choices that seem to mirror her career in flux. She jockeys for promotion at an insurance company job that she finds unfulfilling even as she dreams of a career in the art world. At the same time, she teeters between Jonathan, the successful Anglo executive who represents safety but also a step away from her passion and her culture, and the temperamental artist Guillermo, who frustrates her with his unreliability even as he haunts her on a visceral, emotional level. Jessica's superstitious nature leads her to consult Madame Hortensia, a pragmatic fortune teller whose guidance mostly serves to turn her gaze inward. Jessica Luna will find her own answers, if only she can learn to trust her heart.

"Houston, We Have a Problema" reads like good solid chick lit, but Zepeda delves into topics of race and family dysfunction that give the novel an unexpected depth. It does so, however, with subtlety and humor, and most of all with nuanced, believable characters. This isn't a book I would have naturally gravitated to, mostly because of the genre, but to have missed out on this charming story would have been a real pity. I've been aware of Gwen Zepeda's writing for a while now, but with "Houston, We Have a Problema", she now has my undivided attention.