"An exciting and sexy mystery that Janet Evanovich fans will want to read!"
Reviewed by Rachael Dimond
Posted November 18, 2012
Mystery Private Eye | Mystery Woman Sleuth
Dolores ''Lola'' Cruz first fell in love with her brother's
best friend Jack Callaghan when she was a kid. She used to
spy on him and take pictures like the detective she would
grow up to be one day. Now Lola is 28 years old and
working for Camacho & Associates as a private investigator.
Emily Diggs is a mother of three children who has suddenly
gone missing. While looking through Emily's journal, Lola
is shocked to find her childhood crush's business card in
it. Jack is all grown up and a reporter for the Sacramento
Bee. Lola contacts him to find out about his connection to
the missing woman.
Immediately sparks fly between Lola and Jack, and it seems
all of her wishes are going to come true. Finally, Lola
will have a chance with the man of her dreams.
Unfortunately, before anything can happen between the two,
Emily Diggs turns up dead and the killers are now after
Lola! As she connects the dots between a large pool of
suspects, all the pieces start to fit together. But the
killer doesn't want Lola to solve this case and they will
do everything in their power to stop her.
Will Lola finally get to experience the thrilling
excitement of being with Jack Callahan or will her
dangerous case hit a little too close to home?
LIVING THE VIDA LOLA is the first book in the Lola Cruz
mystery series following the life of a Mexican woman who is
learning the ropes as a newly licensed detective. Lola's
voice is vibrant, loud, hilarious and shined through in
this deliciously fun mystery. Lola and Jack's chemistry was
on fire and I loved all the awkward situations she went
through as she got to know him again.
The story moves along at a fast pace with a tightly plotted
mystery that had me shocked at the final conclusion. Being
in Lola's head in this first person POV is pure craziness
at times and it's fun! Every woman has snooped through a
man's apartment when left alone, but did you find his
condoms and count them to see if any were missing? Did you
try out his bed to see if it's good for sex? Lola is
absolutely hilarious and I loved her from the very first
sentence.
If you enjoyed Janet Evanovich's series but always felt
like something was missing, then look no further than the
Lola Cruz mysteries! She's smarter, sassier, sexier,
bolder, funnier, and always gets her man in the end. Lola
Cruz could definitely give Stephanie Plum a few lessons!
Misa Ramirez is a fresh voice and I thoroughly LOVED
reading LIVING THE VIDA LOLA. I am completely addicted to
this series and can't wait to dig into the second book,
Hasta La Vista Lola!
SUMMARY
Meet Lola Cruz. After paying her dues as an intern, she’s
now a full-fledged detective at Camacho and Associates. Her
boss is Manny Camacho, a muy caliente former cop with a
mysterious ex-wife, a Lara Croft look-alike girlfriend, and
a sudden personal interest in Lola. Her first big case? A
missing mother who may not want to be found. And to make
her already busy life even more complicated, Lola’s helping
her cousin plan her quinceañera, and battling her family
and their old-fashioned views on women and careers. She’s
also reunited with the gorgeous Jack Callaghan, her high
school crush whom she shamelessly tailed years ago and
photographed doing the horizontal salsa with some other
lucky girl. Lola takes it all in stride, but when the subject of her
search ends up dead, she realizes she has a lot more to
worry about. Soon she finds herself wrapped up in the
possibly shady practices of a tattoo parlor, local
politics, and someone with serious---maybe deadly---road
rage. To top it all off, her treasured postcoital pictures
of Jack are missing! Still, Lola is well-equipped to handle
these challenges. She's a black-belt in kung fu, and her
body isn’t her only weapon. She’s got smarts, sass, and
more tenacity than her Mexican mafioso-wannabe grandfather.
A few of her famous margaritas don’t hurt, either. Debut author Misa Ramirez, a blond-haired, green-eyed gal
with a passion for the Latino culture and authentic Mexican
food, has penned a delicious mix of mystery, romance, and
all-out fun. Filled with sizzling scenes and side-splitting
humor, Living the Vida Lola is a thrilling ride that will
have you up all night.
ExcerptChapter 1When I was fourteen years old, I snapped pictures of Jack
Callaghan doing the horizontal salsa in the back seat of a
car with Greta Pritchard. That’s when I knew for sure I’d
grow up to be a private eye. I’d hidden under the bleachers at the high school, followed
him to the levy, even disguised my voice and called his
mother to find out his plans so I’d know where to set up my
surveillance. It had taken a month of steadfast
determination, and at least four rolls of film, before I
got proof that Jack was messing around–no, having sex–with
Greta while he was supposedly dating Laura something-or-
other. My mother called him un mujeriego–a player. I didn’t care.
I just wanted him to do to me what he’d done to Greta. Back in high school, Jack and my brother, Antonio, made
their way through the cheerleaders, then the Future Female
Leaders of America. But Jack didn’t give me, little Lola
Cruz, the time of day. “I’ll never get to do that with him!” I’d wailed to my
sister Gracie when I showed her the pictures I had of him
and Greta. She’d looked longingly at the photos. “Yeah,” she sighed
heavily. “But at least you can look at him whenever you
want.” Then she got serious. “And, more importantly, you
discovered what you’re good at. Now you won’t be stuck
working at Abuelita’s for the rest of your life.” If I hadn’t been determined to figure out why the hottest
guy at school, and my brother’s best friend, completely
ignored me, I might never have discovered my proclivity for
surveillance and undercover work. Gracie was right. I’d never confess that I’d taken photos
of Jack, but once I had them in my hot little hands, there
was no way I was parting with them. He was my fantasy. My favorite picture of Jack still had a place in my dresser
drawer, fifteen years later. He stood bare-chested, his
business with Greta was done. He was just seventeen years
old and his smoky blue eyes seemed trained directly on me,
as if he was staring through the shrubs to where I was
hidden. I was pretty sure Jack Callaghan didn’t know I’d been a
teenage stalker. Even though I still had a secret longing
that he’d do to me what he’d done to Greta Pritchard, my
embarrassment at invading his privacy, and my anger that
I’d never be anything more to him than Antonio’s little
sister, kept me far, far away from him. I avoided him at
all costs so that I wouldn’t break down and confess in a
moment of guilty Catholic repentance. I’d been in and out of relationships, but those old photos
of Jack reminded me of what I’d lost, even though I’d never
had it. Or him. Still, while Jack–and his untamed libido–had never given me
an orgasm (well, at least not person-to-person), he had
done something earth-moving for me. I was Dolores Cruz,
a.k.a. Lola P.I. Thanks to him, I’d answered my calling.
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