Hasta la Vista, Lola! by Misa Rameriz


Book Description:

When Lola comes home to her parents’ house to find a horde of relatives mourning her death, no one is more surprised than she is. The news had reported that one Lola Cruz, PI was found murdered in an alley, causing great alarm in the Cruz family. Before Lola can say “boo,” a cop comes to the house. It turns out the dead woman had a driver’s license with Lola’s information. Between avoiding an unsavory ex-boyfriend, sorting out mixed signals from the very interested but not yet committed Jack Callaghan, and filling in as a waitress at her parents’ Mexican restaurant, Lola tries to find out who the woman was and why she stole her identity. Was the woman hiding from someone who meant her harm, or is there someone out there who wants Lola dead?
This follow-up to Ramirez’s debut novel, Living the Vida Lola, is a red-hot, fun-filled mystery. Lola, a black belt in kung fu who loves to salsa dance, makes for a sexy, unique, and vivacious detective.

About Misa Ramirez

Misa Ramirez is the author of the Lola Cruz mystery series: Living the Vida Lola (January ’09) and Hasta la Vista, Lola! (2010) from St. Martin’s Press Minotaur. A former middle and high school teacher, and current CEO and CFO for La Familia Ramirez, this blonde-haired, green-eyed, proud to be Latina-by-Marriage girl loves following Lola on her many adventures. Whether it’s contemplating belly button piercings or visiting nudist resorts, she’s always up for the challenge. Misa is hard at work on a new women’s fiction novel, is published in Woman’s World Magazine and Romance Writers Report, and has a children’s book published.
Visit my web sites:

http://parentadvocatesforargyleschools.edublogs.org

Oh and I cant forget to tell you – One lucky commenter today will receive a copy of Hasta La Vista Lola!  How super cool is that!!!!


I was on blog tour for this book but the book did not come in time for my review post so I am posting the information about this book instead.  Doesn’t it sound wonderful?

This books is coming from Latino Book Tours

Morning Meaderings….

Shhh!  Dont tell Coffee Cup but this morning I am off to Caribou Coffee to meet some of my friends.  Thats right – I am having someone elses coffee.  🙂

There is a little group of five of us girls who used to do this once a week.  Then life happens, job changes…. and suddenly we couldn’t do it anymore.  Today we are getting together like old times and I am so looking forward to the coffee and the conversation.

Today I have work and then I meet with the house sitter (yes – we get a house sitter) to watch the dogs while we are gone because the kennel is $22 a day per dog.  AND we have two dogs.  That is an insane amount of money.  Thus the house/ dog sitter.  Then I should really start to pack….

Whats on your agenda today?

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?

Thank you to J Kaye’s Blog for this great meme that I use weekly to check off the books that are on my radar for the week.  This is not an exact science….  books I plan on reading, sometimes I do not get too.  Books that were not on my list to read that week, some how wind up in my hand and read.  *sigh*


This Last week I reviewed:

Collision Of Evil

American Rust (w/giveaway!)

Rene Has Two Last Names

Mother Daughter Book Club Book

Denise’s Daily Dozen

I tossed around the idea of:

Book Blogger Convention (Maybe)


This week – is all about The Library.  With us leaving this Thursday for Florida, I have a few library books that are all started – and I need to finish them up and return them on Wednesday.  Those books consist of:

I am in the last quarter of this book and find this a powerful read.  I thought I would have it done this past weekend but had an incredibly busy weekend that left little time for reading.  This true story of Emmanuel Jal is a real eye opener that I am anxious to share in my review.


This one I have about 100 pages to go but it is a quick read and a fun read.  This book is one of the 2009 Christy Award Winners and I am enjoying this light read!


Fascinating book I am still working my way through.  I have about half way to go in this one so need to kick it down over the next couple of evenings.


Alas, Ballad will be returned to the Library unread.  When I checked this out I had forgotten that this was a 2nd book in the series and I have not read Lament yet.  I reserved Lament but as of yet it has not come in so this will have to wait for another time.

So that is my week of reading.  Later this week I will post about the books that are going to Florida with me….. now that should be interesting…LOL

What are you reading this week?

Morning Meanderings….


I feel as though I am in a sort of frenzy.  Coffee Cup and I are here this morning with an agenda over the next few days that I am having a hard time wrapping my head around.  Busy isn’t even the word for it…. insane seems the better word.

This morning I have my Group Power class at 8:25 am.  I refuse to let this go… this may be the one thing that makes the rest possible.  After that, I will come home and shower and then I have a funeral at 11:00 am for a friend of mine’s mom who passed away suddenly on Thursday.  Then home, change, and with a little luck I can get the dogs in for their kennel shots because as of Wednesday evening they need to be in a kennel until February 9 (which breaks my heart a little bit).  Then I have business phone calls to take care of and I must (I MUST) make some time this afternoon to go and see my Grandfather who is in his 90’s.

So why the suddenly  rush of events?  Because on Thursday morning we leave for Florida where my hubby attends the equipment auctions each year and we will return home on February 9.    Only to leave again on the 11th of February for Illinois for our sons graduation from the Navy.  Wonderful things, yes… but the getting there – or more like getting ready to go there is the stressful part.  In reality, my life will not settle down until February 15th after we are back home… and then Al (hubby) and Justin (19 year old son) leave for Honduras on the 18th of February and will not be back until the 28th.

Welcome to the month of insanity!  Lap Top of course will travel  with me and I will continue through it all – the meanderings, the reading, the reviews…..  and yes, I realize my Meandering meme is upside down but found that somehow appropriate….  😉

So….  looks like I have time for one more cup of coffee before I hit the ground running.  I am overstretched right now with the details in my own life…. lets talk about yours.  Any plans for trips in 2010?

In My Mailbox

Is it just me or did the week go by super fast?  I can’t believe we are here again and I am digging through the books that came in this week by mail, by Library, or uhhh….. by me purchasing….  Thanks as always to Kristi at Story Siren who hosts this weekly adventure into the mailbox!

So here is what has entered my home this week…


One terrible night. One outraged act. What price will people pay to hold their homes and dreams together?

When Kate and Stuart Kinzler buy a run-down, historic house in Ann Arbor, Michigan, they’re looking for a decent remodeling investment and a little space in which to rekindle their troubled marriage. Instead they discover that their home was the scene of a terrible crime many years ago—a revelation that tips the balance of their precarious union.

When a mysterious man begins lurking around her yard, Kate—now alone—is forced to confront her home’s dangerous past. Hers is not the only life that has crumbled under this roof. But the stranger who has returned to this house—once his own childhood home—is in search of something Kate may never fully understand.

Featuring a diverse cast of characters and building to an unforgettable climax, Dream House embraces the volatile issues of race and class to chart the concentric effects of one fateful decision—a moment of rage that will echo forever within these four walls.

Doesn’t this book just look good?


Two sisters of opposing temperaments but who share the pangs of tragic love provide the subjects for Sense and Sensibility. Elinor, practical and conventional, is the epitome of sense; Marianne, emotional and sentimental, the embodiment of sensibility. To each comes the sorrow of unhappy love: Elinor desires a man who is promised to another while Marianne loses her heart to a scoundrel who jilts her. Their mutual suffering brings a closer understanding between the two sisters — and true love finally triumphs when sense gives way to sensibility and sensibility gives way to sense.

I know… I feel like I am the last person on the earth who has not read this book!



You’d think Polly Martin would have all the answers when it comes to love—after all, her grandmother is the famous syndicated advice columnist Miss Swoon. But after a junior year full of dating disasters, Polly has sworn off boys. This summer, she’s going to focus on herself for once. So Polly is happy when she finds out Grandma is moving in—think of all the great advice she’ll get.

But Miss Swoon turns out to be a man-crazy sexagenarian! How can Polly stop herself from falling for Xander Cooper, the suddenly-hot skateboarder who keeps showing up while she’s working at Wild Waves water park, when Grandma is picking up guys at the bookstore and flirting with the dishwasher repairman?    No advice column can prepare Polly for what happens when she goes on a group camping trip with three too many ex-boyfriends and the tempting Xander. Polly is forced to face her feelings and figure out if she can be in love—and still be herself.

Sounds interesting!


Seventeen year old Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alientated from her parents, especially her father…until her mother decides it would be in everyone’s best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie’s father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.

The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels—first love, love between parents and children — that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts…and heal them.

Ok… Sparks has been on a role lately so I can’t let this one pass by!  Giveaway coming up on this as well in the next few days!



David Marion and the Freyl family return in a page-turning story of international suspense and intrigue by award-winning author Joan Brady.

I know right?  The description is awful – but that’s what I find on-line to describe it.  In reality it looks like a smokin’ good book!


A champion trainer and true horse whisperer, Dr. Lew Sterrett has used patience and a firm but gentle hand to earn the trust of more than 3,500 horses.

Ok this is another poor description from on-line.  This book is more about the whispering to horses…  (I am cracking myself up here…) it is also about life and well, it sounds good!


On the outside, Nick O’Reilly has it all: a high-flying legal career, as a partner of an elite Wall Street law firm, and financial security, with an apartment overlooking Central Park. Having grown up in a working-class family, as far back as Nick can remember this was his dream. But at the age of thirty-six, after several years of sacrificing his personal life for professional gain, Nick has started to ponder his future and consider the mark he wants to leave on society both professionally and personally—his legacy.

After being chastised in the press for turning a cold shoulder to the community, the firm calls upon Nick to help rehabilitate its image by handling its first pro bono case. Nick is asked to represent Dawn Nelson, a domestic violence victim who is fighting for custody of her young son, Jordan. A far cry from Nick’s specialty of defending the misdeeds of Corporate America, it is up to Nick to set Dawn and Jordan on a path to a better life. But Nick gets much more than he signed on for, as Dawn forces him to reassess his life choices and, ultimately, be true to himself. Only when Nick finally realizes what is truly important in life does he face his toughest—and possibly final—challenge: a battle for his own survival.

Ok now this is a book description!  I really like the cover on this one – it is peaceful!


Fun, approachable book that helps in conversations with kids about poor body image, self confidence, negative self-talk and bullying. As parents, we are always looking for good resources to help us raise our kids from the inside out. “Do These Pants Make Me Look Fat” by Andrea Zimmerman is a fun, easy read with whimsical, full color illustrations that addresses negative self-talk, poor body image and bullying. What’s especially wonderful about this book is that engages both kids and adults. The book includes a helpful discussion guide that could be used by parents with their kids or in group settings such as Girl Scouts, health classes or other groups that focus on building self-confidence, good body image and positive thinking.

While this book looks cute and fun – it is also sad that young girls do really suffer from lack of confidence in their body image.  This book is a lighthearted way to look at this up closely and address it in a way that builds girls up.  I am so glad I am able to review this book!


Purchased Books

In the opening pages of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families,left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.

This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While “scholarshipping” at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship–and innocent love–that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

Yes you do see three books!  This is our Bookies Book Club choice for February and a couple of the girls asked me to order theirs as well.  This one will be going to Florida with me – our book club meets the day I return to Brainerd!


British social comedy examines a young heroine’s struggle against Victorian attitudes as she rejects the man her family has encouraged her to marry and chooses, instead, a socially unsuitable fellow she met on holiday in Italy.

As part of the Gilmore Girls Challenge – this is one of the books on the list.  I have purchased two so I am able to have a giveaway on the other!


If a miracle happened to you, wouldn’t you tell everyone? What if they thought you were crazy?

Poor in health but rich in faith, Gina Merritt—a young, broke, African-American single mother—sits in a pew on Ash Wednesday and has a holy vision. When it fades, her palms are bleeding. Anthony Priest, the junkie sitting beside her, instinctively touches her when she cries out, but Gina flees in shock and pain. A prize-winning journalist before drugs destroyed his career, Anthony is flooded with a sense of well-being and knows he is cured of his addiction. Without understanding why, Anthony follows Gina home to find some answers. Together they search for an answer to this miraculous event and along the way they cross paths with a skeptical evangelical pastor, a gentle Catholic priest, a certifiable religious zealot, and an oversized transvestite drug dealer, all of whom lend their opinion. It’s a quest for truth, sanity, and grace . and an unexpected love story.

Does this book sound amazing?  I think it does!  This book is for a Round table discussion that will take place the end of February.  Watch for more details!


Library Books


The bonds linking family and the lines separating enemies have become very blurry for 17 year old Robert. With his father away fighting for the Union, Robert must decide to act alone in order to help his ailing mother, extricate his injured Confederate Uncle, and bring relief to his cousin, Emily.When he unwittingly gets entangled in a Confederate escape plot, Robert must forge his anger and shame into a new determination to save his family. And, perhaps, he must also realize that the saving might not be entirely up to him.Honor and duty to God and country aren’t as clear-cut as he hoped them to be.

I think this is another one that looks good and yeah – I am getting my use out of that new library card 🙂

So that is what is in my mailbox this week!  How about you?  I would love to hear about what you had arrive in your mailbox!



Faith In Fiction Saturday

Faith In Fiction Saturday is presented by My Friend Amy.  This weeks question was:


What Christian Fiction books am I looking forward to in 2010?

So…. I thought I would list a few here.


Beguiled by Deeanne Gist, Mark Betrand:   Rylee Monroe, a dogwalker in Charleston’s wealthiest neighborhood, never feared the streets at night. But now a thief is terrorizing the area and worse, someone seems to be targeting her. Reporter Logan Woods is covering the break-ins with the hope of publishing them as a true-crime book. The more he digs, the more he realizes this beguiling dogwalker seems to be at the center of everything.As danger draws ever closer, Logan must choose: Chase the girl, the story, or plunge into the shadows after the villain who threatens everything?



As Young As We Feel by Melody Carlson:   Once there were four Lindas in a first grade classroom. Inseparable, they laughed and cried through their tweens and teens—and then went their own ways. Forty-seven years later, a reunion has brought the successful attorney, empty nester, frustrated artist, and aging starlet together again. Join them as they discover that friendship knows no statute of limitations


Her Mother’s Hope by Francine Rivers:  The first in an epic two-book saga by beloved author Francine Rivers, this sweeping story explores the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters over several generations. Near the turn of the 20th century, fiery Marta leaves Switzerland determined to find life on her own terms. Her journey takes her through Europe and finally lands her with children and husband in tow in the central valley of California. Marta’s experiences convince her that only the strong survive. Hildie, Marta’s oldest daughter, has a heart to serve others, and her calling as a nurse gives her independence, if not the respect of her mother. Amid the drama of WWII, Hildie marries and begins a family of her own. She wants her daughter never to doubt her love-but the challenges of life conspire against her vow. Each woman is forced to confront her faulty but well-meaning desire to help her daughter find her God-given place in the world.


In the steamy city of New Orleans in 1974, Amalise Catoir sees Phillip Sharp as a charming, magnetic artist, unlike any man she has known. A young lawyer herself, raised in a small-town Christian home and on the brink of a career with a large firm, she is strong and successful, yet sometimes too trusting and whimsical. Ama’s rash decision to marry Phillip proves to be a mistake as he becomes overly possessive, drawing his wife away from family, friends, and her faith. His insidious, dangerous behavior becomes her dark, inescapable secret.

In this lawyer’s unraveling world, can grace survive Ama’s fatal choice? What would you do when prayers seem to go unanswered, faith has slipped away, evil stalks, and you feel yourself forever dancing on shattered glass?

These are few that I am looking forward to.  I also currently have Ted Decker’s The Bride Collector.  I havent read Decker in a while but have his last three books on hand.  I am looking forward to visiting his works again.

Collision Of Evil by John J. Le Beau

As evening falls against the majestic backdrop of the Bavarian Alps, Charles Hirter, an American tourist, is savagely murdered. In the peace, quiet and pastoral splendor of this magnificent setting, Charles Hirter draws his last breath. Was Charles simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? Kommissar Franz Waldbaer, the German detective in charge of the case, faces an investigation that yields neither clues nor suspects nor motives. A gruff, go-it alone detective, Waldbaer is dismayed by the arrival of Robert Hirter, the victim’s brother, who insists on joining the investigation. But there is more to Robert than meets the eye. As Robert and the Kommissar uncover a nefarious nexus of evil past and evil present, they find themselves probing dark, long-forgotten episodes from the Third Reich in order to identify the present threat. Thrust into a violent world of fanatic passions, malevolent intentions and excruciating urgency, Robert Hirter and Kommissar Waldbaer must race against the clock to stop a sophisticated, covert, and deadly plot.

Yes, this book falls slightly outside my “comfort genre zone”.  However – always in for stretching myself I wanted to give this book a read.  Why this book?  Well, I do love a good mystery – and even a good thriller.  The stretch comes in the international espionage type books that just can’t hold my attention.  An international spy I will never be.  The hook for me was actually in the author, John J. Le Beau.   I like to read books where the authors really have a background in what they are talking about and John does have that.  He served as an operations officer in the CIA for over 25 years and now serves as a Professor of National Security Studies.   I have always heard that you should write what you know…. and John does just that.

I enjoyed the fact that the person going after Charles murderer was his brother Robert.  That made the story real to me… not so over the top that I couldn’t keep up.  By uncovering the pieces to Charles murder, Robert starts to bring in the reality that what has happened has a larger impact on the world then he could have ever anticipated.

A fast paced – and plenty of action read, John does deliver the book I believe he sat out to write.  I have to say that while this would normally not be a book for me, I found that John was able to write this style of book without overloading it with so many complications and twists that it left readers like myself in the dust.  I was pleasantly surprised.

My Amazon Review

I received my review copy of this book from Omnimystery

Morning Meanderings…


So some days…. I admit to being a little slow.  Lets take yesterday for instance, I posted my meandering in the morning and went about my business for the day popping in a couple times throughout the afternoon.  It wasn’t until 10 pm at night when I sat down with a cup of chocolate ice cream and my lap top that I seen that Peter over at Kyusi Reader had featured my book shelves on his blog!  I really need to be more alert LOL!

Peter likes to feature book shelves on his blog so if you wish to share your pictures stop on by and let him know!  🙂

So here is my crazy weird Saturday morning thought…. on your bookshelves – what is a book that has been on your shelf a long long time and is still unread.  How long has it been there?  Why is it still unread?

Morning Meanderings…

Hi people!  🙂

Yes – I had a total brain melt down yesterday and started a morning Meandering about 5 times and stopped….. deleted, and started again.  I couldn’t put anything together so left for work without doing one.  Of course, while I am driving to work my head fills with ideas of things I cold have chatted about.

Here are a few of those things…..

You may have noticed that Word Verification Balderdash, that fun meme I created and played every Thursday has not been on here for a while.  I just honestly have not had time to keep up with it, and if I had a review going up that day suddenly I had a saturation of posts:  the meandering, Word Balderdash, a review….  it just became too much.  However – I do love the play on words and didn’t want it to die off, so I passed it and all rights to it to the one who could come up with incredible words every week:  Ryan at Wordsmithonia.  If you have not stopped by to see this master of all things Balderdash at work I suggest you do – if we were playing Balderdash in real life the man would win consistently!  🙂  Thanks again Ryan!


I also recently did an interview for Reading Minnesota and in that interview I was telling them some of my favorite reads from last year and I mentioned a set of books that have always held a special spot in my heart, Nora Roberts Three Sisters trilogy.  I had explained that while I was not a Roberts fan, these were not your typical Roberts books.  What I failed to do – was mention these books by name and I have had people asking.  The book titles are:  Dance Upon The Air, Heaven and Earth, and Face The Fire.   I highly recommend these books!

So now that I have done a bit of housekeeping I must grab Coffee Cup (and a water bottle too!) and head out to the gym.  Have a wonderful morning and I will be back a little later!  🙂

Book Blogger Convention (Maybe)

Ok…. so I am so new to all of this.  I am now signed up to go BEA and so excited!  This will be my first time attending and my heart is spilling over with excitement!  To think a year ago I knew nothing of this world…. this is like my utopia!   🙂

The Book Blogger Convention is actually the day after BEA, on Friday May 28th.   The Book Blogger convention is a one day event intended to provide support, instruction, and social time for people who blog about books.

I would absolutely love to do this – but I need a roomy.  I am going to BEA with Reagan (Miss Remmer’s Reviews) and she has to return to Minnesota on Thursday.  I don’t want to stay alone so I am currently planning on returning to Minnesota with her, unless someone needs a roommate for Thursday and Friday night – and in that case I will see what the cost is to add a couple more days on to my plane ticket.

In the event that I have a blogging buddy out there who is also considering doing this and is in the same boat as me, or you are planning on attending but wouldn’t mind splitting room cost, please email me at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com.

Either way, if I go or not – I still think this is a wonderfully exciting event that I am happy to help promote. 🙂  Be sure to go to the Book Blogger Convention Blog for all the details!