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REVIEW: THE CLAIRVOYANT OF CALLE OCHO by Anjanette Delgado



If we could, we'd leave them all-- the chronic bad boys, the frauds, the violent abusers, the unreliable, the lazy, the egotistical, the bad in bed, even the ones who pose as "good men" but have the relentless ability to turn every single happy moment into a day trip to the nearest latrine.  We hang on, looking and feeling, and taking notes right on our hearts, until we manage to be able to breathe, to stand, to tell ourselves we're not crazy.  That what we are is strong. And then, we leave.  Or we kill them. ---Mariela Estevez



Kensington Fiction
THE CLAIRVOYANT OF CALLE OCHO is entertaining, mysterious and a quick read.  It's a fun story about a clairvoyant whose fear of love put her in harm's way, with a cast of colorful characters and great recipes.  The arroz con sushi particularly sounds delicious, and one I'll have to try. 


SUMMARY:  After two cheating husbands and two divorces that almost leave her destitute, Mariela Estevez decides being a mistress is better than being a wife.  Her latest lover, Hector is a tenant in her building in Miami's Little Havana.  The thrill of sneaking around adds spice to their sex drive for a time.  When she realizes he is about to dump her, she dumps him first.  Unfortunately, Hector turns up dead and the police start looking at her.  (The "other woman" always makes a great suspect.)  Suddenly, Mariela is wishing she still had "the sight" but after her mother's death, she locked down that part of herself.  Now she must find a way to channel her inner bruja before she is thrown in jail.  And with a little help from her dead lover, a new lover and some lively neighbors, Mariela learns to accept her clairvoyance and finds the truth about Hector's death and the possibilities blooming within her.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Anjanette Delgado began her career as a journalist working for national media outlets such as NBC, CNN, Univision and Telemundo.  She won an Emmy award for her human-interest series "Madres en la Lejania," about the plight of Latino mothers who leave their children behind and come to the United States to work as undocumented nannies.  Anjanette's first novel, THE HEARTBREAK PILL, won the International Latino Book Award's first prize pick for Best Romance in English, first prize for Best Romance in Latino Literacy Now's "Book into Movies" competition in 2010, and was a Triple Crown Winner for Best Romance in Spanish.  She teaches writing at the Florida Center for the Literary Arts.  Visit her at www.anjanettedelgado.com

NOTE:  This book was chosen Book of the Month by Las Comadres & Friends national book club in December 2014.  Visit them at www.latinolit.com.


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