South Beach Sizzle

by Suzanne Weyn, Diana González

Is Enrique trying to win her over -- or just trying to win?
Road trip! Lula Cruz has her last summer before college all mapped out. She's checking out of NYC and checking in to the sizzling hot "SoBe" scene with her best friend, Jeff.
When their day jobs get to be a drag, they spice things up by entering a local band contest. And spicy it is! Turns out that the hottie Lula keeps running into is also her band's toughest competition! Enrique might seem like the perfect guy, but as things heat up Lula has to Can she trust her biggest rival with her heart?

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Teen, Young Adult Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Rom Com

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

About the author

Suzanne Weyn grew up in Williston Park, Long Island, New York. She has three sisters and a brother. As a girl, she was very interested in theatre and in reading. Louisa May Alcott was her favorite author, but she also read every Sherlock Holmes story. Suzanne lived pretty close to the ocean and going to Jones Beach was one of her favorite activities. Even today, if she goes too long without seeing the ocean, she starts feeling restless.

Suzanne now lives in upper New York State with her husband, two teen daughters and Abby the cat. Her house is at the edge of the woods and is nearly 200 years old. She graduated from State University of New York at Binghamton and received her master's degree from Pace University. She teaches part-time at City College in New York.

Suzanne's other books for Simon Pulse include South Beach Sizzle, a romantic comedy written with Diana Gonzalez. Her novels for the Simon Pulse line "Once Upon a Time" are The Night Dance: A Retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Water Song: A Retelling of the Frog Prince, and The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of Rumplestiltskin. She very much enjoys rethinking these classic tales from an original point of view, always looking for the real psychological underpinning of the story. Suzanne is currently doing revisions on her fourth book in the line, which will be coming in 2009.

Suzanne's other recent novels are include The Bar Code Tattoo (2004) and its sequel, The Bar Code Rebellion (2006). The Bar Code Tattoo was selected by the American Library Assoc. (ALA) as a 2005 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and was a 2007 Nevada Library nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction. It is currently translated into German and was nominated for the 2007 Jugenliteraturpreis for Young People's Literature.

Reviews

[Marci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in a day. It was light, silly, predictable and made me giggle out loud. Not sure I would read any others in this collection but this book lifted my spirits.

[Corie Maguigad · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can one book be so bad and so good all at the same time? Reading this is like watching an early 2000s made for TV movie. Much love for the sizzle.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I generally love the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies, this is not one of my favorites. I didn't enjoy it as much as I have others but it might strike other people more positively.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up as a cute read and had high hopes for a summer fun book. Unfortunately I was disappointed. It felt like the author was trying to put too many ideas in play and I just felt confused and the hurried ending felt "yawn".

[oui oui · Rating 5 out of 5]

i havent even read it and i know this book is amazing. five stars.

[Casey Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring

[Jamie Skipper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jamie Skipper
English- Block 3
Mrs. Knowles
27 March 2013

Synopsis: South Beach Sizzle by Suzanne Weyn and Diana Gonzalez tells a story that teens in romance will love. The story shines a spot light on two bands, and two romances that are brewing. One of the romances has a twisting surprise in it. Although I can’t tell you what that twist is, you have to read the book yourself to find that out.

Summary: Lula, Jeff, Cece, Paulo, and Ty formed a band called the Noche Loca and was entering the band in the best of south beach competition. The reason why they had this competition was to show the hottest band of south beach on T.V. One reason they had put the band in the best of south beach competition was because it was great espouser for their restaurant Cece’s Cuban Cafe. So when Lula a slim, collage freshmen falls in love with a six foot tall, broad shoulder, perfectly tan skinned boy with gold and green flecked eyes named Enrique. You know there’re going to be surprises up the road, because that setup is too good to be true. One of those surprises is that Enrique and his band are in the best of the south beach competition too. Then there is another romance brewing between Jeff a slim, handsome gay guy with lively brown eyes and short, dark, blue- tipped hair, and Marc a gay, friendly boy. Now I can’t give away everything inside this book, but there is still plenty more romantic scenes, and twist and turns to come in this book.

Opinions and Recommendations: I fell in love with the book South Beach Sizzle because the author had so much imagery in there. When I was reading in the book I could actually visualize the events that where happening. Another thing that the author did very well in is leaving you hanging on till the very end of the book. See usually I’m not a very big reader, but this book got me so interested that I wanted to keep reading to see what happened next. Also the third thing in this book that the author did outstanding on is making the story to where teen can read and understand the book. I say this because in most books I can’t really understand some of the things they say in there, but in this book I understood everything perfectly. If I had to rate this book I would give it a five star rating. I recommend teens that fanaticize about their true love and fairy tale endings to read this book because it will make them see that to have a true love and a fairy tale ending that you are going to have some rough patches along the way.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine you were with out to college but you had no money for housing expenses so you have to work duh! But when you were working you saw this cute hottie he's bluff, tan and had beautiful blue eyes but when he order smoothie you accidently spilled it on him and yourself! OH NO! Well, this had happen to LuLu Cruz! Everytime something embarassing happens this same cute hottie is there! But until one day this cute hottie comes up to her and talk to her. After that they dated. But what LuLu doesn't know is that Enrique (the cute hottie) is part of the local band contest. Is Enrique using her so she will loose during the local band contest?
THis book is highly recommended there is lots of drama and jealousy. once you read this book you will think you are the character.

[Yushi Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the summer before college for Lula Cruz and she is on a road trip from New York City to Florida. Their lives gets more exciting when they decided to join a local band contest. However, it turns out that Lula will be competing against Enrique, a guy that Lula likes.

I thought that it was easy to relate to Lula, especially the part about going to college and trying to enjoy the last summer before college. Everything is unexpected and not planned out so it was up to Lula how she wanted to spend her summer.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently re-read this one, and I wasn't as impressed with it. I didn't like Lula's relationship her her crush/guy Enrique. I felt like he used her, and I didn't think their relationship really had any real love in it. By the end of it, I was hoping Jeff would turn bi and he and Lula would get together, cause their friendship and life together had a lot more meat to it and was far more believable.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story about Lula and her friend Jeff who move to Miami area. Lula and Jeff find an apartment and a job for the summer. In the fall Lula will start college 30 minutes away. They work in restaurant where they rent the apartment above. They have no costumers and so they decide to enter a band contest where the owner of the restaurant and friends play in this band. Lula in the mean time learns not to hide herself and starts a relationship with a guy from the competition.

[Katrina Knittle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of your typical young adult romance type of books. Perfect for a fast read. It is one of those books where you are bored and have no clue what to read or do. So you pick this book up and go on an adventure with Lula! My only dislike would be these types of book are never long enough. I get so interested in the story and then a rushed ending comes. But I think I will never hate a book along these lines. I definitely recommend this for a quick, fun and adventure of a read.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

a sweet read that is short enough to finish in a few hours. the pacing might be a bit off with the ending rushed but the characters are original, particularly the side characters, and the setting makes it the perfect beach read. the addition of poetry and lyrics is something in only a few of the books in this series making it memorable even if it is not a favourite.

[Mirela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Music drives the soul. Life is unpredictable. Two sayings that can give a complete summary of the book. I love the doubt, the trouble, and the love in the book. This book is truely romantic and lovely.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny!

[Andi]

I wanna read this book really bad! I love all of these books!

[Sandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. Recommend for teens who are looking for a light summer read with romance. 1/5 stars.

[Katie-Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

romance. It was pretty good.

[Amanda]

Good for a fun quick read, but nothing to really draw you in and make you feel invested in the characters.

[Shane Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

My go-to book when I'm bored and want a quick fun read! I'd want to be in the same adventure Lula is in!

[Deija Pearson-brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was fun and keep me suprized

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a very light read. The story is just kind of meh. Definetly a more tween/teen book.

[Akilah Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't believe I wasted my money on this. Yeah it was cute but waaaaaay too fast