Whether they're flirting en espanol, gossiping over mojitos, or dancing with their latest papi chulos, the characters in Friday Night Chicas prove that there is nothing quite like a night out with your chicas. Set in New York City, Miami's South Beach, downtown Chicago, and L.A., these four flirty novellas explore dating, marriage, friendship, and sex, through the eyes of four different Latina women. Mary Castillo's Friday Night in L.A.: Isela isn't looking for a one-night stand; she's desperate for one last shot at saving her career. Her ticket is Hollywood's director du jour Tyler Banks, but one major mistake could cost her everything. Caridad Pineiro's Friday Night in South Beach: It's Tori's thirtieth birthday and all she wants is a nice quiet night with her family and friends. However, Tori's friends have other plans and during an overnight casino cruise, Tori finds herself taking the gamble of her life! Berta Platas's Friday Night in Chicago: The once-shy Cali has decided to attend her high school reunion. She slips into her slinkiest Donna Karan and puts on her highest Manolos. After all, she's out to seek revenge, Latina-style. . . Sofia Quintero's Friday Night in New York City: Gladys's friends throw her a bachelorette party at one of NYC's raunchiest male strip joints. They expected a party, but they didn't expect the not-so-blushing bride to disappear with one of the strippers!

Winner, 2016 ALA-Choice Outstanding Academic Title In Chica Lit: Popular Latina Fiction and Americanization in the Twenty-First Century, Tace Hedrick illuminates how discourses of Americanization, ethnicity, gender, class, and commodification shape the genre of “chica lit,” popular fiction written by Latina authors with Latina characters. She argues that chica lit is produced and marketed in the same ways as contemporary romance and chick lit fiction, and aimed at an audience of twenty- to thirty-something upwardly mobile Latina readers. Its stories about young women’s ethnic class mobility and gendered romantic success tend to celebrate twenty-first century neoliberal narratives about Americanization, hard work, and individual success. However, Hedrick emphasizes, its focus on Latina characters necessarily inflects this celebratory mode: the elusiveness of meaning in its use of the very term “Latina” empties out the differences among and between Latina/o and Chicano/a groups in the United States. Of necessity, chica lit also struggles with questions about the actual social and economic “place” of Latinas and Chicanas in this same neoliberal landscape; these questions unsettle its reliance on the tried-and-true formulas of chick lit and romance writing. Looking at chica lit’s market-driven representations of difference, poverty, and Americanization, Hedrick shows how this writing functions within the larger arena of struggles over popular representation of Latinas and Chicanas.

Meet Jamie, Sadhbh and Collette: three best friends on a wild night out in Dublin. By the end of the night, Collette will be dead. Can you save her? The Friday Night Effect combines compelling new writing with an edge-of-your-seat interactive experience. At crucial turning points in the story, the fate of the characters will be in the hands of the audience, whose decisions will change their stories irrevocably. Funny, insightful and provocative, this interactive piece is a brand new play by Eva O'Connor (Maz and Bricks, Overshadowed) and Hildegard Ryan. Published to coincide with the premiere production at The Assembly George Square Studios at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017.

Often treated like night itself—both visible and invisible, feared and romanticized—Latina/os make up the largest minority group in the US. In her newest work, María DeGuzmán explores representations of night in art and literature from the Caribbean, Colombia, Central and South America, and the US, calling into question night's effect on the formation of identity for Latina/os in and outside of the US. She takes as her subject novels, short stories, poetry, essays, non-fiction, photo-fictions, photography, and film, and examines these texts through the lenses of nationhood, sexuality, human rights, exoticism, among others.

The Routledge Concise History of Latino/a Literature traces a historical path through Latino/a literatures, with an enlightening analysis that also focuses on: recent themes such as gender and sexuality, feminist and queer voices, migration and border control different literary trends such as the postmodern, avant-garde, noir, and chica-lit language, code-switching and identity within the literature. With student-friendly features such as a glossary, guide to further reading, explanatory text boxes and chapter summaries, this is the ideal book for anyone approaching this broad and complex subject for the first time.

With her fresh, charming, and hilarious take on contemporary romance, Cassie Mae introduces readers to a soon-to-be college freshman who’s cashing in on her sweet reputation—and the unlikely guy who turns her life upside-down. In the wealthy town of Sundale, Kelli Pinkins has hatched the perfect plan to capitalize on her sweet reputation. For a generous fee, she will be every trust-fund baby’s dream: a Friday-night alibi, the “girlfriend” or “BFF” that parents dream about. With college approaching in the fall, Kelli’s services are in demand more than ever, which means that her social life is nonexistent. But Kelli is A-okay with that. She’s raking in cash for school. Besides, relationships are tricky, and sometimes very messy. She’d rather be at home on Xbox LIVE, anyway. Then the unexpected happens: She meets college stud Chase Maroney. Chase isn’t like the preppy, privileged guys Kelli usually meets in Sundale. For starters, he’s twentysomething, always wears black, and he shoots back one-liners as fast as she can dish them out. But Kelli’s attempts to drive Chase away falter when she realizes that he treats her like he really knows her, like he cares about knowing her. When Kelli finally gives in to the delicious kiss she’s been fighting for so long, she faces a tough decision: make Chase a real-life boyfriend and risk her heart . . . or keep her clients and lose her first true love. Praise for Friday Night Alibi “[A] very cool story.”—Writing Through Rose Tinted Glasses “This was a great beach read and I love Chase and Kels!”—Paranormal Wastelands “Cassie Mae’s writing is fresh and original, making for an utterly enjoyable read with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. You’ll be nose to toes in love with this book!”—Rachel Morgan, author of the Creepy Hollow series “[Friday Night Alibi is] a funny story and well worth the read. If you’re looking for something that is quick and light-hearted then I would recommend this to you.”—Sharon’s Book Nook “Cassie Mae knows how to write, and write she does! You definitely do not want to miss Friday Night Alibi!”—Le Book Squirrel (five stars) “Friday Night Alibi was a brilliant, lovely summer read. It was lighthearted, funny, and so sweet. . . . My rating: 5 Roses.”—Imagine a World “Totally entertaining with as many swoon-worthy moments as hilarious ones, Friday Night Alibi is a must-read.”—Jolene Perry, co-author of Out of Play “A fun, funny, and fantastic story, this is one you will read in a day, and pick up to re-read again the next.”—Kelley Lynn, author of Fraction of Stone “I loved this book. Chase had me right away, from his first smart-ass comment. He’s got a sharp wit that I adore but is also sweet and caring . . . definitely one of my favorite book boys!”—Rachel Schieffelbein, author of Secondary Characters “Cassie Mae is a fabulous author who tugs on your heart strings as if she owns them. I will never be able to eat an orange again without thinking about Chase. Loved everything about this book!”—Jade Hart, author of Coffee and Cockpits

What starts out as a pilgrimage to a women’s conference turns into an unexpected journey toward self-awareness for four dynamic, sexy women. Jackie confronts her vulnerability as she falls for a handsome lawyer, while Hazel makes the toughest confession of her life. Lourdes stands up to her conservative mother, and Irena faces her demons. As they make their way from town to town, laughing, fighting, crying, and bonding, they learn more about one another, and themselves, than they ever bargained for–and turn plenty of heads along the way. . . .