American Cool

by Susan DiPlacido

" American Cool is HOT!"
-Ellen Meister, author of Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA When characters meet every roll of the dice with grit, humor and determination, is it enough to change the stakes? Enter the world of American Cool , where risk, rejection, romance are played to win. In these stories you'll discover . Lana, a tough gangster's daughter who's out to vanquish the ghost of her father's legacy while on a winning streak in Vegas. To separate herself from his violent past, she'll have to sever all ties to her future. Miguel, a minor league ballplayer with a penchant for choking in pressure situations. When he meets the girl of his dreams, will he botch that play too? An aging singleton, Marie, who's tired of being passed over for her pretty friends. But succumbing to the lure of plastic surgery may scar her psyche.

260 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2007

About the author

Susan DiPlacido is the author of 24/7, Trattoria, Mutual Holdings, House Money, Lady Luck, and American Cool. Trattoria was nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Small Press Romance 2005, and her short story, "I, Candy," won the Spirit Award at the 2005 Moondance International Film Festival. American Cool won the bronze medal in the 2008 IPPY awards and was a finalist in the 2008 Indie Book Awards. Her fiction has appeared in Susie Bright's Best American Erotica 2007, Maxim Jakubowski's Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica vol. 6 and 7, Zane's Caramel Flava, and Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction. Please visit her online at susandiplacido.com or susandiplacido.blogspot.com.

Reviews

[Michelle K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit that I was totally wrapped up in the Vegas style books that Susan DiPlacido wrote starting with "24/7" and finishing with "House Money". So I was surprised to be disappointed with "American Cool". The writing is still great but the gathering of stories is very confusing. If you just read "American Cool" and stop there without reading the other stories (which would be a shame) then I would bet you'd rate this book higher than me.

The reason for my low rating is the shear confusion. It seems to me that American Cool was a bunch of her WIPs (work in progresses). The stories are scene repeats of the other books. I was constantly clicking my Kindle forward because I just read that story in one of her other books but worst of all, she re-used some of the character names but in different contexts/stories. I was really frustrated with that. Certainly the stories didn't need to reuse the same names. Why use Miguel Rodriguez again? Certainly there have to be other Puerto Rican names for men? Why keep the same name Miguel Rodriguez if it is not the same Miguel that was created in 24/7?

Let me give you an example. In House Money (great book) Eva and Vinny were the characters. They have known each other since high school. They have a deep history and I got all embedded in their lives. Then in American Cool, the first story included Vinny (same last name) and a different woman. I was "WTF" and totally confused. I think I would have liked the story better if I wasn't stuck in the fact that Vinny didn't belong with this new female.

Another example. In the awesome book "Shuffle Up and Deal" there is an awesome couple that you really root for. Then in Amercian Cool, the funniest scene in "Suffle Up and Deal" is inserted into American Cool but the characters names are changed. The EXACT same scene but with different character names. See what I mean?

[Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

American Cool is a fantastic collection of Susan DiPlacido's best short stories. Many of these stories have appeared in other noted publications, such as the Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 6, Caramel Flava, and Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction. But to have them all together in one volume is a very special treat. ("I, Candy" won the Spirit Award at the 2005 Moondance Film Festival, and "Bloodlines" was nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Prize award.)

DiPlacido's writing is fast, fun, sexy, and humorous. The stories just fly by as you read them, and before you know it you've started another one. From the bright lights of Vegas in "Neon Nights" and "Shuffle Up (And Deal) to the dusty desert of "Coyote Blues" to the softball fields of "Like a Girl" to the romance of Italy in "Found in Translation," DiPlacido plops you right into the lives of her characters, into their heads, lets you eavesdrop on their lively conversations, their jokes, their wants and disappointments. Whenever I finish a DiPlacido book I feel like I've said goodbye to some close friends.

One last thing—this book has a very fitting cover! I felt cool reading it on the train. Be cool too and get this book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let’s get the cheap thrill out of the way first. This collection contains erotica. As someone who’s written a fair amount of erotica in her time, I can say it’s no easy task to weave sex into stories which, regardless, are driven by considerations of character, plot and narrative; perhaps this is why so much erotic fiction tends to discard plot the way it would a lace bra, dropping it off to one side early on, before getting down to the serious action. To judge by the stories in this collection, Susan DiPlacido is well aware of the challenges facing the writer who wants sex to find its proper place in story (the way it does in life, but achieves only rarely in books). Even the voyeuristic Heads up Poker relies on the dynamic between characters to keep all of the reader’s senses engaged and stimulated.

Read my full review here:

http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews...

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Let’s get the cheap thrill out of the way first. This collection contains erotica. As someone who’s written a fair amount of erotica in her time, I can say it’s no easy task to weave sex into stories which, regardless, are driven by considerations of character, plot and narrative; perhaps this is why so much erotic fiction tends to discard plot the way it would a lace bra, dropping it off to one side early on, before getting down to the serious action. To judge by the stories in this collection, Susan DiPlacido is well aware of the challenges facing the writer who wants sex to find its proper place in story (the way it does in life, but achieves only rarely in books). Even the voyeuristic Heads up Poker relies on the dynamic between characters to keep all of the reader’s senses engaged and stimulated. "...

Read the rest of Sarah Hilary's review on The Short Review.

[G.c.]

Go6t5ta get me a copy of this.

[Steve Miyamoto]

I bought this from the author. It got great reviews so I'm looking forward to reading this.

[Sue Nami · Rating 5 out of 5]

One cool book by one cool author.