A novel stuffed with fun, animals, people, food, uncertainty, conflict but with a happy ending. It is carnitas for the soul. And brain.

The story starts with two (2) out of order romances caused by a bunch of smelly pigs and a rattlesnake with a rotten disposition. The sad story then evolves into a grand effort to save Chicano cupid's reputation. The attempt is made by a pudgy primo assisted by a skinny uncle who really isn't anyone's uncle but hangs around anyway.

A tía with the temperament of a dragon with heartburn also becomes involved.

The story swings from East Los Angeles to Pacific Palisades to Pico Rivera to East L.A. then back to Pacific Palisades. The path is well-marked, don't worry.

In between all this, enter one dark and cold beach, plenty of feasting (like chorizo, ham, turkey sausage, panela, pizza, salsa and orange soda, food like that), a whole bunch of senior folks, two parties (one of them, a Halloween one), an agitated and passionate Méjicano gardener, and one frog, domestic.

(I tried to fit more people and animals into the story, but it was becoming a 900-page Russian novel.)

In the end, this is a story of high-sea adventure, fiery love, treacherous animals confronting treacherous people, bodies flying, heroic battles, a grand baile leading to coldblooded maneuvers and catastrophic events, all which guarantee a lot of action and stuff—if you hold your E-book at a certain angle.