Even though our 40th birthday doesn't roll around for another six months, my two best friends and I are busy planning the celebration. Originally the idea was to go to the Dominican Republic for a week with our kids and John, taking advantage of Vangie's parents' beach house. Free and sunny. What could be better? But after our week on the Vineyard Vangie decided that seven days with five children is anything but celebratory and the entire trip with them might actually age us beyond our forty years.

So she suggested that just us birthday girls go away to somewhere memorable - some place that would truly be monumental. I said let's do a Caribbean island or a spa. She said that wasn't monumental enough. This is a life milestone! It deserves something amazing! She was talking somwhere totally unique and fabulous. And then she tossed out the idea of the South of Spain and then a boat ride to Morocco for a few days. Definitely memorable. I pictured us dancing in some harem in Morocco or being fed peeled grapes by girls dressed like Jeannie. But I can't say Spain has ever been on my list of "must go" places. So I said Italy, maybe Capri. And we agreed, but then we figured why limit ourselves? What about Lake Como or the Amalfi Coast. And then Vangie really wanted Tuscany (I think she had visions of us channeling Under a Tuscan sun a la Diane Lane). And today Vicki throws a monkey wrench into the entire thing by suggesting somewhere a little more adventurous - like Belize or Costa Rica. Vangie, being from Latin America, isn't that thrilled, although she conceded that if we could find a Four Seasons she might consider it. With so many choices we decided another trip was in order. So in November Vangie and I are traveling to Richmond to visit Vicki, where the three of us will hunker down in the Barnes & Noble travel section and try to figure it all out. A little less exotic, yes, but who needs harems as long as your with your best friends. And I'm not a big fan of peeled grapes.

My friend, and fellow MTV Books author, Caridad Ferrar, has a new book out. I love the cover, the girl looks like she's having so much fun. And, even if I'm not a dancing type of gal, I can still appreciate a good spin in a flowy skirt.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT traces the bold transformation of Caroline Darcy, a college-bound beige-blonde born and bred in small town Hampshire, Ohio, into “Carolina,” a half-Cuban aspiring actress, with striking Havana Brown hair, a caliente wardrobe, a taste for platanos, and a hunger for adventure. Carolina has no problem dressing, dancing, and talking the part, down to her effortlessly rolled rrrs – even though she’s only one-eighth Cuban. She owes her attraction to her exotic heritage and her yearning for something… different to Elisa Maribel Teresa de La Natividad Sevilla y Tabares – her Nana Ellie, the great-grandmother she loved, dearly and fiercely, and lost when she was thirteen. Carolina vividly remembers Nana Ellie’s romantic stories of her encounters with everything from the Eiffel Tower to Russian nobility. And she regrets missing the chance to unravel the facts from the fantastic tales – and learn more about her Nana’s mysterious, scandalous past.

The story opens at the beginning of Caroline’s Latina rebirth and undergrad career at the University of Southern Ohio for the summer session. To her thrill and amazement, her Cuban act works like a charm on the opposite sex. Faster than her first beer buzz, Caroline finds herself becoming more popular and getting increasingly intimate with Erik, a smooth-talking frat guy with gorgeous baby blues. The only male on campus who doesn’t fall for Carolina’s Latina allure is Peter, the full-blooded son of Cuban immigrants, who hails from Miami. Despite the danger of being exposed as a fraud, Caroline is drawn to this quiet, serious student – on a strictly friendship basis. But when Carolina gets in over her head and on the edge of a dangerous situation, Peter is the one who comes to her rescue. What’s more, he accepts her for who she is – and leads her on a real adventure to discover the truth about Nana Ellie and the very wealthy family she left behind in Cuba. What Caroline discovers about her ancestors – including one unknown living relative – is more exciting than she ever could have imagined.


Part mystery, part romance, and all captivating, IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT affirms Caridad Ferrer as a gifted teller of stories that resonate with young women, both Latina and Anglo.