Without a doubt Miss August Francesca Frigo is a one-woman hurricane of joy -- the living, breathing incarnation of the "Latin spitfire" trope. "I am all about fun, fun, fun," she says, giggling. Laughter, in fact, accompanies almost her every word. Francesca was born into a prominent Venezuelan family and grew up in the tropical village of Puerto de la Cruz, where she spent her childhood hanging out at the beach, swimming in the nearby Caribbean Sea and taking dance lessons. (Her favorite steps are flamenco and tango.) When she was 15 her father sent her to Florida to learn English and earn a degree in international business so she could eventually return home to help run the family's oil company. But Francesca had other ideas.

"I am a rebellious free spirit, and I loved Miami instantly," she says with her trademark mischievous laugh. "It gave me the opportunity to experience all the things I hadn't had a chance to experience as a kid because I had grown up in such a small town. I am now 100 percent a Miami girl." In other words, "I needed the city, and it needed me." And so South Beach lured her away from school, and she lured South Beach right back with her unabashed personality and devilish curves. "I like noisy, crowded places," she explains. "Plus I can Rollerblade and walk my four dogs along the beach. I play a lot of beach volleyball, too."

A Playboy scout first approached Francesca five years ago -- at almost the exact moment she had enrolled in Miami International University of Art & Design to study fashion merchandising. But back then, she claims, "my dad would have killed me because I was only 19." Today, however, at the age of 24, she says the timing seems right (we found her again via her Facebook fan page -- she toils part-time as a model and aspires to be an actress). "When things are meant to be, they're meant to be," she reasons. Nonetheless, Francesca is the first to admit, "I never thought I would pose completely naked in a magazine. Sex is beautiful, but it takes real courage to express your sensuality in pictures. I am proud of the end result, though. The pictorial is a totally realistic expression of myself."