Sandra C. Lopez's Blog
September 12, 2025
Blog Tour: WHO ARE WE NOW? by Beth Anderson
WHO ARE WE NOW?
Beth Anderson
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GENRE: Romantic Suspense
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BLURB:
As dark secrets unravel around her, Skylar mustfollow her heart—and maybe find her once-in-a-lifetime love.
Skylar spent years trapped—in a dead-endrelationship, in her mother’s cold shadow. But when her mother vanishes withouta trace, Skylar is thrust into a mystery that upends everything she thought sheknew. With her two best friends, Barrett and Levi, by her side, Skylar huntsfor answers—and along the way, finds herself drawn to both men in ways shenever expected. As secrets unravel and danger draws near, Skylar must find thecourage to reclaim her future... and her heart.
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ExcerptTwo:
Mr. Whittington nodded. “Iunderstand, but I want to warn you: I’ve seen a lot of complex familysituations over the years, and sometimes it’s better to leave well enoughalone. I understand your mother is currently—absent, let’s say—and you havequestions. As often as people have been relieved to find answers, I find theymore often wish they hadn’t poked the bear, if you understand what I’m saying.”
“I do,” Skylar said slowly. “But Ithink it’s time I stop avoiding the truth.” She looked at Barrett, her pulsebeginning to pound. “Whatever that is.”
Barrett reached under the tableand gave her hand a squeeze. “You’resure?” he asked softly.
Skylar nodded. “I’m sure.”
“Alright,” Whittington, said,signaling for a passing waiter with his menu. “I’ll let Barrett run withthis—with my guidance, of course, and as long as his regular workload isn’taffected.”
Barrett looked relieved. Hesqueezed Skylar’s hand again. “Thanks, Mr. Whittington.”
Whittington looked at the youngerman. “Keep track of the hours you spend, too. I have a certain number of probono hours put aside every year for tax purposes.” His gaze shifted to Skylar.“I hope you won’t be offended in being my annual charity case.” He showed thattight little smile again. “And I hope you won’t regret this.”
Skylar swallowed. “No, of coursenot,” she said, but she wasn’t sure which of Mr. Whittington’s points she wasanswering.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
“BethAnderson” is the joint penname of a veteran author of numerous novels ofseveral different genres and a new author who loves romance novels. Who Are We Now? Is the 2nd romance novel from this team thefirst being a lower spice Hockey Romance “Pucked Over”
Bluesky:https://bsky.app/profile/elby1313.bsky.social
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/253551.Beth_Anderson
BookBlog: https://elbyslibrary.blogspot.com/
Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@elby1313?
Fable: @elby
BrandonBarrows:
https://www.brandonbarrowscomics.com/
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GIVEAWAY
BethAnderson will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 11, 2025
Spotlight: HE CHOSE ME by Meredith Oswalt
Genre: Romance
Summary: Caterina Tyson loved working at her father's Bed and Breakfast. But due to rebel raids, Caterina was sent to the castle by her father. During her stay, she and the eldest prince, Xavier, fall in love with each other, but two problems stand in their way- he is betrothed to Princess Avalynn, despite not loving her and no matter what, has to marry royalty. Will Caterina and Prince Xavier be able to end up with each other or do too many obsticles stand in their way?
Author Bio: Meredith Oswalt loves to read anything from classics, to fantasy, to mystery, it just needs a captivating storyline. Trying to seek out her own story to create, she was able to write Freed, an inspired story of Rahab from the Bible. Although Freed is geared towards young adults, she believes anyone can find Freed a fun, romantic, and epic story that shows how faith and trust can accomplish things!
He Chose Me is a clean, young adult romance novel- a story that is not only a romance, but one that can display a good, godly picture of what relationships and marriage can look like. He Chose Me is also the first of the Fruit of the Spirit series being Love. Meredith is currently working on a Joy and a Peace story!
Meredith lives in North Carolina with her husband, daughter, son, and two kitties: Felix and Oscar. She plans on writing more stories that can show hope, faith, and love to anyone searching for it
Purchase links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/He-Chose-Me-Meredith-Oswalt-ebook/dp/B0DSCMMDX5/
Social Media links:
Website: https://meredithoswaltauthor.wixsite.com/meredithoswalt
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/47947692.Meredith_Oswalt
September 10, 2025
Blog Tour: THE BOY ARE BACK IN TOWN by Tanith Davenport
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
Tanith Davenport
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GENRE: Erotic Romance
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BLURB:
AvrilCoker, ex-girlfriend of young rockstar Levi Eshton-Gold, is staying at thehouse of his father, rockstar Ty Eshton-Gold, having been abandoned by herparents due to a pregnancy. However, when Levi arrives home early from his tourwith his voice destroyed, he soon makes it clear that he hopes to rekindletheir romance.
Avrilstill feels a spark between them. However she also knows Levi is unaware of thereal reason Avril is staying with his family – and the deranged fan who causedAvril’s miscarriage.
Ty,as the band’s manager, has plans to keep the band going, including a reality TVshow and a new album which Avril herself will be singing on. As her and Levi’spassion soon reignites, Avril finds herself working to support Levi’s bandAstral Shudder and to help Levi regain his voice – but can Avril and Levi see afuture together, or will Levi’s career and his cruel fan keep them apart?
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ExcerptTwo:
In the Accident and Emergency unit, Levi had done most ofthe talking, pausing only when Avril had needed to give specific informationabout her pain. The woman checking her in had taken this with a cool unconcernuntil she had reached a particular point in her questions.
“And next of kin. I’ve got here Ty Eshton-Gold. Are you Ty?”
Levi’s mouth had set in a firm line. “No, I’m LeviEshton-Gold. Ty is my father.”
The woman had remained professional, but Avril had seen afaint smile ripple across her face. Whether she had recognized either of thosenames was open to question, of course.
And whether Levi had wondered why Ty would be listed as hernext of kin was also open to question. He had made no comment as they had gonethrough to see the first nurse.
And he still hadn’t asked what she was doing in his parents’house.
Had anyone told him? It didn’t seem likely. Levi was goingto hit the roof when he discovered the truth. But it was possible someone, likeTy or Lyra, had told him some cover story.
She remembered being back in the studio, how Levi had seemedalmost possessive of her. As though he was expecting to pick up where he hadleft off.
It wasn’t unreasonable, she supposed. They had ended thingson good terms. If he hadn’t gone touring, they might still have been together.But the thought of getting back together after he returned had never reallycrossed her mind. Water under the bridge.
He had probably slept with a hundred fans over the course ofthe year.
She hadn’t had a boyfriend, or even a hookup, since. Shehadn’t wanted to.
But did she want Levi back?
Their relationship had been short, but in her mind it hadbeen perfect. Fun dates to simple places—cafes, the bowling alley, go-karting.And of course, she had seen him on stage with Astral Shudder many times. Seeinghim so alive, so full of energy. He was as passionate on stage as he was offstage.
And his voice had sent thrills through her body.
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Review:
The rock star had lost his voice.Now, he was coming back home to a house where his ex-girlfriend lived. Itdidn’t take long for the old emotions to spill between Levi and Avril. SomehowAvril gets rooked into a phony engagement just to keep living in the housewhile a camera crew filed a segment on the band. Their new lives were steepedwith the high-tension of reality TV that was mostly manufactured, gettingLevi’s voice back, working on a new album, and preparing for Avril’s surgery.Story was quick and easy to getinto. You right away feel for the characters and root for them. What happenswhen secrets are revealed and everything blows up? Will Avril and Levi have afuture when the music stopped?
A nice romance!
Rating:4 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
TanithDavenport began writing erotica at the age of 27 by way of the RomanticNovelists' Association New Writers' Scheme. Her debut novel "The Hand HeDealt" was released by Totally Bound in June 2011 and was shortlisted forthe Joan Hessayon Award for 2012.
Tanithhas had short stories published by Totally Bound, Naughty Nights Press,Evernight Publishing and House of Erotica. She loves to travel and dreams ofone day taking a driving tour of the United States, preferably in a classic1950s pink Cadillac Eldorado.
Tanith'sidea of heaven is an Indian head massage with a Mojito at her side.
www.facebook.com/TanithDavenport
www.twitter.com/TanithDavenport
AmazonUK: https://tinyurl.com/mr4tuh73
AmazonUS: https://tinyurl.com/48xz4r5d
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GIVEAWAY
TanithDavenport will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawnwinner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Book Blast: WEDDING PLANNING: FIVE EASY STEPS & THE SECRET TO PULL IT ALL TOGETHER by Kathy Forbes
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kathy Forbes will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
This book has everything you need to know to plan your perfect unique wedding.
This is not your typical wedding planning book. Chapter titles alone will tell you what needs to be done, and the subtitles break it down further. The book includes tips, advice, stories, templates, and notebook to keep track of everything.
All the other books, magazine articles, Instagram and Pinterest timeline posts state on the "day of" to have a good breakfast. They don't mention the people that take care of all the duties and tasks throughout the day so you can be VIP guests at your own wedding.
The five easy steps and how they relate to each other is the foundation of this book, which will make sure you have an educational, memorable, stressless, wonderful experience throughout the whole process:
1) Timeline
2) Budget
3) "Day of" schedule
4) Duties and tasks
5) Lists and assignments
The secret is having a planned schedule that catches everything, and a specific person in charge on the "day of" that pulls it off while you enjoy with the guests. Let me show you how to perfect your wedding planning experience.
Waiting to your wedding day is just too late to realize the importance of this thought process and having a specific/special go-to-person working the "day of" on your behalf.
You will enjoy the days up to the wedding as much as the day itself, as this book helps make it all come true.
Read an Excerpt
Wedding Planning 101
This book has everything you need to know to plan your perfect unique wedding.
This is not your typical wedding planning book. Chapter titles alone will tell you what needs to be done, and the subtitles break it down further. The book includes tips, advice, stories, templates, and a notebook to keep track of everything.
All the other books, magazine articles, Instagram and Pinterest timeline posts state on the “day of” to have a good breakfast. They don’t mention the people that take care of all the duties and tasks throughout the day so you can be VIP guests at your own wedding.
There is more to planning a perfect “day of” than you think – believe me.
So, you can enjoy the days up to as much as the “day of”, this book will help.
The Reality is: 3 things are kept – your spouse, the ring, and your photographs. All the rest is but a fading memory over time. You most likely have read the saying “don’t sweat the small stuff” or as I suggest, we rewrite it for wedding planning to state “plan for the small stuff details and you won’t sweat”.
I have been married since 1973 – the oops, challenges and happenings - they all happened at our wedding and at least one of them happens at every wedding. Some things never change. This book will help you Plan for them, Minimize them and Smile through them.
This wedding planning book will help you to succeed in putting on a memorable, unique, and stress free wedding. Forge onward through these pages to discover the secret to learning how to pull it all together by just following the easy 5 steps.
Included is the industry insider stuff such as what the vendors and suppliers would like you to do, ask them and the reason why it is important. Through this direction you will acquire the knowledge of what questions to ask your vendors and suppliers. All you must do is fill in the blanks on the easy to complete templates supplied for all the steps.
As I said earlier, this is not your typical wedding planning book filled with wedding dress styles, centerpiece designs and how to walk down the aisle at the ceremony. Everyone has access to that in books, internet, and visuals on Pinterest. This book has the real stuff you need to know. It is a gift you give yourself to be happy and successful in the whole exciting process of your wedding planning.
This book shares real stories (to make a point, relate to real people and tips to make it easy) and of course professional advice.
About the Author: I knew that our youngest daughter was going to be engaged soon, so I enrolled at BCIT and got my wedding and event planning credentials in 2005. I changed careers from corporate sales analyst to something that puts meaning and joy into my life every day. In no time I put it to good use: one daughter married in 2006 and the other in 2007. I retired in 2020 but continued to expand my world. I paint and am a miniature hobbyist—both produce a connection with a memory that I want to preserve and share. I wrote this book as a memory for me, and as an educational reference book to educate you all. My goal is to make planning a wedding a wonderful experience.
My life's motto is: be interested and interesting.
Websites:
http://www.kathyforbesauthor.com
http://www.anewpaigeevent.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237476373-wedding-planning
Buy Link: https://a.co/d/cnjW6AP
a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 9, 2025
Blog Tour: ARABESQUE by MG da Mota
ARABESQUE
M G da Mota
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GENRE: historical psychological drama
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BLURB:
Awoman living alone in a coastal Sussex town in 1998 plants a copper beechsapling at 3 a.m. on a dark, cold night. Why?
Aballet dancer in 1960s East Germany is oppressed, longs for escaping with hislittle daughter but not his wife. Why? Will he make it?
In2022 Karsten von Stein, widower and principal of the Royal Ballet, with twoyoung children, meets Ivone Benjamim, a Portuguese, newly-arrived principaldancer. They discover a magical chemistry when dancing and soon it transfers totheir private lives.
Againstthe background of ballet and its dancers, a woman called Grace tells her storyfrom a rehab centre. Obsessive, delusional she begins believing Ivone robbedher of the man of her dreams—Karsten. And then a skeleton is found in agarden...What connects all these people and their stories?
You’llbe the audience facing the stage of this balletic novel.
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ExcerptThree:
First Variation – Amadeus
Berlin, East Germany, July 1965
Amadeus gazes at his wife. Margarete or Grete, as is herpreference, sleeps, exhausted from the effort of birth. Her hair appears gluedto her forehead, wet from perspiration. Next to her, in a plain white hospitalbaby cot, their daughter is also asleep. He touches the little girl’s headgently. The baby, a small bundle inside the clothes too large for her, stirsmarginally but does not wake. He arranges the cover around her slight body tokeep her warm. She was born with hair, if one could call the blonde fluff hair.His chest swells. He already loves that little person with all the force of hisbeing. Swallowing a couple of emotional tears he realises he will do anything,anything, to protect her. He wants her to grow up in peace, in freedom, to beable to make her own choices. With a heavy heart he wonders whether such wisheswill ever be possible in this German Democratic Republic where democratic is aword devoid of meaning.
East Germany may be a lot of things but democratic is notone of them. Will he be able to adequately protect this tiny being and give herall she deserves? His chest tightens. He may have to shelter her from her ownmother. Feeling shivers down his spine he recalls how his fears, his suspicionswere confirmed a few months earlier, just after Grete told him she waspregnant.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
M Gda Mota is Margarida Mota-Bull’s pen name for fiction. She is aPortuguese-British novelist with a love for classical music, ballet and opera.Under her real name she also writes reviews of live concerts, CDs, DVDs andbooks for two classical music magazines on the web: MusicWeb International andSeen and Heard International. She is a member of the UK Society of Authors,speaks four languages and lives in Sussex with her husband. Her website, calledflowingprose.com, contains photos and information.
Website:https://www.flowingprose.com/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/m.g.da.mota
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/margarida-mota-bull/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mgdamota/
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GIVEAWAY
Onerandomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 8, 2025
Blog Tour: CRIMSON MIRAGE by Babujee
CRIMSON MIRAGE
Babujee
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GENRE: Political PsychologicalThriller
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BLURB:
Naïve Passionate Dangerous.
Manush is all of these—and more. Caught between the heat of first loveand the fire of revolution, he confuses desire with destiny and activism withannihilation. What begins with tender hope ends in blood-soaked betrayal.
Set against the turbulent backdrop of Calcutta’s Naxalite uprising,this haunting debut novel unravels the journey of a boy-turned-assassin—hisconvictions twisted, his soul scarred, his story unforgettable.
The author grew up in the heart of this upheaval, witnessing firsthandhow political fervor tore through families and futures. Crimson Mirage is notjust fiction—it’s a reckoning. A meditation on blind love, brutal reprisals,and the elusive promise of freedom.
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Excerpt One:
WASH YOUR HANDS!” the ice-cold voice cut through thestillness of the crisp mountain air and broke through his zombie state.
Manush didn’t remember how long he had been sitting on therock!
The sun had slid slowly, silently below the horizon of theSan Bernardino Mountains. The wind was freshening. The clouds riding the saltyair of the Pacific Ocean were changing shade, from angry yellow to flamingcrimson, in the harsh, upward glare of a late sunset hour. Venus was still thebrightest speck in the sky in the midst of the orange-gold scatter of softlygathering twilight.
From not too far off, a mountain goat with clovenhooves—browsing brush and low-growing shrubs—sidled up to him, fixing itsmalevolent, yellow gaze on him. Far overhead, a homebound chickadee went‘chickadee-dee-dee’ as it traced its solitary path eastwards.
To the northwest, the cliffs fell sheer to the ravine below,their surface unbroken. The shadows were lengthening across the vast valleylying snugly among the hills. And now, there were blotches of darkness slowlyeating away the green. But the full umbra of the sun’s retirement was yet todescend upon the sprawling, rugged landscape.
“Wash your hands!” the voice was insistent in its urgency.
Manush sat upright with a start. He convulsed—first inastonishment, then with fear—as he looked incredulously at Jeevan.
Jeevan was smiling… his usual shy, reassured smile. He hadnot aged at all! His thick black hair swept back from his forehead, thecreaseless, unblemished young skin on his face a contrast to the light growthof hair on his chin. Jeevan looked just like the post-mortem photograph thepolice had shown him.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
The author is aprofessional who grew up in Kolkata during the turbulent times that serve asthe backdrop of this novel. He has written short stories and articles. This ishis debut novel. More of his writing at babujee.substack.com/archive.
Website: https://mailchi.mp/996745dceee3/crimson-mirage
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Mirage-Red-Road-Romance-ebook/dp/B0FNKXKRFD/ref=sr_1_1
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GIVEAWAY
Babujee will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift cardto a randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 6, 2025
Review: MONEY SHOT COMES AGAIN #2 by Tim Seeley
Battling manga characters,including Mickey Mouse and Sailor Moon, was weird. The fact that they allstarted having sex was even weirder. Nothing re-establishes relationships thansex. Kinda funny. Cool graphics. An okay read.
Rating:3 stars
Review: MONEY SHOT COMES AGAIN #1 by Tim Seeley
Alien invasion and theXXX-plorers were on the case. Graphics were cool and colorful. Didn’t reallyget the full story though and some of the text was too small to read. I guessall you have to do is get naked to distract some aliens. An okay read.
Rating:3 stars
Review: MONEY SHOT COMES AGAIN #3 by Tim Seeley
Sex with a hunky alien? Not abad way to save the universe. The graphics were cool, but still couldn’t readsome of the text. A decent comic though.
Rating:3 stars
Review: PELICANS, PIERS, AND POISON by Cindy Bell
This one takes a while to getstarted. We don’t find out about someone dying from poison at the pierrestaurant until chapter 5. I didn’t quite get too into this mystery like Iusually do with Cindy Bell books. Usually, I enjoy following the leads in herbooks, but this one just wasn’t too great. It was pretty slow. Yeah, you kindof go along with the mystery, but not much was really sticking to you. Okay,but not great.
Rating:3 stars
