Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 137
April 10, 2023
Blog Tour: THE EFFICIENCY JOURNAL by Misha Saidov
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
This journal, created by renowned coach and psychotherapist Misha Saidov, will help you become the hero of your own life. It was created to assist you in setting important goals, reaching them, and winning. It will support you along the way, especially when you find yourself lost or confused. The Efficiency Journal will help you stay on track.
You don't need to schedule your day by the minute. If you want to succeed, you only need to complete three key daily tasks, set goals that fit into 12-week sprints, and honestly reflect on your results once a week.
You will learn to manage your energy and analyze your actions, achievements, and experiences.
The result will be a formed character, created by daily volitional actions.
What's inside?
– Weekly and daily planning sheets
– Space for summarizing weekly results and for reflection
– Wise thoughts and tips along the way
Any goal reduced to daily tasks will be achieved, no matter what.
FOR WHOM IS THIS JOURNAL?
For those who want to succeed in business, improve themselves, move forward, maintain their motivation and eliminate distractions.
Many of us have meaningful ideas that could change the world. Without embodiment, they will remain just a dream. A dream about the future.
Read an Excerpt
In 1910, in the center of Paris at Sorbonne, the president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, gave a speech.
One of the passages of the speech became known as “The Man in the Arena”:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Do you ever find yourself asking: “Who am I? The one in the arena, or a spectator?”
About the Author:
Misha Saidov, a life performance coach and author, is the founder of IMCP (Institute of Metacognitive Programming) and Think Meta, a coaching company that conducts 4000+ client sessions per month.Website
Amazon Buy Link
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April 8, 2023
Review: VIABLE HOSTAGE by Audrey Cole
The start with the yacht settingwasn’t that great…until we get to the part about the dismembered corpse in abody bag.
In the next few chapters, we learnabout the night a college girl goes missing from a night club and her friendseems to be the only one concerned about it. Malorie’s instincts about Lanibeing in trouble were correct as she was being held hostage somewhere,completely tied down to a bed. It becomes a mystery of who took Lani andMalorie was taking the steps to try to figure it out.
The case gets more interestingwhen the first body washes up, one fitting a similar description as Lani. Couldboth girls have been pregnant? What could someone do with the fetal infants?Could one of the med-school professors be a serial rapist and killer? Will theyfind this evil doctor before it’s too late?
Compelling to read! Truly makesyou wonder who was behind all this.
Rating:4 stars
Review: DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL by Mary Higgins Clark
Where’s Andrea? That was thequestion Ellie has been asking ever since she disappeared. Then she foundher…dead. Daddy’s little girl was gone forever.
23 years later, the murder of hersister, Andrew, was still fresh in Ellie’s mind. The guy that was convicted forthe murder may be getting out on parole and Ellie had to do everything shecould to stop it. Going back to her hometown was bringing back memories of thehappy family they once were and the events after the murder. Ellie was writinga book to refute the claims being made about her sister’s murder. She wouldn’tleave until she researched everything that happened.
Story was well-written and justenthralling with the words. However, unlike other MHC books, this one was toldalmost entirely in the POV of Ellie, which was still interesting as we gothrough all her research and interviews, but it can get a little too long attimes. It was nothing but “reporting” mostly. Some of the chapters were also alot longer, making it harder to read. This was one of the first books of hersthat I’ve actually had to skip pages in.
Definitely not one of her best.
Rating: 3 stars
Review: THE RECIPIENT by Audrey Cole
A serial killer continuing hisspree. All of Michael Rhodes’ victims died the same way. But Michael Rhodes wasdead. Wasn’t he? How could his grisly killings keep going? Was this the work ofa copy cat?
Meanwhile, Ella never got herhusband back after his brain transplant, which put her living with a totalstranger now.
In the midst of a puzzlinginvestigation, Wade contends with guilt of losing his partner, his anger onviolent scumbags, and trying to stop a killer.
It was so obvious where this wasgoing. We kind of all figured what was going on here—the guy had the brain of akiller, which was a captivating premise. Unfortunately, the story was taking along time to get there with lengthy protocols, assumed suspects, toxicologyreports, and, of course, the wife’s suspicions on the guy. It’s a pretty goodread, but it’s certainly a long one. There was some good thrill, but it was alittle predictable.
This was an okay read, but Ithought it be better.
Rating:3 stars
Review: GHOST WRITER by Netta Newbound
A famed author experiencingwriter’s block. What a drag!
Natalie tried everything to putsomething on paper. Then, without even realizing it, she had 10 pages written.Did she really write it? Was she writing in her sleep? Yeah right!
This had an interesting premisewith an easy narrative, but it was rather slow and uneventful for the mostpart. It gets better when it turns out her story gets based on a real eventthat includes a disappearance and a murder. I wasn’t too keen on the Britishslang (much too distracting for me.)
Eh, an okay mystery.
Rating:3 stars
Review: JINXED by Carol Higgins Clark
The details of this story beginkind of slow. It gets interesting when a man tries to marry a wealthy, oldactress. His dream comes true when she finally accepts his proposal, but shewants to invite all her relatives for a quick wedding, where she plans to givethem the money they should’ve inherited from her late husband. But this guywanted all the money. There was only one person he didn’t want at thewedding—an actress working on a movie called “Jinxed.”
Reagan Reilly, P.I., was off tofind the missing actress. Can the groom find her before Reagan does? And willhe have two people to take care of?
This was a decent read for about aquarter of the book. Most of the time, Reagan is just running around lookingfor the actress. It sure made her job easy when the girl comes home on her own.
Story was all-around slow andmediocre. It just seemed like I was waiting for something exciting anddifferent to happen. The mystery sounded interesting at first, but it suredidn’t develop to my expectations.
Eh, an okay read.
Rating: 3 stars
April 7, 2023
Blog Tour: HEART OF STONE by January Bain
Heart of Stone-Sin City Kilts
by January Bain
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GENRE: paranormal romance, billionaire werewolf
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BLURB:
Onlyone wild heart can claim another.
Esme Luceres, poor relation and outsider with the House of Luceres, devotes herfree time to exposing fake psychics and charlatans who dupe and exploit acredulous public. She’ll never be anyone’s fool. And she certainly won’t makeone of herself over the kilt-wearing, bare-chested Lachlan of the HighlandHeathens Clan, even if he does looks like a plundering Viking right out of themists of history with his magnificent body on proud display. No, she’ll exposehis secrets…
LachlanCreig certainly has a few of those. An illusionist and mind-defying hypnotist,he’s also a wolf shifter. In Vegas to perform at a prestigious venue on theStrip, he’s not above using his were heritage to his advantage. But the Scothas even darker, deeper secrets than most alpha billionaire weres…one which areabout to surface.
When ‘ghostly’ events kill a tourist at the Haunted Museum where Esme conductsmidnight tours, the feisty blonde and proud Scot are forced to put their heateddifferences aside and forge an unlikely alliance.
Canthey find their way past their deep mistrust issues to solve the murder? Ifthey can’t, Esme might lose her freedom, Lachlan all he holds dear…and both ofthem their fated mate…
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Excerpt One:
I jumped naked from my bed, the stone floor bracing againstmy bare feet and the early morning chill raising quick goosebumps on my flesh.The clash of swords and shouts of men I led into battle nightly in my dreamsstill rang in my ears before I stretched and let the images fade away.
Last night’s full moon still lingered and false dawnapproached, that luminal moment when the sun has yet to appear. My ancestorsbelieved it heralded glimpses of the future and great secrets to be shared. Me?I thought it time to be up and about.
Throwing on my shirt, kilt and boots and strapping myclaymore to my back, I descended the steep steps from the north tower. Despitemyself, I sensed something of import with the night’s Hawthorn moon—a time ofmasculine power, potency and fertility, even more so than the other eleven monthsof the year.
Fingers of heavy mist crept across the vast estate towardme, intensifying the fresh woodsy scents of heather and moss. The low-lying fogobscured my long view of forest and hedgerows, but I knew they were there.
Untold numbers of Creigs had carved this land andbattlements out of solid rock eons ago on Eilean maddah-allaidh, or Wolf Islandas it was known to those from away, creating a legacy that would stand forgenerations to come. A sanctuary that was mine to oversee and care for…whichincluded being alive to any messages sent my way.
“Okay, fine,” I sighed to whomever or whatever might belistening, and, giving in, stood in the shadow of Castle Creigbourne, awaitinga glimpse of what lay beyond the ken.
An intense flickering in my peripheral vision hit my senseshard before the world disappeared entirely, sending me back to that timelessrealm with no name and no season. Then a glimmering of light appeared as mythird eye opened, sending flashes of blue and gold to strike my retinas. Theblue of eyes and the gold of hair?
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
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JanuaryBain has wished on every falling star, every blown-out birthday candle, andevery coin thrown in a fountain to be a storyteller. To share the tales of highadventure, mysteries, and full-blown thrillers she has dreamed of all her life.The story you now have in your hands is the compilation of a lot of thingsmanifesting itself for this special series. Hundreds of hours spent researchingthe unusual and the mundane have come together to create books that featuresstrong women who live life to the fullest, wild adventures full of twists andunforeseen turns, and hot complicated men who aren’t afraid to take risks. Shecan only hope her stories will capture your imagination and touch your heart.
If youare looking for January Bain, you can find her hard at work every morningwithout fail in her office with her furry baby, Ling Ling. And, of course,she’s married to the most romantic man! Who once famously remarked to herinquiry about buying fresh flowers for their home every week, “Give me one goodreason why not?” Leaving her speechless and knocking her head against theproverbial wall for being so darn foolish. She loves flowers.
If youwish to connect in the virtual world she is easily found on Facebook. Oh, andshe loves to talk books…
Blog Address - http://januarybainjourney.blogspot.ca/
Twitter Name – https://twitter.com/JanuaryBain
Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/january.bain
Any other socialmedia -
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6437282.January_Bain
Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Stone-Sin-City-Kilts-ebook/dp/B0BNLQ6SCS/
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GIVEAWAY :
January Bain will be awarding a $25.00 PayPal prize,U.S. money to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveawayBlog Tour: CROSSROADS by Rhonda Parker Taylor
Suspense / Thriller
Date Published: January 23, 2023
Publisher: MindStir Media
She's Paris Pennington.
A lovely workaholic about to be confronted with adversity and chaos, with challenges leading her to restlessness, uncertainty, and questioning her life choices and her current path. The fabric of her life begins to be picked apart as people around her start dying.
A crossroad leads her to make a change and promises to fulfill her dreams while an embattled personal war between past and present comes together, testing loyalty and the forces of envy that may prevent tomorrow from coming.
Rhonda Parker Taylor's most exciting suspense thriller fictional character ever.
About the Author
Rhonda Parker Taylor is an American writer, entrepreneur, and academic researcher. Rhonda Parker Taylor was born in Noblesville, Indiana, on October 18, 1964. She is the second youngest of five children born to Anita and William Parker, founders of a midwestern steel manufacturing company in Noblesville. Rhonda spent her childhood in their two-story home surrounded by cornfields and cows and attended Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis. After graduating from Heritage, she attended Bauder Fashion College in Arlington, Texas. After graduating from Bauder with a certificate in fashion buying, she returned to Indiana. Parker initially found work at Educational Financial Services in Indianapolis. Her friends and family suggested that she try her hand as an author. Rhonda took their advice and wrote her first book, Crossroads, in 2002. It took a decade for her to publish it due to her academic explorations. She attended the doctoral in business program at the University of Phoenix and received an MBA and a bachelor’s in science management from Indiana Wesleyan University. Parker’s writing ranges from educational to fiction. She is best known for her study on emotional intelligence and as the multi-national leader presented at the Union Global Compact Committee. She loves writing, consulting, and teaching. However, she has spent her business life encouraging others through career and academic development programs, including being a campus president for National College and founder of Intelligence Solutions. After years of assisting others in pursuing their dreams, Rhonda follows her passion for writing as she lives a peaceful life raising her three dogs and living with her husband, Dana.
Contact Links
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April 6, 2023
Blog Tour: MURDER AT THE ZOO by Marcia Rosen
Murder at the Zoo
by Marcia Rosen
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GENRE: Mystery
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BLURB:
Abody is tossed into the lion’s habitat at the zoo where Miranda Scott is thesenior vet. She and Detective Bryan Anderson join forces to unravel thatmystery and several more murders. A fan since childhood of Agatha Christie,Raymond Chandler, and Sherlock Holmes they seem to live in her head frequentlytelling her what to do…and not do. Murders, family, deceit, revenge and agangster father and godfather often get in the way of a fine romance betweenMiranda and the Detective.
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Excerpt One:
“Miranda, get to the zoo! Visitors are pointing at a humanarm in the lions’ enclosure.”
“Hmmm. This is intriguing. A body in the lions’ den. Whatare the facts?”
“Agatha, Raymond, facts if you please,” Sherlock demanded.
“All of you shut up!”
It was not the first time Miranda shouted to the voices inher head. Sometimes they seemed so real to her. She had read nearly every bookof every famous mystery writer and had seen movies made from them many times.She was often absorbed and obsessed by the stories and the characters.
Miranda loved their ways of thinking, analyzing problems,finding solutions, and delving into the dark spaces hidden in humanity: RaymondChandler’s tough Detective, Philip Marlowe, who always found a dame he couldlust after and distrust and Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, andher Tommy and Tuppence. Their gossip and ways of finding clues and uncoveringsecrets swirled in her head, while the famous Sherlock Homes demanded facts andattention to the tiniest of details.
There were other geniuses of mysteries who stopped by togive Miranda their “two cents” at times, especially when Agatha, Raymond, andSherlock were disagreeing with each other. Miranda was sure they would haveplenty to say about the murder at the zoo.
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Review:
It begins with a murder at thezoo. A severed limb was found in the lion’s den. Yikes!Miranda has always had a thing formysteries. In fact, she claimed that she had mystery writers living in herhead.
“She knew that the voices of heradolescent heroes from books and movies were her own thoughts—a secondconscious perhaps— that helped her sort things out with the same criticalthinking skills that had been used by her “detectives” when solving cases.”
The voices of Agatha Christie,Raymond Chandler, and Sherlock Holmes were literally in her head and weretalking to Miranda. Mmm, quirky and odd. It was funny how they would all arguewith each other in her head. One thing they all did was strongly urge Mirandato solve not just one murder, but TWO murders.
Story had a simple and amusingnarrative for the most part. It was good that there was a murder at the zooright from the start; however, the storyline sort of dillydallies along the way,slowing the investigation. Little by little, the trail seems to lead toMiranda’s father. Could he have been involved somehow?
The mystery was rather interestingwith small details eventually leading to one thing or another. But the storywas rather slow and a tad dry for my taste. It just seemed like there was a lotof talking inside Miranda’s head. Who was really the detective here—her orthem? I’m sure mystery buffs would want an unconventional mystery helped by oneof the great detectives.
A fairy nice read.
Rating:3 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
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Marcia Rosen(aka M. Glenda Rosen), award winning author of eleven books including TheSenior Sleuths and Dying To Be Beautiful Mystery Series and The GourmetGangster: Mysteries and Menus (Menus by her son Jory Rosen). She is also authorof The Woman’s Business Therapist and award winning My Memoir Workbook. For 25years she was owner of a successful national marketing and public relationsagency, Marcia has frequently been a speaker and/or program moderator atorganization meetings and conferences, bookstores, libraries and Zoom Programs.Topics she has taught and presented over the past twenty years include:Encouraging the Writer Within You, Marketing for Authors, Writing Mysteries…NotA Mystery, Writing Your Memoir and recently “Anatomy of Writing A Murder.” Many articles on these topics have beenpublished on mystery reader blogs and in newsletters and magazines including“Mystery Scene Magazine” and “Mystery Reader International Journal.”
She is a memberof Sisters in Crime National and New Mexico (Croak & Dagger), SouthwestWriters, New Mexico Book Association, Women Writing the West, Public SafetyWriter’s Association, and National Association of Independent Writers andEditors—for which she is also a board member. www.MarciaRosen.com
“Marcia Rosen'snew book is hard to put down! The characters are engaging and you enjoy gettingto know them as you read this mystery. I enjoyed discovering the world andpeople in Murder at the Zoo and can't wait to read more from this author!”
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GIVEAWAY
Marcia Rosen will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC toa randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveawayBlog Tour: COLD SLEEP by Luke Hindmarsh
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
It’s the perfect score—stealing valuable data from a VIP in cryo-freeze midway through a decades-long interstellar crossing. If it works, Kara will have enough money to buy what she’s always wanted—a Captaincy.
But with the rest of the crew and the cargo of one hundred thousand colonists still frozen, Kara and her accomplice, Zed, realize they’re not the only ones awake. The murdered woman they find is only the first victim of whoever or whatever has woken from Cold Sleep.
Read an Excerpt
Blood streaks the VIP casket’s pristine white ceramic shell. Crimson handprints mark the controls and edges of the casket’s lid. Bright red spray mars the shining surface of the nearest casket and trickles down across its viewport. The deckplate’s smeared here and there, but the marks aren’t clear enough to make out any footprints.
“No one else in here,” Zed says.
While I’ve been gawping at the corpse, he’s secured the room.
There’s more to him than being a reliable bit of rough. It’s become too easy to dismiss him—the man is capable enough.
“I don’t understand. How could one of the passengers get out of storage?” I ask.
“Look at the casket,” Zed says. “Why’s it still registering an occupant?”
Being careful not to step in any blood, I get closer to her. What strikes me is the way the arcs of blood paint the VIP bay looks like something out of an anti-Ares Cult propaganda piece. The sacrifice of innocent beauty to sate the spirit of Mars. Kind of thing we’d only caught rumors of my first time shipping out. Then the newsfeeds had become more and more clogged with hysteria with every return to Earth. That and the usual.
War. War threatening everywhere.
Makes me think of my brother and hope he isn’t—wait, decades have passed—wasn’t on the frontline.
I drag my mind back from the futureshock and my eyes from the corpse. Getting lost in the past is a sure-fire way to get killed in the here and now.
About the Author:
A Brit now living in the Scandinavian wilds of Denmark with his wife and half-Viking kids, Luke worked as a Criminal Barrister in and around London for over a decade dealing with everything from minor theft cases to a real life axe murder and everything in between. Thanks to parents in the military he grew up being dragged around the world--while living in the Far East he picked up a love for the martial arts which continues to this day, as he passes on what he’s learned to a select dojo of students. Cold Sleep is his third novel. His first was Amazon cyberpunk bestseller Mercury’s Son, his second a UK set supernatural suspense novel 3:33 AM.Amazon
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