Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 220
September 7, 2021
Blog Tour: BACKUP OFFER by Liz Crowe
Backup Offer
by Liz Crowe
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GENRE: Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
Short teaser: A second chance means never giving up on love.
Longer teaser: An ex-boyfriend, his massive dog, her small apartment and no hotel rooms in sight. What could go wrong?
When Blair ended things for good with her long-time boyfriend, she knew she’d have to get away--and stay away--from him. Which meant leaving family, friends, and the only life she knew in Michigan in her rear view mirror and opening a farm-to-table restaurant in a new city. Being owner/head chef keeps her plenty busy, especially since “Blair’s Kitchen” has become the talk of the restaurant scene thanks to its fresh approach to food, drinks, and paying her staff a living wage. She’s managed to avoid traveling home for almost a decade, but when her best friend needs her help, she drops everything and heads back, figuring she’s had enough time away to resist Brandis’ pull.
After years spent fighting addiction and the fall-out from personal tragedy, including losing Blair thanks to his own bad behavior, Brandis has spent the last ten putting his life in order. As the third generation president of his family’s successful construction company, he’s added several new services, including a program that hires at-risk teens and pays them to learn construction skills. He’s also reconstructed his relationships with his family, and is his older sister’s go-to kid wrangler. He’s even adopted a dog, thanks to some donated renovation time spent at the local animal shelter. He’s got everything he needs—except a girlfriend.
When the contractor she’d already paid to build her restaurant’s expansion takes her check and vanishes , leaving her with a giant mess and little money, Blair only hesitates a moment before calling Brandis. She’d managed fine when she’d seen him in Michigan, after all. What could go wrong? Famous last words, she figures, when she realizes that the weekend he comes to evaluate her crisis is so busy there isn’t a hotel room to be found in a ten mile radius. So they settle in to a routine—her, her one-time boyfriend, and his giant, slobbering dog in her small house. It doesn’t take long for the temptation of close proximity to give way, and while Blair is determined to make it nothing more than physical, Brandis has other ideas.
The end of the Stewart Realty series saga brings the second generation full-circle in ways many never expected, but no one regrets.
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Excerpt Two:
“Let’s not dirty any more dishes,” he said. “And I hope you get Disney because I’m in a retro Star Wars mood.”
“Of course I do,” she said.
They passed the carton back and forth, keeping some distance between them on the couch while the dog chewed her bone, then stretched out on the rug and cut a loud fart. “Wow,” Blair said, waving a hand in front of her face.”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” Brandis said. “It’s one of the reasons I don’t give her processed dog food. Her digestion is…delicate.”
“I don’t know if delicate would be the word I’d use.”
He shrugged and ate the last bite, then took their spoons and the empty container back to the kitchen. When he returned, he sat, and pulled her feet onto his lap. She tensed, but he started rubbing her feet, which made her forget pretty much anything else. She must have dozed a little because she opened her eyes, the dog was on her eye level, looking at her curiously. “You snore,” Brandis said. “Freaked her out a little.”
“Ugh,” she said, rolling onto her side. Brandis kept his hand on her leg, resting it on her hip while the movie ended. The next thing she knew, she was being carried, tucked into bed, a finger tracing her cheek and lips. Half asleep, she opened one eye. “This is weird, and I’m sorry I’m being so…”
“Horny? I’m not sorry.” He brushed her hair off her face, his touch gentle.
“So needy,” she said. “But also…unavailable at the same time.”
He shrugged, leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I know how you feel. And I’m okay with this, for now.” He pressed his lips to her neck, just below her ear. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close a few seconds, then let go and rolled away from him, exhausted, sore, happy, and sad all at once.
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My review: Brandis and Blaire are two lonely souls with painful pasts. The plot can get a little tangled and complex, but I always like it when two people find strength in each other.
The writing is pretty good with its simple and captivating narrative, and the characters are quite endearing.
Overall, a nice read.
My rating: 3 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville living in Central Illinois. She's spent her time as a three-continent expat trailing spouse, mom of three, real estate agent, brewery owner and bar manager, and is currently a social media consultant and humane society development director, in addition to being an award-winning author. With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, inside fictional television stations and successful real estate offices, and even in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are compelling and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, at times frustrate, and always linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.
Follow along with Liz online:
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/LizCroweAuthor
FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/lizcroweauthor
FACEBOOK CHAT ROOM: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Lizcrowefans
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lizcroweauthor/
TIKTOK: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeQoUHjD/
BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/liz-crowe
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/Liz-Crowe/e/B00573TC7M
GOODREADS PAGE: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4350864.Liz_Crowe
WEBSITE: http://www.lizcrowe.com
SIGN UP FOR THE LIZ NEWSLETTER & GET A FREE BOOK: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r2a2q5
INTERESTING HUMANS PODCAST INTERVIEW; https://interestinghumanspodcast.buzzsprout.com/639664/6917804-liz-crowe-romancing-the-romance-novel
BOOKS ON THE MIC PODCAST INTERVIEW: https://www.audible.com/pd/Books-on-the-Mic-Ep-16-Liz-Crowe-Desiree-Holt-Podcast/B092QRW2HP
EMAIL LIZ: lizcroweauthor@gmail.com
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Liz Crowe will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
September 6, 2021
Blog Tour: A FAIRY GODMOTHER'S REDEMPTION by Maya Tyler
A Fairy Godmother's Redemption
by Maya Tyler
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GENRE: paranormal romance
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BLURB:
If only your dreams could come true with a Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo…
Becoming the legal guardian for his half-sisters puts a wrench in Drew's college plans. Photo-shopped nudes of Seraphina threaten her promising singing career.
Sounds like a job for a Fairy Godmother.
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Excerpt One:
The girls think Faye is Drew’s Fairy Godmother…
Faye’s Café was a busy restaurant, but he discovered he enjoyed working there. He served fancy coffees, bussed tables, and even cleaned the floor after closing.
On Thursday evening, right after closing, Faye handed him an envelope.
“What’s this?”
Faye smiled secretively. “A little something extra.”
What could it be? He knew he already got his share of the tips. Too curious to wait, he opened the envelope, and his jaw dropped. “This is too much.”
“Nonsense. The suit is a rental. The limo needs to bring you home before midnight. Just say thank you.”
“Thank you.”
“Have a good time.”
He took the stairs to the apartment two at a time, excited to tell the girls. He opened the apartment door and found the girls reading on the couch. “I have a surprise—a good surprise!”
The girls wore identical expressions of cautious optimism.
“Faye hooked us up with a limo ride to the concert.”
Madison gasped. “Wow!”
Mackenzie assessed Drew critically. “If we’re going in a limo, you’re gonna need fancier digs.”
“Already covered. Faye included a suit rental.”
Madison sighed. “It’s just like in Cinderella.”
“What?”
“You know when Cinderella goes to the ball… Her fairy godmother gives her a new dress and turns a pumpkin into a fancy carriage…” She smiled dreamily. “You know what that means? Faye is your Fairy Godmother.”
He paused at Madison’s words, thinking about everything Faye did this week. With a new job, new apartment, and now a suit and a limo… It did seem like a fairy tale, but he didn’t want the girls getting any unrealistic ideas. “Don’t be silly, Madison. Fairy tales aren’t real.”
Mackenzie’s chin jutted out stubbornly. “Says who?”
Too tired from working all day, he didn’t have the energy for this argument. “Fine, fairy tales can be real. Now get ready for bed.” He caught Madison and Mackenzie sharing a smug smile.
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My review: Welcome to the Wonderful World of Fairy Godmother’s Inc, assembled by 3 old godmothers that scour the earth to see who needed help from a godmother.
The story had an easy narrative that catches the reader; however, it often jumps around so much that it’s not always clear what’s going on. In this instance, the story bounces between a sad boy without a father and a scared pregnant woman. Two different times. Two different scenarios. How would the godmothers help?
It certainly comes a long way from the Cinderella story we’re all familiar with. It was kind of nice to get a different perspective on it.
An interesting concept with a touch of magic.
My rating: 3 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Maya Tyler is a multi-published author of paranormal romance novels and blogger at Maya’s Musings. An avid reader, Maya writes the books she loves to read—romances! Her paranormal romances come with complex plot twists and happily-ever-afters.
When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, listening to music (alternative rock, especially from the 1990s), practicing yoga, and watching movies and TV.
Contact
Maya loves to hear from fellow authors and readers! Please connect with her through social media (see links below).
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Pinterest
Instagram
Buy Links
A Fairy Godmother’s Redemption
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Maya Tyler will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Blog Tour: KILLERS! by Thomas A. Burns Jr.
#6 of the Natalie McMasters Mysteries
Crime Fiction
Release Date: Aug 9, 2021
Her dead father once asked, “What did you do to make God sad, Nattie?”
Natalie McMasters is a twentysomething college student who just wants to get on with her life, and she’s got to wonder. Her dear friend lies dead and the crazed killer responsible now has Nattie on his short list. Her only choice? Cancel him before he cancels her!
Nattie assembles an unlikely squad to find the killer: her wife Lupe, her husband Danny, an aging FBI agent and an even more ancient Tai Chi master. Jointly and separately, they embark on a totally lit road trip across the Old South, meeting danger and death at every turn. Unexpected help is provided by a voice from the grave. But her adversary has a badass squad too, and friends and loved ones fall along the way.
Naked and afraid in a primeval swamp, Nattie must confront her greatest enemy one last time. How will she ever get the W?
EXCERPT:
Daddy used to say to me, “When it’s raining, God’s crying. What did you do to make God sad, Nattie?”
My name is Natalie McMasters. I’m twenty-two (today is my birthday!), short and blonde (OK, it’s bleached), a pre-law student at State and a former private detective trainee at my Uncle Amos’s 3M Detective Agency. And I’m standing in a soaking rain at my best friend’s funeral (which is getting to be a habit) wondering WTF I did to bring it all about.
Dr. Rebecca Feiner was my therapist, my friend, and in many ways, my surrogate mother. She helped me discover who I am, got me over a buncha Catholic baggage and comfortable in my own skin, when I discovered I liked girls as much as guys. And she helped me through the crisis when I fell in love with my best friend while married to my wife. But like others in my life, she paid a price for her friendship with me. Last year, she became the victim of a vicious sexual assault perpetrated by someone who wanted revenge on me. That ultimately drove her back into a sick relationship with a former zaddy, a serial killer known as the Marquis. He vowed vengeance on me because he blamed me for snatching his wig. Did he murder Rebecca as a part of that revenge?
The WOAT is that today is my birthday. Last year on my birthday, a stan of mine burned my Uncle Amos’ house to the ground. Now this shit happens!
***
About The Author
Thomas A. Burns Jr. writes the Natalie McMasters Mysteries from the small town of Wendell, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife and son, four cats and a Cardigan Welsh Corgi. He was born and grew up in New Jersey, attended Xavier High School in Manhattan, earned B.S degrees in Zoology and Microbiology at Michigan State University and a M.S. in Microbiology at North Carolina State University. As a kid, Tom started reading mysteries with the Hardy Boys, Ken Holt and Rick Brant, then graduated to the classic stories by authors such as A. Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers, John Dickson Carr, Erle Stanley Gardner and Rex Stout, to name a few. Tom has written fiction as a hobby all of his life, starting with Man from U.N.C.L.E. stories in marble-backed copybooks in grade school. He built a career as technical, science and medical writer and editor for nearly thirty years in industry and government. Now that he’s a full time novelist, he’s excited to publish his own mystery series, as well as to write stories about his second most favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes. His Holmes story, The Camberwell Poisoner, recently appeared in the March – June issue of The Strand Magazine. Tom has also written a Lovecraftian horror novel, The Legacy of the Unborn, under the pen name of Silas K. Henderson‒a sequel to H.P. Lovecraft’s masterpiece At the Mountains of Madness.
Contact Links
Twitter: @3Mdetective
Instagram: 3mdetective
Purchase Link
a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 4, 2021
Review: COYOTE by Sheryl Recinos
Shayla Ruiz is a 15-year-old girl living with her immigrant parents and two little brothers—a poor family living day-to-day in a trailer. One day, she goes out for a run and gets captured by U.S. Border Patrol. Even though she’s an American citizen, she gets sent to Mexico—a country where she doesn’t know anyone, doesn’t know the language, and where she wasn’t born. She tries to cross back into the U.S. and her ticket home was to find a coyote.
The simple narrative keeps you engaged most of the way. You feel for her with everything she’s going through as if you were in her shoes. Most of her time is spent with the coyote, whom she’s fearful and comforted by. It’s a LONG journey home, so there’s some lagging areas that slowed it down.
A worthy read overall.
My rating: 4 stars
Review: MENAGE PLACE by Tatumn Dixon
A shy, reserved woman gets kinky at Menage Place, an erotic business she inherited. Short and lustful. Good for a quickie!
My rating: 3 stars
Review: HAPPY HOMICIDES 3
Long, slow, and pointless.
It doesn’t even sound like anybody dies. The only one that really dies is the reader…of boredom.
My rating: 1 star
Review: TO TELL A TALE OR TWO by Kelly Florentina
Stories seemed interesting and were certainly written that way, but I just wasn’t getting it. When I reached the end of a too-short story, I’d be like: “What, I don’t get it.”
My rating: 2 stars
Review: THE NICE GIRL’S NAUGHTY BOOK CLUB: QUINN by Lana Dash
Quinn is tired of the sweet romances her book club reads, so she decides to start her own: The Nice Girl’s Naughty Book Club.
Quinn mostly obsesses over her newest erotic romance, wishing she could be just as bold as the heroine.
I thought this would be interesting, but the whole thing was mostly tame. No real spice in it and the rest of the books in the series sound about the same.
Eh, this was okay.
My rating: 3 stars
September 3, 2021
Blog Tour: NEVER SAY CHAI by Kirsten Weiss
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kirsten Weiss will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
It’s Halloween season in small town San Borromeo, and Abigail and Hyperion are determined to make Beanblossom’s Tea and Tarot spooktacular. But when Hyperion’s boyfriend, Detective Tony Chase, is arrested at Beanblossom’s for murder, the duo is certain someone’s playing a nasty trick. And when the official investigation turns into a witch hunt, the stakes to unearth the truth are raised…
But a clever killer has plans to squash their investigation… and the two amateur detectives. If they don’t solve this puzzle—and fast—it will be out of the cauldron and into the fire for them both.
Never Say Chai is the fourth book in the Tea and Tarot cozy mystery series. A fast-paced and funny cozy mystery, packed with quirky characters, pets, and murder! Perfect for fans of Jana DeLeon, Janet Evanovich, and Donna Andrews. Buy the book and start this hilarious caper!
Tearoom recipes in the back of the book!
Read an Excerpt:
Never panic-shop.
Also, never drink and shop. And especially never panic, drink, and shop.
I’d done all of the above.
The tearoom’s oven broke last month while I was baking quiches. The estimate for its repair had been nearly as much as a new oven. In a fit of panick and piña coladas, I’d bought a new one.
The thought still made my insides curdle like over-whipped clotted cream. Industrial ovens ain’t cheap.
I hated budget pandemonium, especially when I was its cause. There was a certain joy in watching numbers fall into place, especially on the profit side of the ledger. And I’d just messed with my carefully balanced tearoom universe.
So I was more than a little anxious as I studied our tearoom. Miniature pumpkins lined its broad windows. Paper bats dangled from hanging lamps and sprouted from tiered tea trays.
Even the costumed Tarot readers had gotten into the Halloween groove. The scent of baking sugar and pumpkin hung in the air. Women chatted at their tables, teacups clinking.
It was October first, day one of the Halloween season, and San Borromeo (saint of heartburn) was becoming a Halloween town. This was a good thing for those of us dependent on tourism. Tourists don’t flock to the Pacific beach quite as often in October, despite the occasional day of spectacular weather. The Halloween festivities meant more customers.
Beanblossom’s Tea and Tarot needed those customers, especially after that new oven. It was a really awesome oven, though.
About the Author: Amazon bestselling author Kirsten Weiss writes laugh-out-loud, page-turning mysteries. Her heroines aren’t perfect, but they’re smart, they struggle, and they succeed. Kirsten writes in a house high on a hill in the Colorado woods and occasionally ventures out for wine and chocolate. Or for a visit to the local pie shop. Kirsten is best known for her Wits’ End, Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, and Tea and Tarot cozy mystery books. So if you like funny, action-packed mysteries with complicated heroines, just turn the page…
Website: https://kirstenweiss.com
Email: kweiss2001@kirstenweiss.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kirsten.weiss/
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/KirstenWeissAuthor
Bookbub: http://www.bookbub.com/authors/kirsten-weiss
Buy Links for Never Say Chai:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094WHQFTV
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/never-say-chai/id1567422675
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w?ean=2940162513759
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Kirsten_Weiss_Never_Say_Chai
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/never-say-chai
a Rafflecopter giveaway
September 2, 2021
Blog Tour: THE PURPLE BIRD by Dylan Roche
Young Adult Date Published: March 1, 2019
Publisher: Jan-Carol Publishing, Inc.
No matter how long he has yearned to escape his boring life as an ordinary teenager, nothing can prepare James Shannassy for the afternoon when he meets a figment bird called Archit and the two of them set off for the world of Nalgordia to break a centuries-old curse. Being the hero of his own fantasy adventure isn't exactly what James expected it to be, but when he finds himself caught up in an epic fight against a force of evil, he knows he might be the only one able to stop it. Archit's fate now rests entirely in his hands...and there's no turning back now!
About the Author
Dylan Roche is a journalist, editor, actor, director, playwright, teacher, and marathon runner based in Annapolis, Maryland. The Purple Bird is his first novel.
Contact Links
Twitter: @DylanIsWriting
Instagram: @dylaniswriting
Purchase Links
