Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 24

Blog Tour: FOSTER'S LEASH by Sarah Sommer

 

Book Details:

Book Title:  Foster's Leash by Sarah Sommer
Category: Children's Fiction (Ages 3-7),  38 pages
Genre:  Children's Picture Book
Publisher:  Mascot Kids
Release date:  April 2025
Content Rating:  G - Picture book intended for children. No mature language or themes.

Book Description:

Fostering animals isn't easy. Suddenly, you're living with a strange dog that needs your help. And once you’ve finally bonded, it’s time to say goodbye. But hard things are worth doing, especially when they change lives.

Follow along to see rescue dog Pepper and her foster family navigate the foster process, the feelings that come with it, and how one leash makes all the difference.
Buy the Book
Mascot Books
 Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble
Bookshop.org ~ Books-A-Million
add to Goodreads

Review: Meet Pepper, a lovable dog thathas just been fostered by a little girl until they find a home for her. When itcame time to let Pepper go, the girl had a mixture of happiness, sadness, andnervousness. But mostly the girl felt happiness for Pepper had found a goodhome.

A wonderful story about fosteringpets. As a strong advocate for animals, this story is a winner! I loved theadorable and colorful illustrations! A highly recommended read!

Rating:5 stars

Meet the Author:
Sarah Sommer is an award-winning children’s picture book author who aims to tell stories that evoke emotion. As a former professional musician, Sarah values the way words, art, and stories come together in picture books. Having fostered many German shepherds, Sarah is passionate about animal advocacy and helping others. Sarah wrote this book to showcase the foster process and inspire others to open their hearts and homes.

connect with the author:  website ~ facebook  ~ instagram ~ goodreads



Enter the Giveaway:
FOSTER'S LEASH Book Tour Giveaway

Book Blast: BEING BROKEN by Geoffrey Jonas

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Geoffrey R. Jonas 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.

A young woman dies alone in a hotel room, her fentanyl-poisoned cocaine still on the desk. She had been missing for nearly 2 weeks. Social Services had been trying to find a place for her to live with her 3-year-old son, whom she had left with her parents. Six months later her father fights for his life in intensive care, but succumbs to his illness because of a lifelong use of alcohol and tobacco. A month after his death her mother is assessed by doctors to be unable to care for herself because of her Alzheimer's and mental health issues brought on by benzodiazepine and alcohol addiction.

The son, brother, stepson is the only one left to pick up the pieces. He begins a journey of the self and finds out the truth of his family. After going over letters, notes, emails, videos, and text messages, he uncovers a disturbing picture of the abuse his sister suffered at the hands of their parents. He also begins to better understand his own struggles with mental health and substance addiction because of the trauma and abuse he also suffered from their parents.

Follow the son as he looks through his family history to discover the generational abuse that trickled down through the years. Learn about how parents who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder emotionally abuse and manipulate their children. See how the abuse and trauma becomes mental illness in the abused, and how they fall into vicious traps of addiction, eating disorders, self-harm, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Witness the transformational change of the son as he works on the recovery of his inner child and tries to become the man he was meant to be.

Read an Excerpt

Prologue

Defining Narcissistic Parental Abuse
Normal Narcissism vs. Narcissistic Personality Disorder

To understand the tragedy’s conclusion, we must define the patterns of learned behaviours and the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) that caused it. To do that, we first need to discuss what NPD is and how it differs from normal or healthy narcissism (NN).

Many of us have heard the tale of Narcissus from Greek mythology. Narcissus starved to death because he fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water and refused to leave it. This results from pathological narcissism or NPD. If he had just checked his reflection like we all typically do in the morning and moved on with his day, that would be healthy narcissism. We are all guilty of a bit of healthy narcissism, especially in these days of social media. Healthy narcissism can generate positive self-image and self-esteem, but can lead to bragging or even demeaning others. The key difference here is that someone with NN will recognize that what they have said or done has hurt others, can feel empathy, and will try to correct the situation.

For someone with NPD, the lack of empathy for others is a key criterion for diagnosis. Sufferers of NPD need what is called ‘narcissistic supply’, meaning the emotional reaction from others, whether negative or positive, to fill the gaping hole of low self-esteem most of them have. They require constant reassurance and admiration from others and can become hostile and angry, even rageful, if we do not meet their needs. They will use any means necessary to get their supply, even lying and being aggressive or demeaning towards others.

About the Author: Geoffrey is a first-time author. He lives peacefully by a lake, spending his time writing, painting, gardening, and woodworking. His recovery is ongoing, and he enjoys his privacy and seclusion.

Website: https://geoffreyrjonas.ca
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/55118142.Geoffrey_R_Jonas
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/livingwithcptsd.bsky.social
Amazon: https://a.co/d/eJTO4wq

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Blog Tour: THE SCHOOLMASTER'S DAUGHTER by Naomi Laeuchli

 

THE SCHOOLMASTER'S DAUGHTER

Naomi Laeuchli

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GENRE:  Regency Romance

 

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BLURB:

 

Deepin debt and desperate for a solution, Julius Claydon knows that marrying awealthy woman is his only hope. When he meets the beautiful and rich ClaraHaughton in Bath, he believes she could be his salvation, but there's oneobstacle in his path: Lydia Cray, Clara's sharp-witted and penniless companion.

 

WhenLydia quickly sees through his fortune-hunting motives, Julius proposes analliance. He will help secure her future if she helps him secure Clara's heart.

 

ButLydia is not all she appears to be, and she has a plan of her own: to teach hima lesson he won't soon forget. But her scheming soon leads to unforeseenconsequences for them both.

 

Canlove spring from deception?

 

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ExcerptThree:

 

He had reached them now and was smiling down at her. “MissCray. You look lovely tonight.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

She was dimly aware that he was bowing to Clara and greetingher as well. But while he must, in the interests of politeness, have lookedaway from herself at some point, it didn’t feel like it. It felt as if his eyesnever truly left hers. Which made it unmistakable who he was addressing when heasked, “Might I have the pleasure of this dance?”

 

Later that night she would look back and think it strangethat he had asked her to dance before Clara, that he had barely paid Clara moreattention than what was demanded by common civility. But now she simply heldout her hand to him, beaming at him and nodded, finding words curiouslydifficult to form.

 

The music had changed to a waltz as he led her out onto thedance floor. She felt a curious sensation somewhere north of her stomach as hisarm wrapped around her waist and he began to lead her.

 

He truly was graceful, as he smiled down at her and the pairtwirled through the steps and the music.

 

This close, she could see the individual flecks of greyhairs in amongst the dark, which she found strangely endearing. The lines onhis face seemed a little deeper under the candlelight and she felt a strangeimpulse to reach up and run her fingers across them.

 

His eyes, though, were a clear deep blue, and she suspectedthey held the exact same youthfulness and brightness that they had had on theday he was born. In some mysterious way, her instincts told her they alwayswould. Those same eyes were smiling down warmly into her own, and she blushed alittle but held the gaze steady.

 

 

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How Do Your Characters Evolve in Your Story?

 

I’ve always loved moments in books where the reader can tella character is changing or evolving, based on the emotions that character isexperiencing, and before the character recognizes it or can really put adefinite name on those emotions themselves. I think in real life, we often leadwith our emotions first, and then later we sort through them and see how farwe’ve come.

With The Schoolmaster’s Daughter, I tried to lean into thatand take advantage of the fact that the story is told from the point of view ofboth characters. Both Lydia and Julius have a lot to learn about each other butalso about themselves.

Lydia starts out having some preconceived notions about whoJulius is as a person and quickly makes judgements about him and his flaws.It’s through learning how he reached this point in his life, and seeing him indifferent situations, that she’s able to see new layers to who he really is andwhy he has made the mistakes that he has. We’re very quick to shut down oncewe’ve seen the worst parts of people, but the more you see someone’svulnerabilities, the more we let go of our judgements. No one is just their badqualities. Through understanding Julius, she in turn learns about herself andsome of her own flaws.

Julius meanwhile is the opposite. He needs to learn abouthimself, and who he is before he can really understand and appreciate Lydia.It’s possible to be so harsh on yourself, you leave no room to really seeothers or let them into your life.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Naomi Laeuchli has lived overseas in ninedifferent countries on three different continents where her family was postedwith the American Foreign Service. In November 2012 she moved from theDemocratic Republic of the Congo back to the states and currently lives inArizona with five horses. She works as a freelance writer and part time at thelocal library. She has written several interactive stories for Choice of Games,Tales, and Dorian.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Schoolmasters-Daughter-Naomi-Laeuchli/dp/B0D9SKC3D7FREE TO LIVE ON KINDLE UNLIMITED

https://nplwrites.wordpress.com/

 

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GIVEAWAY 

Theauthor will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: A CODE OF KNIGHTS AND DECEPTION by Eliza Hampstead

 

A CODE OF KNIGHTS AND DECEPTION

Eliza Hampstead

 

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GENRE:  Historical Time Travel Romance

 

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BLURB:

 

Outlandermeets Black Mirror in this sizzling dark time travel romance.

 

Shethought it was real. She was wrong.

 

WhenSophia wakes up in 15th-century England, she expects hardship—but nothingprepares her for this brutal, unforgiving world. Lost, alone, and desperate toreturn to her husband and son, she vows to find a way home. But as the daysturn into months, Sophia begins to build a new life, finding unexpected kinshipand purpose in this strange land.

 

Aftera violent attack, she takes fate into her own hands, disguising herself as aman to train under Henry, the castle’s enigmatic master-at-arms. As steelclashes and their connection deepens, forbidden desire ignites.

 

YetHenry is not who he claims to be. His real name is Ethan, and this is the leastof the lies he tells her. Falling for Sophia was never part of the plan—but thecloser they become, the more he realises how wrong it is to keep her in thedark.

 

Asdanger closes in and the lines between reality and deception blur, Sophia mustuncover the truth about Henry—and herself—before she runs out of time.

 

*Warning:strong language, steamy scenes, and graphic violence inside.Mention/Description of, but not limited to, abduction, blood, death,amputation, childbirth, death, sexual assault, suicide, violence againstchildren, rape, and torture.*

 

Thebook is the first in a duology and ends with a cliffhanger.

 

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ExcerptThree:

 

I tensed up, unsure of what would happen next. Would theyreally go through with it? Beating someone up for a believable story was onething, but they wouldn't kill an actor, would they? No, they wouldn't go thatfar; I was sure of it.

 

Before I could process the thought, two soldiers broughtforth a rope, swinging it over the tall branch of an oak in the square. Theycouldn't possibly stage this, could they? Hanging someone without harm wasn'tpossible. Using the fake hand and stage blood was one thing, but hangingsomeone? That could go wrong very quickly! Surely, any moment now, a riderwould burst through the crowd, interrupting the execution. But no suchintervention came. The dreadful scene continued.

 

Helpless and sick, my stomach churned as the farmer was ledto the tree, and the noose was placed around his neck. A priest steppedforward, reciting a brief Latin prayer, his voice audible amidst the oppressivesilence. Was this really happening? They couldn't just sentence him one minuteand hang him the next! There had to be some sort of protocol or waiting period,right?

 

As time ticked by and nothing happened, it became clear thatthis was not a show or a performance. This was a real execution, taking placeright before our eyes in a matter of minutes.

 

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What was your favoritescene to write for this book and why?

Thanks for having me! I’dlike to talk about my favourite scene to write in A Code of Knights and Deception, and that would definitely be thebattle scene.

Writing battle scenes isalways a challenge, but this one was particularly special for me because it wasa chance to bring everything I’d learned from my sword fighting lessons intothe book. I’ve always had a fascination with medieval combat, and being able tocombine that knowledge with the emotions and stakes of the characters made thisscene feel really alive on the page.

What made this scene somuch fun to write wasn’t just the action—though, trust me, I loved weaving inthe swordplay and strategy—it was the emotional charge that came with it. ForSophia, it was her first real taste of the dangers of the medieval world she’sfound herself in, and her survival instincts kicked into overdrive. It’s also apivotal moment where she gets to put everything she’s learned about swordfighting into practice—everything she’s trained for earlier in the book—so shecan protect the people she’s come to love, her new family at the castle.

At the same time, it was amoment for Ethan to show his true side, and for their relationship to evolve.You get to see them both at their best and their most vulnerable in this scene,and that balance of action with emotional depth is what made it a joy to write.

Plus, I’ll admit—there’ssomething immensely satisfying about getting to describe all the choreographyand movements of a sword fight. It’s like I got to live out my own fantasy ofbeing a medieval knight, even if only through Sophia’s eyes!

I hope you enjoy reading itas much as I enjoyed writing it. It’s one of those scenes where the energy fromthe characters really jumped off the page for me, and I can’t wait for you toexperience it too.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Award-winningauthor Eliza Hampstead, a scientist by training, lives with her family in theUK. When she's not writing, she spends her time as a geek. Playing all sorts ofgames (board games, video games, RPGs) and being a big fan of medieval historyare only a few of the many hobbies she has. Passionate about fantasy, she’salways planning her next adventure.

 

https://linktr.ee/elizahampstead

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214547589-a-code-of-knights-and-deception

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22627172.Eliza_Hampstead

https://www.amazon.com/Eliza-Hampstead/e/B0B7FJW2VQ/

https://www.instagram.com/authorelizahampstead/

https://www.pinterest.de/elizahampstead/

https://www.tiktok.com/@elizahampstead

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorElizaHampstead

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/eliza-hampstead

 

Newsletter:

 

https://subscribepage.io/Jsj7Dt

https://elizahampstead.mailerpage.io/

 

PurchaseLinks:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6VGNQ41

Universallink: relinks.me/B0D6VGNQ41

 

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GIVEAWAY 

ElizaHampstead will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawnwinner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour: CAIO by L.S. Delorme

CAIO

LS Delorme

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GENRE:  Paranormal romantic legal thriller

 

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BLURB:

 

SarahBaker is a paralegal in a law firm in modern day Brooklyn.

 

Herlife is bouncing between her abusive lawyer boyfriend, the voices she hears inher head and her soul sucking work at the law firm. On a New York spring day,she meets Caio as he plays basketball on a court near her house.  He is alluring, intriguing and young. Yetthat's the least of his mystery, for Caio was beaten, thrown into a hole andleft to die…in 1905.

 

AsSarah tries to understand this enigmatic stranger she must juggle theincreasingly dubious ethics of her law firm and ghosts in her head. Strugglingwith loss, grief, love, beauty and lawyers, she will need to summon thestrength to break all of society’s rules, save several lives and step into anew, potentially magical life.

 

Caiois the opening book of the Limerent universe, a series of supernatural romanticthrillers that will pull on your heartstrings, challenge your perceptions andlead you on a singular journey of discovery and revelation.

 

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ExcerptThree:

 

On top of all that, just as the day was ending, herboyfriend Karl had called to break up with her, because it was her birthday.

 

“So, was that the annual breakup call?” Angela asked,turning to her with a smile that would have been more fitting on a hyena than ahuman.

 

Angela was one of the other paralegals in the office. Shehad mouse-blonde hair, a large beak nose, and a grovelling, subservient manneranytime an attorney or partner was around. Around other administrative staff,she was all smiles and sweetness, until you found the knife in your back. Thenshe would look at you with a condescending smirk that said You mean you weren’tsmart enough to see that coming? Angela may have looked like a mouse, but shewas actually more like a trapdoor spider. She was an ambush predator. Sarah hadhad the good fortune of sitting in the cubicle just next to hers for the pastfive years.  At the moment, Angela wasfaking sympathy during what was actually a probe for weaknesses.

 

She needs to probe? asked the voice of Sarah’s mother in herhead. Sarah winced internally, as she always did when her mother’s voice spoke.Her mothers was one of the nastiest voices that inhabited her head.”

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Lexy Delorme is a wanderer and storyteller at heart. Raised as a“military brat” by United States Navy Captain, she has lived on threecontinents, across four countries, nine states, and 21 cities. Now based inParis with her charming French husband and two very cool sons, she is afull-time author—a journey that has taken her from being a rock musician to ascience graduate to an attorney at law.

 

A passionate fan of fantasy and science fiction, Lexy created theLimerence universe, which includes Caio, Bright Midnights, Fanning Fireflies,and Ghosting Academy. Her book Bright Midnights was named a Publishers Weekly(BookLife) “Editors’ Choice Pick” and was a finalist Golden Wizard AwardCompetition in 2024. She is currently working on the latest instalment in theseries.

 

Lexy is an active member of the British Fantasy Society, theScience Fiction Writers Association, the Horror Writers Association, IBPA, andALLi.

 

Website: https://www.lsdelorme.com/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lexyshawdelorme

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lsdelormeauthor

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lexyshawdelorme

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexy-shaw-delorme-357830/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lsdelormeauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexy.delorme

 

 

 

 

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GIVEAWAY 

LSDelorme will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: PUPS, PILOTS, AND PERIL by Cindy Bell

 

Finally, we meet the dog in thisseries!

 

The dog was found by Mary as itwas barking around a dead body. Turns out the poor dog, Pilot, belonged to thevictim. Now, it was up to Mary and Suzie to find the killer and a new home forPilot. We find that the poor dog was in the midst of a scheme for money. Whichone of the guests would be greedy enough to kill? What a smart and brave dog!Love dogs! A great mystery!

 

Rating:5 stars

Review: MY BOYFRIEND IS A MONSTER: WRAPPED UP IN YOU by Don Jolley

 

I wasn’t too keen on this B/Willustrations and some of the text was a little much and too hard to read.Somehow a wicked séance brings a reincarnated mummy to life. I thought hewould’ve been a witch. The illustrations were good, but they didn’t really showthe story too clearly. I guess I had to read the text, but the text was toosmall. The best part was when they were being chased by the evil witches. Nicehigh-speed chase in the car.

 

A fairly nice read.

 

Rating:3 stars

Review: RUFFLED FEATHERS by Cindy Bell

 

The small town of Garber was indanger of being mowed over by a corporate resort. Perhaps one way to stop itwas to kill the woman building it. Murder was never an easy thing to deal with,especially when it happened right in your own B&B. It takes the ruffledfeathers and a repeated phrase of a squawking parrot to provide a key clue tothe case. For me, it was so obvious who the parrot was alluding to…and I wasright. Of course, the bird freaked out because he knew the killer. I SO knewwhat was going on with that ring.

 

Even though this was a tadpredictable, this was still a good read.

 

Rating:4 stars

Review: CRAVE #2 by Maria Llovet

 

This one’s a little more erotic.Could tell what was going on more in this one. But still hard to fullyunderstand the story. Don’t waste your time or money on this series.

 

Rating:2 stars

Review: CRAVE #1 by Maria Llovet

 

Pictures were too small and textwas hard to read. Couldn’t tell what was going on. What a waste!

 

Rating:1 star