Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 241
January 25, 2021
Book Blitz: LOVE IS A FILING CABINET by Jeanne Kern
Contemporary Romance / Romantic Comedy
Date Published: January 2021
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
You can organize anything but family--and love.
Ambitious organizer Minn Evans resents being the only sane and stable person in her family. She wants a normal life with schedules and balanced meals and maybe a man who won't fall for her sister.
Ford Hayes, a whiz at creativity and a dud at organization, becomes Art Director for a privately-owned TV station. But his office is a mess, his planning skills are a train wreck, and he can't find his socks.
Minn needs a job; Ford needs an organizer. But Minn's vagabond parents and man-stupifying sister aren't the only roadblocks on their journey to love.
Excerpt
The building that might hold her future towered over her, glowing with promise. She put her hand on the brass plate, mentally crossed her fingers, and pushed. Uh-oh. She sprinted for the closing elevator door and risked a glance at her watch. Time for a stop in a bathroom, time to practice the carefully prepared answers to standard questions, time to chew a breath mint.
Her heel caught in the gap between floor and elevator cabin, catapulting her into a passenger. Arms that had been full of files now held only her. His files were on the floor, and her breast was in his hand. Heat prickled up her neck and into her cheeks. “I…uh…it was…oh, my…”
He stared at his hand—no, at her breast!
“Hey!”
Minn lurched back and groaned, reaching for her broken heel. Her stomach fed-exed bile to her chest. This couldn’t be worse.
A thoaty “Oh, crap!” drew her attention to a patchwork of paper and now-empty file folders across the floor.
“I-I’m so very sorry. I’m not usually so clumsy.” They both bent, heads collided, her feet slipped on the loose paper. Down she went.
Okay. It could be worse.
About The Author
Jeanne Kern is a retired high school teacher who found her HEA when she met her husband on the internet. Together they love traveling and animal encounters: petting whales in Baja California, feeding rhino in Indonesia, walking with lions in Zimbabwe. Rich runs an award-winning volleyball website and Jeanne enjoys acting on stage and in indie horror films.
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January 22, 2021
Blog Tour: ORTHICON by David Perlmutter
Orthiconby David PerlmutterGenre: SciFi Fantasy Humor
The United States government discovers, to its horror, that the creatures featured in animated cartoons are not fabrications but real beings. Fearing the social and political consequences of the discovery being made public, they proceed to exile them off Earth to another planet. However, things do not go according to plan...
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David Perlmutter is a freelance writer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is the author of America Toons In: A History of Television Animation (McFarland and Co.), The Singular Adventures Of Jefferson Ball (Amazon Kindle/Smashwords), The Pups (Booklocker.com), Certain Private Conversations and Other Stories (Aurora Publishing), Honey and Salt (Scarlet Leaf Publishing), The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows (Rowman and Littlefield), Nothing About Us Without Us (Amazon Kindle Direct Prime) and Let's Be Buddies (Amazon Kindle Direct Prime). His short stories can be read on Curious Fictions at Curious Fictions/David Perlmutter, and at Medium. com.
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January 21, 2021
Book Blitz: THE JOURNALIST by R.N. Crane
R.N. Crane - The Journalist - Book Blitz
Cover Share LinkCrime, Mystery
Published: August 2020
Favor Bosworth, a reporter for the Baltimore Sun Paper, investigates murders in the Loch Raven reservoir and the Las Vegas wash feeding Lake Mead. The murdered girls went to Law School at UNLV along with Dan Brock who left school early to pursue a career in investing. Favor interviewed many of the girl’s classmates but only a few seemed to have the means, opportunity, and motive for murder.
Favor is also tasked to evaluate Brock Investments for reporting false investment returns. She is assisted by two Private Investigators, Flint Osborne and Lauren Scott. The investigators and the reporter are led around Big Bear Lake, and through Long Beach, and Orange County looking for evidence. Favor finds that, in the end, no one is who they appear to be.
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Book Blitz - January 21st
3. Book Junkiez
4. Musings From an Addicted Reader
10. Literary Gold
13. Momma Says to Read or Not to Read
14. Sylv.net
18. Book Reviews by Virginia Lee
22. Always Love Me Some Books Blog
24. SusanMF16
28. Readers Alley
Cover Share LinkR.N. Crane lives in Orange, California. He is a retired engineering consultant writing romantic suspense and detective crime novels. The Journalist is his newest novel. He is a member of Orange County Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Mystery Writers of America.
Contact Links
Website: https://rncranebooks.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RNCrane
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RNCrane
Promo Link: http://bookbuzz.net/blog/crime-mystery-the-journalist-by-r-n-crane/
Purchase Links
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Journalist-R-N-Crane-ebook/dp/B08DL6HNK4/
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-journalist-rn-crane/1137499793?ean=9798669151553
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9798669151553
January 20, 2021
Blog Tour: WOMEN OF WINE COUNTRY by T. Wells Brown
Murder & MayhemWomen of Wine Country Book 1by T Wells BrownGenre: Romantic Suspense
“ I’m not a nice man, Isabella,” Cabe said. Wait, this didn’t sound like an apology.“But now that I’ve gotten a taste of you, I want more.”Yep. Definitely not an apology.“And Isabella, I plan to devour you,” he said, making shivers run over my skin. He thinks he inherited me along with the winery. He couldn't be more wrong. Bossy-but-gorgeous Cabe Brown will break my heart if I'm not careful, I just know it. To make matters worse, someone is trying to kill me. Like, dead. How am I supposed to survive a murderer and Cabe?
At least I have my Women of Wine Country tribe. I inherited them with the winery, and I couldn't get rid of them if I tried. Not that I would. Try that is. They're a crazy wine guzzling sisterhood of badass women who stick to each other like gorilla glue. Nothing pulls them apart, and nothing is ever boring when they're around. I can trust them to keep my head clear and watch out for me. I can count on them. Most of the time anyway... ♥. I wanted to be just like them. Now, along with Cabe, the winery and some freak trying to kill me, I have this damned letter my aunt left me. I can't open it. Not until I become the woman, she believed me to be.
**On sale for only 99 cents!!** Goodreads* Amazon
Lawyer & LiarWomen of Wine Country Book 2
Officer down! Those two words loop over and over in my head, every-single-day since I found a sexy as heck man bleeding out on the side of the highway.Not just any man.Oh no, of course not. It had to be a Big Strong Sexy Alpha Man; my kryptonite. It gets worse when he figures out how attracted I am to him and uses it to his advantage.Never trust a man who doesn't play fair.Saving his life changed everything in mine. And not for the good.Now, I’m on the run. I never dreamed, in all my boring days, I’d find myself running from the Russian Mafia! How the heck did I end up here?All I can say is that Big Strong Sexy Alpha Man better figure it out, and fast! Because these men mean business!Bad business.
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Beauty & BetrayalWomen of Wine Country Book 3
How do you get past a deep betrayal without losing your identity? If you're Jenna White, you do it by working your butt off and surrounding yourself with beautiful things, faithful fur babies, and a loyal wine tribe sisterhood.That is until domineering dog man, Marcus, gets a whiff of Jenna. His pursuit of her changes everything. But now that he’s drawn her in, will he keep her, or will he too betray Jenna’s trust?Will she be able to count on Marcus to help her with the stalker? Or will she have to save herself from that little problem too?Get ready ladies, grab your wine glass cause you’re about to change the way you see your men and your tribe.
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Babies & BadassWomen of Wine Country Book 4
What is harder to deal with? Babies or a Badass? This man is making me crazy! Luckily for him, he's gorgeous or it wouldn't be worth the grief!I should have known better. My mother warned me. Now, when I need him most, he turns his back on me. What have I done? Marrying a man like this? I’m beyond annoyed that my husband won’t leave me alone long enough to prepare meals for the upcoming birth of our children. I rise early one morning only to find the person I’ve hired to help me, is stealing from me. Then, he takes her side. Why couldn’t I have picked a man who would choose me first?
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Grief & GreedWomen of Wine Country Book 5
When a California wildfire ravages her world, Francesca tries to make the best of things. She has to. Her daughters need her to get her shit together if their family has any chance of surviving. Being a contractor in a man's world isn't easy. A jealous competitor on top of it all makes it even harder. Possibly deadly.Enter Laird 'The Scots' Hamilton. A domineering Scotsman who has an uncontrollable desire to protect Francesca and her small wounded family. When Laird is asked to help find out who is trying to ruin Francesca he discovers more than he bargained for.Laird isn't your typical hero. Some of the things he does has Francesca unsure of his intentions. Is he the hero she needs? Or is he another problem she will be forced to deal with?
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T Wells Brown grew up in the deep south, chasing frogs (kissing some of them), catching crawdads from the local creek (much to her mother's dismay), and traipsing through poison ivy (half her childhood was spent covered in calamine lotion).She now lives in the lush California Zinfandel wine country with the Love of Her Life and their four rescued pups. Pups she often writes into her books.Besides reading, writing, and wine guzzling, she devotes her time to her small community, her wine tribe sisterhood, feeding, and re-homing the plethora of homeless pets in the community, and promoting women's issues.You can find her Podcast Women of Wine Country on all the podcast platforms. If you like to be in the know sign up for the newsletter on womenofwinecountry.com. Or join our Facebook group Women of Wine Country to see what new events we have planned and to stay updated on the new releases.And as with everything she does; a portion of her book sales will go directly to helping feed and re-home homeless and abandoned pets. Because it's true; T Wells Brown likes animals way more than she likes people and she likes people a whole heck of a lot!
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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
$10 Amazon giftcard, ebook set of the Women of Wine Country series – 1 winner each!
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January 17, 2021
Blog Tour: SOMETHIN' KINDA WONDERFUL by Ava West
Somethin' Kinda Wonderfulby Ava WestGenre: Contemporary Romance
A single event can change the course of someone's entire life. In the blink of an eye, everything is altered and nothing remains the same.
Jaxon Ward had places he was going until disaster struck and the pain was crippling. Nothing helped until he ran into Nikki Bedford. His sister's best friend and the girl he had once terrorized becomes his only salvation.
Nikki is cursed by her tragically long list of failed relationships and fears the same will become of her romance with Jaxon. Can they persevere or will he be another regret of hers?
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Writing has never been optional for Ava West. Like eating and breathing, it’s something integral to her existence. Everyday she is thankful to be able to make a career from something that brings her so much pleasure.Ava has published her first novel, Somethin' Kinda Wonderful, in 2021 and hopes to continuously put out work that touches her readers in the same way writing touches her.
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$10 Amazon giftcard, Swag Pack with Signed Paperback – 1 winner each
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January 13, 2021
Blog Tour: WITHOUT A HEAD by M. Glenda Rosen
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. M. Glenda Rosen will be awarding a $30 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Jenna Preston is used to investigating cheating spouses, fraud, and even a murder or two in her role as a private investigator. But she’s never consulted on a case quite like the one at Darcy’s Salon in East Hampton. A killer has struck and left behind a woman’s head in the upscale salon’s shampoo sink.
As Jenna struggles to make sense of the what’s happened, she comes up against entitled and badly behaved beach dwellers, greedy parties with motives all their own, and the billion dollar beauty industry. With her loyal dog Watson at her side, Jenna pieces together clues and tracks down a killer who claims victims that are dying to be beautiful.
Read an Excerpt
As a Private Investigator, Jenna Preston had been hired to help solve murders, insurance fraud, cheating spouses and more. This was a new one for her.
She received what could only be described as a hysterical call from Darcy Monroe, owner of a popular, upscale hair salon in The Hamptons.
A head without its body was rolling around in one of her shampoo basins.
Almost five-feet, five-inches tall, always looking taller in her two or three-inch heels, Jenna had long red hair, blue eyes and was often seen driving around the East End in a white jeep, and in recent years, with her Irish Setter sitting next to her.
As a well-respected private investigator in the area, she told the salon owner, “I’ll be right there, and don’t touch anything until the police arrive.”
Jenna knew they needed to secure the business as a crime scene and Coroner Doc Bishop and Head of Forensics Lara Stern had to be brought in as well.
“Troy, someone left a head, without the body, in a shampoo bowl at Darcy’s Salon. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
”Damn it, Jenna, I nearly spilled my coffee listening to this bizarre message. I’ll be there within the half hour. Meantime, I’ll ask Lara to get over there to check the crime scene for prints and other possible evidence and for Doc to arrange to bring the head to the morgue. We’ll want to look at it there, after he’s had a chance to determine how it was cut off and anything else he might find.”
About the Author:
Marcia Rosen (aka M. Glenda Rosen) is author of ten books including The Senior Sleuths and Dying To Be Beautiful Mystery Series and The Gourmet Gangster, Mysteries and Menus (with her son Jory Rosen). She is also author of The Woman’s Business Therapist and award-winning My Memoir Workbook. Marcia was owner of a successful national marketing and public relations agency, received numerous awards for her work on behalf of business and professional women and has given many presentations, now as Zoom Events, such as: Encouraging the Writer Within You, Writing A Mystery...Not A Mystery, Book Marketing with Zoom and Podcasts, Writing From Your Soul, Memoir Writing and The Senior Sleuths & Dying To Be Beautiful Mysteries. Member of Sisters In Crime, Southwest Writers, Central Coast Writers and Public Safety Writers Association. Board Member, 2021, National Association of Independent Writers and Editors.Sample of Scheduled Zoom Programs: The National Steinbeck Center (6 week program on About Being an Author), Shelter Island Library, an hour marketing presentation. Public Safety Writer's Association Encouraging the Writer Within You, Central Coast Writers “About Being an Author,” Podcast Marketing for Southwest Writers, Murder on The Beach bookstore, Memoir Writing Sessions, Shelter Island and Westhampton Beach Library, “Writing Mysteries…Not A Mystery,” and other venues and topics for 2021.
http://www.theseniorsleuths.com
http://www.creativebookconcepts.com
https://www.amazon.com/M.-Glenda-Rosen/e/B06W51M2YH
https://www.facebook.com/MarciaGRosen
https://twitter.com/WriterMysteries
https://www.instagram.com/mglendarosen/
https://www.pinterest.com/marciaglendarosen/
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Q4FWFKF/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
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December 10, 2020
Q&A with Glen Welch, author of TO WALK THE DOG
Available Now on AmazonTHANKS SO MUCH FOR COMING HERE. FOR STARTERS, TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
I am a retired Army Master Sergeant, retired civil servant, and full-time American. Like the protagonist, I hate government waste. Taxes are one thing, waste is quite another. Patriotic, Christian, and service-oriented – that pretty much sums up who and what I am.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING AND WHY DID YOU START?
I’ve been writing for publication for the past 22 years. Previously, my writings were academic history. I have been writing less serious formats for the past five years. I realized that historians only write for other historians and much of what they learn is lost to the average reader. I hope I have been able to provide truth and fact in a far more readable way!
TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW BOOK, TO WALK THE DOG.
Joe is forced into retirement from the Army, virtually the only world he knows. It is one of patriotism, service, and selflessness. He enters the civil service and finds it to be a world of selfishness and lack of service. He tries to moderate that negative influence and almost gets gobbled up by the critters of the swamp. Given a chance to clean out a section of the swamp, he becomes almost swamp-like himself. Faced with the loss of soul, not to mention the love of his life, he is finally relieved by the President – did I mention colorful(?) – and finally gets to walk his dog. It is punctuated with descriptions of real and imaginary swamp critters, humor, patriotism, revenge, homelessness, and more twists and turns than a mountain road. A message from God – yes this is part of the factual part – completes the panorama.
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE TITLE FOR THIS BOOK?
I didn’t. I was going to call it Joseph and the Resilient Swamp, since the protagonist shares something in common with Joseph of the Bible – he is wrongly accused. However, one editor who saw it recommended the change since a theme of the book was the desire of the protagonist to retire and spend his days walking the dog. I hope you like this title better!
WHAT CRITERIA DID YOU USE WHEN SELECTING THE COVER FOR YOUR BOOK?
The overarching theme is the swamp. My favorite artist, Ms. Weezie Jones, helped me to develop the concept. The old soldier entering the swamp and facing who-knows-what suggests the great unknowns in the swamp. I wanted to show a swamp, but also the protagonist bravely leaving what he knows and venturing into the unknown, largely for the benefit of people he will never meet.
WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT SCENE YOU HAD TO WRITE IN THIS BOOK AND WHY?
Joe, the protagonist, becomes an alternative point to the swamp, and just as harmful. Transformed from the hunted, he becomes the hunter and looks for excuses to remove critters, both harmful and even not-so-bad. As a patriot, I want to provide the positive point of view, not show a patriot in the extreme.
WAS THERE A MESSAGE IN YOUR BOOK THAT YOU WERE TRYING TO CONVEY?
Why write, if you have no message, no “moral to the story? I considered that as I developed the story concept. The underlying theme is that if government is wasteful, its because we like it that way. We can complain, but if that’s all we do, while we are demanding ever more services, then WE are the problem.
WHAT IS THE HARDEST LESSON YOU HAD TO LEARN AS A WRITER?
Advertise. A writer can write the best book and get great reviews, but if nobody knows about the book, it cannot be considered successful since it has not impacted anyone. If anyone is going to write, he/she will have to embrace the world of the magical advertised word.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR NEW WRITERS?
Don’t give up. If you need to take ten years to produce a great product, then take those ten years. Get input from people you trust. Edit, edit, and edit again. Bad, unintentional grammar mistakes are like a firehose on a flame.
ARE YOU WORKING ON ANY PROJECTS AT THE MOMENT?
Yes! My next book is (currently) called Amelia. It is a nonfiction story about a young girl immigrant who experiences becoming an orphan, a labor-filled childhood, gunfights, sickness, rustlers, the flu epidemic of 1918, prohibition, a son arrested for bootlegging, and finally death of her husband and one of her sons. It is also about the love story she experiences, climbing each mountain that life gives her and emerging triumphantly. Overall, the love story is what rings in the years of her life.
DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR WEBSITE READERS CAN VISIT FOR UPDATES, EVENTS AND SPECIAL OFFERS?
https://www.amazon.com/Glen-F-Welch/e/B08GSTJDLH?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
December 5, 2020
Excerpt: SISI'S ALPINE CHRISTMAS by Soleil
she entered the Mirror Hall, he was already waiting for her. He was leaning by the fireplace, in a tuxedo cut to the waist. A cummerbund made his casually crossed legs appear even longer in the black polished evening shoes. She had never seen a man so elegant before.
He took her breath away and her lips trembled, but she straightened her shoulders. Smiling mysteriously, she walked towards him in a slow, sinuous way. His relaxed smile with which he had greeted her disappeared. He looked at her intensely and swallowed hard. “Principessa, you look like a goddess. A goddess who rises from the sea.” He was silent while she smiled up at him.
But then, completely unabashed, he started to check her out from top to bottom, without embarrassment. He said, “The dress is as if it was made for you. I imagined it to be beautiful, but in reality it's even more stunning.” He kept his hand in his jacket pocket. Then he pulled it out with a small, wrapped present. He gave it to her. “Merry Christmas, Sisi!” he beamed.
“But Niccolò, I haven’t anything for you,” she said with a frown.
“You are my gift tonight,” and because that shouldn’t be misunderstood, he corrected himself, “I mean that you are here and we are celebrating together, that is my gift!” This time it was he who blushed.
She pretended not to have heard him and inspected the box than had been wrapped in crooked brown kitchen packing paper.
“Open it already! What are you waiting for?” he growled. She obeyed and opened the paper, then opened the old-fashioned leather case.
Inside on black velvet lay long earrings with drops of dark green cut gemstones, surrounded by diamonds.
“Niccolò, you're raving mad,” she exclaimed, “but they're not real ...”
“Emeralds from Colombia,” he said, “Yes, they are. From my great-grandmother. She gave them to my mother for her wedding.”
“Niccolò, I can't accept that! It's not possible! You must understand that!!”
Niccolò took an earring out of the case, which, dangling from his slender fingers, immediately sparkled and glistened. “Come here,” he said imperiously, and when she offered her neck, he put the earring through her earlobe. “Turn your head!” and when she complied, the second jewel followed. He looked at her expertly and couldn't suppress a smile. “Go, look at yourself,” he said with a husky, smug voice. Sisi went to the nearest mirror and examined her face. She tried to look grown up and elegant and not to grin from ear to ear like a hippopotamus.
The large, dark green stones made her skin appear even paler, more ethereal, and conjured up dark, blue-green lights in her blue eyes. Combined with the flowing, sea-colored silk dress and the pale gold, shimmering waves of her hair, they made her look like a siren. She felt as if she was floating. She turned and came up to him with an ominous glint in her eyes and renewed confidence. She stood up in front of him and stretched her neck towards him, then shook her head so that the earrings rocked around her face. “Oh, they're so beautiful, but I can't keep them.”
He looked at her like he wanted to devour her. Without taking his eyes off her, he said, “Don’t be absurd, Sisi, your name is written on these earrings. No other woman will ever wear them. And no one else could ever wear them like you do tonight. You don't even need to say a word, no discussion. Basta.”
She looked into his eyes and wondered how he always found words that would give her goose bumps. She came closer. In front of him, she stood on her tiptoe and kissed him on his cheek, which was rough despite the fresh shave. He smelled intoxicating. “Thank you, Niccolò, thank you. They’re gorgeous,” she whispered.
Niccolò returned her glance, and she had the feeling that they were together in a dream bubble. They floated in eternity, floated between times, and between worlds. Everything was unreal, and still hyper-real, like a heightened, more intense reality. She wanted this moment to never end, wanted to float on forever, to float in his gaze.
This time it was he who turned away and opened a bottle of champagne and filled the glasses. They clinked glasses, and he said, “To life!”
Sisi felt crystal clear, floating, and shivering in the huge ballroom, which was still cool despite the crackling fire in the fireplace he had lit that afternoon. She drank the drink that tingled her throat and tasted like lust and eternity, and she felt cocky. She looked at him, mischief in her eyes, “What now, Master of Ceremonies?”
Review: APRIL’S HEART by Shilah Ferr
A typical coming-of-age story. April is your typical 13-year old girl growing up in the suburbs. Like any teenager, she’s boy-crazy and worried about her social status among her peers. April certainly leads with her heart when she gets involved with boys, scheming and plotting to get who she wants. She does some underhanded things, so she’s not always likable. It had good drama and tension with a play for April’s heart. It’s got an easy narrative. Kind of slow with a lot of names in the story.
The cover doesn’t illustrate the story well. It’s so plain and generic—an obvious cookie-cutter template used by an author that didn’t hire a graphic designer.
Okay read.
My rating: 3 stars
Review: FRAN, THE SECOND TIME AROUND by Amy Bernstein
The narrative is a bit chaotic—it almost sounds like the ramblings of a psychotic letter. You try really hard to get what she’s talking about, but it just leaves you confused at times. The whole thing is definitely a diary that should’ve been kept in the closet. It’s obviously a coming-of-age story, but it’s so wishy-washy. It would’ve been nice to have a little more depth. Written in parts that are out of order for some reason.
Didn’t enjoy it.
My rating: 2 stars
