Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 275

Review: ONLY FOR YOU by E.L. Todd

Scarlett will never forgive Penny for dumping her best friend, Sean, who was one of the best guys in her opinion. She was an editor working for a fat, chauvinistic jackass that just humiliated and berated her in front of the whole office. She SO wanted to quit and start her own publishing company, but she had virtually no start-up cost. Scarlett’s job hangs in the balance when the boss and a colleague try to get her fired by outing her to HR.


You feel bad for the poor, broken-hearted Sean, who simply loved and adored Penny, who ended up being a cheating, cold-hearted b#@h. Lucky for him, he had Scarlett to make him laugh and distract him.


Witty and heartfelt. You instantly feel for these characters and understand them. I love how the two were there for each other and how they wanted to make the other feel better and smile. I especially loved how Sean protected Scarlett at the restaurant—it was just his nature to not see any harm done to a girl he loved, and he loved Scarlett.


I thought this was a pretty good read and a sweet tale. I loved the friendship between Sean and Scarlett. You just know that they were going to be good together. But the whole thing started to peeter out once the two fell into a stale relationship.


Still a decent romance though.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: COME AWAY WITH ME by Ruth Cardello

Gio Andrade is a rich investor. Julia is a struggling jewelry-maker working night-shift security. One night, she accidentally mistakes him—owner of the company—for a burglar and knocks him on the head. Obviously embarrassed for hitting her boss, Julia hopes that he’ll be able to forget, even though she can’t seem to forget about him.


All Julia wanted to do was sell her jewelry, but she soon realizes that she’s not a savvy business woman.


“Groped by a teenager. Propositioned by a married man. And don’t forget probably fired.” (LOC 301)


Gio was one of society’s eligible bachelors, one who rocked the love-em-and-leave-em credo. “Emotions were a distraction. They led to chaos and poor decisions.” (LOC 604) Still, he couldn’t help but be captivated by the alluring night security guard.


In the beginning, the two are constantly pining for each other, going mad with whimsical fantasies and worrying over the ramifications of this affair. It moved pretty slow. The innocent foreplay mainly consisted of him romancing her, which was sweet but bland. It’s an okay love story.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: SOME LIKE IT RUTHLESS by Megan Bryce

I think I read the first book to this series, but I can’t remember. The characters surely seem familiar.
Anyway, Cole and Maggie are the Romeo and Juliette of Wallstreet. He needs a fake fiancé to save his empire and she gladly refuses.
Now, 6 yrs. Later, she is on the verge of bankruptcy and needs a fake fiancé. The roles are reversed. Mmm, interesting.
Story is ultimately about loans and finances—all business with a kinky lust on the side. Kinda dull. And it’s another fake fiancé story. Really? Again?


My rating: 2 stars

Review: MY DELIBERATE MISTAKE by Claire Svendsen

Drowning was supposed to fix everything. We were meant to die together. That's not what happened.
 

Ana Turner goes through shrinks like normal girls run through boyfriends. They'd probably be able to help her if she ever told them what was actually wrong. But hearing the voice of your dead twin isn't exactly a minor diagnosis, especially when all Julia wants is for Ana to join her at the bottom of a lake. Only this summer Ana's not listening. Win the college scholarship. Fall in love. Stay away from water. That's the plan.
 
Too bad Julia thinks the plan sucks. She doesn't want Ana to be happy. In fact she doesn't want Ana to have anything. Not puppy dog love from the cute cowboy Noah or forbidden sex with the sculpting tutor Mark. She wants payback for the mistake Ana made six years ago and this summer she'll kill to make sure she gets it. 




My thoughts: Ana is plagued by the death of her sister—not only plagued, but actually followed by her voice wherever she goes.

At first, the story seemed interesting. Ana was a flippant and wry character with the voice of her dead sister stuck in her head. So what was her deliberate mistake? The whole story revolves around her in an art program trying to win a scholarship. Is her mistake getting involved with Noah when she wasn’t ready for an intimate relationship? All she does is hear the dead sister, which is annoying as it bosses her around constantly.
Eh, this wasn’t what I expected.

My rating: 2 stars

Review: THE WISH LIST APP by Sylvia Tara Dyer

Rachel is a 29-year old widow out once again in the dating world. She thinks the thing that women need is a wish list app considering the arrogant douches that are out there. With this app, you can list the traits you want. In this case, Rachel figures that she needed a man that was the complete opposite of her late husband, so she updates her wish list for a total bad boy. Oh…no problem there, right?


A lurking man has been watching her ever since the death of her husband, who was actually involved in some corrupt business, which resulted in his death. He aims to protect Rachel at all cost, even from learning the truth about her beloved husband.


So many bad dates that she’s going through. Perhaps the bad boy that’s been watching her could be the answer?


Ok read, but not too great.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: METAMORPHOSIS by Erin Noelle

Scarlett has finally escaped her overbearing and controlling parents. Nervous about reinventing herself for the first time in her life at 18, she becomes overly concerned about the dating scene, especially since all her "sexual experience" has come from "book boyfriends" made from sensual, sweet, and erotic novels she often reads. She's the most "sexually frustrated virgin on the planet."
The game: To scour the plane looking for the most suitable "book boyfriends" and take them out for a test drive. For Scarlett, this is a chance for her to do things she's only read about and, fortunately, she has a "book whore" in her best friend, Evie, to help her.
In this story, Scarlet is caught between the "All-American Boy," the "Mysterious Guy she shares a weird connection," and the "Bad Boy Rocker."
From the moment Scarlett met Ash, there is an instant magnetism. Ash is so smart and beautiful, but too bad he doesn't feel that he and Scarlett shouldn't be together. I was rooting for Ash!
I could totally relate to the girls love for books, e-readers, and book boyfriends. I also agreed that "Psyche" and "Butterfly" were way cooler nicknames.
I did think that Scarlet was too eager to lose her virginity and she turns into a big Broadway show. Personally, I think she needed to slow down. The girl was just so confused with all these guys. This whole thing was really an open invitation for experimentation.
Overall, the question was: Who will win the prize--Scarlett's virginity? Not so much her heart, even though the book makes a minor strive toward it.
A nice read.
My rating: 4 stars
TBD: Book Boyfriend series

Review: DEAR ROCKSTAR by Emme Rollins

Sara is obsessed with rock star Tyler Vincent. Then comes along someone that looks like Tyler Vincent. Naturally I predicted that Dale Diamond was Tyler Vincent as a rock star taking a sabbatical. Wouldn’t that be cool? I mean, why else would he look SO much like him?

Dale Diamond was smokin’ hot and so nice to Sara. Chemistry is what they have together and, as fate would have, Chemistry is where they meet.
All Sara wants to do is get out of her home, her town, her life and just be free. Can you blame her? She was poor and lived with an evil stepbeast. But she didn’t count on falling for Dale.
Their romance was so passionate and intense, and it all revolved around the music (Dale also happened to be a singer and musician, like Tyler Vincent.) Of course, Dale can’t shake off that Sara is so in love with Tyler Vincent. He gets jealous of him, and that comes between them.
Tyler Vincent made me feel like a star-crazed neurotic teenager all over again (I was into hardcore BSB in high school).
Witty and endearing, story is a riveting ride to a shocking end.
My rating: 4 stars

Review: AN ALIEN EXCHANGE by Keri Kruspe

Aimee was alone. With her parents’ death in a mass shooting, the end of her 5-year marriage, and the absence of all her friends, she was completely alone. Her only escape was venturing into a sexual fantasy on a space station. “Yeah, she’d jump at the chance to find an alien lover, especially if she could escape the nightmare her life had become on Earth.” (5)
Then she gets abducted and is offered an opportunity to mate with an alien male.  Aimee, no doubt, jumped at the chance for a lifelong commitment that she was so desperate for. Who wouldn’t want to be revered and adored by a hunky alpha?
The writing was pretty good. Of course, the alien politics in the story were, at times, over analytical and complex.  I would’ve preferred a simpler approach. But the romance was steamy, and, overall, a decent read.
A suitable story for romance and sci-fi lovers.
My rating: 3 stars

Blog Tour: GROWN TO LOVE by Chelsea Falin

Grown Enough For Love by Chelsea Falin Genre: Contemporary New Adult Romance Publication Date: December 13, 2019

Savannah is a rich girl who comes from a troubled, loveless family. To make her childhood bearable, she was always tagging along with her older brother, Jay, and his best friend, Gabriel. After getting out of town for four long years while attending an out-of-state college, Savannah is back and the old schoolgirl crush on Gabriel she thought had dampened flames right back to life.
Gabriel grew up on the wrong side of town, in a poor Mexican family who may not have had money, but always had plenty of love to go around. Although he’s always thought of his best friend’s little sister as a little sister of his own, things have changed. Gabriel can’t help noticing Savannah is all grown up now. Single for the first time in years, with a two-year-old son in tow, Gabriel decides that maybe, after all these years, Savannah is grown enough for love. 

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My review: Savannah was home from college, visiting her older brother. What she didn’t know was that her brother was living with his old best friend, whom she had a crush on. It’s no surprise that little girls often get crushes on their older brother’s best friend. But as Gabriel pointed out, Savannah was not a little girl anymore.


Now Gabriel is a single dad. Although Savannah had had her share of sexual experiences, she still felt shy and too young around Gabriel.


The writing was pretty good and easy to read.  I liked the easy camaraderie between the old friends, both of which now see each other in a whole new light. They both have their struggles (Savannah looking for a place to live and making money with her online job; Gabriel trying to raise his son.) I admired Savannah’s determination to break free from her family and make it on her own. I also found Gabriel’s Mexican family and heritage to be relatable. He was lucky to have his family’s support in raising his son.


Of course, the age gap was not the only deterrent between Savannah and Gabriel. Evidently, “Meridians don’t marry poor Mexicans.”


A nice read!


My rating: 4 stars


Chelsea Falin is the 25 year old independent author of well over ten titles. She began writing with intents to publish in 2006, at age 16, and finally published in 2009, at age 19. Chelsea writes in a variety of genres, including but not limited to: romance, young adult, comedy, cooking, poetry, and dramatic fiction. Professionally, Chelsea is also a freelance blog/article writer, web designer, and book blogger. 
In her personal life, Chelsea is the mother of a six year old daughter. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, fishing, hiking, biking, traveling, and spending time with her friends or family. 

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Blog Tour: BOTTLE TOSS by Howard Odentz

Bottle Toss by Howard Odentz Genre: YA Horror, Thriller, Suspense 
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books Publication Date: October 29, 2019

A beer bottle thrown carelessly at the windshield of a passing car sends the vehicle careening off the road, and the lives of high school seniors Denny Ford, his foster sister Jen McKnatt, and her sometimes boyfriend Brody Erwin, spinning out of control. 
Over the next several days as the three experience increasingly bizarre, frightening, and seemingly unrelated events, they are forced to examine the ramifications of their actions and how their lives have been irrevocably altered. 
What they've done can never be undone. 
After all, it only takes one bottle toss to turn their world cockeyed forever. 
Praise for Howard Odentz 
“A simmering psychological thriller bolstered by a dynamic narrative voice and a few unexpected twists.” —Kirkus Reviews on What We Kill 
“This author has a real knack for the weird and the wonderful.” —TheMostSublime.com 

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Q&A WITH AUTHOR

Why do I write? Writing is part of me. It’s in my blood. I’ve been writing ever since I could hold a crayon. Sometimes I write to sort out my emotions. Other times I write because I can’t find anything good on TV.
I knew from an early age that I wanted to write for a living. I took a long, windy road to get there, but I ended up as a director of communications in a large company where I was afforded the opportunity to stretch my creative skills while honing my craft.
Now, I’m deep into writing psychological and supernatural thrillers for older teens and adults.
Where do my ideas come from? My ideas come from everyday life.  I have a slightly wry sense of humor, so I sometimes find inappropriate things amusing. I’m definitely not one who will laugh at a funeral, but you can bet I’ll be writing about the person who does.
In addition, I’m a total wuss—which means I’m basically scared of everything.I’m scared of the woods. I’m scared of the ocean. Basements freak me out and barns are the absolute creepiest thing I can imagine, especially when they have sharp tools hanging from the rafters.
I find scary ideas everywhere. Oranges are just fruit until you peel back the skin and see something staring back at you. Pencils are just writing implements until one of your characters murders another with one.
AND don’t get me started on kids. Sometimes the younger set can be so cringe-worthy, I even wrote a book about them. Check out ‘Little Killers A to Z’ when you get a chance. It’s filled with twenty-six short stories about kids who kill.
Yeah – nothing scary about them at all.
What motivates me when the going gets tough?
Coffee.
Chocolate.
Sometimes Chinese food, but lately, Kung Pow chicken makes me blow up like the blueberry girl in the Willy Wonka stories, but with sodium instead of blueberry juice.
In the end, almost anything can motivate me to write even when I don’t want to put words down on the page. However, when the going gets really rough, self-imposed deadlines do the job.I often give myself a minimum word count of 1000 words a day then mentally berate myself if I don’t get them written.
There’s something sort of creepy about a voice inside your head that won’t let you rest until you paint a page with words.
What's the most discouraging part of writing? How do I overcome it? You don’t need me to tell you that the writing industry has changed. When I was a kid growing up in a suburb of Springfield, Massachusetts, one of my neighbors was a rather well known author. 
I remember him telling my dad what his advance was for his first book. The number hovered around figures that I couldn’t even comprehend.
Now, many decades later, with the advent of self-publishing, on-line publishing, the disappearance of brick and mortar book stores, and our brains being pulled in a million different directions because of technology, it seems like authors no longer see sustainable incomes from their writing.
That makes me sad. It also makes me more motivated than ever to succeed.
I write for the passion of writing and the positive reviews from people I don’t know who encourage me to keep producing more. I write for the possibility that I can make a difference to someone out there because of my writing.
I write because I have to.
What's one piece of advice I want to give to writers just starting out? I have a million bits of advice to give new writers, but it all boils down to a few important things: Be true to yourself in your writing. Never write for others—write for yourself.
Never compromise what you think is a good piece of work because others say it’s not saleable.Never, ever, ever give up. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a portfolio of writing. Be in it for the long haul even if, at the end of the day, your mother is the only person who ever reads your stuff.
When you are old and gray, you want a shelf in your house filled with your writing so you can say, “I did that. I was here and I created all of that.”
You won’t have that if you quit.
Never quit.
Why do I write exclusively about New England? I like writing about this part of the world. There are so many interesting and mysterious things that go on here that it’s a goldmine of opportunity for someone who writes in my genre. Of course, I change the names of people and places to protect the innocent.
Mostly.
What are my characters generally like? When I write I am very inclusive. I use straight characters, LBGTQ characters, and those of all races and ethnicities. Our world is very diverse. I feel the people who populate my fiction should be, too. I also mostly use kids and teens as protagonists. They tend to handle horror in interesting and unique ways, whereas adult characters are often more rigid.  
Why horror? I blame my mother. When I was in grade school, she would bring home Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub and more from the library. While my friends were reading Dick and Jane, I was reading about Danny Torrance from THE SHINING with his creepy finger, Tony.
What horror stories scare me the most? I think LORD OF THE FLIES is the freakiest thing I've ever read. It scared me as a child and it still scares me, especially because of what happened to Piggy. Of course, JAWS scarred me for life so I can never put my big toe in the ocean again. Also, I grew up during the time when the real Amityville Horror took place, so when the book and the movie came out they just plain freaked me out. There is something about a little girl who talks to an invisible, demonic pig that gives me the chills.
What about movies? The original ALIEN with Sigourney Weaver gave me nightmares for weeks, mostly because watching it back when I was a kid was like being on a rollercoaster that wouldn’t stop. The adrenaline in that movie is crazy.
These days, I’ve watched enough horror that I can almost tell what’s going to happen next by the camera angles. Still, I’m an avid WALKING DEAD fan, as well as AMERICAN HORROR STORY. Of course, I love BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, too. I still like giggles with my scares
When I write do I ever scare myself? Absolutely! I only write during the day, and I can’t write in my basement or with my back to a door. You never know what’s going to sneak up behind you.
What is the one thing you wish everyone knew about you? This question made me laugh. I know I’m considered a horror author, but that’s only my daytime persona. I don’t live in a scary mansion or own a black cat. I don’t pray to the horned-footed god or lick toads when no one is looking.
Sure, I wear black a lot, but that’s only because black is slimming and trendy and I can use all the help I can get.
In short, I’m not creepy.
I’m not creepy.
I’m not.
Okay, my writing fingers are creepy. That’s all.
~~~

My review: A car disappeared down the embankment. What should a bunch of no-good kids do? Leave? Help the driver?


Then the voice murmurs: “Help me.”


It would seem that they fled, taking this secret with them. The characters come away with more questions than answers. Did anyone even die? Where did the car go? How did it move so fast? What have they done that can’t be undone?


As far as everyone was concerned, the accident never happened. No broken bottle. No broken body.


The writing reads more like dictation. There wasn’t much flow to it, but it was still easy to read. The whole thing reminded me of that movie, I know what you did last summer. It definitely has a creep factor in it. I was intrigued by the concept of pondering the ramifications of one’s actions, living with the guilt and regret, wishing that you can do the whole thing over again. The characters are certainly in disarray, constantly going back and forth with the insane notions of what is and what could’ve been. We really don’t know what happened, if anything at all. It’s just all speculation mostly. But, overall, this was an okay read.


My rating: 3 stars


Author and playwright Howard Odentz is a lifelong resident of the gray area between Western Massachusetts and North Central Connecticut. His love of the region is evident in his writing as he often incorporates the foothills of the Berkshires and the small towns of the Bay and Nutmeg states into his work. 
In addition to The Dead (A Lot) Series, he has written the horror novel Bloody Bloody Apple, the short story collection Little Killers A to Z, and a couple of horror-themed, musical comedies produced for the stage. 

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