Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 277

Review: DECK THE MALLS WITH PURPLE PEACOCKS by Amy Gettinger

Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks (Alice Chronicles #2)

By Amy Gettinger

Genre: Chick-lit/ Women’s Fiction/ Sweet Romance

Age category: Adult

Release Date: November 18, 2017

Blurb:

It’s Christmas in Orange County, California, and the mall is full of purple peacock decorations, large and small. Department store employee Aracely Martinez has a goofy Cuban friend, Quito (who’s awfully cute in his mall Santa suit), distracting her from her night-shift restocking job. But Aracely has a long-held secret, which her supervisor at the store, Jacob Thinnes, is holding over her head to make her do his bidding.



Which is too much bidding.



Enter Aracely’s oldest friends: Alice Chalmers, Georgette Jones and Julie Bowers. The group’s “Venus Warrior” bond from the 2003 production of The Venus Monologues at Garden Beach Community College is still very strong, and these women are ready, willing, and able to kick some butt to help Aracely out of her difficult bind. Join Aracely’s “Three Wise Women” plus her ever-present trickster hunk, Quito, in one adventure after another as they work against the odds to give Aracely a fabulous, nearly impossible Christmas gift: the life of her dreams.

My review: It was the week before Thanksgiving, and Aracely Martinez was juggling school work and holiday jobs. Not only did she need spending money for Christmas, but she was also hoping the start up a business in Santa Ana.
You instantly feel for Aracely as she works and struggles. Like most of us, she’s doing the best that she can with what little she’s got. The girl definitely had ganas—a strong and resilient character. I liked that this story had Latino characters. It certainly made them relatable with their witty and frank dialogue. It’s a little lengthy at times and the stereotypes can be a little much, especially when they’re not that funny.  
As the caption on the cover states, “I’m dreaming of a Green (Card) Christmas.” Since most of these characters are Latino, they have little funds to achieve their dreams in one lifetime, much less during the holidays. But with the help of The Three Wise Women (Aracely’s friends,) they will help our struggling character to not give up on her dream.
Overall, this was a pretty good read.
My rating: 3 stars


You can find Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks on Goodreads



You can buy Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks here on Amazon



About the Author:

Amy Gettinger, once a community college ESL instructor, now writes novels and reader’s theater plays and coaches Reader’s Theater for Seniors. She’s a member of the Los Angeles Poets and Writers Collective. She lives in Orange County, California underneath a eucalyptus windrow full of parrots and crows. For fun, she walks the local beach cliff path with her husband and dogs--and thinks up perfectly ridiculous characters and crimes to write about.



You can find and contact Amy Gettinger here:

- Blog

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Goodreads

- Amazon

Review: SOPHIE WASHINGTON: SECRET SANTA by Tonya Duncan Ellis

With winter break just around the corner, Sophie was working hard to get her school assignments finished. Then a mysterious package arrives—a box filled with candy and signed “Secret Santa.” Who could this be from?


Throughout the story, she keeps getting gifts, which further compels her to seek out this Secret Santa. Sophie plays a little spy.


A fun, little read! I admired Sophie for sticking up for her little brother, especially when she gets back at them through wits and not fists.


My rating: 4 stars

Review: HOT CHOCOLATE AND COLD BODIES by Amber Crewes

Meghan was the owner of Truly Sweet and was offered to give out hot chocolate at Sandy Bay’s Annual Fall Festival, where a man falls dead.


Now the festival might be banned for this, and the townspeople were taking it WAY TOO seriously. Really, you need to protest and force people to choose sides? I hate that.


The murder case was good, but the couple was too lovey-dovey for my taste. I mean, where did they get this cheesy dialogue? “You look the sweetest as the queen of the hot chocolate castle.” Gag me!


There was also slight repetition in the speeches (characters names were often repeated in the same sentence – life we don’t know who they’re talking to.)


Overall, Meghan didn’t strike me as a good sleuth, but the story was your typical small-town tale. Eh, I wasn’t too taken with it.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: MIRACLE ON AISLE TWO by Beth Carter

Madison, an employee for a dental office, was looking forward to her office Christmas party. The last thing she expected was to hear her boss close up the business for good and right before the holidays.


What would she do now? How will she pay her bills? How will she support her daughter? And what would become of her Christmas?


For some time, Madison concerns herself over the great jeopardy of her daughter’s toys. In fact, she quibbles over the utter lack of all these material things. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without them. At first, I thought the drama over this was a bit exaggerated. Yes, I understand that money was tight, but there was no need to overreact. I think Madison needed to breathe, get a grip, and just figure something out.


Story was simple. Madison’s struggle for money, especially during the holiday time, was endearing and relatable. Although the story didn’t really grab me as much as I wanted, it’s still a decent read with a Christmas message.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: A CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS by Olivia Noble

Catherine was laid off from work right before the holiday. With a stack of bills and a young daughter, Cathy wasn’t sure what to do. She was a struggling, jobless, single mother. And her friend kept badgering her to go on a date. Yeah, like that’s the last thing she needed.


I liked how this started, but then it soon started lagging with endless monologues that loses the reader.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: IMPOSSIBLE by Gary Miller and Bob Tischler

She was the girl of his dreams…until she brought him home to meet Dad.
They classified this story as a “dark romantic comedy,” which sparked my interest. Reading it, I realized why.
Peter is a high school history teacher in search of Miss Right. Then he meets Beth, who is smart, funny, and beautiful. The two are instantly attracted to each other and start going out. It was a match made in heaven. Now I know why they had the same last name. They actually had the same dad. AHHHH! Turns out the dad has had two families for 25 years. What are the odds?
To defy their father, Peter and Beth decide to move in together, to be a couple without coupling. You didn’t need a crystal ball to know they weren’t going to work. I mean, being a boyfriend/girlfriend while also brother/sister? Ew! It sure is IMPOSSIBLE.
Funny, wry, and candid, this story is a riot!

My rating: 4 stars

Review: NEVER GO FULL PAI by Jeffrey Eng

Welcome to Vietnam!
A young man traverses through unknown territory, oblivious to the language and the culture. He was backpacking through Asia for the next 2 months. Wow, what an exciting expedition! Still, one never ceases to experience that shred of doubt and uncertainty. What was I doing here? Why did I think I could do a trip like this?
But soon Charlie meets other fellow backpackers.
Story relays a character’s self-reflecting journey in a diary style. It highly parallels the true grits of a wandering traveler. Writing was good. I did wonder why the narrative went from 1st person to 3rd person all of a sudden. There was also some lagging areas here and there, but none that deflects from the moving concept. I was still trying to understand the philosophical meaning of the title: Never go full Pai.
With refreshing dialogue and a savvy wit, Never Go Full Pai takes you on a wild ride of recklessness and adventure.  An inspirational tale to go find that pot of gold!
My rating: 4 stars

Review: TORCH by Cambria Hebert

A fire almost killed her, but she was saved by a hero. When she wakes up in the hospital, only flashes of memory remain. One thing’s for sure and one she will always remember is the flame and that someone tried to kill her. The firefighter ends up saving her twice by offering her a place to stay while she heals. Well, what could be worse than staying with a hot, fireman stranger?


The first person POV style relays Katie’s painful struggles as she tries to start over. Meanwhile, she fears for her life and can’t help the burning attraction she feels for Holt. The fire was still following her. Someone wanted her dead and wasn’t going to stop. Good thing Holt’s job was fire. Holt brought Katie a host of emotions—fear, humor, and lust.


Story was intriguing and mesmerizing, but I thought it was kinda slow overall. The sizzling attraction between the characters wasn’t as hot as I thought it be.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: END GAME by Anne Marie Becker

After her yoga class, Abby finds a charm bracelet that invokes the brutal images of 11 women. Could they be of the past or the future?

It would seem that these images are connected to a killer known as the Charmer—the Boss, the head of the Human Trafficking Crime Syndicate. Apparently, he’s been well-known for SSAM, an elite crime-fighting team that’s been after the Charmer for 20 years, ever since the first killing.
Einstein is a secret agent in SSAM—a mindhunter specializing in high-tech gadgets—has been on the Charmer case for years, working day-in and day-out. His only reprieve is getting to run into the alluring Abby at the coffee shop. At first touch, Abby can’t help but wonder why his touch elicits those same images? Was there a connection?
Now, the two must work together to get the Charmer and stop him from killing another missing girl.
Well-written and gripping!


My rating: 4 stars

Review: THUNDERSTRUCK by Maria Riegger

An electoral race to the presidency.
Monica was taking a chance to be America’s female president. She knew it would be tough, but the last thing she expected was to be running against Brian Murphy—and old friend and the only love of her life.
I didn’t really get into the political aspect that much (a lot of statistics, laws, and protocol,) but I enjoyed the tension between the two characters. We had two strong-willed characters butting heads and running neck-and-neck. It was the classic “He Said, She Said” debate in political chaos. Another note was that I didn’t expect it to be so lengthy, which made it daunting at times. I would’ve preferred a lighter, quicker read. The writing was pretty good and the whole thing was well-researched. Overall, it’s a decent story.
My rating: 3 stars