Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 28
March 22, 2025
Review: SWING VOL. 2 by Matt Hawkins
The couple’s swinger lifestylegoes on. And sexy images they are. Now that they wanted to stick to thislifestyle, they needed to find the right couple to do it with. The first swapwas a huge success and, oh, so hot! But perhaps they two weren’t as cool asthey claim to be. Funny how the little girl walks on her parents having sex onthe couch.
Hot and sexy! More, more, more!
Rating:4 stars
Review: SUNSTONE Vol. 3 by Stjepan Sejic
The imagery was very erotic andartistic. I liked the use of blank space and the angles of the panels, but Icouldn’t get the story or read the text.
Rating:2 stars
March 21, 2025
Book Blast: MEAN CUISINE by Wendy W. Webb
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Wendy will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Beluga Stein is taking a cooking class and it's a real killer. This time she's traded her signature loud muumuus for ill-fitting chef attire, including a toque the size of her ego.
A well-liked chef is found dead and it's up to Beluga and her feline familiar, Planchette, to investigate. There's no recipe to follow, only the hope that her erratic psychic ability will hit the spot. Is a supernatural entity stirring up trouble, or something far more dangerous?
Beluga and Planchette can't stand the heat, but there's no way out of this kitchen while murder is the main dish.
Read an Excerpt
Beluga Stein’s Diary
Such a day.
And while Chef Pernod tried mightily to restore order with an impromptu lecture on the differences between Grande, Classic and Nouvelle cuisines, I’m afraid the distinctions were lost when the frozen body was wheeled past us to the waiting ambulance.
The sight of such a spectacle took a toll on the chef as well, I should add. Fortunately for me there was no mention of Planchette in the kitchen, but for the rest of us the chef’s well-practiced lecture took a sudden nosedive into a stream-of-consciousness series of French words. I think I heard her say that a traditional kitchen brigade had positions with names sounding something like “poisoner,” which is rather ominous if you ask me, and “chefs who party,” which might warrant further investigation if things start to get dull. Or one finds herself in immediate need of hors d’oeuvres and a tropical cocktail.
~~~
Review: Cooking school might be the way togo even if you couldn’t even cook an egg. That was one place psychic detectiveBeluga knew would be free of murder.
I enjoyed the humorous and wittyquips. Beluga was a rotund, klutzy, and quirky character wish snarky charm, ahearty appetite, and solid smarts. The cooking school also seemed to have itsoddball characters including a slew of tater-tots and a drill-sergeant chef.The last thing anyone expected during the tour was to find a dead body in thefreezer.
Right away, Beluga’s inquiringmind starts questioning the case and lures the reader into it. What happened tothe dead chef?
The reader will surely enjoyfollowing Beluga and Tanya’s wacky and harebrained antics. At some point, itseemed like that was all we were doing however. The whole time you’re justfollowing two crazy broads. It didn’t seem like we were focusing too much onsolving the mystery. Perhaps I was just too used to following a certain patternin a traditional cozy mystery. Perhaps a paranormal mystery follows an eclecticpath. I liked the lightness and the humor, but, as far as a mystery goes, Ithought that could’ve been better and more focused.
A fairly nice read.
Rating:3 stars
About the Author:
Wendy W Webb (aka one of the many Wendy Webbs) has published dark fantasy short stories and novels, co-edited anthologies, and has had productions of stage and radio plays. After a hiatus as a doctoral student of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomed the return to fiction with The Wild Rose Press writing the gothic Widow’s Walk, and two updated books in the Beluga Stein supernatural-humor-murder mystery series, Bee Movie and Mean Cuisine. Sunbury Press under the Milford House imprint published the paranormal, travel, “memoir,” Eye of the Gargoyle. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see anymore ghosts!Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mean-cuisine-wendy-w-webb/1007879485
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mean-Cuisine-Beluga-Stein-Mystery/dp/1509259279
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March 20, 2025
Spotlight: SASQUATCH, BABY! by Bethany Browning
Genre: Humor
Summary: You've never seen a custody battle like this. After her posh Napa Valley friends expel her for committing an unspeakable betrayal, trustfundian underachiever Tabitha Eggs retreats to the redwood forests of Del Norte County, California to drink herself to death. But when she stumbles over two decomposing corpses near her new home—among a growing list of other frightening, unexplainable experiences—she's convinced that walking into a raging wildfire is preferable to whatever waits in the woods. Her plans are foiled when she’s kept alive by a curious Sasquatch (who adores salad dressing and is overjoyed by luxury body wash), and they create a bizarre and everlasting union.
Author Bio:
Bethany Browning lives and works in a redwood forest. Her debut horror novella, Sasquatch, Baby!, and the first in her cozy mystery series, Dead Spread, are both available in eBook and paperback. Plus, War of the Wills, a film she co-wrote with George Dondero, is watchable on Amazon Prime. Her award-nominated short fiction can be found in Halloween Horrors, Stories We Tell After Midnight, The HallowZine, Mudroom, JAKE, Filth, Esoterica, Flash Fiction Magazine and dozens more. For more information and to read her short stories and other published work, visit bethanybrowning.com.
Social Media:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21960868.Bethany_Browning
Purchase links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sasquatch-Baby-Bethany-Browning-ebook/dp/B0C4ZNY2HH/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sasquatch-baby-bethany-browning/1143869560
March 19, 2025
Blog Tour: SELENA FLOWERS AND THE PHANTOM TIDES by Ella English
The Merblood Saga, Book 2
YA Fantasy
Date Published: 02-25-2025
Publisher: Spider Web Press
Something strange is going down in the sleepy seaside village of Madderly Bay. Best friends Selena and Chloe are stuck in the most boring summer ever—until food starts coming to life and running wild in the streets.
But that’s just the beginning. Earthquakes start shaking the village, and creepy claw marks show up, hinting at something dark stirring beneath the waves. Only Selena and Chloe know the real story about the zombie mermaids they faced before—and now they’re worried the threat they thought was gone might be back.
As the tremors get worse and the water turns a scary green, the girls have to figure out what’s awakening in the depths before it’s too late. With their friend Zelda and her magical squid, Glowella, by their side, they’ll risk everything to save both the human and magical worlds from a danger that could destroy them all.
In this thrilling adventure, Selena and her friends have to face their fears and dig up some serious secrets between the human and magical worlds. With their village and the ocean in danger, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Can they figure out what’s messing with the sea before it’s too late? Or will they realize that saving their town—and both worlds—might be way harder than they thought?
About the Author
Ella English grew up in the heart of London, where the hustle and bustle of city life met summer adventures at her grandma’s house on the Kent coast. Exploring tide pools and collecting seashells, she developed a love for the ocean and a knack for creating imaginative worlds that she now brings to life through her writing.
Now living in Baltimore, Maryland, Ella is the author of The Merblood Saga, a dark fantasy YA series that plunges readers into a haunting underwater realm filled with cursed mermaids, ancient magic, and buried secrets. The first book, Selena Flowers and the Cursed Ruby, has been a hit with young readers, drawing them into its mysterious and dangerous world.
Ella also writes and illustrates Kitty in the City, a whimsical series about a singing cat named Katy who takes New York City by storm. The latest installment, Katy in Central Park, will be released in June 2025.
When she’s not weaving dark magic or drawing cats, Ella is kept busy by her two mischievous felines who make sure she stays entertained and grounded. Follow her adventures (and plenty of cat cameos) on Instagram @EllaEnglishAuthor or visit www.ellaenglish.com for more.
Contact Links
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March 18, 2025
Blog Tour: SPOONS by J. Corn
Children’s, Self-Help, Grief, Loss, Illustrated
Spoons is a sweet story about enduring loss and finding hope. At some point, every family will face the loss of a loved one, and the Spoon family is no different. Children and adults can find comfort from the lessons in this book and apply them to their own family stories.
Review: Follow a family of spoons in thischarming, little tale as we learn about vibrant colors and heaven. In thisbook, the kid spoons ask all about where their grandma went when she died. Themother spoon explains about death, how she still misses Grandma, and what shewas like when she was alive.
I thought this was a nice story ofthe remembrance of a loved one. The illustrations were cute with awatercolor-stain quality.
A touching and colorful tale!
Rating:4 stars
About the Author
Throughout her life, J. Corn has dealt with grief: first losing her mom at a young age, then her husband leaving her a single mother of two, and most recently her father. The grieving process has taught her the importance of talking about your loved one after they're gone. No one should suffer alone or in silence. Corn hopes that SPOONS will encourage families to share stories about their loved ones, even when it's dificult. She and her children are active members of their community grief counseling center. SPOONS is Corn's debut book.
About the book Spoons is a sweet story about enduring loss and finding hope. At some point, every family will face the loss of a loved one, and the Spoon family is no different. Children and adults can find comfort from the lessons in this book and apply them to their own family stories.
Contact Links
Instagram and Threads: @jcorn.books
Purchase Link
March 17, 2025
Book Blast: THE ADVENTURES OF THE UNICORN POO by Reice Godfrey
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Reice Godfrey 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.
Join Sonny and Bailee on their adventure to find a magical Unicorn. The only way to find the magical Unicorn is to follow the trail of POOs until they find a rainbow-coloured, cotton-candy smelling, glitter-covered POO.
Read an Excerpt
Once upon a time there was a little boy called Sonny and a little girl called Bailee.
They were going to go on an adventure to find a magical Unicorn.
Bailee asked Sonny, “How are we going to find a Unicorn?”
Sonny said, “We have to find some Unicorn POO!”
About the Author: Join Sonny and Bailee on their adventure to find a magical Unicorn. The only way to find the magical Unicorn is to follow the trail of POOs until they find a rainbow-coloured, cotton-candy smelling, glitter-covered POO.
AMAZON.COM: https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Unicorn-Poo-Reice-Godfrey/dp/0228878942/ref=sr_1_1
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March 15, 2025
Review: PARACHUTE KIDS by Betty Tang
An Asian family takes a familyvacation to California. Then the vacation soon turns into a stay. Loved theillustrations! Loved the funny expressions and the dynamic poses. And the storydefinitely grabs you.
These kids had to assimilate to anew culture with American names and not being able to speak or read English.Kids can be quite cruel to newcomers. How DO they eat soup with chopsticks?Needless to say, the sad kids were anxious and angry. How come the kids got tostay but the parents had to go? They were all visiting, weren’t they? So, nowthe kids were stuck in America without their parents. Whoa, that’s gotta betough. Through it all, the kids deal with laughter, mockery, and bullying.Funny how they confused a can of dog food as dinner.
Story is a wonderful, illustrativedisplay of how 3 Chinese kids try to fit into a new culture that hasn’taccepted them. The fights that the siblings get into with each other can getpretty intense. Instead of sticking together, they were drifting apart. Thecomic strips were so hilarious!
These kids get a hard reality towhat America is really like, especially the American Health Care System. Forthese kids, the American Dream was a nightmare.
With love, bravery, and humility,these parachute kids have an incredible American journey. Loved this tale!
Rating:5 stars
Review: A FATAL FOCUS by Cindy Bell
This story kicks off with a murderin the woods and Bobbie was looking to get the inside scoop. Turns out thevictim was actually a friend of Bobbie’s boss, who recently had a fall-out withthe victim, which make her a suspect for the police. Can Bobbie spy on her bossto get to the truth? Right away, the mystery gets to you. As always, there wereseveral suspects to consider, including Bobbie’s boss. Could a photograph beworth killing over?
A good mystery!
Rating:4 stars
Review: NIGHT GAMES by R.L. Stine
Anyone up for some NightGames—adventures in the dark?
At first, I thought this wouldinvolve some deadly prank against the school’s most hated teacher. But then,oddly, we deviate to last winter when the kids join Spencer at the cabin. Thispart really brought this down to a mild crawl. What happened to the excitementof the Night Games?
This read wasn’t as good as Ithought it would be. It was okay, but not great.
Rating:3 stars
