Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 282

Review: MIXING UP MURDER by Emmie Lyn

Dani works at Little Dog Diner, which was owned by her grandmother. After the fake funeral to a guy she despises, she and her friend find a dead body in the kitchen. The dead body just happened to belong to the guy that had the fake funeral; he was also Lily’s ex. The murder weapon: Dani’s favorite rolling pin. Needless to say, the two were possible suspects in the murder. But it turns out there were several suspects—people that wanted Ray dead.


This was an okay mystery, but it was kinda slow most of the time. The girls mostly bake—it’s all they seem to do. It started off okay, but I wasn’t overly impressed with it.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: FRENCH VANILLA AND FELONIES by Erin Huss

Cambria was unemployed and had no choice but to take a job as an apartment manager. Seems easy enough, right?


The apartment complex was described too much in detail, and managing apartments doesn’t really make for interesting reading. When is the dead body coming already?


Needless to say, I couldn’t get very far in this and I won’t be continuing the series.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: THE SALTY TASTE OF MURDER by Christine Zane Thomas

Allie is a restaurant critic. She gives a local restaurant a bad review (2 out of 5 forks,) and the same day, the owner turns up dead. Allie never felt so guilty about a review. Was it really murder?


I thought this might a quirky, cozy mystery with food and murder. Mostly it just talks about blogging and food with not much focus on the mystery. Kind of dull.


Like Allie’s review, I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: THE SCARLET LETTER OPENER by Linda M. Au

Nice illustration on the cover!


Maggie is a freelance proofreader with a strange sense of humor. For example, “I had been lapsing into a comma.” I guess this was a mockery statement on the proofreading job that was overloaded with commas. Lame, if you ask me.


The character tended to go off on endless monologues, often deviating from the story line and making the reading a bit stale. Just like the cover displays, she finds the new editor-in-chief slumped over his desk, dead, stabbed by a letter opener in his back. The thing is we don’t get to this pivotal scene until chapter 4. And even in the midst of this terror, she still annoys readers with her over analytical mouth.


Just not worth the read.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: LOVE BY THE SLICE by Heather Young-Nichols

Bianca’s Italian family owns a pizzeria on the beach front. The new recently hired cook is a gorgeous one. The whole thing starts off as an awkward crush between two bland adults. The characters weren’t really interesting and nothing stood out. The budding romance was kinda cute, and, of course, the whole thing revolved around the pizza place. I’m sure this can be an okay read for some, but it just wasn’t for me.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: THE WIFE OF REILLY by Jennifer Coburn

A woman juggles a husband and a boyfriend. The mission of the soon-to-be ex-wife was to find a replacement for her lonely husband once the divorce settles. To find a new wife for Reilly.


Book starts off talking about the array of characters—uppity, prissy characters, if you ask me. I liked the concept, even though it sounded too far-fetched and harebrained. It didn’t really go anywhere. It just seemed like nothing but inane yakking.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: NO MORE BAD DATES by Kate O’Keefe

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Well, when your boyfriend dumps you at a wedding, that couldn’t be truer for Sophie. What’s worse is that she sees that same boyfriend cuddling up with a random hottie minutes after he dumped her. Oh yeah, this was the worst day of her life alright.


Of course, her friends tell her that there’s plenty of fish in the sea. The problem was that Sophie sucked at choosing men. Then the pact idea comes up. “They called it the ‘Last First Date Pact.’ Basically, they agreed that the next guy they each dated would be The One.” (17)


But rather than focus on the HEA, the girls lean more toward an HFN (Happy For Now)—nothing too serious, nothing too permanent. They agree to only date the good guys. No more jerks, no more creeps, no more bad dates. Hear, hear!


The way this works is that the worthiness will be decided by the others. That’s all fine and dandy, but what about getting the guy’s perspective? That’s when Sophie’s BFF and roommate, Jason, comes in. “Having a guy friend help us understand the “enemy” might give us an advantage.” (26)


Story is a total make-over in the world of dating. Sophie is relatable to any single woman with a wacky family infected with Baby-ness. There were a few lagging areas, but I think the story gets the basic point across. Is it so hard to meet a good guy? Heck yeah! I guess that’s why everyone from crazy relatives to busybody co-workers makes it their mission to match Sophie with one. The thing was that it takes a while for the first date to come up. We were supposed to get a series of bad dates, weren’t we? Instead, this mostly dealt with the relations between family and friends with witty banter and good humor.


My rating: 3 stars

Read & Review Program

Readers can sign up to read and review books by amazing authors.  

Sign up and we will send over a list of the books in the program. Below is a sneak peek.


BONUS: Each Amazon review will enter you for a chance to WIN $50 in an Amazon Gift Card or Pay Pal cash by the end of the year. Whoever submits the most reviews will win! Amazon links must be emailed to enter. 



Powered by[image error]EMF Free Form Builder

Review: KILLER CUPCAKES by Milda Harris

Ava is a freelance screen writer, but, unfortunately, that doesn’t pay the bills. Meanwhile, she works at an up-and-coming Hollywood bakery called Celebrity Cupcakes. The guest celebrity, Penelope Rose, takes a bite of the first cupcake and collapses in front of the media on opening day. Could it have been the cupcake?


With a murdered celebrity, who would come to a place with killer cupcakes?


Everyone was a suspect—the owner, the employees, even Ava. That meant that Ava needed to solve this thing quick.


Simple, sleuthing tale that you can get into. It was mostly a lot of speculation, but, overall, an okay read.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: REST IN PIECES by Katie Graykowski (Book 1)

A PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) president and a dead teacher.


Why would a beloved kindergarten teacher overdose? The teacher was afraid of needles and didn’t even drink, much less do drugs. But it couldn’t have been murder? What could the motive be? That’s what Mustang aims to find out.


Since the police tended to protect the haves of the TX town and Molly (like Mustang) was part of the have-nots, Mustang takes matters into her own hands.


Looking at the body at the funeral home, the PTO club realize something shocking—half the body was plastic and half was missing. What!? Why would her real head be connected to a fake body? Where was it? I enjoyed the girls fumbling in haste trying to put the body back together.


I liked how this started off, all crafty and witty. But what should’ve been an interesting mystery soon turns into a rioting gab fest between the broads. Although they were snarky and had high energy, they just seemed to lack focus. Keep your eye on the prize, girls! And what’s with all the guns? The gun lesson was truly boring.


All in all, story had silly antics and a slow pace. It involved pregnancy, drug lords, surveillance bugs, and terrorist plots. The mystery wasn’t that easy to follow. It was okay, although I hope the next one would be better.


My rating: 3 stars