Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 286

Review: INSATIABLE by Cari Quinn

Rachel wants to go to NY to reconnect with an old flame; Shawn has been in love with Rachel since childhood but has always been stuck in the Friend Zone. Refusing to wait forever, he proves he’s more than a friend with some dirty dancing and a scorching kiss.


Shawn is the best—best friend and best boyfriend. What the heck is wrong with Rachel? Still Rachel can’t help but wonder what could have been with Ryan. Sure, he left her, even impregnated her (which Shawn took her to the hospital for btw.) What’s the harm in seeing Ryan again?


Done deal: Rachel goes to NY and Shawn follows her. This then leads to a first night of relentless passion between the two. Friends to Lovers?


This was a pretty nice romance. I’ve always thought that the best relationships are the ones that start off as friends. I loved how Shawn knew and loved everything about Rachel. Of course, the “loving” foreplay could get a little dull, but this was a good “friends to lovers” story.


My rating: 4 stars

Review: DEATH ON THE STRIP by J.S. Peck

“The idea of going back to reading tarot cards brought back many painful memories.” (LOC 49)


Rosalie never forgave herself for her fiancé’s death. She had seen the death card for him, but thought nothing of it at the time. At her latest client reading, the death card shows up for the former Las Vegas dancer. Later, her body was found on the road by the Vegas strip, and Rosalie decides to investigate. Using her intuition and psychic premonitions, she delves into the seedy underbelly of the streets. In the process, she teams up with a handsome cowboy reporter. Meanwhile, the death card kept falling into place. What did it all mean?


Story was crafty, well-written, and so mysterious. Rosalie researches the case very thoroughly, even though I thought most of what she was found was irrelevant, like Bush’s Scarlett Letter law and the history of the first striptease performer. What was the point of all this Google data? Did we really need a history lesson on strippers?


Overall, this was a pretty good mystery, except the clues did not lead to the outcome of the story. The conclusion had no ties whatsoever to the mystery. We basically got the answer to a totally different case. The original mystery still remained and we must continue the series to find the answer. Murders go unsolved.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: ZODIAC KILLERS Box Set by W.L. Knightly

There are 3 parts in this story. The first is called THE ZODIAC KILLER, which tells the story of Darek, a homicide detective with bad dreams and a frustrated wife.


A murder at Hotel Capricorn and a dreadful message sends the frail detective into a spiral.


The beginning of your end.


The case gets deeper with torture and secrets. Dark, grisly, and alluring.


You feel for Darke with his resentment toward his bitter wife and his attraction to his new FBI partner. In the past, Darek was part of the Zodiacs, but he can’t remember much except the girl dying in his arms. Will his past come back to haunt him? Will he be implicated in an old murder? Will these killings connect all of the Zodiacs?


This was definitely good reading, but it tends to repeat the same info over and over again. Also, each one ends in a “To Be Continued,” meaning you need the whole series to finish the story, which means you don’t get to find out who the killer is. Drag.


Unless you get the whole story, this is a good read; otherwise, what’s the point with this box set?


My rating: 3 stars

Review: MURDER AT COLD CREEK COLLEGE by Christa Nardi

A murder at small-town private college. But who was the victim? Prof. Sheridan of the psychology department was curious to know. She soon finds out that the victim was a lady’s man professor.


I thought this was kind of interesting. It was simple and slow. There were too many characters/suspects to keep track of. An okay read.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: DYING TO GET PUBLISHED by Judy Fitzwater

In the beginning, Jennifer was in jail, only toying with the idea of murder. But she was no murderer; she was a caterer and a mystery novelist. She has written 8 novels―all unpublished. For her, writing was just something she had to do.


"Death of an agent would certainly be symbolic for any struggling author." (LOC 91)


Her plan was simple: commit a murder to get published.


This story seemed interesting. I mean, I could relate to being a published author and wanting to get your stories out there. But does she really kill someone to do it? Seems a little drastic to me. Still, I wondered if Jennifer would actually go through with it. Too many characters made it hard to keep track of the story. The reading gets long-winded and scattered.


Overall, I guess this was okay, but it just wasn't exactly what I was expecting.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: LITERARY AGENT BEWARE by Johnny Ray

“Being a literary agent doesn’t make you God.” (8)


Amy is an aspiring writer struggling to find an agent, but coming up empty with all these rejection letters. Oh, how these letters hurt. She’s even gone so far as to send hate letters of her own. Of course, this is only when she gets into one of her mood swings as she suffers from bipolar disorder.


After sleeping with an agent she thought would help her, Amy was mad as hell and vowed vengeance against him.


I was initially drawn in right away from the relatability of pursuing a writing career and lust for revenge against the publishing tycoons. It started off good, but then it tapers down to a slow and lengthy monologue of sorts. OMG, it’s so freaking slow! It mostly goes on about Amy’s intent for revenge, her detailed plans, and how her mood swings shift from day to day. Isn’t somebody gonna get murdered soon?


I was surprised on how unfulfilling this was as well as the number of typos it had.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: GHOSTS OF DEMONS PAST by Matt Schiariti

Seth is going through a divorce and his son is having trouble in school. He also has an unorthodox job: he’s a “cleaner” (he cleans out ghosts from places.) He’s your average, everyday ghost hunter. He’s crass, bitter, snarky, and tells it like it is. He brings paranormal equipment just for show, to appease his clients. The truth is: he sees dead people. Been that way since he was a kid, often being made fun of for talking to his “imaginary friends.”


So he’s an “expert” on ghosts. Could demon possession also be up his alley?


This had a nice concept, but it was slow and a bit daunting. Not quite as scintillating, but okay.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: SHALLOW GRAVES: THE UNSEEN by Brian Martinez

A phone call leads Officer Franklin Butcher to the small-town church, where an old priest had some dreadful concerns. What they were, we don't know.
At first, you're not really too clear on the mystery. There's various characters that enter the scene, but not much is happening. Something was off about a couple's new house, especially with the plumber just disappearing. On top of that, there are phantom images, a demon dog, and eyes in the sink? Something was going on...but what?
The writing was pretty good and I have to say that there were some interesting descriptions. For example: "Its ever-changing skin was textured in bees wings and bird legs. Dead feathers and rotten scales. Black eyes that moved or didn't. Mouse bones wrapped in squirrel’s tail." (58) Talk about a creep factor. Ewe! What the heck is that? It was like Night of the Living Dead or something.
It turns out that the plumber manifested into this thing, "not a functioning man gone wrong," but a thing of pure evil. The house was obviously possessed.
This book has "creepy" written all over it, which is great for horror fans; but the thing was that with all the calamity, strangeness, and "ick" factor, it was kinda hard to get anything straight. What was this thing with The Self? I didn't quite get that. But, evidently, bodies were dying and being reincarnated into...things. This was just plain bloody horror.
My rating: 3 stars

Review: SOLVING CADENCE MOORE by Gregory Sterner

Radio host Charlie Marx had an idea and a pitch: to find out what happened to Cadence Moore. The Cadence was case was truly one of the classics...and the most unsolved.
"Even if this thing is the ultimate cold case… even if we’re barking up a dying tree, if we carve out the right story we will succeed. We will accomplish what I’ve promised my bosses we can accomplish." (9)
But, for Charlie, this was more than a chance for good ratings, since he's been obsessed with the Cadence case. Cadence Moore was a singing sensation, on the brink of stardom, and, on one tragic night, she just disappeared without a trace.
This was an interesting spin to the traditional murder mystery mainly because this whole thing was being aired as a miniseries for a radio show. The whole scheme behind it was to boost ratings, make careers, and ultimately cash in. Part of the narrative is written as radio podcasts with Charlie reciting the myths, mystery, and the climactic conclusion to the disappearance. The podcasts were written in a way to obviously drum up anticipation for the audience. To me, it sounded more like a lot of reporting, which didn't make for very compelling reading. The writing was pretty good, but I just didn't connect to the story very much.  
My rating: 2.5 stars

Review: DEATH BY SUSPENDERS by Laina Turner

On the first day of school, a dead body is found at the university. A teacher was hung by his own suspenders. Was it suicide or murder? Could there be a murderer on campus? Could the motive be tenure? Revenge for a bad grade?


This is a simple, who-dunnit mystery. It’s the work of an amateur detective. Overall, it’s okay, but I didn’t like that there were too many names to keep track of. It made it harder to follow the story.


My rating: 3 stars