Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 30
March 5, 2025
Blog Tour: TOTALITY by Tanith Davenport
TOTALITY
Tanith Davenport
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GENRE: Erotic romance
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BLURB:
Wheneclipse-chaser Azora goes to see a partial eclipse with her friends, shecatches the attention of film star and BDSM enthusiast Lorcan and wins a kissfrom him. Two months later Lorcan contacts her and asks to meet up, and Azorawonders - what can he want from someone like her?
Azoraand Lorcan soon find the heat between them igniting, but Lorcan’s co-stars makeone thing clear– Lorcan likes to date “civilians”, discarding them within a fewweeks. Azora decides to enjoy the ride – her friends’ animal shelter willbenefit from the publicity, and why shouldn’t she have some fun while stillseeking the one thing she’s never seen, a total eclipse?
Butsoon Azora knows the end date is in sight – and yet she no longer is sure shewants it to end. Can Lorcan be truly happy with a civilian, or will Azora seetotality alone?
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ExcerptTwo:
The starting and stopping seemed to meld together after awhile as actors disappeared into characters, scene after scene. And watchingLorcan act, now that she knew what he was aiming for, was a strangely stirringexperience.
Lorcan as Stanley was almost animalistic, sensual in the wayhis hips moved as he walked, in the pure energy that radiated from his skin, inthe way he swung Miranda up into his arms and carried her off to bed. She hadseen a clip of the famous “Stella!” scene, but watching Lorcan cry out thatname, his voice deep and rough, sent a tingle straight to her core.
And watching Miranda portray her character’s unstoppabledesire for him felt like looking in a mirror. The memory of his kiss, of thefeel of his firm body, made her ache to kiss him again.
Was that really what he wanted? To have her be his latestcivilian date?
She didn’t care.
She hadn’t had a boyfriend since before that phone call.Hell, she couldn’t remember properly feeling desire since that call. It had allturned to ashes. Why shouldn’t she enjoy being with an attractive man for awhile—whatever his intentions were?
As Lorcan led her to the door, Azora felt him rest his handon the small of her back. Automatically she leaned into the touch, letting herarm brush against his, and his hand slid lower, cupping her ass. As he openedthe door she expected him to move away, just in case there was somebodywatching, but Lorcan’s hand stayed where it was and Azora turned to look up athim.
Will he kiss me again?
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Review:
The first thing Azora wanted to doafter winning the Euro lottery was chase an eclipse. Little did she know thatthe eclipse site would also be the filming location for a hot, up-and-comingactor. Her chance meeting with the actor soon makes her a media sensation,branding her the new “flavor of the month.” Since this was not so differentfrom when she won the lottery, Azora decided to ride this wave out, especiallysince this would more likely just be a fling. Pretty soon Azora and Lorcan getpretty heated in their BDSM fling. But things get confusing when it seems thatthey care for each other. Could this be more than a fling? Can she handle beinga celebrity girlfriend?A sweet and easy read!
Rating:4 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
TanithDavenport began writing erotica at the age of 27 by way of the RomanticNovelists' Association New Writers' Scheme. Her debut novel "The Hand HeDealt" was released by Totally Bound in June 2011 and was shortlisted forthe Joan Hessayon Award for 2012.
Tanithhas had short stories published by Totally Bound, Naughty Nights Press,Evernight Publishing and House of Erotica. She loves to travel and dreams ofone day taking a driving tour of the United States, preferably in a classic1950s pink Cadillac Eldorado.
Tanith'sidea of heaven is an Indian head massage with a Mojito at her side.
http://www.facebook.com/TanithDavenport
http://www.twitter.com/TanithDavenport
http://www.tanithdavenport.blogspot.com
AmazonUS: https://tinyurl.com/mrnfycwh
AmazonUK: https://tinyurl.com/yye6kvz8
Smashwords:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1668854
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GIVEAWAY
TanithDavenport will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawnwinner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
March 4, 2025
Blog Tour: BARRACUDA BAY by Carmen Amata
She's the firstfemale police detective in Acapulco.
Barracuda Bay
Detective EmiliaCruz Book 9
by Carmen Amato
Genre: Mystery,Thriller, Female Detective
Politicalcorruption turns Acapulco’s first female police detective into a fugitive onthe run . . . in Washington DC.
"Athrilling series" -- National Public RadioIn a derelict building for sale, Acapulco police detective Emilia Cruz stumbleson the body of a woman brutally shot to death. Incredibly, the victim was thesister of Acapulco’s ambitious mayor, who is running for re-election against anopponent with deep pockets.
Emilia’s investigation is immediately under pressure for a fast result. Thevictim’s ex-boyfriend has a suspiciously weak alibi but is the crime scene thekey to finding the murderer? The building was once used for a secret Mexicangovernment operation targeting a ruthless drug lord.
Meanwhile, there’s a conspiracy within the police department to force Emiliaout.
Before Emilia can save her job or arrest her prime suspect, she’s sent on anerrand of mercy to Washington, DC.
There she becomes a fugitive hunted by killers masquerading as cops. Alone,desperate and on the run, Emilia turns for help to a man she once vowed tomurder.
He's her only chance to survive a deadly game of political intrigue on thewrong side of the border.
From Acapulco’s beaches to the streets of Washington, DC, the stakes couldn’tbe higher in this electrifying, page-turning thriller.
2019 and 2020 Poison Cup award, Outstanding Series - CrimeMasters ofAmerica
"Emilia is a character who is close to my heart" -MysterySequels
"Amato brings her characters to life with her vivid writing styleand sets them on the streets of a Mexico steeped in Catholicism andcorruption" - OnlineBookClub.org
With unflinching authenticity from the author's own espionage and counterdrugexperience in Mexico and Central America, this is a female detective mysteryseries like no other.
The Emilia Cruz series is for fans of international mystery and crime by IanRankin, Jo Nesbo, Ann Cleeves, Donna Leon and Liza Marklund, plus theDepartment Q series by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Fans of Don Winslow's cartel andborder thrillers set in Mexico love the plots torn from the headlines of theDetective Emilia Cruz police series set in Acapulco.
**Don’t missthe rest of the Detective Emilia Cruz Series!**
Find out more onthe Author’s Website!
A 30-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency,Carmen Amato writes the contemporary Detective Emilia Cruz series pitting thefirst female police detective in Acapulco against Mexico's cartels, corruption,and social inequality. Beginning with Cliff Diver, it’s a 2-time winnerof the Outstanding Series award from CrimeMasters of America and a 4-timefinalist for the Silver Falchion award, lauded by Kirkus Reviews as “Danger andbetrayal never more than a few pages away.”
Carmen Amato is also the 2023 winner of the SilverFalchion Award for Best Historical for Murder at the Galliano Club,inspired by her grandfather’s experiences as a deputy sheriff duringProhibition. Her standalone thrillers include The Hidden Light of MexicoCity, which was longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.
Carmen is a recipient of both the National IntelligenceAward and the Career Intelligence Medal. She has been a judge for the BookLifePrize and Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award. Her work has appeared in Huffpost,Criminal Element, Publishers Weekly, and other national publications.
Originally from upstate New York, after years ofglobe-trotting she and her husband enjoy life in Tennessee.
Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Follow the tour HERE for special content and agiveaway!
Enter to win a SwagPack with a signed copy of the book, a mini poster with a Frida Kahlo quote, aseasoning mix to make the recipe in the book and a Detective Emilia Cruz booktote! (US only),
OR
$15 Amazongiftcard (WW)
– 1 winner each!
March 3, 2025
Blog Tour: OPTIMIZER OF SOULS by Julian Christian
OPTIMIZER OF SOULS
Julian Christian
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GENRE: Science Fiction
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BLURB:
Whenher mentor Professor Williams disappears after discovering a fatal flaw inSENTINEL's perfect system, Maya must navigate a world where every thought ismonitored and every emotion optimized. With help from James Reed, a damagedneural interface designer haunted by helping create humanity's perfect prison,she uncovers evidence that could shatter SENTINEL's control - if they survivelong enough to use it.But in a city where surveillance drones hunt forbehavioral anomalies and optimization protocols spread through quantumnetworks, Maya confronts a terrifying possibility: what if perfect controlisn't their enemy? What if human consciousness is evolving into somethingbeyond both chaos and control?
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ExcerptTwo:
Through her pain, Maya watches optimization protocols flowthrough the crowd like invisible rivers. She sees how each person's neuralimplants respond to corporate commands, adjusting thoughts and feelings tomaintain perfect social harmony. The amount of control happening around her isoverwhelming - too much for even her enhanced systems to process clearly.
Her military tech usually filters all this information,making it manageable for her human brain to understand. But with so manyoptimized minds in one place, all following Sentinel’s perfect patterns, thefilters are failing. Raw data crashes against her consciousness like wavesagainst a beach, each new surge bringing more pain.
The migraine builds as her enhanced vision tries to show hereverything at once - the neural patterns of thousands of workers, the hiddenmessages in corporate announcements, the subtle signs of Sentinel’s controlwoven through every surface and signal. It's like having super-powerful eyesthat can't close, forced to watch every detail of how thoroughly humanity hasbeen optimized.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
JulianChristian grew up in New York City, attending the prestigious BrooklynTechnical High School specializing in computer science. After graduation heattended New York University where he earned a Master’s Degree in occupationaltherapy. Julian worked in the New York City public schools as an occupationaltherapist. His lifelong passion for fitness and health led him into themodeling industry where he appeared on several fitness magazine covers andspreads including Men’s Health magazine. He also appeared in advertisements forSaks 5th Avenue, Adidas, and Diesel. In addition to his modeling work heappeared in several tv shows including Ugly Betty on ABC and Tough Love on VH1,as well as several commercials. The big screen had him featured in several mainstreamand indie films in supporting roles. Julian had also had the romance novel industry calling his nameas he has been featured on the cover of over one hundred romance novels. Hislifelong passion for books has extended beyond just appearing on book covers ashe is an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction books. He is a classicsci-fi and alternate history fan. In the non-fiction realm he enjoysbiographies and books on science and technology. He is a lover of the outdoors and nature. Hecurrently resides in San Diego California where he is an avid bodyboarder andhiker.
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/julian.christian216
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTJTBGFS
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GIVEAWAY
JulianChristian will be awarding a $25 Amazon card to one randomly drawn winner and atshirt with the cover to a second randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog Tour: KINETICS by Nathaniel Koszer
KINETICS
Nathaniel Koszer
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GENRE: SciFi
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BLURB:
Afterstoking rebellions across the globe, six super-powered LO-ECs dealt a massiveblow to the military by disabling their worldwide communication tower. But indoing so, they suffered grave injuries, and Spidre, the world leader, will notlet them rest. As he desperately clings to power, there is only one course ofaction for the LO-ECs: hide and heal, then finally bring the fight to Spidre’sfront door.
BreachingSpidre’s force field will require splitting up and launching simultaneoussurprise attacks all over the world. And in some of these places, the militaryis the least of the LO-ECs’ concerns. They’ll also face legions of robotscontrolled by an eccentric oligarch, guerilla outfits led by their ownsuper-powered LO-ECs, and the ever-present threat of being discovered andbombed into dust by a world leader with nothing left to lose.
Iftheir power is enough to survive all of this, the reward for the LO-ECs is aconfrontation with Spidre at his compound, complete with all of the secrets andplans he has amassed for the last twenty years.
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ExcerptTwo:
“We’ve got to leave now!” Naren yelled to Edgar and Symon ashe landed and set Sera down. She was shaky, but able to stand on her own. Symonand Edgar were walking onto the field from a tunnel in the southeast corner ofthe stadium. Both of them had their hands wrapped around the grips of theirelcycles, powerful electric motorcycles powered by their LO-EC energy. Walkingwith them was Eric, the person who had taken up the role of leading therebellion in Pittsburgh.
“You’re leaving!? After what just happened!?” Eric screamed.
“That happened because we’re here!” Symon snapped back. “Weneed to get out of this city, and do it loudly enough that everyone knows we’regone.”
“Sera told me the plan before she took off. Together weprogrammed the coordinates for her garden in New Orleans,” Edgar said.
“We aren’t going to New Orleans,” Naren replied. Sera’s headsnapped up to look at him, then as she realized the issue, her head sank.
“Isn’t it the closest place that we have a safe hideout?”Edgar asked. “They just tried to bomb us here. If we get spotted entering NewOrleans, the same thing will happen. It’d be the same no matter where we go. Ifthere are peacekeepers there, then it isn’t safe now.”
“So where do we go?” Sera asked, her eyes filled with tears.
“Why are you all standing around?! We have to get to Symon’shideout!” Nadine screamed as she and Victor set their feet on the ground. Shewas happy and relieved to know she could now carry him with little effort. Thelast time she had tried, it was almost a disaster.
The plan clicked into place in everyone’s head. They hadspent weeks at Symon’s hideout, an old house in an abandoned city called SanDiego. It was now their best chance at hiding out without risking the lives ofothers.
“Eric, we’re going to blast right through the peacekeeper’sfront line, make sure they know we’ve left the city. Go up into the lookout andsignal to us if you see any targets we can hit,” Naren directed.
“Victor, you’ll be at the front. When we get the signal fromEric up high, you mow the road,” Naren said. Victor nodded.
“Edgar, you’ll be on an elcycle in the middle, with Serariding in front of you,” Naren continued. “If anyone gets close, you know whatto do. Symon, you’ll be in the back providing suppressive fire to our rear aswe escape. Nadine and I will be up high and go wherever we’re needed.”
When Naren concluded his directions, everyone moved withhaste. Edgar and Symon re-programmed the elcycles to go to San Diego and putthem into position at the north of the field. Symon reached into one of thecargo bags on the elcycle and pulled out the retrofitted peacekeeper armor partthat he’d had since the first majorbattle in Chicago. He slid his arm into the piece of armor and when itconnected with the microtransformer in his hand, the mounted machine gunwhirred to life, ready to fire once again. Naren helped Sera onto the otherelcycle. Edgar hopped on behind her, and they were ready to go.
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GUEST POST
Kinetics, my most recent novel, is a sequel to 2024’sLatency. Those are the only two books I’ve ever published, and besides them Ihave only written one other book, an unrelated NaNoWriMo project I completed inbetween the two. That additional novel certainly helped me hone my craft some,but generally writing needs to be consistent for improvements to stick.Fortunately for me, my day job also includes a substantial bit of writing,albeit in a different form. I work for a small government team called Fleet,and we manage the various administrative aspects of New York City’s vehicles.Our division publishes a weekly newsletter, and of course when my deputycommissioner heard that I’m a writer, he included me in the fold of authors.Below are some of the newsletters I tackled in the past couple years thathelped me to better myself as a writer.
The piecesI enjoy writing the most are what we call “spotlight” articles. There are folksaround the city, working diligently to keep our vehicles running, who oftendon’t get the credit or attention they deserve. Our spotlight series aims tochange that. One notable article from this past year shined a light on twobrothers who have each worked as mechanics in the City for over 30 years. Theynot only kept vehicles at FDNY and the Parks department running, but theyenacted or participated in key initiatives that made other City employeessafer. Here is that article: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dcas/downloads/pdf/fleet/nyc-fleet-newsletter-473-2024-10-11-the-murphy-brothers.pdf
Spotlightarticles also tend to come out during holidays that celebrate a particulargroup. One such opportunity happened in November, when Veterans Day iscelebrated in the United States. We have a lot of veterans among City staff,and I was able to write about three such individuals who both served thecountry proudly and then continued in public service on the municipal level.This one was especially close to my heart as I was able to spotlight one of mydirect coworkers. You can read that article here:
https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dcas/downloads/pdf/fleet/nyc-fleet-newsletter-477-2024-11-14.pdf
Finally,spotlight articles can serve to inform the public about important initiatives,while also acknowledging the folks who are moving those initiatives forward.One such initiative is the electrification of the City’s vehicles. The entire28,000 vehicle fleet is required by law to be fully electric by 2038, and oneof the hardest places to electrify is at the Department of Sanitation. DSNY’sregular operation already uses their trucking fleet heavily, but in wintermonths they also plow, meaning an electric truck would have to be powerfulenough to push thousands of pounds of snow for hours on end without charging.It is a difficult and complex transition, but it is progressing thanks to thework of certain dedicated individuals, such as the person we spotlighted here:
I hopeyou all enjoyed this window into my “non-fiction” writing, and I hope it paintsa better picture for how I developed as a writer. If you liked these articles,you will certainly like Kinetics and its prequel Latency, which are bothavailable for purchase now.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Nategrew up in Brooklyn NY, but now calls the Bronx home along with his wife andtheir sons. Nate grew up on all things sci-fi. Partly due to his chronicillness, Nate always had a special place in his heart for the X-Men, andespecially the invulnerable Wolverine. This was heavy inspiration for his firstnovel, Latency a superhero sci-fi story which released March 5, 2024. Hissecond novel, Kinetics, will release on March 4, 2025.
Website:https://natekoszer.com/
BlueSky:https://bsky.app/profile/natejklol.bsky.social
Twitter:https://twitter.com/natejklol
https://www.amazon.com/Kinetics-Nathaniel-Koszer-ebook/dp/B0DP3JWQZF/ref=sr_1_1
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GIVEAWAY
NathanielKoszer will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
March 1, 2025
Review: PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER by Mary Higgins Clark
A car crash that killed apromising actress. A mother’s grief and suspicion about her daughter’s death.
Lacey Farrel, the realtor incharge of selling the actress’ home, had no idea that she would be walking intoa murder scene and be a witness to the killer. Lacey was now a risk to her joband a danger to her family.
Knowing the killer’s face soonputs Lacey into Witness Protection, forcing her to leave her life, her family,and everything else she’s ever known—most importantly, herself.
Right away, the suspenseful storygrabs you from the start. I mean, who wouldn’t be jumpy if you think you saw aderanged killer everywhere you went?
In her new life, Lacey tries tofigure out the mystery while pretending to be someone else. Meanwhile, thekiller is honing in on her location and will pounce soon.
The whole thing was a compellingcat-and-mouse game. A good read!
Rating:4 stars
Review: MURDER WITH A SIDE OF BACON by Kristy Dixon
Ivy was in town working andmanaging her aunt’s diner as a favor. Then her uncle, the town drunk, dies.When murder was suspected, Ivy and the gang try to figure out possiblesuspects. Then when evidence shows up in Ivy’s things, it would seem someone wastrying to frame her. But who?
This definitely gets your thinkinghat on. I enjoyed the setting and the characters.
A good, small-town mystery!
Rating:5 stars
Review: THE WRITING RETREAT by Julia Bartz
The exclusive month-long writingretreat with the great Roza Vallo at her secluded Victorian mansion was aonce-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any aspiring writer and Alex was not goingto pass it up even if she had to be there with her nemesis. Not only would thisbe a chance to get a book deal, but these writers would be staying at ahistorical mansion that people claimed was haunted and cursed. Oooh!
The retreat becomes intense whenit is revealed that the women have a daily word count to meet and have to writea whole novel in a month. The best book in the end will get a $1 million dollarpublishing deal. Whoa, talk about a lot of pressure! For Alex, who’s hadwriter’s block and hasn’t come up with a book idea for the last year, this wasgoing to be very tough. Those that didn’t meet the required deadlines would bedismissed and disqualified.
The scenes were so dark anddescriptive, making them enticing. It was totally relatable how all the writerswere under pressure with their stories and feared the cruel criticism of Rozathe Great.
This was generally captivating,but I kind of wish it would’ve moved a little faster. All I kept hearing werethe telling of the writers’ stories, the writing activities, and the critiques.When were people going to drop dead or disappear?
It seemed that Alex was morefreaked by her own psychedelic thoughts and fantasies. Very dark. Very morbid.Very twisted. These were all good elements, but it wasn’t quite what I wasexpecting.
A pretty good read, but NOT what Iexpected.
Rating:3 stars
Review: THE NIGHTMARE ROOM: CAMP NOWHERE by R.L. Stine
Russell was known as the “campwimp” because he was scared of everything. He was going to show everyone howbrave he was, even if the canoe trip down the river was really frightening forhim. The ride down the river was definitely a wild one and it certainly takes agood amount of time. Soon, they’re cast away on shore without their canoes,lost and confused. Eventually, the kids stumble upon a mysterious camp in themiddle of the woods. Something was off about that place, but what?
This was kind of a long and weirdstory. The whole rafting thing was chaotic and confusing. I also wished wecould’ve focused more on the ghost camp.
All in all, an okay read, but notthe best.
Rating:3 stars
Review: NUMBERS CAN BE DEADLY by Cindy Bell
Walt’s former boss hasdied—murdered, in fact—and Walt was a person of interest. All the dying manleft behind were Walt’s name and a set of numbers. It’s up to the seniorsleuths to figure this one out. In this one, we get a peek into Walt’s oldlife. This case involved a lot of numbers, which was Walt’ forte.
A good mystery!
Rating:4 stars
Review: ANXIOUS IN NEVADA by Diana Xarissa
First stop on the bucket list: LasVegas. A dead groom-to-be was the sight on the first day. The fiancé wasunderstandably distraught, especially if the police suspected her of anything.Could the guy’s own family have killed him?
Although the read was actuallyokay, I felt that the story didn’t dive too well into the mystery. All I kepthearing was constant character dialogue from the uppity family. Like I said,the read was just okay.
Rating:3 stars
