Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 301

Review: DIRTY DEAL by Crystal Kaswell

Cash-strapped Kat is looking for nothing more than a job. With bills, mortgage payments, and now her sister's tuition, Kat is willing to do "whatever it takes." Then comes the alluring Blake, who oozes money, pure sexiness, and is also the CEO of the biggest tech company in New York. He also makes her an offer she can't refuse. But what could he possibly want with Kat? Besides the obvious of course...Yes, he wants to f#ck her, but he wouldn't pay her for that; he'll pay to marry her.
If the rich mogul is willing to make all her problems go away, it might be worth 6 months of her life...for a million dollars.
So what happens when a virgin and a man that commands anything get involved? Things get dirty. After all, a girl could do anything for a man with all the money and power in the world...right?
The story follows Kat as she is tossed into a world of glamour and chic. She basically puts on this Cinderella suit for all to see. That world can honestly be stifling and dull. But I guess Blake more than makes up for it with his dirty deal. The two mostly engage in dirty foreplay, orgasmic flutters, and sexual jaunts. The writing was okay. Yes, the talk is dirty, but the scenes seem to go on forever, summarizing things like a point-by-point bullet list. It really didn't seem like things were moving along much at times. The sex, which has some BDSM, can be intense and pleasurable, and I liked the whole Cinderella theme (poor girl being whisked away by a rich prince;) however, the whole thing felt average and not too exciting.
My rating: 3 stars

Review: THE CHAIN OF LIES by Debra Burroughs

Ever since her late husband’s death, Emily has been having nightmares. Ironically, the murder of her husband, who was a brilliant P.I., has, ironically, gone unsolved. But what gets to her most was that “he kept a whole tapestry of secrets from her—including his real identity.” (LOC 57)


Emily can’t move on with her new boyfriend until she—a kickass Charlie’s Angel—can solve his murder and put her nightmares to rest.


This book struck me as an inquisitive mystery, one I thought I would look forward to unraveling.  Although this chain of lies does unravel piece by piece, it also somehow deviates to a prostitution ring, which I thought was irrelevant. A lot of federal logistics slowed the pace dramatically, making it harder to keep up. It makes you wonder what the real mystery was.

My rating: 2 stars

Review: YOU MAKE ME by Erin McCarthy

Cat has never been the same ever since she gave herself to the man she loved on the beach shores and never saw him again. Well, that explains the provocatively sexy title cover!
Now a college student, Cat is dating Ethan, who is safe in every way (no drama and never made her cry.) And on the night of her marriage proposal, he walks back into her life. Heath was her first love, her soul mate, her heart breaker.
A girl loves two guys, but which is the one for her—the one who holds her future or the one with the key to her past?
I don’t blame Ethan for being jealous of Heath, but, man, did he have to be a jackass about it? Possessive, suspicious, controlling—I mean, really? It was no doubt that those millions of cracks in their relationship eventually shattered the glass.
Heath was  a world of passion. He understood Cat more, I think. I liked how Heath pushed (not allowed) for Cat to be herself—to be low-maintenance, simple, wild, and carefree. That’s the best way to be.
But the thing was that the story of You Make Mewas just that. You make me mad. You make me crazy. You make me do things I never thought possible. It was about two people who brought the best in each other but also brought the worst in each other. It was obsessive, psychotic, unhealthy really.
Still, you can’t help but get sucked into the craziness.
A wild, passionate, enthralling love story!

My rating: 4 stars

Review: NAILED by Alexis Adaire

My first impression on the cover: the man really needs to shave his beard. I find it hard to believe that his perfectly sculpted chest could be that hairless and the only hair is on his cropped-off face.

The story starts off with a woman gawking at the hot roofer. She’s a divorcee with a son in college. In fact, the roofer could just be the same age as her son.
A friend and even her therapist suggest a fling with the roofer. And she so desperately wants it. But she’s never been very good at that sort of thing, especially when the only man she’s ever been with was her cheating ex-husband.
Story basically summarizes the thoughts of a middle-aged woman wanting to venture into the dating world by getting laid. It’s a horny, old woman’s diary. She spends every day just staring at the roofer, lusting and hoping that she’ll soon get to bag him, while masturbating to her fantasies of him. The whole goal of this story is to get NAILED. And, boy, does she. In fact, she gets it over and over and over again. It gets kind of boring after a while.
This is how Dawn got her groove back.
It was on okay read.

My rating: 3 stars

Review: FIXING FREDDIE by Mona Ingram

Samantha hasn’t seen Freddie since they were in school and that was...what?...ten years ago? Back then he was painfully shy and was never seen without a computer game in his hand. So when he shows up in her favourite coffee shop she doesn’t recognize him at first. He’s still into computer games, and to make matters worse, his hair is long and his sense of style sucks. He’s nothing like her suave, sexy boyfriend. They discover they’ve both been invited to the same wedding and when he bemoans his lack of style, she surprises herself by offering to help him with a make-over.
But Freddie isn’t the only one in need of help. While Samantha helps Freddie, he helps her discover an inner strength she didn’t know she had. Join Samantha and Freddie as they navigate the minefield of their growing attraction on the way to finding out who they really are.





My thoughts: Meet Freddie, an adorable IT guy that looks like Clark Kent. Well, as you know, Clark Kent didn’t have to do much to turn into Superman. But, of course, Samantha offers to do a make-over on him for a wedding of an old high school acquaintance.
Personally, I liked Freddie the way he was, and I totally agreed with his statement on hickeys: “A man foolish enough to try to brand a woman in that manner obviously had no confidence.” (Loc 336)
A fun, sweet, contemporary romance.
My rating: 4 stars

Review: THE JOB OFFER by Eleanor Webb

Jane “Anne” Conner is a smart, logical person with a heart for saving the planet. She’s a biochemist. Well, good for her. Unfortunately, that doesn’t pay the bills. The job hunt is something many of us can relate to.

Additionally, she’s not the “getting lucky” type men go for. Then she gets an interview for a job in her hometown, where an old crush that’s gotten even hotter resides. But Ben was not just an old friend/crush, he ended being the head honcho for the company Anne was interviewing for. Oh, great! Complication!
The beginning was very monotonous and dull. With a rudimentary style, the story is very slow at capturing my interest. The characters were flat and the scene descriptions were rather long-winded; however, there were some sweet moments between Anne and Ben. Then you throw in a fake engagement for an obsessed ex-girlfriend, and you get a fairly compelling twist.
The bulk of the story mainly centers on their one-week fling and constant worry over the status of their relationship. The best part was yet to come: the colossal BOOM where truths are revealed.
This was an okay, little romance.
My rating: 3 stars

Review: LIVING WITH HER ONE-NIGHT STAND by Noelle Adams

Jill was always the good girl—shy, socially awkward, and more than willing to settle down with a forever man. One night, her online date stands her up and runs into a hot guy named Lucas at the bar. Even though the two couldn’t be more different (he rides with the tides and she wants to settle roots,) there’s no reason why they couldn’t both have tonight—just one night. So they hook up.


The next day, Jill discovers that her one-night stand ends up being her new roommate. Can you say “awkward?”


Since Lucas was not the forever man she was looking for, she decides to just forget the whole thing and move on as if nothing ever happened. But how can she do that when he’s strutting around looking so fine and sexy?


Another good romance by Noelle Adams.


My rating: 4 stars

Review: GOOD ON PAPER by Jennifer Millikin

Aidan Costa was the son of a romance novelist; Natalie Maxwell was the daughter of a preacher. Two teens that carry mythological expectations because of their parents (a romance novelists son would be the most romantic boyfriend and a preacher’s daughter would be the good girl,) but nothing is like it seems.


Years later, newly divorced Natalie is still reeling from the demise of her marriage, but, fortunately, she still had Aidan’s friendship. The two still share their witty banter, comforting gestures, and hearty laughter. They worked, but, at the same time, they didn’t work (her being a hopeless romantic with reticence on sex; and him not believing in love and just having fun with strings of one-night stands.)


“On every surface, in ways only eyes can see, they looked like a match made in heaven. They fit together.  But underneath,  geometry  doesn’t  matter. Below the surface is where it gets messy.” (17) Just because it seems perfect, it doesn’t mean it is.


“When all you can see are external characteristics, you can begin to match them up like puzzle pieces.” (94)


The problem with Natalie was that she was too focused on the Happily Ever After, on that untarnished, everlasting love. But Aidan knew that it wasn’t reality. He needed to help her realize that to get her to write her book and move on with her life.


I liked the authenticity of it. Life is not a fairy tale with princes on clean, white horses. Life has stale pumpkins with dirty rats. Aiden is simple and honest, which is what I liked most about him. He’s there for Natalie, but he doesn’t handle her with kid gloves. Like him, I don’t believe in this nauseatingly perfect HEA love (to be quite honest, I don’t really believe in marriage either.) The notion of a “romantic love” is definitely a heavy issue, one that regresses past trauma in both characters.  I certainly don’t get sappy over this romantic love, but what endeared me most was the foundation of friendship between Aidan and Natalie.


The relationship between the two characters is thoughtful, genuine, and achingly raw. Why not them indeed?


Well-written and full of emotion, story is a depiction that true love is not “a tidy, romantic experience to come  in  a  cute  box  with  the  pale , pink , silk  ribbon  wrapped around it.” (18) It engages the reader and entices to look beyond what’s “good on paper,” to get past the “pretty” and “perfect,” and see that everything doesn’t have to fit. The author certainly knows how to keep the reader hooked.


A perfectly imperfect novel!


My rating: 4 stars

Review: THE CUCKOO COLLOQUIUM by Michael Greco

Image Graphic designed by Sandra Lopez
"The Cuckoo Colloquium" is an uproarious misadventure, a gritty lost-in-the-jungle story with life lessons for everyone!The princess. The liar. The thief. The bully. The wuss. Five troubled teens from around the globe, plus their inexperienced driver and elderly chaperone, have unexpectedly been stranded in the exotic-bizarre rainforest world of Borneo.
It was supposed to be a year-end leadership seminar. It was supposed to help them grow, their minds expanded by the stunning landscape and the exotic wildlife.
In reality? Not even close.
Lost and separated in an uncaring rain forest with flying snakes, abusive primates, and marauding jungle life, it's an unremarkable little bird, a cuckoo shrike, that seems to be calling all the shots.
Each member of the Cuckoo Colloquium is forced to face their own unique challenges, both savage and fantastic, or die trying. Because as it turns out, the jungle has no intention of letting them go.

Available on Amazon

My review:

“This isn’t a jungle, it’s a labyrinth…for loons! Death Trap, Borneo, the prequel, the psycho version.” (LOC 27)
A fat boy, a rich beauty, a troublemaker, a thief, and a bully. Five kids at Cuckoo Camp for a colloquium. Where were the mentors? Instead they were lost in Tarzan Land.
Diverse characters are eccentrically portrayed in an erudite tale of debauchery and survival.  
This was kind of a mix between The Breakfast Cluband Lord of the Flies, and the outlandish writing style was a remarkable change of pace. Each dysfunctional character brings its own flavor of clash and high jinks, adding drama and tension to an unstable situation. Story was a little inane and convoluted at times. It felt too all over the place. I thought that it would be an interesting adventure of fantasy and fun mayhem. Instead, reading it made me feel like I was tossed in a whirlpool of exotic and weird with the plot going absolutely nowhere. I just felt confused most of the time. It definitely makes you go CUCKOO.
My rating: 2 stars



---Excerpt---
 
His name was Windell Ambrose Irvington the Second, but there was no way around Windy—he wore the nickname like a scarlet letter.“The fat kid farted again!” The other four teens had laughed during the ride over, because he’d accidentally made wind when this ENORMOUS bug flew into the minivan.Windy suffered from a difficult stomach, and when things surprised him, that was just the way his system reacted. It had been a big insect, though, with red eyes that buzzed, and flapped, and kicked around like some berserk jungle buzz saw. No doubt about that.Overhead he heard a long hiss like a tire deflating. He scoured the green canopy above. Then he saw eyes, big and bad eyes, predatory eyes...Windell Ambrose Irvington the Second passed wind and ran again.Another wet branch smacked him in the face. His eyes stung but he didn’t stop. The creatures were already feeding on him; he could feel them in his hair, in his underpants. Blood was dripping down one leg, he was certain; something was snacking on him down there—something he had no desire to see.He heard a loud CRAAACK, and then a tremendous ROAR—the footsteps of some jungle monster looking for its next meal in the loon labyrinth.Windy ran faster than he had in his fourteen years of executive-grooming youth, propelled by the trumpet-like bars of stomach gas.“I’m special, that’s why I’m here!” he cried, loping along, farting like a squeeze bottle of mustard, “I’m too young to be food! I have companies to manage, people to fire!”Fate answered him as he was about to throw aside another big mop of leaves...Nini Read, the Canadian girl, was kneeling in a clearing, head hunched, writing in a small notebook on her legs. Nini had rampaging red hair, a freckly face, and stunning, emerald-green eyes that reminded Windy of some snooty house cat.Watching her through the leaves, he held his breath, afraid his panting would give him away. Breathe normal, be brave. You’re the croc-fighting Tarzan, the original Johnny Weismuller Tarzan, because he had a really cool yell—even if he was in black and white... You’re Tar-codile!Tarcodile smelled its armpit again and sneered, empowered, as if the odor were a tonic. Then it strutted forward like the brave conqueror it was and sneered at Nini Read.Stupid girls always ruined a good adventure.

Review: LIFE, LOVE, AND THE BIG D by William Quincy Belle

Ten stories about how things work. They beg answers to the question: What if life happened?


In “The Radio Show,” a woman learns of her husband’s philandering ways through the sound waves.


In “The Café,” one man is still turned on by his wife.


“An Extraordinary Meeting” finds a divorced couple rekindling old feelings and regrets.


The author is clearly a natural story teller. Well-written and engaging, these stories shed light on everyday situations with thought-provoking harmony and wit. I only wish that some were longer rather than interesting fragments that fell short. Still, they make you wonder about life, love, and the big D. They’re definitely good for a quick read in the break room.


My rating: 4 stars