Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 303

Review: GREEN SMOOTHIE MURDER by Anna Lakewood

Autumn is the owner of a juice shop and her specialty is a green smoothie, which may have resulted in a murder. Not that the smoothie had anything to do with it, but the body was found in the back of her shop. That, along with Autumn being the last one to see the guy alive, make her the primary suspect in the case. This just made it bad for business. Her only chance to clear her name and save her business was to find the killer herself.

I thought this was a pretty good mystery, but the clues didn’t really lead to anything. I mean, the Dewey Decimal system in the library book that leads to the treasure hunt legend in the mines. How did that help any?
Simple and easy mystery.

My rating: 3 stars

Review: MASTIFFS, MYSTERY, AND MURDER by Sandra Baublitz

This is a dog detective mystery, and, boy, does it live up to its name. It’s nothing but dogs. Dogs everywhere!

Story takes place at a dog show. I honestly couldn’t get past all the dogs. Just a boring book.

My rating: 2 stars

Review: ICE CREAM MURDER by Leighann Dobbs

Lexy Baker is catering an event for a high-end client, who requested homemade ice cream for dessert. Yum!


But then the 100-year old honoree suddenly face-plants into his bowl of ice cream. The Ladies Detective Club, which Lexy’s grandmother is a part of, suspects murder. Cause of death: allergic reaction to something in the ice cream. Death by ice cream. What a way to go.


Since Lexy couldn’t afford to be dubbed the Killer Caterer (it’s bad for business,) she decides to join the investigation with the old ladies.


It turns out that motive behind the old man’s death could be money and any one of this money-grubbing heirs could’ve done it.


A quick, cozy mystery. There were too many suspects and sometimes the ladies were too nosy in the investigation. But this was an ok read.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: MURDER AT THE MUSEUM by Melanie Myers

Maree Lilley is a plane crash survivor. Now no longer an archaeologist with a fear of flying, she works as a curator for the town’s museum. After an argument with her boss, she finds him dead on her desk. The police think she did it.


Easy to read for the most part, book had a slight wit and an interesting premise. The death of a town jerk sounded like it might lead to some clever angles and quirky suspects; however, the whole thing was stifled by the amateur sleuths that didn’t have a clue.


This was an okay mystery, but not the best.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: VILLAGE BOOKS by Craig McLay

Reasons why working in a bookstore is great:


     1.       They’re quiet
     2.       All the knowledge and art ever created in one spot
     3.       You are not accosted by sales people like you would in an electronic store


That’s what was so great about Village Books


“Things may appear quiet on the surface, but passions run high.” (2)


I thought this might be an interesting read and there were tid bits that stood out to me, but the writing tends to babble incessantly and, at times, incoherently. I’ve often wondered what the heck he was talking about. It was also long-winded and didn’t seem to go anywhere within the first few chapters. I honestly thought this would be better.

My rating: 2 stars

Review: THE EXTRA by Kenneth Rosenberg

“Now, [Warren] was just another homeless person, struggling to survive on the streets of Hollywood.” (1) Bridgette was a struggling wanna-be actress, and, although she’s making a decent wage working as an extra, she starts to feel like she’ll never make it in the industry.


When Warren walks onto the set, they confuse him for an extra. Suddenly, he’s casted in a role. Turns out that Warren was a natural actor, and Bridgette wants to help him understand the biz. As the two get closer, they realize their feelings for each other run deeper than they thought.


Story was witty and well-written. It explores the true life of a Hollywood extra with a vivid portrayal of the painted and masked L.A. scene. The book was good, but it starts to lag about half way through. It’s a decent read.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: THE MAN TEST by Amanda Aksel

Marin (a therapist/marriage counselor): “I won’t be so bold as to say I’m a relationship expert, I’ve helped absent men become present husbands, set wandering eyes straight, and fueled fire back into sexless marriages.”


But Marin soon becomes one of those problematic couples when she catches her fiancé cheating on her. Her dream world is shattered in a matter of milliseconds. Would she ever love and trust again?


Then she reads a book that reveals the truth about men: All men cheat and all men lie. She soon learns that the male species carries a “man disease of deceit.” So then she spends her time researching and learning more about “the truth.” And to prove the truth to her friends, she comes up with The Man Test—she will date a man and show that he will lie and cheat.


If you go looking for trouble, you will find it. Was Marin going to find trouble on this Man Test? Of course, especially when she meets James, the perfect specimen, who actually seems to be a really nice guy. We’ll see.


Can she pretend to like someone while having an ulterior motive? Or will she fail the test?


I thought this was lovely, candid, and well-written. I liked the concept of the Man Test and how it all came to be. Of course, you undoubtedly knew that there would be some blunders and misunderstandings, but they were not as harebrained as I would’ve liked. What I didn’t like the most was that it gets too scientific on the statistics of cheating men. This goes to show that even a therapist can be crazy, especially when it comes to love. And I kind of figured that guilt was eventually going to set in and Marin would realize that she may not have all the answers. Story was interesting up until half-way through, then it sort of tapered off from there. Overall enjoyable though.


My rating: 3.5 stars

Review: GIRLS OF SUMMER a chick lit short story anthology

This all starts off with a preview of a novel or novella by the editor, which sounds like a good one.
In “Random Acts of Violet,” a housesitter gets a strange visit from a little girl, and football-player Noah might just be the person she needs to get rid of the monster in the attic.

In “Mixtapes and Rolleskates,” recently divorced Angie meets Owen at a skating rink.
A woman finds the “magic of Maui” with a hot adventure resort director.

Cute and sweet stories of love and summer girls. Most of them were predictable, but some were a decent read.

My rating: 3 stars

Review: SUMMER DREAMS a short story anthology

In “The Door into Summer,” a woman bored with her admin job leaves one cold, gray morning and brightens with a smile at the first light of summer. It turns out it might be a sign that she was missing happiness in her life.

“Shannon” is the story from the POV of the family dog.

“Aunt Bessie” is a cozy, little mystery on the beach front.
“One True Love” is about a man and woman who find each other again through the power of a magic pendant.
And a pre-med student with self-doubt studies too hard, then learns what she is truly capable of.
Stories are lyrical and sentimental, and they’re all about summer. Some were okay while others were boring.

My rating: 3 stars

Review: JOSHUA by Robert Fishell

Image Graphic designed by Sandra Lopez

Life is bleak for 12-year-old Joshua Miller. He's failing in school, his teachers pick on him, his classmates laugh at him, a relentless bully terrorizes him, his best friend has moved away, and he's hopelessly in love with the prettiest girl in his school. At home, his harsh and distant father has all but disinherited him, he worries his mother to tears, and he squabbles senselessly with his pretty, talented sister Anica, who seems to be everything he is not. Then adolescence comes along and really complicates things. A torrent of long-denied feelings for a sister who once adored him compel Joshua to repair the damage he's done to their relationship. His longtime babysitter helps him to understand things his mother doesn't know how to tell him and his father doesn't want him to know. Then, in a murky funeral home far away from home, he meets a distant cousin who changes his life in ways he could never have imagined. As Joshua starts to turn his life around, his father's tortured past catches up with him, and life at home begins to unravel. Joshua is faced with a decision that could imperil his very life. He will risk everything to protect his sister, and in the process, he learns the power of love and the meaning of courage.

Available on Amazon






My review: From the day she was born, Joshua Miller has stood by his little sister.
“The bond between them was the only thing that gave Joshua any respite from his struggles.” (6)
He begins his growing years in kindergarten, separated from his beloved sister. As time goes on, she learns and gains other interests. Loneliness and resentment soon begin to take root in Joshua as he realized that his sister doesn’t seem to need him anymore. Then Josh starts having trouble in school while his parents quarrel in the background. Anica would have fun in school while school was a prison for Josh. He was the loser kid that nobody wanted. And he was so alone.
“Was that to be the purpose of his life, to acquiesce, just to be nagged, scolded, and lectured?” (39) No one loved him—not his teachers, not his classmates, not his parents, and not even his sister it would seem.
Throughout his school years, Josh had learned to survive. Meanwhile, the rest of his family was dealing with issues of their own. Anica couldn’t figure why her brother was so angry at her. His mother questioned what was happening to her children. His father didn’t know why he even bothered with the boy. The emotional baggage weighed heavily on them all. I’m not sure if the POVs of the other characters lent anything to Josh’s story.
The writing was good, but I think the story lamented too much on the emotional aspect and it was further strained by the various points of view. For instance, I don’t think it was necessary to relive how the parents met. If the story had to have the differing POVs, then it would’ve been better just centering it on the key players of the family (Josh, Anica, mother, father.) Instead, we got the views of even more characters. Cammie, Becky, Mary. I mean, who were all these other people?
The whole thing was a good drama with an emotional toll. Even though the book was titled after Josh, the story is really about a family being torn apart by feelings and issues. Readers will definitely feel for these characters. Story is a lonely and poignant tale with an impactful ending.
A pretty good read.
My rating: 3 stars



--EXCERPT--

Fifth grade played out like a bad sequel to the previous four years, the umptieth iteration of some idiotic slasher flick where everybody knew the killer would return and the victims would stupidly look in the basement.
Joshua was able to scrape by in school only because of the intervention they said he needed. He was forced to stay after school three days a week while a teacher would go about the room checking his work and that of the other dumb kids. She would stand by his desk, condescendingly walking him through his work, treating him as she might treat a much younger child. It kept his grades marginal, but he didn’t feel good about it. It only reinforced his notion of how stupid he was.
When homework hour was over, the streets and sidewalks would be empty of other kids, who were off somewhere not being losers. At least it provided him with a way of avoiding Jesse Duncan. On the days when he was allowed to leave school on time, he left by a different door each day and took a circuitous route to get home. Jesse would still ambush him occasionally, but Joshua learned that if he could just keep his head down for a couple of  blocks, Jesse would have his fun and then leave him alone.
He still gazed hopelessly at Becky Lindstrom, who just got prettier every year. The thought that she would never know he was alive no longer depressed him. Seeing her allowed him to feel something that was not black and shapeless like the other things he felt. She was a little ray of sunshine penetrating the canopy of the dark forest he wandered through, trudging towards his eighteenth birthday and life on the streets.
Anica continued to get better at the many things she did so well. She had lots of friends, and she was happy. Joshua continued his snipes and insults with her, and in time, she learned to give as good as she got. Their mother scolded them both for bickering but she gave up trying to reconcile the two of them. They would have to work this out on their own.
In the spring, Joshua and the other fifth graders were given a tour of Harry S. Truman Junior High School, where he would go next year. The school was much bigger than Lincolncrest. The floor plan was confusing, and there were long, imposing rows of lockers everywhere. Instead of one teacher, he would have five, one for each subject. It was scary, Joshua thought, but he also thought it could not be any worse than Lincolncrest. He had not learned how to achieve, but he'd learned how to survive.