Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 305

Review: CROSSROADS ROAD by Jeff Kay

What would you do if your mother-in-law offered you a new house with 2 million dollars? The catch? You’d have to live in a customized cul de sac community with the rest of the annoying, crazy relatives.

For Jovis, it was an initial no-brainer. No! But then he’s not really satisfied with his job or his earnings, and with the new house and the money, he can finally write that novel he’s been dreaming about. So why not? So what if that means the mother-in-law will control every aspect of their lives. That’s what happens when you sell your soul to the devil.
Filled with snarky sarcasm and candid humor, the story was somewhat average with a gradual build-up. The whole story is basically the family’s transition to Crossroads Road (yeah, I thought that was a stupid name for the community, too) with family drama, gossip, and generally idiotic remarks paving the way.
You do feel for Jovis and his wife. Everyone is crazy, especially the mother-in-law, who is both irrational and unpredictable. As fast as she made you rich, she can take it all away and make you poor again. You need a Mylanta margarita to get through this move. The man on the cover illustrates this story well.
Is this all worth it? You just have to see how this disastrous story plays out. 

My rating: 3.5 stars

Review: COFFEE, TEA, OR ME by Rich Amooi

Jack had the most successful coffee shop in Northern California...until Susie's tea shop moved next door. Tea and coffee were two different beasts, so they couldn't possibly compete...could they?
Susie's opening day turned Jack's place into a ghost town. That was just unacceptable to him. So what if she was attractive and had the best scones he'd ever tasted. He couldn't very well allow her to ruin his business as well as his opportunity to franchise. The first thing he does is report her electrical violation to the city. Report it by mail? Who mails anything nowadays? A promotion for coffee-flavored tea? Oh, she was playing hard-ball alright.
The whole thing turns into a giant, humorous war between the two; however, the chemistry between them is clearly noticed. The two were light-hearted, sensitive, and sincere―a match made in heaven.
Story was funny and witty. Another good one from the King of Romantic Comedy.
My rating: 4 stars

Excerpt: HYPNOSIS: A RETURN TO THE PAST by Maria Inês Rebelo

Image Graphic designed by Sandra Lopez

Marcus Belling is a world-famous hypnotist.
For the past 20 years, many exclusive clients have benefited from his skills and desire to help people.

However, everything changes when a mysterious woman named Anne Pauline Roux knocks on his door.
She holds a rare power when hypnotized, which will affect both their lives in ways they could never imagine. Her unique power is so strong that it doesn’t stay secret for long.

Marcus’ archrival and fellow hypnotist, Josef Salvaterra, has been looking for a way to shut down Marcus’ business for years. Pauline may just give him the opportunity he’s been waiting for. If he can work this to his advantage, he could be recognised as the greatest hypnotist the world has ever seen.

With such a prize at stake, is there anything he’s not prepared to do?

Reading this book is a hypnotic process that will lead you to question the meaning of destiny and truth, and restore faith in our ability to find the good, even when we are not looking for it.
Available on Amazon
---EXCERPT---
THE FIRST SESSION

The big day arrived! Anne Pauline would finally start hersessions with Marcus Belling and it was beyond her wildestdreams that these appointments would change both her lifeand that of Marcus Belling… forever.The sun was shining brightly on that day. The young,green-eyed woman was anxious for the return to her pastthrough regression as it could possibly open the door andenable her to understand her anxieties. But for the moment,it was no more than mere speculation. In fact, Anne was notreally sure if she had lived any past lives, despite her intuitiontelling her that she had so. She did not know if her anxietywas related to any traumas from the past, but her intuitionsaid yes to this as well. Anne was also not sure if MarcusBelling was the right person to help her, especially afterhaving discovered that he was the mysterious and obscureman of her dreams. Once more, however, her instinct wassure: the renowned hypnotist would be able to find her lostmemories, those mementoes that made her feel lost, guilty,anxious and incapable of defining her own identity. Maybeshe belonged to those different times that still accompaniedwhile asleep, especially when she dreamed. This was truly adifferent dimension of life that was not always so accessibleto others.Anne Pauline wondered how she could be healed bysomeone who had created so much harm. The man in herdreams with the same tone of voice as Marcus Belling hadput a set of questions to her every night that was makingher doubt if deserved to know her past. Was she worthy orrespectful enough? Her true self was considered to be so,but she did not know if it was necessary to look for the helpof the famous Marcus Belling at this stage in her life. Formany years, she lived with this dilemma, up until she finallydecided to take courage and ring the bell of number 27 SunAvenue.Anne Pauline Roux had a strange mixture of feelings.She lived for many years with her parents in the village whereshe learned to listen to the sounds of the world, and whereshe admired the horizon at the end of the day; it was onlythat sight which brought her peace of mind. But during thenight, everything changed. Her dreams were trying to grabher once more, and she didn’t know if she should open thedoor to the unknown. At times, she felt a lack of freedom,as if someone had imprisoned Anne at a certain point, andthere was no space left for critical thought to develop withinher! This was the worst possible thing one could do to her.To a certain degree, it seemed that her mind and capabilityof thought were chained, even if it was hard to define thisfeeling. She was also daunted by some kind of treason, eventhough Anne could not really define this feeling, whichseemed lost somewhere in the remote past. The combinationof all these circumstances created a mixture of sensationswithin her that was not easy to define and thus, made AnnePauline’s soul enormously unstable. After several years, thisdiscomfort made her look for help and try past life regressionwith Marcus Belling. On this day, just as Anne was headingdowntown, the famous hypnotist got ready to leave home.He kissed Patricia tenderly and made his way to the hypnosisclinic.Marcus Belling had decided to see his friend ThaddeusBorba before starting his sessions. The man was over 70 yearsof age and Sun Avenue’s shoemaker. He was a tireless workerwho kept doing his work with the same dedication as he didover 40 years ago, and so shared many affinities with Belling.They had a close and friendly relationship, somethingthe old man did not have with all his clients. On his wayto the clinic, the famous hypnotist tried to feel all thosearomas of a summer morning. He was a regular client at theshoemaker’s workshop and normally trusted him to repairhis shoes. Belling really liked to help all those who workedin Sun Avenue by using their services, such as buying a goodbook, an old chest of drawers or, as on this occasion, simplyhaving his shoes polished. This purpose led to the creationof the ‘Sun Avenue’s Free Club’, an open organisation thatwas formed years ago and brought together all those whoworked, lived or simply loved or admired the renownedavenue. It was far from being a closed, elitist group, as all ofits members openly promoted their membership, as well asthe culture and arts that had developed in that central artery,and its history. Marcus Belling obviously belonged to theClub (since he believed in the open and democratic spirit ofthe same) but was not its most regular member due to a lackof time.Georgine Gunderson had also decided to join in, but didso to develop her research into the history of the Avenue.Only a few knew it, but legend had it that large amounts ofgold existed under this street, which had become the heartof the city. It was a myth such as this which was behind theconstruction of the statue to the phoenix, a tribute to theforgotten history of Sun Avenue. Maybe it was a forgottenhistory by convenience, Georgine thought, for if the legendwas true, there could really be tons of gold to extract. Butshe would never know if this was true and there was noother alternative than to continue her search through localhistory, with a special focus on Sun Avenue. On the sameday, Georgine returned to the shutdown city library, whereshe would do more of her lonesome work.As usual, Belling used some of his spare time to visitThaddeus. The shoemaker was a special person, who wasdifferent from all the others. Just like many other clients,Marcus Belling considered him to be one of the bestshoemakers in the entire country, as he could make eachclient a special person. Everyone greatly admired him,even though some found it sad that he would not teach hisprecious knowledge to anyone who could then keep it alive.Belling had not forgotten Thaddeus on this particular daybut he did not bring any shoes to repair this time. He justwanted to greet him and see that remarkable smile Thaddeusshowed to every single client, as if each one was a uniqueperson.‘Good morning, Thaddeus, how do you do?’‘Good morning, Mr Belling! You are quite early today!What can I do for you? Do not tell me it is because of thoseshoes I fixed last time! Didn’t it work?’ the shoemaker asked.‘Do not worry, Thaddeus, I really appreciate what youdid! But today, I am not bringing you shoes, as I usually do.I just visited to see how you are doing,’ a smiling Bellinganswered.Thaddeus was not only recognised as ‘the shoemakerof Sun Avenue’, but also as one of the last of his generation.In fact, he never got married nor had he any children, andtherefore, no descendants would inherit his workmanship.To make it worse, he was the only shoemaker who played thelute. As he sang verses on the truth about people’s lives (orso they said), they gave him the nickname of ‘Troubadour ofTruth’. For some others, he was not a troubadour but ratheran oracle, as each of the verses contained a vision of what theperson’s future would be like. Thus, behind the appearanceof a trova, was a hidden prognosis about future times, whichoften materialised, and to everyone’s knowledge, an apparentlay hid the prospect of future events, which could verypossibly become true! Thaddeus Borba brought these up toentertain his clients while they waited for their shoes to befixed, instead of asking them to take a walk while he servicedtheir shoes. This innovative method made him even morefamous in the city, and brought him more and more clients!In fact, playing the lute and singing those verses were quitea common occurrence for him, and that’s exactly what hedid when he saw Marcus Belling on this day. Thaddeus hadknown the famous hypnotist for many years and could tellwhen he needed wise advice to guide him in the near future.His words came out to the sound of the music:

It is better to know at timesThan just to wait and seeThe one who will ariseWill forever change your mind.

Review: SOPHIE LAST SEEN by Marlene Adelstein

"She’d always told her daughter that if they ever got separated, she should go back to the last place they had been together." (9) That is why Jesse continues to go back to the place where Sophie was last seen 6 years ago. Just in case Sophie would be there. Whenever she saw a teenage girl with the slightest resemblance or just a hint of the habits Sophie had, Jesse would follow. Even after a policemen handed her a pamphlet on surviving the aftermath of a missing child, one verse stood out to her the most: Never stop looking.
Now divorced and childless, Jesse was forced to remain in their family home...alone and waiting. She couldn't even be around Star, Sophie's best friend, without being reminded of her.
Unfortunately, Star knew that there was no happy ending to Sophie's disappearance with wild scenarios like torture, rape, and...murder.    
Jesse and Star have never been able to forget That Day, and their sporadic memories take the reader through intervals of happiness and darkness. At times, the scenes―scenes that were often filled with drama and heart-wrenching loss― were a little drawn-out, which tended to create a dreary monotony. I thought there were a few too many references to birds, but it made sense to have them since Sophie loved birds so much. The bulk of it mainly centers on the scarring trauma of Jesse and Star, the only ones that have never been able to move on.   
Things certainly take a turn when Star starts seeing ghostly images of Sophie. How can she be talking to Sophie? Wasn't she supposed to be dead? And why did she keep coming to her? I thought the plot would quicken at this juncture, that we would finally get down to the mystery of what happened; however, it remained stagnant on the emotional dramatic aspect. Every element revolved around the time Sophie was last seen. The story didn't really move forward to me.
Overall, the story was well-written and insightful, however, it was fairly slow and often repetitive. It was good, but I expected more.
My rating: 3 stars

Review: NEVER KNEW by Maria Elena Martinez

Graphic Image designed by Sandra Lopez

Lexi has given up her career as an illustrator to run grandpa Candelario’s hotel because he has gone missing and is believed to be dead. Lexi believes she can trust Mark, her grandfather’s accountant and an old friend from elementary school. Staying in contact hasn’t been easy but he always sent her messages through her grandfather. However, Mark might not be the person she remembers. Lexi needs to start trusting the right people in order to keep herself safe in this suspense about friendship.

Available on Amazon










My review: Lexi’s grandfather disappeared and, since then, has been presumed dead, resulting in her inheriting his prestigious hotel in Florida. As a former Illustrator, she knew nothing about running a hotel, but was not about to dishonor her grandfather’s wishes.
Coming back to Florida may have seemed like an easy task, especially when she reconnects with an old friend from school—Mark. However, nothing is without its drama. Out of the blue, her boyfriend, Rob, presents an impromptu proposal that leaves her floored. After all, Lexi has never really considered marriage. Suddenly, he wants more—he wants to move to Miami, buy a house, and settle down with her. With Rob’s decision and the hotel, Lexi was spinning in all sorts of directions. It was too much too soon.
Of course, things get more complicated when her old friend and her boyfriend don’t seem to get along too well. Could Mark be in love with her? And what kind of secrets were they hiding? Who was she in love with? Both? Neither? That whole war of the roses between them was just crazy!
Caught up in a strange disappearance, an espionage trail, and the love of 2 men, one confused woman learns what she never knew.
This was a pretty enjoyable read. Reader feels just as lost as Lexi battles the confusion and sense of loss. So many questions and no answers.  What lies will she discover? Who does she believe after so long? What will be the truth?
The writing presented the story in a summary style, explaining rather too much at times. For the most part, the story was well-written and easy to read. I liked how relatable Lexi was as well as the surprises you find in her story. Although I valued the descriptive scenes, I thought some were too long and could’ve been condensed to just the major parts.
Overall, this was pretty good.   
My rating: 3.5 stars



---Excerpt---
Her first instinct told her not to let him inside. A past incident regarding someone else came to mind. She clinked her nails on the doorknob, deciding what to do.

Review: COURAGE BETRAYED by R. Scott Mackey

A woman thinks her husband may have killed someone. But Detective Ray Courage didn't have anything to go on. After all, there was no bloody knife, photographs, or anything else that would cast guilt on her husband. He just had a nightmare about killing someone. Not proof at all. Crazy, yes. But not proof.
However, it seemed that mild-mannered husband was experiencing a schizophrenic episodes―"Jekyll and Hyde" moments in which he was acting out of character. And the fact that the husband screamed out a murder that was reported in the newspaper recently was too big of a coincidence to ignore.
Ray Courage must find the truth. Was the husband a killer? Or were these allegations the result of a drunk and suspicious wife? Or perhaps this case was much bigger than he thought.
Well-written and insightful, this novelette is once again packed with mystery and intrigue. Of course, it wasn't quite as climactic as previous Ray Courage books, but it was still a pretty good read.
My rating: 4 stars

Review: THE GIRL ACROSS THE STREET by G. Lusby

This is about a guy named Tim telling the story of a girl across the street—a girl named Ashlee, who is now the love of his life.
He has always loved her, but now that they are in high school, that love is different.
The bulk of the story is centered on him pining over her. I grew tired of hearing about how great Ashlee was—her smile, her eyes, her hair, her laugh, and her body, which is doing strange and exciting things to Tim. It was all very redundant and blasé.
My rating: 2 stars

Review: MURDER IN THE 4TH HOUR by Michael Gregory

A dead teacher. But not just one dead teacher, but two in the 4th hour period of a high school. 

Doyle is a young high school kid with a brilliant and incisive mind. In fact, he can be a little too smart for his own good. But he just might be the one who can solve this complex case. And when I say "complex," it is REALLY complex. 

He, along with his best friend, Jack, will need to counteract administration and a police captain father to solve this bloody case. 

I thought the idea of a kid detective was pretty cool. Doyle certainly had some funny language, like he was Sherlock Holmes or something. Why couldn't he just talk like a regular kid? The mystery and investigation wasn't that interesting either. All the two really talked about was school and the other kids. Well, the murder did take place at the school. But the story was a little lengthy and a little too dull at times. I liked how this was narrated by Jack, who was the more laid back and typical teen, rather than Doyle, who was uptight and superior. 


My rating: 3 stars

Review: LAST EXIT TO MONTAUK by Phillip Vega

Graphic Image designed by Sandra Lopez

Love the eighties? Love romantic adventures? How often have you looked back on your high school experiences and just thought . . . WOW. Last Exit to Montauk will take you there . . . and more.
***
When he approaches her at the market, he has no idea the next three weeks of his life would change him forever.

It’s the late 1980s, summertime, on the North Shore of Long Island. The air stirs with possibilities as it often does during this time of year. And so begins the romance between one Hispanic seventeen-year-old male, on the verge of manhood and ready to conquer the world, and one beautiful and intelligent young woman named B.It is much more than romance, though. B will forever become a part of this young man’s soul. He will never forget her.

This is a coming-of-age story, a love story, replete with milestones, tangled emotions, and adventures that are the embodiments of first love. Not just for the young, but for the young at heart. 


Available on Amazon


My review: It’s the Summer of ’87 and love is in the air.

Sparked by a random woman in the supermarket, who was a dead ringer for his wife, a man recollects his first meeting with her. It was 1987, and they first met as teenagers in high school in the supermarket smelling citrus fruit.
The story had a hard-core setting of the 80’s. The pace was languid, but the writing was decent. I enjoyed the ambition and wit in the story, which is something I think that most readers would relate to. Even if they weren’t from the 80’s, most people would relate to a first crush or love.
A puppy love tale immersed with Latin culture and rockin’ with an 80’s theme.
The book was a teen romance all the way. The boy just couldn’t get enough of the girl, which was sweet, but I kind of wished the story would’ve picked up a little. I didn’t think that we really needed to hear the boy’s every minute thought. Perhaps a little tension in the story could’ve heightened the intensity.
All in all, I thought this book was pretty good.
My rating: 3 stars




---Excerpt---



The bowling alley was located at a strip mall near my house. We checked in with the guy behind the counter, who assigned us a lane, then gave us each a score sheet and a pair of really fashionable bowling shoes. You know the ones. Red and black separated with a white stripe down the middle, white soles, shoe size emblazoned on the back. To this day, they still remind me of clown shoes.
We found a couple of black bowling balls and put them in the ball return area. I placed the scoresheet on our bowling desk and wrote our names down.
Back then we didn’t have electronic scoreboards, so you had to know how to keep score. You had to know the difference between a strike and a spare, how to score it properly, and what happened in the last frame if you threw one. Of course, each table had the rules written down, so if you didn’t know how to keep score, you could read the directions and learn the rules. It was bowling, not rocket science.
We were playing the best of three. Like tennis, the loser would buy pizza. “And don’t take it easy on me. I plan on winning again,” she warned me, grinning.
I laughed. “Oh don’t worry; I don’t plan on losing two days in a row. I hope you brought your wallet.”
I wasn’t much of a bowler and only played now and again. I was lucky if I broke a hundred, but don’t judge. How many famous Hispanic bowlers do you know? I bet you could rattle off a few hundred Hispanic baseball or soccer players though, right?
Besides, most kids in the neighborhood didn’t come to the bowling alley to bowl. We came to play video games. I remember when they got Ms. Pac- Man. Adults and kids would put their quarters down on the lip of the machine and patiently wait their turn. While you waited, you could play another video game, like Asteroids, or play pinball.
They had the classic pinball games like Kiss and Pinball Wizard. Today, it’s all about X-Box, iPads, Sony PlayStation, and online computer games. Man, times have changed. But that day, we were there to bowl.
She bowled first. She did a quick stretch, blew into her right hand, and picked up her ball. Before making her approach, she bent over and stared down the bowling pins as if to say, “You’re mine.”What a view.
She inhaled, held it, and exhaled. Then in a very fluid motion, she took a few steps and released the ball, knocking down nine pins. She twirled around, smiling, and looked over at me, raising her eyebrows. “I hope you brought your A game!”
Oh, crap!
I just smiled back. Her ball returned, and she picked it up. She went right back to her previous spot and picked up her spare. She yelped and did a fist pump. She then turned around and bounced back to the bowling table as if it were no big deal. So, she can bowl. Who knew?
Maybe she got lucky. Yeah, that’s what it was—luck. Just like tennis yesterday. Luck.

[image error]


“Do you know how to keep score?” she asked.
“Yeah, I know how to keep score. This isn’t my first time bowling,” I replied. It’ll only look like it.
We spent the rest of the afternoon bowling without a care in the world. Strike! Spare! Gutter ball! Seven/ ten split! Spare! We laughed. We high-fived. Most importantly, we had fun. We only played two of our best of three games. Yes, Charlie Brown lost again . . . sigh!
I just laughed it off. Besides, she had distracted me with her awesomeness.
“So where do you want to go for pizza?” she asked.
“I know a joint,” I joked.
Like most Long Island strip malls, this one had a grocery store, liquor store, card store, record store, Carvel ice cream parlor, drugstore, dry cleaner, Chinese food, and, of course, a neighborhood pizza joint.
On Long Island, every neighborhood has a locally-owned Italian pizzeria in every shopping center. You had Tony’s, Vinnie’s, Mario’s, Johnny’s, and an assortment of other places that were names ending in a vowel. The very best pizza on the planet, in my opinion, was our neighborhood’s local pizzeria—Giuseppe’s.
If you want to get into a pissing contest, make the mistake of saying your pizza place was better than someone else’s. You know the expression about never discussing religion and politics? Well, when you’re on Long Island, add pizzerias to the list. You will argue for hours.
When the pizza chains started to open up, people would order from them only if they didn’t feel like driving, or were in a jam; otherwise, people looked down their noses at those places. You never admitted to ordering from Domino’s, or being seen in Pizza Hut.
It wasn’t raining very hard, so we walked a few stores down to Giuseppe’s Pizzeria. We ordered a couple of slices each and Cokes and found a booth toward the back. And that was how you ordered it: “Let me get a couple of slices and a Coke.”
Back then, you didn’t have a great selection. You couldn’t order a Hawaiian slice or a Meat Lovers slice.
Gourmet slices like goat cheese and truffles or escargot pizza were not yet in vogue.
For those of you wondering, yes, I was the one who once had eaten escargot pizza. Yes, it was awful, and yes, there was a girl involved. Fortunately, the girl I was trying to impress that day, still agreed to marry me the in the mid-’90s. The lesson I learned that day? Don’t be a shmuck! When in doubt, go with pepperoni. Okay, back to the story . . .
“Did you let me win again?” B teased.
“You were there. Did it look like I let you beat me? Besides, you only beat me the last game by two pins.
And I do recall someone coughing real loud as I threw my last ball. I’m not making any accusations or
excuses, mind you, I’m just saying.”
She tried to hide her smirk.

Review: KILLER AMONG by S.E. Green

“Life is supposed to  be  pretty  routine,  right?  You graduate high school, work a summer job… help out at home, [and] get back into stalking…”


Lane has been trying to get back to what appears to be “normal” for a while now, if only she could shake off the annoyances of her family. Up until recently, all her kills have been warranted (e.i. her mother, her aunt, even her own copycat), but the last kills was purely accidental. Turns out that she killed the son of a District Attorney, who was ruthlessly known for putting away the bad guys.  And the guy she killed was known as a vigilante on the hunt for a serial killer, who apparently has re-surfaced in the eyes of the public. Not only is Lane dealing with guilt over her latest kill, but she’s also following a killer’s trail to make him pay.


The idea of a killer-killing killer was just an ironic and clever twist. It’s something you usually don’t see every day.


Written in 1stperson POV, story is a simple chronicle of a witty teen’s investigative hunt.  I enjoyed her sharp and sarcastic mind along with her questioning morals on righteousness and normality.


“If things would’ve gone as planned, Scott might still be alive, I wouldn’t be on the Butler’s radar… and I wouldn’t be chasing a clock trying to beat the D.A. and her team in finding Teddy.”


Things become more complicated when a dead body turns up and Lane has to dispose it and protect someone’s identity. Story follows a series of strange events with secrets revealed in every corner.


Readers will be entranced by Lane’s time-ticking search, and, oddly enough, they will root for this killer-killing killer and her kind of justice, even if her justice was a little too violently graphic at times. Her heart may not be pure, but it bleeds for the innocent victims and secretly lurks beneath a load of wicked darkness. Her need to “re-balance and unbalanced world” was altruistic. However, was this true justice…or just a killer among? And who were the real monsters? Quick, easy, and captivating!


My rating: 4 stars