Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 317

Review: THREE WISHES by Lisa Manifold

Tabitha is a lonely, suppressed woman dreaming of “what-ifs.” Then, one night, a djinn appears and offers her three wishes—three chances for a do-over, to go back to a time in her life and make a different decision. Who wouldn’t want to go back and relive a certain life-altering moment?


The first wish: she gets a chance to relive a night in her 17-year old self, to a first love.


The second wish: she gets a chance to take a chance on a new love. Funny how she gets yanked out of the wish as she’s about to get it on with the guy.


I thought this story had an interesting premise with wishes and do-overs; however, I didn’t really understand her wishes or the lessons she comes up with. The wishes were pretty dull to read. The author writes them in this past/present tense that wasn’t very satisfying.


My rating: 2 stars

Excerpt: SCREAMS BEFORE DAWN by Heinrich von Wolfcastle

Things in the Attic (short story)
She pulled the ladder down from the ceiling, cringing as it groaned in protest. The general rule for sneaking into the attic in the middle of the night was to be as quiet as possible, but she wasn’t practiced at it, and the ladder wasn’t aligned with her mission. No matter – her parents were pretty sound sleepers and generally preoccupied anyway. She pumped her foot on the bottom step to make sure it would hold her weight. Once she felt it was secure, she placed a flashlight in her mouth and shimmied her way into the ceiling, shuffling across patches of insulation and strategically placed floorboards, stray nails, cobwebs, and things that crawl. God, how she hated that attic. The storm had woken her – a large blast of thunder that shook the whole house – but it was her grief that kept her awake. Something strange happens when death takes up residence in your home; the atmosphere somehow becomes thicker – heavier – and everyday movements feel like you’re doing them through water. Even mundane chores like taking out the garbage require a new level of effort. She was learning about the strangeness of it all, like how she could be exhausted and wide awake at the same time. Maybe that’s what death does; it forces some kind of juxtaposition of contrasting things: all of your greens are framed by reds, you’re hungry but you don’t want to eat, and you’re alive but you wish you were dead. She swung her flashlight in an arc to clear away spider webs. In the middle of the night, the sounds of the house were more pronounced, and even more so from the silent attic – the hollow plunk of rain hitting gutters, the whirring start of the sump pump kicking in. It felt like a lifetime had passed since she was a girl scout, but, even so, she counted the seconds between flashes of lightning and clashes of thunder. What was the point of that anyway? It was clear the storm was on top of the house and not happening miles away. Her beam stopped on half-torn boxes, plastic bins, and large shapes covered in protective cloths. Flares of lightning lit the attic in wholesale flashes. As a little girl, she would have been frightened by what could have been hiding under the cloths or behind the boxes – by what might be watching her from the darkest corners of the room. Another crash of thunder rattled the things in the attic and shook the floorboards under her slipper-covered feet. She moved the beam from one cloth-covered mountain shape to the next. Her parents had a tendency to hold onto things long past their due. We bury our people in the ground and their things in the attic in this family, she thought. She made her way past tall vertical stacks of newspapers and magazines and found the specific cloth-covered mountain she was looking for. She hunched over to avoid the beams in the ceiling and waddled towards a tall, thin shape covered by a white sheet. It was easy to spot not because of its size and figure but because the white sheet was the cleanest in the attic – not yet aged or concealed by dust or cobwebs; her light appeared to bounce off of it when she found it. As she approached it and raised her hand to reach for it, she considered her horror if a hand were to reach back at her. She scoffed at the idea but shrank back with the slamming of another sharp crash of thunder. “Oh my God, Ash, get it together,” she whispered to herself. She reached back for the cloth and tore it away in one motion, revealing her grandmother’s antique cheval mirror. It looked just as she remembered it – standing tall and proud with its clouded glass mirror plate secured in its mahogany frame. Looking into it now, she could have just as well been a little girl again wearing her grandmother’s rose-colored shoes and pink scarves. A smile formed with the memory and began to quiver. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and her throat swelled with sadness at the realization that her grandmother no longer and never again would stand behind her in its reflection. She knew that, but somehow seeing her solitary figure gave her a felt sense of that loss – something that she would later struggle to find the words to express to her friend Val. She would have begun to sob if not for becoming distracted by seeing herself cry in the reflection of the mirror. The loss of her grandmother was her first real confrontation with death, and it became something she had to wrestle with – negotiating how much she allowed herself to experience her own sense of mourning and how much she allowed others to see her grief. She wiped at her eyes with her wrists, noting that her hands were covered in dirt and grime. Rain continued to rail at the roof above her, and somehow in this moment, she felt all right. She uncovered another one of death’s strange juxtapositions; the most normal she felt in the three days following her grandmother’s death came during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night as she sat on a cracked plywood board in the attic by her grandmother’s old mirror. The realization reminded her of something she had just read on a message board for New Agers. Someone had posted something along the lines of saying that with all forms of art, we try to create externally what we feel internally. As a little girl, she was forced into piano lessons by her mom, and she approached the instrument with the same excitement she had when she was given a bag of socks on her ninth birthday. “Well, you need them,” her mom had assured her. What she really wanted was to play guitar in a punk band. But her mom had a way of silencing those aspirations with her scoffs, eye rolls, and the scripted, “Ashley, please.” So, maybe her real calling was in performance art. She made sure to make a mental note of that as a point of discussion for drama class. Alas, she found what she was looking for – an item connected to the person she lost, which also happened to be a mirror (the second thing she needed), and a quiet space to try to contact the dead undisrupted. She sat down with her legs folded and placed herself in front of the mirror with the flashlight shining upwards from the ground. In that position, she could see her face reflected in the mirror and not much else. Following the instructions from the website, she began the process with an invitation for spirits to reveal themselves to her. She rested her  Available on Amazon

Review: GROWL by Elaine Pierson

Seventeen year old Lacey Hannigan knows that she's different from other people. Her ability to move things with her mind has made her an outcast, even in her own home. She hates the power that she has and wants nothing more than to be normal like everyone else. But when she is forced to run away from home or be sent to a hospital to be studied like some kind of science project, she has no choice but to rely on her telekinesis in order to survive on her own. She soon finds herself in more danger than she ever thought possible when she discovers that there are even stranger people than her in the world. Like Cole, a man with a deadly secret who has vowed to stop at nothing until he has her. And Jesse, who seems like the perfect man until she learns that he may not be who she thinks he is.

The unbelievable becomes reality when seemingly normal people shed their human skin for that of fur and prowl the streets at night looking for their next victim. Will Lacey's power be her saving grace or her doom?



My thoughts: Move over Carrie White, here comes Lacey Hannigan and she can get just as angry and dangerous. Her telekinetic powers are what draw you into to her tale; you just have to see what she can do.

And what choice did she have when she ran away from home? But things definitely take a turn for the worst when a pack of werewolves take a dark interest in her.

In her relentless pursuit for survival, Lacey meets other unusual characters. Apparently, no one is normal--or human for that matter.

The bulk of the story is basically a dog hunt for Lacey. She was the bone that every dog wanted to get their paws on. It got a little long-winded frankly.

Eventually I started thinking of Lacey as Bella from Twilight with twin brothers Jesse and Cole fighting over her like, well...dogs. On and on, back and forth, it eventually became a bore. It was endearing that the two actually fell for her. Then it became a battle for heart.

There were also too many wolves/characters to keep track of.

Although it was cool to see Lacey using her powers, it also put a damper on it when I found it that there was something wrong with her and using the powers were making her worse. That sucked.

This is an okay story, but I'm not sure if it be worth continuing the series if it's going to be nothing but a dog fight.

My rating: 3.5 stars

Review: BURNED BRIDGES by Marguerite Ashton

Recovering alcoholics become a group of friends as they battle their inner-demons along with old skeletons hidden in the closet. So much baggage and regret lie beneath the surface of every character. The main character, Traci, someone who barely has her own life together and now has to contend with a boyfriend’s fidelity and a new pregnancy, tells the whole story, which seems to center on her friend, Olivia. Why did she have a gun? And why was she so angry? It turns out Olivia was hiding a lot more than what she shared at AA. Then when a murder strikes, Traci must contend with a heart-wrenching decision. Should she come forth with what she knows or lie to protect a friend? And could somebody else know? Who keeps sending her these mysterious texts?

Story was simple, yet compelling. You want to see how the characters turn out. For the most part, the story was too quick; the plot moved so expeditiously from one twist to another, which made for a good mystery thriller, but I didn’t get a chance to soak any of it in. It should’ve been paced better, I think.
But, overall, it was good.
My rating: 4 stars

Review: A DARK COLLECTION: 12 SCARY STORIES by Mark Lukens

A woman hires a hitman to complete a deadly task and ends up regretting it. A father recalls an old monster from his childhood.  These are just a few of the stories you’ll find in this collection of dark tales.


Some of the stories were ok, but I found myself skipping most of them. They were really not as good as the summaries made them out to be.


My rating: 2 stars

Review: FORMER FIRST LADY by Ebony Edwards-Ellis

 Image Graphic designed by Sandra Lopez


The American people--critics and allies alike--like to compare Barry and me to the Obamas. Like the Obamas, we are an African-American couple who ascended to the White House with two young daughters. Both presidents were Ivy League educated lawyers. And Michelle Obama and I, having both been born during the third week of January, occasionally celebrated birthdays on the King Holiday.

What people often intentionally overlooked was how different Barry and I were to the Obamas. Barry and I weren't married at the time of our elder daughter's birth--a situation we did not rectify for several years. Having dropped out of college, I am not an Ivy League educated lawyer like Michelle Obama nor do I possess her grace, charisma or charm. And yes, both presidents answered to the nickname "Barry" at some point in their lives, but the names "Barack" and "Barrington" bespeak two very different backgrounds. And, no, despite all the efforts of Barry's PR machine to create the image of a peaceful cohesive family, Barry and I did not enjoy a particularly happy marriage.

Barry and I were the anti-Obamas...

This is how former First Lady Shelley Diggs characterizes her relationship with her soon-to-be ex-husband, Barrington "Barry" Welles. After Trump resigns under the threat of impeachment, Barry defeats Mike Pence in the election of 2020 to become the 47th President of the United States. Having never wanted to be a "political wife," Shelley has to sacrifice her freedom and privacy for the sake of her husband's political career.

Fed up with omnipresent Secret Service agents and desperate to reclaim, Shelley leaves her husband shortly after he finishes his second term, returns to her native New York, and relinquishes her protection detail. However, Shelley's yearnings for her husband threaten to derail her plans for her future. When a family tragedy strikes, Shelley must choose between her new life and the comfort and safety of her family. 




My review: Shelley, wanting to be free of the political spotlight, finally decides to file a divorce from the former president. As she would say, they were the "anti-Obamas" as they did not have a happy marriage. And so begins her story of how she came to be a former first lady.
Her story starts off from being raised by a single, promiscuous mother, working as a freelance writer eating Ramen noodles, and finally stumbling upon a wallet that changed her life.
Shelley really didn't think much of Barry. In fact, the two did not click at all in the beginning. She thought he was only into "rich boy stuff," and she was just a poor girl from the projects. Seriously, what did she ever see in Barry? He was an arrogant, egotistical, bossy Mama's Boy.
It was a rocky courtship that leads to a surprise pregnancy, a coerced marriage, and to the White House. Story relays the trials and tribulations of one head-strong feminist. Her story was honest, endearing, and relatable. It feels like you're right there with her.
Story was easy to read, even with all the political views. Ultimately, it centers on Shelley's journey and emotional growth as a mother, political wife, and self-serve woman. She goes on about how her life was split between writing, childcare, housework, and political events. The arguments between Shelley and Barry were so authentic and packed a punch. I thought the writing was pretty smart, even though parts of the story lagged here and there (mostly surrounding the political stuff.) It's still a pretty good story.
My rating: 3.5 stars

Review:DEAR ADAM by Ava Zavora

“Dude, let me read as long as I want”
Blogger, reviewer, and literary aficionada, Eve never found “the one,” and finds solace and pleasure in the written word.
“Instead of marrying myself, I think I’ll marry a library instead.” I like her! Such a passion for books!
When she thinks of romance, she thinks of Jane Austen with deep conversations, an exchange of hearts, and a true meeting of souls. Yeah, only in the books, sister!
Then Eden forms a close bond with a Twitter follower named Adam. Adam and Eve—what are the odds? Anyways, he’s a writer that woos her with his vast intellect, poetry, and international worldliness. He challenges her with debates on politics and gender rights. The two engage in such deep, philosophical conversation that it’s like they’re from the 1800’s or from the Renaissance. They pretty much carry a haughty tone throughout. But every now and then there is a sweet tenderness right out of Shakespeare scripture. Adam not only challenges Eve, but he provokes her and makes her feel worthy.
Book is compiled of blog entries, tweets, emails, and poetry with some story sprinkled in between. This is an old-fashioned love connection for the digital age. I thought there was just too much back and forth with the emails, which I guess makes sense as this was their only form of communication and it would be relatable in today’s age. But I just prefer more story than anything else.
This was “Dear Adam” all the way---it’s just nothing but love letters (or I should say love emails.)
My rating: 3 stars

Review: THE OTHER MAN by Nancy Adams (novella)

Christina used to be a happy woman with hobbies, joy, and laughter in her life. After being stuck in a dwindling marriage of five years, she has changed. Determined to find herself again, Christina finds herself tempted with the unthinkable: an affair—and this new man seems to have all the answers to her problems. It doesn't take her long to decide on what she wants, but before she can finalize those plans, she receives news no one is prepared for.



My thoughts: Tina is having trouble with her marriage. Then she meets an alluring man and starts to develop feelings of attraction for him.
This was a subtle, clean romance. Okay, but too short. And there’s a cliffhanger.


My rating: 3 stars

Review: RORY’S LOVE by Donna Butler

Aurora, A.K.A. Rory, is a psychic—a professional medium to celebrities that makes good money. Hey, why not use what you got, right?

Yeah, Rory’s got a sweet gig, especially when a regular asks for her help to communicate with his dead grandmother. She has an unrequited love for him, but she’ll go just to be near him. Sometimes communicating with spirits can be hard, especially when nightmares of rape and spirit attacks make the job unbearable and dangerous.
But, still, she doesn’t let that stop her. Pretty soon, her crush quickly turns to lust, and she gets tangled in a love affair.
I love psychic stories, but I felt that this one delved a little too much on the biz of music (some of the jazz and R&B songs I just didn’t recognize.) Plot was lagging and lacked a certain mystery or thrill. Hoping for more of a psychic mystery. Was this really about the life of a celebrity psychic with lavish penthouses, chandeliers, and yachts? The whole thing was mostly on Rory fawning over Curtis and following him around. There was nothing really to it. It was all about Rory’s love.  Kind of disappointing.

My rating: 2 stars

Review: HARD REDEMPTION by Emily J. Wright

Duke was a small-town crook...but that all stopped when he met and fell in love with Amber. He shared a happy life with her until she found out that she married a thief and a liar. After being arrested and having to relocate away from his only daughter, Duke was doing everything possible to avoid signing those divorce papers that Amber was so insistent on. But why was she in such a rush? Amber was re-marrying.
At a loss, Duke felt like things couldn't get any worse...until he discovers a fish loaded with diamonds. Of course, when he tries to sell the diamonds, he right away gets accused of stealing them. Somehow he gets a pay-out on it, and he hopes that it will be enough to win his family back.
I enjoyed the premise of the story. It was basically your average story of second chances, but I thought it was a lagging and somewhat confusing with the various characters entering the scene. I mean, we had Frank, Mary-Lousie, and Miss Applebaum. Who were these people? It kinda felt all over the place, which dulled my interest. I honestly would've liked more simplicity.
My rating: 2 stars