Sandra C. Lopez's Blog, page 330

Review: NEWFIE, COME HOME by David Belisle

A terrorist group leader named Kihlall? That don’t sound too good. And he must eat his Toasted Tooty-Fruities cereal.O-kay!

Still, I wondered what was up with all this terrorist stuff and how it related to the plot.
Meanwhile, at the McDougall residence, the senior matriarch, Archie, reminisces of days gone by. But the main star of the story is his son, Gord, who was your run-of-the-mill slacker. For some reason, he wanted to end it all with “a shot of Screech and a handful of Flinstone vitamins.” Kind of an odd deadly mixture.  
So, after his first suicide attempt failed, Gord leaves the hospital thinking that if he wants to be somebody, he must kill himself. What in the world…
And so begins his “death quest.”
Eventually, we finally come to Gord’s encounter with the terrorists. At this point, I’m thinking that he should just let them kill him already and put an end to this lame story. But I guess he tries to be a hero of some kind.
This was kind of an odd-ball tale with screwball characters and a quirky dialogue (these characters were Irish.) Although I valued the nonconformity of the story, I felt that there were a few too many screws loose—screws that left a few too many question marks. The pace was kind of slow and it really wasn’t funny. It was more confusing than anything else. I mean, what was Gord’s reasoning for wanting to kill himself? And how was going up against a terrorist considered a “waste of time?”
This book sounded interesting at first, but it really wasn’t what I had anticipated.
 
My rating: 2 stars

Blitz Release: SURVIVOR by Kayla Marie

Can love heal all wounds,
or do some scars never fade?

After a tragic accident took everything from her, Avery is left broken, struggling to find her place in the world again. Now back home in Mason, Alabama, she goes through the motions, carrying on for the people who love her yet longing for the life she lost.

Her future seems bleak until Reid, a handsome mechanic and ladies’ man, charms his way into her life. Though he screams trouble, he sparks something inside her too tempting to ignore: the desire to live.

Reid is tired of meaningless flings and one-night stands, but after betrayal left him with major trust issues, anything more is beyond his reach.

When Avery, the enticing and mysterious new bartender in town, awakens emotions he never thought possible, Reid has to decide if she’s a chance worth taking or if some risks are better left avoided.

Will love be their second chance,
or will the past consume their future?

Survivor is the second stand-alone novel in the Sweet Home Dixie contemporary romance series.




Review: Reid has been the “love-em-and-leave-em” type ever since he realized that he was never going to have the real thing. Just as he was about to make another score for the night, he notices the new bartender and is intrigued by her. Where has he seen her before? And why does she seem so unaffected by his Southern charms?
When Avery decided to move back into her old town, she’d swore she’d never get close to anyone ever again. But then she runs into Reid, who makes her tingle in ways she’d never imagined. Still, she refused to let him get to her in any way.
The first part of the book dealt with the two denying their attraction for the other in a typical chick-lit fashion. But then we soon dive deeper into the emotional ties of these characters. Reid can’t seem to forgive himself for the mistakes he made on his last relationship and Avery can’t shake off the emotional and physical scars from that horrible accident. There is nothing more crippling than Survivor’s Guilt.
Throughout the book, the two engage in a montage of fun and courtship that opens their hearts to trust and love.
Ultimately, the story is about loss and regret, but also healing and moving forward. Well-written, for the most part, story is charged with an emotional complexity that gave the characters depth; however, it also carried a somewhat languorous pace. After reading the first book in the series, I am quite familiar with Ms. Marie’s knack for tugging at heart strings, but I just felt that the emotional weight might’ve lingered a bit too much. Of course, I have no doubt that readers would be able to find a connection.
It’s a pretty good book.
 
My rating: 3 stars

Review: WITCHING FOR A MIRACLE by Constance Barker (Book 7)

Bailey has come from the dead? I guess you really have to follow the series to get this story, otherwise, you’re just lost. Still, this doesn’t change the fact that the plot has become complicated and uninteresting. I thought the first book was much simpler and better.

 
My rating: 1 star

Review: WITCHING THERE’S ANOTHER WAY by Constance Barker (Book 4)

So it turns out that one of the bakery ladies is Bailey’s real mother, and Bailey hasn’t been able to forgive her. Now she’s in a relationship with a wizard and there’s a world called Faery. Faery, really? There was no real magic or mystery, and the whole thing was just plain dull.

 
My rating: 2 stars

Review: THE WITCHING ON THE WALL by Constance Barker (Book 1)

Bailey has always been fascinated by the caves of her town. What could the writings and drawings means? That’s why she works for a tour company so she can spend as much time as she can there. Sure, she works for a demanding boss, whom she provides unpaid “Accounting Assistance” as a favor. Really, unpaid?

It’s no wonder that Bailey gets headaches. But, soon, the headaches become much more when she starts hearing voices in her head. How could that be? Could it have anything to do with her birth mother?
In the midsts of all this chaos, she stumbles upon a dead body in the caves, prompting Bailey and her friends to start investigating. Who could’ve had a motive? The bakery ladies seemed to be acting stranger than usual. Perhaps they could’ve had something to do with it. But Bailey soon realizes that their secret had nothing to do with the murder. It turns out that they’re witches and they tell Bailey that she’s a witch, too. Apparently, those voices in her head are simply her ability to read minds.
A witty, fun mystery for the most part, but the whole thing was resolved too quickly in the end.
 
My rating: 3.5 stars

Review: EVERY WITCH WAY BUT WICKED

This is a collection of stories about, you guessed it…witches!

In one story, magical cookies enable a woman to communicate with her pets. In another, Crazy Zelda was just that: crazy…and boring!
Stories were confusing and senseless. Yeah, I get that this is supposed to have a wiccan lore, but all this voodoo-hoodoo stuff was putting me to sleep. A few stories were okay, but most were not. And what were aliens doing in here?
The best stories were: “Black Magic Wiccan” and “The Witch is Back”
 
My rating: 2.5 stars

Review: THE CAT, THE CROW, AND THE CAULDRON: A Halloween Anthology

A collection of Halloween stories, yay!

A man seeks revenge on Halloween with wicked fortune cookies. Oh, how he wishes he could see the look on those little snots’ faces once they read their fortunes. What delicious irony that the fortunes actually started coming true.
The home of a renowned serial killer is for sale and is believed to be haunted by the spirits of his 31 slayings. Sounds like the perfect place for a TV exec to boost her Halloween ratings. And she’ll do ANYTHING for it.
A teenage girl had dreams of a wrongfully-accused witch from the 1600’s, awakening dormant spirits.
Haunted by memories of her family’s dying screams in a roaring fire, a woman finds solace in a dark, brooding, and “stony” stranger.
Witty and full of dark irony! Loved it!
My rating: 4 stars

Review: SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET & OTHER SCARY STORIES by Russell J. Dorn

An evil skeleton bargains with a guilt-ridden boy, and a teacher performs deadly tricks.

These are good horror stories for kids. They’re short and not too scary. Some were a little too convenience and clichéd. They’re not too gory, but they’re not very stimulating either. They were just okay.
 
My rating: 3 stars

Review: THE TYLER FILES #1: SMARTY PANTS by Brian Rock

This book is dedicated to everyone who ever thought their day couldn’t get any worse – and was wrong!

  This is the story of a boy and his talking pants. Can you imagine the fly of your jeans moving like a mouth and talking? Freaky! Oy, the escapades that these smarty pants bring! It was like watching an episode of Hey Arnold! or reading the comics of a Sunday newspaper.
For Tyler and his pants, this was one crazy day at school.
So totally funny and outlandish! And loved the illustrations with its wild gestures and Garfield expressions!
A fun story for everyone! I look more to more zany adventures with Tyler the twerp.
 
My rating: 5 stars

Review: THE WEST WOODS by Suzy Vadori

This is the second installment of The Fountain series. The first book, The Fountain, was an exceptional YA novel about making your wishes come true.

The second book takes place at the same old St. Augustus and follows a young girl named Courtney and her friends. On a dare, Courtney ventures into the West Woods, where she finds a key leading to hidden secrets about magic and the school. And then she stumbles upon that same fountain that was so captivating in the first book, and she makes a wish. Story started off pretty slow with its vapid array of characters and develops into a slow and complex plot. I mean, I felt like it took forever to get to the fountain, and the main character didn’t make it any easier. At times, I just couldn’t stand her with her constant talk about the in-crowd and boys and all. I couldn’t really hold any interest for any of it. I’m sorry to say that this book could not hold a candle to the first. It wasn’t even in the same league, much less my expectations.
 
My rating: 2 stars