Category: Funny

Book Blitz: Stiff Lizard

4/9/2021

STIFF LIZARD

By LISA HANEBERG

Series: A Spy Shop Mystery
Publisher: Written Pursuits Press
Pages: 364 pages
Pub Date: March 13^th, 2021
Categories: Women Sleuths / Cozy Mystery / Private Investigator / Humor

Rodent Roger, a popular Galveston Island exterminator, goes missing the day after he tells private investigator and spy shop owner Xena Cali about a concerning uptick in green iguana sightings on the island. Theyâ€™re crapping in peopleâ€™s boats and falling from trees. Are the lizards swimming over from Florida to escape the pythons, or is it something more nefarious? Can Xena help untangle the mess before the raucous reptiles take over Galveston?

Ultima Penelope Roger is a best-selling writer of romance novels. The Lizard Liquidators have set up shop on Galveston Island. Herpetologist Quintana Flores, PhD, works on a bizarre cruise ship that sails out of the Port of Galveston. Sasha Barlow is a driven junior reporter whoâ€™ll do anything to get the story. Ned â€œThe Pelican Manâ€ Quinn writes a column about bird necropsies. Captain Ethan Slaughter is the head of the Major Crimes team at the Galveston Police Department. Xena and her team will have to partner with and/or battle this cast of characters and others to solve what becomes a disturbing murder investigation.

Stiff Lizard is the third full-length book in the Spy Shop Mystery series. If you like fast-paced crime novels, clever satire, and gritty beach towns, then youâ€™ll love Lisa Hanebergâ€™s humorous and contemporary cozy caper.

PRAISE FOR STIFF LIZARD:

"Lisa Haneberg has a wicked sense of humor. She can also write a fast-moving, totally original mystery." -- Alan Rinzler

Lisa Haneberg's newest entry in the Spy Shop Mystery Series lives up to its predecessors. A good number of laughs, lots of intrigue, a bit of titillation, lots of interesting information, and lots of mystery make for a good read.â€ â€“ Verified purchaser from Amazon

Purchase Links
Amazon | Bookshop | Barnes and Noble

Lisa Haneberg loves to explore Galveston Islandâ€™s gritty back streets, stellar seafood joints, magnificent natural areas, and all points in between. In addition to the Spy Shop Mysteries, sheâ€™s a blogger and has authored over a dozen nonfiction books. She earned an MFA degree from Goddard College and a BS in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Maryland.

Before writing crime fiction, she was a seasoned human resources professional with a strange attraction to gnarly internal investigations. She lives with her husband and dog in Lexington, Kentucky. Lisa once owned a home on Galveston Island and is a frequent visitor.

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Review: Screwdrivered

7/2/2016

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Screwdrivered
The Cocktail Series Book 3
by Alice Clayton

Synopsis

Readers back for a third round of the bestselling Cocktail series will enjoy a madcap romantic comedy about bodice ripping and chest heaving, fiery passion and love everlasting. Plus a dash of paperwork filing and horseshi—wait, what?

By day, Viv Franklin is a tough-as-nails software engineer who designs programs and loves hospital corners. By night, Vivian’s a secret romance-novel junkie who longs for a knight in shining armor, or a cowboy on a wild stallion, or a strapping firefighter to sweep her off her feet. And she gets to wear the bodice—don’t forget the bodice.

When a phone call brings news that she’s inherited a beautiful old home in Mendocino, California from a long-forgotten aunt, she moves her entire life across the country to embark on what she sees as a great, romance-novel-worthy adventure. But romance novels always have a twist, don’t they?

Review

So, as some of you may have already read - this is the second book I read by Alice Clayton...but it is actually the third book in the series. How does this happen to me? I am such a completist and need to read books in their right order...but oh well, it happened.

Screwdriver started off really slow in my opinion. It took me picking the book up about 4 times to finally really get into it. What got me to keep picking it up (because I have no problem letting go of a book I can't get into) was the fact that Vivian, Viv for short, is a computer/art/romance novel geek. Now, I don't know about you, but that is exactly what I want in a female character. Viv believes her life has become like one of the romance stories she loves to read (hello, meta) when she finds out that her great aunt has left Viv her estate. When she flies out to check out her inheritance, she meets a "hot" cowboy which totally fits into Viv's delusion that she's in her own proper romance story. The cowboy is a jerk though, but Viv can't see that quite yet.

Then she meets Clark, the town's librarian and historian. He's there to tell Viv all the things she can't do to her great aunt's home because it is, in fact, a historical home. Well, Viv isn't the type of girl you tell what to do, know what I'm saying? The librarian though? Yeah, he's pretty cute.

I won't go into much more detail because it is a cute and funny book. It is also infuriating because I really disliked that cowboy. Also, Viv constantly thinks "Aw yeah" A LOT to herself throughout the story. Usually repetitive phrases really bother me in people's writing, but Viv was too cute to dislike really. Just infuriating sometimes. Ha!

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Review: Wallbanger

7/1/2016

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Wallbanger
The Cocktail Series Book 1
by Alice Clayton

Synopsis

Caroline Reynolds has a fantastic new apartment in San Francisco, a Kitchen Aid mixer to die for, and no O (and we’re not talking Oprah here, folks). She has a flourishing design career, an office overlooking the bay, a killer zucchini bread recipe, and no O. She has Clive (the best cat ever), great friends, a great rack, and no O. Adding insult to O-less, she also has an oversexed neighbor with the loudest late-night wallbanging she’s ever heard. Every moan, spank, and—was that a meow?—punctuates the fact that not only is she losing sleep, she still has—yep, you guessed it—no O. Enter Simon Parker. When the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. Their late-night hallway encounter has…well…mixed results. Because with walls this thin, the tension’s gonna be thick. A delicious mix of silly and steamy, this is an irresistible tale of exasperation at first sight.

Review

First of all, let me get this out of the way - the cover. I cringe at most romance covers and this one...is not subtle. lol I bought the actual book from Barnes and Noble and paid for it...I was like "Whatever Mr. Cashier Person...I'm reading my book anyway". Granted, no one really cares about what I'm reading - but these covers make me blush!

Okay, now the story - I loved it! Clayton is so humorous in her writing and I love that in romance novels. I love them like I love my romantic comedies - sweet and funny with a pang of jealousy/hurt. Caroline is such a put-together character and she has everything going for her except that she has been made to believe that it is pointless to get her to orgasm (her last bf sucked...) and her neighbor is this hot guy who has a different girl come over every night. Oh, and she can hear them through the walls. The writing is deliciously funny and I really enjoyed reading about this strong and independent woman and the guy next door. It's a fun read and I look forward to checking out the other books in the series!

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Romance Read Thursday: To Katie With Love

5/12/2016

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To Katie With Love
by Erica Lucke Dean

Synopsis

Banker Katie James has a serious thing for romance novels. She’d almost rather settle for a fictional boyfriend than risk her heart on a flesh-and-blood man. Besides, the only real guy she’s remotely interested in is her rich, unattainable client, the mysterious Cooper Maxwell.

Looking less like the ultra-conservative man she knows and more like a drop-dead sexy character from one of her books, Cooper crashes Katie’s 29th birthday party. But one too many drinks lands Katie in uncharted territory… Cooper’s bedroom!

Drunk on love, Katie dives headfirst into the relationship only to discover that Cooper is keeping secrets… dangerous ones. As if things couldn’t get worse, her meddling mother makes a surprise visit, digging up a whole new set of problems.

Who would have guessed having an assassin for a boyfriend would be the least of her worries?

Review

I was totally surprised by this book. I feel the need to make that the first thing you read because it is so rare in the romance novel business to be surprised. But - I so was! So - spoilers lie ahead - you've been warned.

When I first started reading the book, I was really confused, but I just went with the flow. It was funny and the protagonist, Katie, is a romance novel lover. When she becomes involved with Cooper, it totally seems like it's too good to be true. Honestly, I was really starting to believe that he was an assassin. He was super mysterious and...well, secretive. But what he ended up being was so much more interesting! I said this review was fun of spoilers, but I can't let this one go - it's too unique. So, just take my word for it. The novel had a great balance of romance, mystery, and intrigue. I mean, I thought he was an assassin!

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Review: Sex Hell: A love Story

4/6/2016

1 Comment

Sex Hell
by Joe Canzano

Synopsis

When Debbie de La Fontaine tries to spice up her love life by supernaturally tampering with her sex life, she is cursed to spend every future encounter in a magical place called “Sex Hell,” where the sex is ludicrous and amazing but the romance is scarce.

Her only chance for escape is through the stingy clues supplied by an obnoxious demon, and the only way to obtain the clues is by returning to Sex Hell again and again to have outrageous sexcapades with the man she most wants to avoid—or does she?

Sex Hell is an absurd comic fantasy about the confusion of relationships. How is love related to sex, and how is sex related to love—and do love and sex need to be related at all?

*This book contains profanity and adult situations*

Review

I think it's easy to say that I have not read anything like this book - and that is definitely a good thing. This book reads like a classic comedy from the 1980s (again, a very good thing). The book is about Debbie, a waitress who finds herself more in love with the thought of popcorn and a movie than having sex with her hunky boyfriend. Then, at the restaurant where she works, she comes across a witch who promises her great sex in exchange for...well, I'll let you read what. On the other side of the spectrum, Juan is a seemingly sleazy guitarist who meets the same witch and makes the same deal. They're placed in Sex Hell where they are only to have sex with each other.

The book was over the top, but that's what made it so funny! I'm talking laugh-out-loud funny! It's absurd and hilarious and involves silly sex scenes - a great read for those looking to read something off the not-so-serious side of relationships and sex.

About the Author

Joe Canzano is a writer and musician who lives in New Jersey, U.S.A. He likes loud guitars and food that screams. His wacky debut novel, “Magno Girl,” received a fair amount of love and hate—because that’s the kind of reaction his writing gets. For more information about Joe, please visit www.happyjoe.net.

Links
Website: http://www.happyjoe.net
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/happyjoecanzano/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/happyjoecanzano
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/12965170.Joe_Canzano
Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/joecanzano

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Book Blitz: Stiff Lizard

Review: Screwdrivered

Review: Wallbanger

Romance Read Thursday: To Katie With Love

Review: Sex Hell: A love Story

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