Month: December 2025

Indie Spotlight: Book Review of The Kansal Clunker: The Car That Rebuilt Us

BonnieReadsAndWrites4 Comments
Image is of the book cover with a teal background. The cover has a picture of the authors with a green Acura Integra. This is "The Car That Built Us."

Indie Spotlight is my effort to help Indie authors with marketing. If I can help even a little bit, I’m happy to do it. You can help too by sharing this post far and wide. Below is my review of The Kansal Clunker: The Car That Rebuilt Us.

Book Review

This image is the cover of the car with the authors standing by the lime green Acura Integra.

Book Description

Neil Kansal had always loved to build things, or take them apart and put them back together, and he had always loved cars.  After getting his license, he was gifted with a car with an automatic transmission, but he shared with his dad, Ruchin, that he wanted to learn to drive a stick.  This led to a great bonding adventure in “Teggy,” an old Acura Integra.  The adventure started when they rebuilt Teggy together, and continued with an over 5000-mile road trip from Weston, Connecticut, to Mt Evans, Colorado. It became a trip that they would always remember and Teggy was “The Car That Rebuilt Us.”

My Thoughts

This is a lovely story of a father and son adventure.  I’m not going to evaluate this like a novel.  It’s a wonderful memoir, with chapters written either by Neil or Ruchin. I enjoyed all the details and facts about the iconic places they visited, as well as the lessons they learned.   I also loved the carefully prepared accounting forms that are included. They detail all expenditures—Mom had set a budget. I liked the fact that they sold items they didn’t use anymore in order to stay under the limit. 

The book is filled with wisdom Neil picked up on the trip, such as:  “It’s okay to start a journey without knowing where you’re going,” and while detours can be annoying,  they could lead to “delightful, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.” And after driving in a storm, which we all hate, we get a reminder that “storms don’t last forever.” These are just a few of the valuable lessons Neil learned that will stay with him because he didn’t just hear the lesson.  He lived it.  He also obviously has great parents who guided him well.

Ruchin details a scary accident that some of their family members had while they were visiting, and he sometimes flashed back to his youth and other trips.

One of the best things I noticed in this book is that during the trip alone together, Neil and Runchin talked.  Nobody was surfing on their phones all day or blasting music for their ears alone.  Runchin told Neil stories from his life, and they talked about Teggy, how she was doing, what maintenance she might need, and what was next on their journey.

I only have one, slightly funny criticism:  They ate at Subway 20 times!  You can get Subway at home!  They might have missed out on some great local food that wouldn’t have cost more than Subway.

Conclusion

This is a fun and heartwarming story of a father and son adventure that readers of all ages will enjoy.  It made me think back to 1982 when I learned to drive a stick and then hit the road. I would recommend this story to anyone of any age who has taken a road trip. You will love it.

About The Authors

Learn more about Neil and Ruchin Kansal on their website: The Kansal Clunker.

Buy on Amazon

Before You Go

If you read the book, be sure to leave a book review on Amazon and/or wherever you purchase books. Reviews are so important to Indie authors because Amazon will promote a book depending on how many reviews it has. Also, please remember to share this post with all your social media followers so this book gets as much exposure as possible. I hope you enjoy The Kansal Clunker: The Car That Rebuilt Us.

Free Christian Poetry!

BonnieReadsAndWrites17 Comments

Three ebooks in the Your Words Collection by Louise Bélanger are FREE, and one (Your Words Your World) is only .99! FREE CHRISTIAN POETRY WITH BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHS. Find out more about the books by clicking on my reviews, or on the link to the collection on Amazon. #ChristianPoetry #Poetry #Photography

Free Christian Poetry Books. Image contains book titles: Your Words, Your Words, Your World, Your Words Your Heart, and Your Words Your Love. The covers have beautiful flowers on them.
Version 1.0.0

Your Words

Your Words Your World

Your Words Your Heart

Your Words Your Love

Your Words Collection

Merry Christmas

BonnieReadsAndWrites24 Comments

Merry Christmas! Hope you are happy, healthy, and safe.

Merry Christmas from Bonnie Reads and Writes. The image shows a red ornament and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year is in writing next to it on a red background.

Christmas update

Merry Christmas, and have a wonderful holiday season! What are you all having for Christmas dinner? I made a lasagna! Why not? We had turkey at Thanksgiving.

I decided on mini apple pies for dessert. If you like Walker’s Shortbread, they also make mini mince pies, and I found some at Fresh Market in Johnson City when we had to go out there a couple of weeks ago. I know mince pie is not for everyone.

I hope you all had a wonderful year and that next year will be blessed.

If you get to take time off, enjoy! If you are working, may your load be light and your pay plentiful.

I just finished a new Christmas book by Debbie Macomber. My review is coming today. My traditional Jodi Taylor Christmas story just arrived on my Kindle so I’ll be reading that today.

As we speak, I’m attempting (once again) to make orange rolls for breakfast. I’m trying for a homemade version that is not full of chemicals like the Pillsbury ones. It looks like I might be successful this time. We’ll see. It’s sometimes a lot of trial and error for me. I have had to practice a lot sometimes to get it right, especially on old-fashioned fudge, which took years to get right, and I’m still working on pie crust.

When Doug gets up we’ll open presents and hopefully have delicious orange rolls. (Fingers crossed).

As an aside, If anyone would like to follow the Facebook page for Bonnie Reads and Writes, the link is here. I haven’t built up many followers there. I will also follow you back.

How are you spending the holiday today?

ANOTHER UPDATE: The orange rolls turned out great! Best I’ve ever made.

Picture of delicious orange rolls with cream cheese frosting sitting in a jadeite square pan.

Christmas is Coming: Sunday Post and Sunday Salon

BonnieReadsAndWrites23 Comments
Photo entitled Sunday Post, a blog news meme. Headline is about Christmas coming.
Photo entitled The Sunday Salon, a blog news meme. Headline is about Christmas coming.

Weekly Update

Christmas is coming! I can’t believe how fast this year has gone. I will be thinking about my favorite books of the year for the next two weeks for those end-of-year updates. Today I wrapped a bunch of presents, with the help of Opie the cat. Doug tried to get the dachshunds to pose for a Christmas picture and was unsuccessful. I managed to catch a shot of Opie, however.

I have to show you our cat-proof tree. We tried to put up our usual artificial tree, and it wasn’t long before Opie was climbing it. So Doug made this beautiful Opie-proof tree for us to enjoy. At least he hasn’t tried to climb it yet!

Christmas paper surrounds a 6-month-old cute Tuxedo cat, who is "helping" wrap Christmas presents.

Last Week on the Blog (Two Weeks Before Christmas)

Last Week I updated the Review Requests policy and did an article about Scams Against Indie Authors. I didn’t get any reviews posted. I have been busy with my Reviews Editor role for The Historical Novel Society so I’ve been working on that, plus reviewing books for them too, but I will get back to my regular posting soon. But now to focus on Christmas!

Next Week on the blog (One Week Before Christmas)

I’m going to review at least one Christmas book and get some Indie Spotlights up. Hang in there, Indie authors. I hope to be caught up by March.

Book Haul

In the Spirit of French Murder is the fourth book in the “An American in Paris” mysteries, with supporting character Julia Child. I loved the other three and was happy to get this one on Netgalley, even past the publishing date! I am excited to read it.

I don’t have this one yet, but every single year since the beginning, Jodi Taylor has written a Christmas novella for her readers, sold it for 99 cents, and released it on Christmas Day. This year is no exception, and I just preordered it. It has become a Christmas tradition for me to read my Jodi Taylor Christmas novella in the morning as soon as I get up (I’m usually an early riser). Since she’s now a big-time bestseller, you would think she would raise the price, but she hasn’t. That’s one of the reasons she’s my favorite author.

Other Christmas Traditions We Enjoy

Our church gives all the members gift bags, and soon we will be meeting to fill them up and hand them out. Our contribution to the bags this year: Terry’s chocolate oranges, our favorite. This year, our church has been collecting food for the Living Waters food bank in Cherokee, and I love that we are helping people get the food they need.

Doug and I have a tradition with presents that we’ve done as long as I can recall. Each gift to each other is labeled From: somebody famous or infamous who is a clue to what’s inside. I have gifts waiting for me from Mike Tyson and Paul Hollywood, among others. I’m sure the one from Paul Hollywood has to do with baking, but I have no idea what the Mike Tyson clue is. Doug’s gifts from me range in givers from Jesus to Liam Neeson. It’s fun to figure out the clues.

What are your Christmas traditions?

Scams Against Indie Authors Are On The Rise–Protect Yourself.

BonnieReadsAndWrites15 Comments
An image that says Fraud Alert with a Gavel next to it. This is an alert about Scams Against Indie Authors

Watch out for scams against Indie authors! I have been getting a lot of emails lately from “book review teams” and “book marketers” about what a genius writer I am and how their “review team” can help make my book a best-seller. The catch: I haven’t published a book! So it was easy for me to spot the scam, but it’s not always so easy for published authors. Here is some help below:

Indie authors have long been targets for scams, but the rise of AI tools has made these frauds more personalized, professional-looking, and harder to spot. Scammers use AI to scrape data from Amazon listings, author websites, social media, and Goodreads to create author-specific pitches, generate convincing emails, and show fake reviews, phony staff photos/testimonials, and even fake websites. These scams exploit authors’ dreams, often collecting upfront fees in the thousands while delivering nothing—or worse, damaging reputations.

Top Scams Against Indie Authors

  1. Fake Book Marketing and Promotion Services (Scams Against Indie Authors)
    Scammers send glowing, AI-generated emails praising your book (often quoting your own blurb back at you) and promising massive exposure: BookBub features, Goodreads promotions, social media blasts, newsletter swaps, podcast interviews, or “Amazon optimization.” They charge hundreds or thousands upfront but deliver fake engagement (e.g., bot reviews that violate platform rules) or nothing at all. These have exploded in 2024–2025, with authors reporting daily spam.
  2. Bogus Publishing or Vanity Press Offers
    False companies (e.g., networks like Melbourne Book Publisher, Aussie Book Publisher, or First Page Press) pose as legitimate publishers with polished websites featuring AI-generated staff photos, fake testimonials (sometimes stealing real authors’ images/names), and cloned book catalogs. They charge for “hybrid” publishing, editing, or distribution but provide substandard (or no) services. Recent global operations in Australia, the UK, and New Zealand have used virtual offices and AI-altered imagery to appear credible.
  3. Book Club or Interview Scams
    Emails from “book club members” or “podcast hosts” gush about loving your book and invite you to join a discussion—for a fee (e.g., $500–$2,000 to “cover costs” or reach thousands of readers). The clubs are fake, often with AI-generated profiles and Discord servers full of bots.
  4. Book Review Teams, Private Reader Communities, or Private Review Groups: The scammer contacts you personally, often impersonating a real author, marketer, or curator of a “private community” of avid readers (e.g., “2,000+ book devourers”). They offer to share your book with their “team” or “club” for reviews, sometimes inviting you to a Discord server or group chat where fake members chime in with enthusiasm. There’s a fee—often $20–$50 per review, or hundreds/thousands upfront for a batch (e.g., 40–100 reviews). Payment is requested via wire transfer, Upwork, PayPal, or other hard-to-reverse methods. Once paid, you get nothing (they ghost you), or they post a few low-quality/AI-generated reviews that Amazon quickly detects and removes as fake. In worse cases, they pressure you for more money or threaten negative reviews if you don’t pay. This is a variation of broader marketing scams, often traced to organized groups (including in Nigeria or the Philippines) using AI to personalize pitches and generate fake content. It’s exploded in recent years because indie authors need reviews to boost visibility and sales on Amazon.
  5. Deceptive Freelance Services (Editing, Covers, etc.)
    Some “editors,” “designers,” or “ghostwriters” advertise human work but secretly use AI tools, delivering low-quality results while charging premium rates. Others falsely accuse legitimate authors of using AI to extort or harass.
  6. Related Threats (Indirect Scams on Authors)
    AI enables mass plagiarism: scammers paraphrase your book slightly and republish it under fake names, or flood Amazon with AI-generated “summaries/biographies” to steal sales. This crowds discoverability and can lead to wrongful AI accusations against real authors.
  7. The Famous Author Scam: You’ve probably seen it: Suddenly, a “famous author” like Liane Moriarty, Colleen Hoover, or another bestseller starts following you on social media. Then comes the friend request, a glowing comment, or a DM saying something like, “I loved your book!” or “Tell me about your writing journey…”But here’s the catch: It’s almost always a fake account run by scammers (often the same Nigerian groups behind those personalized marketing emails we talked about before). They use the real author’s photo, copy old posts, and sometimes even AI to make it look legit. The goal? Build trust super fast, then either: Refer you to their “amazing” book marketer or agent (who charges thousands upfront for fake services like bot followers, phony promotions, or worthless “email blasts”) or Offer to promote your book themselves—to their huge audience—for a fee. Or they might pivot to other scams, like fake reviews, book club invites, or even investment schemes. The Writer Beware Blog has a great article on this, and I encourage you to check it out.

Why Indie Authors Are Prime Targets: Self-publishing means handling your own marketing and services, so authors often seek help—and scammers know this. AI lowers the barrier: bad actors can automate personalized spam at scale, making old generic scams (e.g., Nigerian-style emails) look sophisticated.

How to Protect Yourself

  • Unsolicited offers asking for money upfront? Almost always a scam. Legitimate agents, publishers, or promoters don’t cold-email demanding payment.
  • Verify everything: Reverse-image search photos, check Writer Beware, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) watchdog directory, or Reedsy. Google the exact email text—scams often reuse templates.
  • Too much flattery or guarantees? Red flag. No one can promise bestseller status or specific reviews.
  • Use trusted resources: For marketing/services, stick to vetted providers (e.g., Reedsy, ALLi-approved). Report scams to Amazon, FTC, or your local authority.
  • Stay informed: Follow blogs like Anne R. Allen, or Writer Beware because new scams pop up all the time.

Not All Paid Reviews Are Scams

  1. Reputable paid editorial reviews (disclosed as paid, often used for blurbs or your book’s Amazon “Editorial Reviews” section): Kirkus Indie, Foreword Clarion, Publishers Weekly BookLife, or Midwest Book Review. These cost $200–$500+, provide honest critiques (can be negative), and carry weight with readers/libraries.
  2. Free or mid to low-cost ARC (Advance Reader Copy) services: Platforms like NetGalley, Booksprout, StoryOrigin, Hidden Gems, or BookSirens distribute your book to real readers/bloggers in exchange for honest reviews—no guarantees, no payment to reviewers.
  3. Organic methods: Build a mailing list, offer free promo days on Amazon, join reader groups on Goodreads/Reddit/Facebook, or reach out to book bloggers directly.
  4. Always be wary of unsolicited offers, especially if they sound too good (e.g., “guaranteed” reviews or bulk from a “team”). Check resources like Writer Beware for the latest alerts—they’ve documented these review team scams extensively. If something feels off, delete and move on—your book deserves real readers, not scammers’ empty promises!

I know Netgalley can be more pricey. I would recommend BookSirens as a low-cost option with good results. I am a reviewer for both of them. I haven’t personally checked out BookSprout, Hidden Gems, or StoryOrigin, so if any of you have, please comment below with your experience.

**I got some of the information regarding scams against Indie Authors from Grok AI. (AI is not all bad and can be helpful if used in the right way).

My reviews are free of charge and voluntary. See my Review Request Policy here.

Review Requests – An Important Update

BonnieReadsAndWrites15 Comments
The logo for Bonnie Reads and Writes. A woman sitting in front of a stack of books. The topic is Review Requests

Hi everyone. I have gotten so many review requests lately that I’m going to have to change my guidelines a little bit. At the Review Requests Policy tab on this blog are instructions for submitting your book for possible review. Unfortunately, a majority of the requests I get do not follow those guidelines. I am just one woman doing this for free, so I’m going to have to start a new policy: Anyone contacting me for a review must follow those guidelines. I have updated the Review Requests Policy, so please check it out when you get a chance. Also please see the new procedures below.

How to Request a Review

  1. The request must simply be titled Review Request in the Subject line. That causes it to be filtered to a folder where I will see it. I will no longer look at emails that do not follow this procedure and do not end up in this folder.
  2. The Review Request must include a link to your book Amazon. I will sometimes pick the book up myself on Kindle Unlimited if an Amazon link is included. This is beneficial to authors, and essentially a gift from me, as that will count towards your pages read if your book is part of KU. So be sure and include the link! If your book is not on Amazon, please let me know in your request.
  3. There is a list at the Review Request Policy tab of genres I am not accepting. Please do not send a request if I am not accepting your genre. It’s nothing personal against your book. These are genres I know I do not enjoy.
  4. There is a list of other situations for which I am not accepting review requests. Please be sure and look through those.
  5. I don’t mind reminder emails, which should also be titled Review Request so they go into the appropriate folder. I am happy to give you an update on the status of your review if I have already accepted the book.
  6. If you get a four-star or five-star review, I would appreciate your sharing my blog post with your social media followers. This helps my blog to grow while I’m helping you. Again, it is voluntary but it seems to be common courtesy to me. Comments and follows on my blog would be great, too. Again, voluntary.
  7. Please be patient. As I’ve said before, I am one person doing these book reviews for no charge because I believe in Indie authors. It takes time to read all of these books.

I’m sorry if I sound strict or impatient right now. I really want this to work so that I can continue to help Indie authors. My goal for this blog has always been to create a community of readers, writers, and bloggers that support each other, and I’d love for it to continue to grow.

My Review Requests Policy is Here.