Carries Book Reviews

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So Hectic
Eve Dangerfield
(Silver Daughters Ink, #3)
Publication date: May 23rd 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

A Super Spicy, Enemies to Lovers, Playboy, standalone romance from critically acclaimed author Eve Dangerfield

Tabby DaSilva’s life sucks. Her dad’s AWOL, her Prosecco-themed music festival ‘Sparkling Whine ’bombed, and her big sister’s pregnancy means she’s officially transitioning from ‘youngest kid ’to ‘weird aunt. ’But hardest to take is her best friend Toby Tennant becoming pure evil.

Relieving him of his virginity was supposed to seal their alliance. Instead, Mr Nice Guy vanished only to resurface as a full-blown finance douche, complete with Lamborghini and a podcast shilling creatine every five minutes.

Frankly, it’s a fate worse than death.

But Tabby has the perfect solution: run away! All she needs is enough cash to start a new life in Colombia, and since Toby’s petitioning for her to tattoo him, what’s a girl to do but slowly inject ink into her enemy’s rippling Ken doll torso?

Little does she know that her ex-best friend doesn’t really want a tattoo. Toby wants her, mind, body, and soul. He’s spent the last two years becoming the Sugar Daddy of Tabitha DaSilva’s dreams, and he’s finally ready to show her that he can take care of her and dominate her in ways she can’t even imagine…

SO HECTIC is a full-length contemporary novel and is the third and final book in the Silver Daughters Ink Series.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks

 

Author Bio:

Eve Dangerfield’s novels have been described as ‘genre-defying,‘ ’insanely hot ’and ‘the defibrillator contemporary romance needs right now ’and not just by those who might need bone marrow one day… OTHER PEOPLE! She lives in Melbourne with her beautiful family and can generally be found making a mess.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok

 

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Title: The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle

Author:  Annie Rains

Publisher: Kensington Books 

Publication Date: May 21, 2024

Page Count:  332

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

About the book:

In a grown-up twist on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, USA Today bestselling author Annie Rains pens a powerful, uplifting story of female friendship and resilience in a small Southern town, as former childhood friends overcome grief and begin to take new chances in their lives… with the help of a long-lost gift they were meant to share. Perfect for readers ofKaren Hawkins’ The Book Charmer or Heather Webber’s Midnight at the Blackbird Café.

Ten years after she left her hometown of Trove Isle, NC, Melody Palmer is back to receive an unexpected inheritance—her great aunt’s thrift store, Hidden Treasures. There, in a glass case beneath the register, Melody spies the long-lost charm bracelet she shared with her high school friends, Liz and Bri, and her younger sister, Alyssa. After a devastating prom night accident, it disappeared, and the girls’ friendship evaporated with it. Slipping the bracelet on her arm for safekeeping, Melody soon finds herself crossing paths with her former friends once more.

While Melody fled, Liz has stayed in Trove Isle, helping with her parents’ business instead of pursuing her photography goals. Guilt still weighs on her after that fateful night when they lost Alyssa. For Bri, the consequences were even more stark. After spiraling into self-destruction, Bri served four years in a women’s state prison and is about to be released—but can Trove Isle ever feel like home again?

Yet despite everything that’s changed, the promise that the bracelet once held—of adventures, achievements, love, and lifelong friendship—hasn’t quite faded. And together, they might yet find a way to reconcile their pasts and futures, one charm at a time . . .

The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle by Annie Rains is a contemporary story of friendship and healing but also with a touch of romance to it too. The story in The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle is told by changing the point of view between the characters.

It’s been ten long years since Melody Palmer left her hometown of Trove Isle, NC and she hasn’t looked back, until now. Melody gets a call from her great aunt’s lawyer that Melody has inherited her her great aunt’s thrift store, Hidden Treasures. Melody hopes to be in and out of the town quickly and is determined to sell when she runs into her old friend, Liz.

Ten years ago Liz, Bri, Melody and Melody’s young sister, Alyssa, were all the best of friends and swore their friendship would be forever. However, on their prom night the girls suffered a horrible accident that took Alyssa’s life leaving the rest devastated and struggling to deal with the loss. Now Liz fights her anxiety every day, Bri has ended up in prison and Melody only wants to run as far away as she can yet again.

Annie Rains is an author I’ve read many times before and always enjoy returning back to time and again. The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle immediately grabbed my attention with and I found this one hard to put down. I’m a softy for a character with anxiety so I immediately felt for Liz but the more I got to know Melody I also really enjoyed getting to know her too. This was one full of character growth that kept the pages turning and in the end I rated this one at four and a half stars.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Annie Rains is a USA Today Bestselling author of small town contemporary romance full of hope and heart. After years of dreaming about being an author, Annie published her first book in 2015 and has been chasing deadlines and happy ever afters for her characters ever since. When she isn’t writing, Annie is usually spending time with her husband and 3 children, bingeing Netflix, or reading a book by one of her favorite authors. Sign up for Annie’s newsletter to stay informed about new releases and sales: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/j4b9d8

You can find Annie online at http://www.annierains.com or on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at @annierainsbooks

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Title: Murder on the Class Trip

Author:  Lee Hollis

Publisher: Kensington Books 

Publication Date: Nov 29, 2022

Page Count:  338

My rating: 3 stars

About the book:

It’s goodbye Maine and hello Washington, D.C. as Maya, a private investigator, and Sandra, a pampered housewife and P.I. in training, play chaperone on a high school class trip to D.C. with their kids. The last thing they expect to encounter is another murder!

Friends, moms, and P.I. partners Maya and Sandra have left their hometown of Portland, Maine, on a school trip to Washington, D.C.—where a killer has just added murder to the itinerary. . .

Drafted as chaperones, Maya Kendrick and PTA president Sandra Wallage are accompanying the SoPo High seniors to the nation’s capital—much to the embarrassment of Maya’s daughter Vanessa and Sandra’s son Ryan. Now both moms are about to find out which is harder—shepherding unruly high schoolers or solving a murder. The last sight they expected to see on this trip is a female intern who works for Sandra’s soon-to-be-ex-husband, Senator Stephen Wallage, in a fatally compromising position.
 
Desperate to avoid scandal, Stephen begs Maya and Sandra to solve the case. But their FBI counterparts—tough-as-nails agents Markey and Rhodes—are far less enthusiastic about the meddling of two “amateurs.” With suspects ranging from senators to students to stalkers, Maya and Sandra must follow a twisty trail of clues so they can catch a killer and survive to make the return trip . . .

Murder on the Class Trip by Lee Hollis is the third book in the cozy Maya and Sandra Mystery series. As with most cozy mysteries the Maya and Sandra Mystery series is one that has a fully solved murder within each book so they can be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so. There will be of course be character development that carries over from book to book for those reading from the beginning.

The Maya and Sandra Mystery series is a little different than your average cozy in the fact it has two lead characters and changes the point of view between them to give both sides to the story. Sandra Wallage is a housewife and the PTA president that is married to a scandalous politician. Maya Kendrick is a an ex cop whose husband went to prison and now had become a private investigator that has a huge workload with her partner being pregnant and close to giving birth.

When Sandra’s husband became a victim of a gossipy website called Dirty Laundry outing him as a cheater and then the woman running the Dirty Laundry website was murdered it brought Sandra and Maya together to work the case. After that was solved Sandra found she enjoyed helping Maya and proposed being her new partner. Now the ladies are taking on another new case when Sandra and Maya are drafted as chaperones to the school trip to Washington, D.C.. Sandra’s soon to be ex-husband, Stephen, is in need of help yet again when one of his female interns is found murdered and he along with those around him are suspects in her death.

I have been enjoying the Maya and Sandra Mystery series from the beginning and was totally onboard with this one even with it being a bit different than your normal cozy. I really like that there is a real investigator as one of the major characters solving the crimes right along with the other protagonist who is the fish out of water in this case. This third book however was my least favorite of the series so far with the setting being completely political which is something I would normally try to avoid in books. I’m sure others will enjoy it more than me and I will still continue on with the series but this one is only a three star for me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Lee Hollis is the pen name for a brother and sister writing team. Rick Copp is a veteran film and television writer and producer and also the author of two mystery novel series. Holly Simason is an award-winning food and cocktails columnist.

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

The Accidental Seraph
Maci Aurora
(Carran Hollow Fated Mate, #1)
Publication date: June 25th 2024
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

When Atlas Black, a bad boy with a reputation in Carran Hollow, walks into The Hole-in-the-Wall bar investigating a demon sighting, it’s mostly business as usual until he comes face-to-face with his calix—his fated-mate. Except Ivy Day, oblivious to the world of seraphs and demons, thinks she’s stranded in Carran Hollow because a stupid bus has broken down. She just needs a ride to get to the next bus in order to get to her sister across the country. While the guy in the bar hitting on her is hotter than any human has the right to be, unless he’ll give her a lift, she doesn’t have any patience for anything else. But little does she know, Atlas is about to take her on the ride of her life—that is, as long as they can get through the demons.

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order

 

Author Bio:

Romance author.

Lover of stories.

Maci Aurora has been writing stories since she was a child. When she was eleven, she fell in love with reading Sunfire Historical Romances about girls who made a difference in their lives and still fell in love. In high school, a friend introduced her to Lavyrle Spencer and Judith McNaught, and from there, her writing journey was cemented in telling stories about love. Having already published many novels (all of which are threaded with romance as upper YA and New Adult titles) under the pen name, CL Walters, Maci Aurora wanted to write stories that offered the same attention to story and characters but with additional steam.

Maci writes in Hawaiʻi where she lives with her husband, their children, and their fur-babies.

Website / Instagram / Newsletter

 

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**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

After just scraping under my limit last week I was hoping to not go too terribly crazy this week and test that limit yet again. Thankfully I did come in a couple of books less with seven new titles this week to add to my ever towering TBR. They just all look so good I can’t hold back the clicking completely!

As always clicking the covers will take you to the book on Amazon!**

New additions from Netgalley Apr 28th  – May 5th

Love finds you when you least expect it…

Marriage Wanted

Weddings were Savannah Charles’s business and she was an expert on marital bliss, but she’d given little thought to her own day of joy. Until divorce attorney Dash Davenport offered a proposal that would benefit them both. Dash claimed he’d never be convinced “I do” could last forever. So when he asked Savannah Charles to marry him, it was out of mutual necessity—not love. Yet he never expected to marry Savannah—the most passionate woman he’d ever tried not to love…

First Comes Marriage

When Zach Thomas merged his business with the Hartman family firm, that was the only Hartman-Thomas merger he wanted. But Janine Hartman’s grandfather had other ideas—ones belonging to a different place, a different time, when marriages were arranged by families. “It would be a perfect match,” he insisted. “You two suit each other.” Zach and Janine didn’t agree. In fact, they agreed on only one thing—that Gramps was a stubborn, meddling old man. But…what if he was right?

Meet Eva, who can’t feel pain, and Anna, who can’t escape it.

Everyone has heard about the case of Eva Reid. Ever since she was born, she’s felt no pain: she can get a paper cut, break a limb and even give birth without feeling a single thing. Her life has long captivated the fascination of reporters and researchers—including Dr. Nate Reid, Eva’s husband and acclaimed scientist renowned for his work in the Pain Laboratory. Also among them is Anna Tate, a ruthless journalist with a dark past of her own.

When Eva is suddenly found dead inside her home, it raises a flurry of questions around the last night of her life—and who might’ve been involved. Anna finds herself growing increasingly obsessed with Eva’s case: her protected, painless existence, her promising career as a psychotherapist and especially her toxic relationship to the alluring Dr. Reid, whom Eva met and married as his former patient. But what other secrets could they be hiding?

When Dr. Reid embarks on the process of writing a book about Eva, an opportunity arises for Anna to work on it alongside him. As she slowly inserts herself into their home to uncover what’s fact and what’s fiction, shocking discoveries await her—and not everyone may come out unscathed…

In this terrifying sequel, Evie Archer and her friends face a new evil ready to devour their town whole.

Find him, find me.

It’s been two weeks since Evie escaped the mines after solving the mystery of Holly’s disappearance only to discover that Desmond followed her but never came back. Evie knows he’s alive, lost wherever the Patchwork Girl resides. When Evie tries to reach out to Holly again for help, she realizes that her connection to the Lost Girl—and the shadow world itself—has been severed. Desmond is gone, and it’s all her fault.

Ravenglass slowly begins to move on from the tragedy of losing Desmond, but as winter creeps closer and the days grow shorter, a sinister being begins to threaten the lives of Ravenglass residents, stealing them away and bringing them back different. Wrong.

Evie knows that the only way to stop it is to connect to Holly again. With the help of her friend Tina, and the troubled newcomer Sai, Evie begins to follow the clues Holly left behind, determined to find the Lost Girl once more, at any cost.

A bestselling author finds love and second chances in the stacks of a quaint beach town bookshop

Author Shelby Archer found inspiration for her first novel while living on the picturesque shores of Provincetown on Cape Cod. When she comes to the town to celebrate her new bestseller, she is expecting a warm homecoming. But instead she is confronted with the cold shoulders of friends and neighbors who feel exposed and betrayed.

Heartbroken, Shelby tries to move on and focus on her next novel. But then an unexpected call comes: her dear friend who owns the beloved Land’s End bookshop needs help for the summer. Shelby reluctantly returns to the Cape to manage the store.

Back at the beach, Shelby sets her focus on the tiny seaside shop, getting lost in the shelves of steamy romance novels and dusty classics and trying to right the wrongs of her past. With every page turned and every customer served, Shelby comes closer to gaining back the trust of those she hurt. But as her manuscript deadline nears, she is again forced to choose between her own success and a second chance at love and belonging.

From the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and brilliant speculative thriller about families: real and virtual.

Some families are virtually perfect…

The world’s population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, the breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them.

But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality TV show called The Substitute. It will follow ten couples as they raise a virtual child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby…

Set in the same universe as John Marrs’s bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate Tamagotchi—a virtual baby.

When widowed folklorist Maureen Nash visits a legendary North Carolina barrier island shell shop, she discovers its resident ghost pirate and the mystery of a local’s untimely death . . .

As a professional storyteller, Maureen Nash can’t help but see the narrative cues woven through her life. Like the series of letters addressed to her late husband from a stranger—the proprietor of The Moon Shell, a shop on Ocracoke Island, off the coast of North Carolina. The store is famous with shell collectors, but it’s the cryptic letters from Allen Withrow, the shop’s owner, that convince Maureen to travel to the small coastal town in the middle of hurricane season. At the very least, she expects she’ll get a good story out of the experience, never anticipating it could end up a murder mystery . . .
 
In Maureen’s first hours on the storm-lashed island, she averts several life-threatening accidents, stumbles over the body of a controversial Ocracoke local, and meets the ghost of an eighteenth-century Welsh pirate, Emrys Lloyd. To the untrained eye, all these unusual occurrences would seem to be random misfortunes, but Maureen senses there may be something connecting these stories. With Emrys’s supernatural assistance, and the support of a few new friends, Maureen sets out unravel the truth, find a killer, and hopefully give this tale a satisfying ending . . . while also rewriting her own.

Rose places her hand protectively on her grandmother’s necklace and looks up at Magnolia Manor’s vine-covered walls. The jewels are her most precious possession, but she is terrified to tell her family the truth about where they really come from…

Standing in the doorway of her grandmother Sylvia’s home, Rose Fleury thought returning here was the answer to all of her problems. She has no job and a broken heart, but Sylvia reminds her that Fleury women of the past were strong and independent, and she can be too. Clutching a family heirloom – a beautiful topaz necklace – Rose promises to be brave like her relatives. Until she finds out that the jewels hide a terrible secret…

Someone in town is claiming the necklace is fake. Rose knows Sylvia will be devastated by this news, and it could shatter their family’s reputation. For the sake of her grandmother, Rose is determined to find the real necklace and discover why it was replaced – and quickly convinces handsome local lawyer Noel Quinn to join her. Though Noel’s broad shoulders in his suit and tie remind Rose of her ex-boyfriend, he seems just as fascinated by the mystery, and she finds her heart fluttering every time he catches her eye…

But when Rose traces the real necklace to another family, and another ancestral home in a nearby village, she’s shocked to discover a forbidden love that once tore her family apart – and that Noel is connected to it. Can she really trust the man she’s been growing so close to? And will the truth about the Fleury family cause a rift between Rose and Sylvia that is impossible to repair?

A gorgeous page-turner about finding love and long-lost family secrets, which will transport you to Ireland’s beautiful shores. Fans of Debbie Macomber, Tricia O’Malley and Mary Alice Monroe will be swept away, unable to put this book down.