Carries Book Reviews

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Title: The Summer We Started Over

Author:  Nancy Thayer

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publication Date: April 23, 2024

Page Count:  308

My rating: 5 stars

About the book:

Two sisters reconnect and pursue their dreams on the beautiful island of Nantucket, overcoming life’s challenges and finding new love, in this heartwarming and hopeful novel by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer.

Eddie Grant is happy with her life and her work as a personal assistant to Dinah Lavender, one of the most famous and renowned romance authors in the business. But being a spectator to notoriety and glamour isn’t as fulfilling as she once thought. Thankfully, Eddie has the perfect excuse for a vacation: Her hardworking younger sister, Barrett, is opening her gift shop on Memorial Day weekend, and could use all the help she can get. 

But going home to the beautiful island of Nantucket means facing the family’s difficult past. Shortly after the death of Eddie and Barrett’s brother, their mother left them and their father made the spontaneous decision to buy a small farm. Eddie stayed there for only a year before her family’s grief threatened to consume her as well, and had been living in Manhattan ever since. Now that she is back, Eddie must face all she left behind: her father’s increased eccentricities, which has led to a house bursting at the seams with books; her sister’s resentment over Eddie’s escape; and a past love connection, one that is still undeniable and complicated, all these years later. But the Grant sisters are nothing if not resilient and capable, opening a used bookstore in their father’s abandoned barn to manage his hoarding, and navigating the discovery of a long-buried family secret that will change all of them forever. 

In The Summer We Started Over, beloved storyteller Nancy Thayer transports readers with a moving story about family, courage, and the resiliency of young women.

The Summer We Started Over by Nancy Thayer is a women’s fiction title with of course romance involved in the story. Set in beautiful Nantucket which the author is known for the story in The Summer We Started Over does change the point of view between the main characters.

Eddie Grant left home years before and has enjoyed her life away from Nantucket but knows now if the time she needs to return to her family. Eddie has been working as a personal assistant to Dinah Lavender, a famous romance author, for the last few years without a vacation so when her younger sister, Barrett, says she needs her she let’s Dinah know she’ll be heading home to Nantucket.

Barrett chose to stay in Nantucket with her father but has always wanted something of her own to help keep her there. Now is finally the time Barrett is taking that step and opening up her own shop in town and with their father’s increasing eccentricities Barrett hopes that the visit from Eddie will also do him some good while she is busy with her new store but before they know it Dinah Lavender is also inviting herself along to Nantucket for the summer.

While I haven’t read every novel from author Nancy Thayer I have read quite a few and have never been disappointed in the excursions to Nantucket. The story in The Summer We Started Over is what it sounds to be, sisters starting over and finding themselves and their relationship once again. With a beautiful setting and interesting characters I couldn’t help but become engaged in this story right away and of course enjoyed the entire ride. Definitely an author I’d recommend reading and will return to myself in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

I grew up in Kansas, surrounded by prairie, but thirty-five years ago I came to Nantucket to visit a friend who introduced me to the love of my life. Charley and I have now lived on Nantucket for 33 years–year-round, as we say, so I have a special feeling for this island and for the people who come here. I love the island most in the winter when the waves crash dramatically on the shore.

I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English literature from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and I still go to KC often to visit my darling baby sister, who inspires many of the characters in my book. Yes, she is blond, and yes, she is 9 years younger than I am. I still love her.

For a few years, I taught freshman English in several states, and had short stories published in literary reviews. My first novel, Stepping, was published by Doubleday in 1980, and started me off on the career I’ve always wanted. I was a Fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in 1980 and in 2015, I received the RT Career Achievement Award.

I’ve published 30 novels–all available on Amazon–including Secrets in Summer, The Island House, The Guest Cottage, Nantucket Sisters, and Island Girls. A Nantucket Wedding was my 30th. The upcoming Surfside Sisters will be out July, 2019! Champagne for everyone!

When I’m not writing novels–all 30 are available on Amazon–I’m walking the beach with my husband or entertaining our 4 grandchildren & their parents & our friends. All my novels are about family and friendships, which I believe are the foundation of a happy, if complicated, life.

**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: Death on the Shelf

Author:  Allison Brook

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Publication Date: Nov 9, 2021

Page Count:  316

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

Librarian Carrie Singleton sleuths a murder at her best friend’s wedding in Agatha Award nominee Allison Brook’s fifth Haunted Library mystery.

Clover Ridge librarian Carrie Singleton is thrilled to attend her best friend Angela’s wedding, but Angela’s family can be a bit…much. Angela’s wealthy cousin Donna hosts an extravagant bridal shower at her resplendent home, but the celebrations turn to gossip as the guests notice Donna’s surgeon husband, Aiden, spending a bit too much time with Donna’s cousin Roxy. At the wedding reception, the sweet occasion turns darkly bitter when Aiden topples into the chocolate fountain–dead.
 
The suspect list is as long as the guest list, and as difficult to sort out as the seating chart. A few of the top contenders on Carrie’s suspect list are the flirtatious Roxy, emotionally unstable since her recent divorce; Angela’s grouchy brother, who feels Aiden betrayed him; and Roxy’s scorned ex-husband. Even Donna may have had reason to want her husband dead. And Aiden’s gossipy office manager has plenty to say about them all.
 
Then another member of Angela’s family is murdered, making Carrie more determined than ever to find the killer. Can library ghost Evelyn and library cat Smoky Joe help Carrie solve the murders before she becomes the next of Angela’s wedding guests to head to the grave?

Death on the Shelf by Allison Brook is the fifth installment in the paranormal cozy The Haunted Library Mysteries series. As with most cozy mysteries each book of The Haunted Library Mysteries will contain their own mystery to be solved within the book so they all could be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so. However, for those following along from the beginning there will be character development carried over from book to book.

Carrie Singleton had returned to Clover Ridge, Connecticut to stay with her aunt and uncle for a while but when she was just about to move on she was given the opportunity to become the head of programs and events at the local library. When she was offered the job Carrie was almost ready to turn it down when she heard a strange voice telling her to think on it. Thinking it was her own mind telling her not to pass up the offer quite so quickly she did just that. Carrie found the job was more than she could have wanted so she stayed and then found out the voice that convinced her to stay was not her conscience but a friendly ghost of a former employee that helps Carrie in her new position.

Carrie never expected that her new job would come with tracking down so many murderers in the small town of Clover Ridge but with Evelyn the ghost’s help she has been doing just that. Now Carrie is just excited to be attending her best friend Angela’s wedding and hopefully enjoy some time just having fun. Unfortunately for Carrie during the bridal shower Angela’s cousin’s husband, Aiden, is murdered right there at the party. Of course Carrie feels she needs to do anything she can to help find the murderer but the suspect list is a mile long with all the guests in attendance.

The Haunted Library Mysteries series is another that I have been following from the beginning and while I was a bit so so at first with this series it has steadily grown on me with each new book. This one has that mix of genres I enjoy with having a resident ghost help solve the murders and the characters are quirky and fun which is always a bonus to me. Then there’s that resident kitty, Smokey Joe, to fill my cute critter quota. Wrap all of that up in a nice mystery and it brings me back time and again.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Allison Brook is an Agatha Award nominated author who writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for young readers. A former Spanish teacher, she loves traveling, reading, knitting, doing Sudoku, and visiting with her grandchildren on FaceTime. She lives with Sammy, her feisty red cat, on Long Island.

Mia Gaskin earned a degree in theater from the University of California San Diego and has performed professionally both on stage and in indie films. She has lent her voice to over one-hundred audiobooks from her state-of-the-art home studio in Oregon.

**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: A Twisted Love Story

Author:  Samantha Downing

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: July 18, 2023

Page Count:  400

My rating: 2 1/2 stars

About the book:

From the bestselling author of My Lovely Wife comes a reckless, delicious thriller that gives a whole new meaning to the dangers of modern dating.

Wes and Ivy are madly in love. They’ve never felt anything like it. It’s the type of romance people write stories about.

But what kind of story?

When it’s good, it’s great. Flowers. Grand gestures. Deep meaningful conversations where the whole world disappears.

When it’s bad, it’s really bad. Vengeful fights. Damaged property. Arrest warrants.

But their vicious cycle of catastrophic breakups and head-over-heels reconciliations needs to end fast. Because suddenly, Wes and Ivy have a common enemy–and she’s a detective.

There’s something Wes and Ivy never talk about–in good times or bad. The night of their worst breakup, when one of them took things too far, and someone ended up dead.

If they can stick together, they can survive anything–even the tightening net of a police investigation.

Because one more breakup might just be their last…

A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing is a thriller novel. The story in A Twisted Love Story is one that is told by changing the point of view between the characters and does feature an incredibly toxic relationship if that may be a trigger to some.

Wes and Ivy have been on again off again on again off again rinse and repeat since their college days. The most in love couple ever until one or the other explodes and it all ends for them again for a while anyway.

Now Ivy has crossed another line and talked to the police leading them to believe that possibly Wes is a stalker. This in turn brings Wes right back into Ivy’s life yet again but will this be the time that the couple finally gives up the secret they have fought to hide?

I have to say I went into A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing expecting to really enjoy it but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The thing is it almost felt as if everyone in the book was toxic and there wasn’t really anyone to like at all. But this one also felt as if the pacing was slow to me but on the flip side it would switch from here to there all too often not really getting a good rhythm which threw me off too. Overall I ended this one at the two and a half star range but while I didn’t love it others did so if it sounds interesting perhaps give it a try for yourself.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Samantha Downing is the author of the bestselling novels For Your Own Good, He Started It, and My Lovely Wife, which was nominated for the Edgar, ITW, Macavity awards in the US, the CWA award in the UK, and the winner of the Prix des Lectrices award in France.

**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: The September House

Author:  Carissa Orlando

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

Page Count:  352

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.

When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee. 

Margaret is not most people. 

Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.

The September House by Carissa Orlando is a thrilling horror novel that asks the question just how far would you go to protect the house of your dreams? The story is told from the prospective of the main character but does a little flashing back to previous events but mostly takes place at the current time.

Margaret and her husband Hal had finally found the home of their dreams within their price range with the large Victorian on Hawthorn Street. After moving into the home though Margaret and Hal begin to learn there was a reason that the place was vacant as most would flee the discoveries they have made.

Every September the walls in the Margaret and Hal’s home bleed bright red blood oozing out more and more as the month goes by. The blood was one thing but the many ghostly inhabitants are another obstacle to overcome. When most people would have fled immediately Margaret is determined to claim the home for her own but after four years Hal has had enough and leaves leaving Margaret on her own.

I’ve read a lot of horror in my lifetime and often go into them now as I’m probably going to feel I’ve read this before. The September House by Carissa Orlando did do a somewhat comical but still scary take on a haunted house which kept me entertained as it all unfolded. While entertaining though I did guess the twist fairly early on but perhaps it may shock some who don’t read quite as much so I’m keeping this one at four stars overall.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Carissa Orlando has a doctorate in clinical-community psychology and specializes in work with children and adolescents. In her “day job,” Carissa works to improve the quality of and access to mental health care for children and their families. Prior to her career in psychology, Carissa studied creative writing in college and has written creatively in some form since she was a child. It was only a matter of time before Carissa, an avid horror fan for much of her life, merged her understanding of the human psyche and deep love for storytelling into a piece of fiction.

**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.**

Sir, Yes Sir
L. L. Ash
Publication date: April 12th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Ashton

One single moment changed everything. After receiving life-altering injuries on my last operation, I was forced to retire early. What was I if not a Raider and a Marine? When my brother in arms Tommy (Gun) Blair offered his home up to me to finish my recovery, I snatched up the opportunity with both hands because I had nowhere else to go. Amidst all my calculations, however, I realized that I’d missed one significant detail. Freya, Tommy’s daughter. She’d been a kid last time I’d seen her. She was definitely NOT a kid anymore. Living up to her namesake, the daughter of my best friend was beautiful, sweet, and deadly. If Tommy knew the kinds of things running through my head, he’d kill me in my sleep with a rusty spoon. Didn’t matter though. The woman was temptation embodied, and despite all my training, discipline and control, she was the one weakness that I just couldn’t give up.

Freya

I’d never met a man like him. Ashton was solid, confident, rigid, and bold. He also had the body of a god. No joke. But I was just the kid of his best friend. Seeing a man as powerful as him bow to the agony of injuries and PTSD…it broke my heart. It also proved that he wasn’t just a fighting machine. When he started working at Dad’s dealership with us, I started to get to know the man instead of the legend, and I loved what I found. Good with his hands, and loyal to a fault, I fell so deep in love with him it’s almost disgusting. Too bad he was my father’s best friend and would never love me back.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

“Sorry,” Freya said from…yep, the kitchen. “Mom’s been into that stuff ever since I can remember. She thinks that good thoughts and crystals can heal just about everything.”

“You don’t buy it?” I asked her.

She just blinked at me.

“She once tried healing my broken arm with obsidian and selenite. It took me two hours to convince my mom that a couple of pretty rocks weren’t going to reset my bones.”

I whistled.

“How old were you?”

“Eight. Eight and a half, I think.”

Holy shit.

“Where was Tommy? Your dad, I mean.”

“Working. In Afghanistan, I think. He’d been gone for months before it happened. Mom always got super sucked into that stuff when he was away for a while.”

“I’m sorry, kid,” I told her, which made her bristle.

“I’m not a kid, you know that, don’t you, Ashton?”

Oh, I fucking knew it. I remembered the feel of her very grown-up breasts pressing against my chest while I was having a full on mental breakdown in the employee bathroom at work.

She’d never brought it up though. After Tommy had led me away, Freya never mentioned the incident again. Maybe she just wanted to forget the traumatizing moment, and I could respect that. I’d taken full advantage of her sympathetic and loving heart, and I knew it.

But I digress.

I didn’t remember things being so bad. Tommy had mentioned that he’d needed to leave the Marines to be with his wife and daughter, but he’d never mentioned how bad it had evidently gotten. Had Freya been dealing with being the grown-up in the house ever since she was a kid? Maybe our pasts were more similar than I ever realized.

“You look like you’re thinking too hard,” Freya said as she dipped to look into the fridge for something.

Damn, that ass…

“I’m afraid that maybe your head will explode or something,” she mused.

I barked a rusty laugh, just as she stood and graced me with a grin over her shoulder.

“You’re insane,” was the only comeback I had, because maybe she was right.

I was thinking way too hard about her and that peachy ass when I should’ve been focused on other things. “Is Tommy still at the dealership?”

She nodded, then slid over a beer to me.

“You know him. Workaholic.”

Yes, I did, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. He had such an amazing life to come home to, why would he choose work over this?

I grunted instead of answering, but took the beer happily.

“So?” she asked after a minute. “You took the day to go to the base. How’d it go?”

I didn’t fucking answer. I didn’t want to.

Funny though, as it turned out, I didn’t need to.

“Oh…Ash…” she moaned, sadness and sympathy coloring her cheeks.

“Guess my nickname Citizen really matches now,” I grunted out, thinking it would be funny, but my voice cracked like a prepubescent boy, showing my emotions.

Freya came right around the counter and took me into her arms, beer and all where she squeezed me harder than anybody had ever hugged me before.

“You’ll be ok,” she muffled a whisper with her face in the crook of my neck and shoulder. “You’ve got us, and we’ll be your team.”

An unwelcome tear started slipping out of my eye, and I quickly tried sucking it back up before she could notice. But funny that, tears don’t suck back up like snot.

When she let me go, Freya looked into my face and lifted her hand, sweeping the trail of that singular tear away.

“You’ve got us,” she said, looking me right in the eyes. “If you need a wingman, I’m your girl. I’ll help get you laid and help you find a place when you’re ready. I’ll even watch sports with you, even though I hate everything other than hockey and MMA.”

I snorted a laugh, which made her sad lips turn into a small smile.

“I appreciate that,” I told her, pressing my palm to her cheek now. “But I’m ok. I don’t need a wingman. I can get laid all by myself. As for sports, what other real sports are there other than hockey and MMA?”

She snorted a laugh, legit making snot burst out of her nose, which made her cheeks flame with embarrassment.

I laughed too while she hurried away to the bathroom to get away from me.

That girl was too much.

And fucking everything.

 

Author Bio:

L.L. Ash is a Washington-born writer who has traveled and lived across the western coast of the US. Ash has been writing fiction since she was a pre-teen, and while her writing has improved since then, her love for literature has not changed.

Oftentimes you can find Ash reading an indie romance or enjoying a historical fiction. Dabbling in culinary arts and music, Ash has been an artist for decades but found her true love and passion in romances.

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

 

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