Carries Book Reviews

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Happy Easter!!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day today! I feel like I should have a huge post today and use the holiday as an excuse but no I still behaved myself this week instead. I do however still have four lovely new titles to share even if I didn’t fall off the wagon. 😀

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

New additions from Netgalley Mar 24th  – Mar 31st

Two former best friends each find love at an adults-only summer camp in this romantic and nostalgic novel that proves “once a camp person, always a camp person.”

Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director. 

When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.

The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?

A recently deceased woman meets “the one” in the afterlife waiting room, scoring a second chance at life (and love!) if she can find him on earth before ten days are up…

If she wasn’t dead already, Delphie would be dying of embarrassment. Not only did she just die by choking on a microwaveable burger, but now she’s standing in her ‘shine like a star’ nightie in front of the hottest man she’s ever seen. And he’s smiling at her.

As they start to chat, everything else becomes background noise. That is until someone comes running out of a door, yelling something about a huge mistake, and sends the dreamy stranger back down to earth. And here Delphie was thinking her luck might be different in the afterlife.  

When Delphie is offered a deal in which she can return to earth and reconnect with the mysterious man, she jumps at the opportunity to find her possible soulmate and a fresh start. But in a city of millions, Delphie is going to have to listen to her heart, learn to ask for help, and perhaps even see the magic in the life she’s leaving behind…

In this twisty, fast-paced YA thriller, a dangerous game becomes all too real when Marina and her friends are framed for murder.

When Marina Chan ran from her old life, she brought nothing with her-not even her real name. Now she lives in fear of her past being discovered. But when her online gaming team is offered a tour of their favorite game company, Marina can’t resist accepting, even though she knows it might put her fake identity at risk.

Then the creator of the game is murdered during their tour. The killer plans to frame Marina and her friends for the murder unless they win four rounds of a dangerous game. A game that requires them to lie, trespass, and steal. A game that could destroy everything Marina’s worked so hard to build…. A game that she might not survive.

This pulse-pounding YA thriller is perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and Slay.

While in England, a first edition of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights leads bookstore owner Addie Greyborne to a murder on the moors . . .

Although enjoying her extended stay working at Second Chance Books and Bindery in West Yorkshire, Addie still feels adrift—far from home, her friends, and her own beloved bookstore, Beyond the Page Books and Curios. The engagement party of her dear friend, Tony, at Milton Manor promises to be a joyful distraction. But there’s an ill wind blowing at the estate: When Tony presents his fiancé with a special copy of Wuthering Heights as an engagement gift, the lord of the manor insists the book was stolen from his library . . .

Things go from troubling to tragic when Addie takes her Yorkipoo, Pippi, out for a walk on the moors and stumbles across the body of a young woman. When the police suspect Tony of foul play, Addie vows to get to the bottom of what’s going on. But it’s a twisted, treacherous path to the truth and Addie will need to watch her every step . . .

**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.**

My War, My Child
Bharati Sen

Publication date: March 26th 2024
Genres: Adult, Historical

A law student at Dhaka University, Afsana’s future is bright. Her greatest concern is whether or not her parents will approve of her marriage. When they do, the young bride knows she can face anything the future holds.

Then war breaks out.

Six years later, she encounters a ghost from her past-her first husband, presumed dead in the fighting.

My War, My Child vividly and compassionately tells the story of Bengali birangona, the war heroines, whose lives were brutally torn apart by the 1971 War for Independence. Though the fight resulted in the freedom and independent nation so craved by the Bengali people, hundreds of thousands of women’s lives were devastated, leaving them to scrape together the pieces and carry on as best they could-often with children and orphans forced upon them.

This is a piece of history you’ve never heard before, an inside look at the resilience and strength of women around the world.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Farzad startled when she touched his arm. Her voice had changed indeed, weaker, but still the voice that in old days—not so very old either—-was the one voice that meant the whole world to him.

For a single instant, his thoughts strayed away into the past, and the marvel of his first love came back to him.

He looked down upon the soft hand that held his arm. He stared at the fingers, held in desperation.

His heart awoke under that touch, like a sudden flash of light, bringing back happy moments. And sad.

He recalled the last look that he had seen on her face at the door when they parted, her face conveying the anxiety of uncertainty about seeing him again.

He remembered that he had turned away abruptly, that in his preoccupied state of mind, he had not spoken one soothing word to her.

Her voice now sounded like a mournful echo of his dead love.

The days when he adored her, thought her the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, the days when he lived on in the bitterness of missing her gentle love for him, could not be revived again.

And it occurred to him that he still had a moment to decide, only a brief moment now, whether to take her back or abandon her.

 

Author Bio:

Bharati Sen was born in Rangoon, Myanmar and spent much of her childhood growing up in Southeast Asia and West Bengal. She completed a Masters in International Relations, and discovered a passion for writing about disparities and cultural differences, particularly in women. Her debut award-winning book titled, On the Banks of River Sarayu, is a compilation of nineteen stories reflecting the lives of ordinary South Asian women within bittersweet tales. The book was awarded finalist in the 2020 International Book Awards as well as the 2020 finalist for the MiPA Midwest Book Award in the category of Short Stories. Her first novel, My War My Child, narrates the intertwined story of two war heroines during the Bangladesh War of Independence, and will be coming out in Spring of 2024.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

 

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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.**

Title: Just for the Summer

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publisher: Forever

Publication Date: April 2, 2024

Page Count:  424

My rating: 5 stars

About the book:

A sharp and scintillating summer novel that will make readers laugh out loud and cry happy tears from the New York Times bestselling author of Yours Truly.

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work. 

Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez is a contemporary romance novel. The story in Just for the Summer is one that starts off with strangers turning to friends and eventually lovers. The story is told by changing the point of view between the two main characters giving both sides of their relationship.

Justin never thought he was someone who would end up internet famous one day but unfortunately that day has come. Somehow Justin’s story of being “cursed” has hit the internet with it seeming like every woman Justin dates suddenly finds her “one” just after breaking up with him and now women everywhere want in on the action.

Emma is a traveling nurse who catches wind of Justin’s story and can’t help but sympathize with him feeling that she has been hit with the same curse. On a whim Emma shoots off a message to Justin which slowly turns into a friendship between the pair making Emma consider Justin’s town in Minnesota for her next job.

Abby Jimenez is definitely an author who has put herself on the map for readers lately but as many good things that I’ve heard I hadn’t had a chance to read for myself until now. Well…now I know why I kept hearing her name so often after finishing Just for the Summer. This story couldn’t help but pull me in with such likable characters, a wonderful setting (I was a bit jealous of driving to work in a boat) and a lovely romance that took it’s time to build and pulled me along for the ride. Will definitely look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Abby Jimenez is a Food Network winner, New York Times best selling author, and recipient of the 2022 Minnesota Book Award for her novel Life’s Too Short. Abby founded Nadia Cakes out of her home kitchen back in 2007. The bakery has since gone on to win numerous Food Network competitions and, like her books, has amassed an international following.

Abby loves a good romance, coffee, doglets, and not leaving the house.

**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: Vinyl Resting Place

Author: Olivia Blacke

Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Publication Date: December 27, 2022

Page Count:  302

My rating: 3 1/2 stars

About the book:

First in a new series by Olivia Blacke, Vinyl Resting Place follows three sisters who discover that opening a family business can be murder.

When Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie put all their beans in one basket to open Sip & Spin Records, a record-slash-coffee shop in Cedar River, Texas, they knew there could be some scratches on the track, but no one was expecting to find a body deader than disco in the supply closet.

Family is everything to the Jessups, so when their uncle is arrested by Juni’s heartbreaking ex on suspicion of murder, the sisters don’t skip a beat putting Sip & Spin up for bail collateral. But their tune changes abruptly when Uncle Calvin disappears, leaving them in a grind. With their uncle’s freedom and the future of their small business on the line, it’s up to Juni and her sisters to get in the groove and figure out whodunit before the killer’s trail—and the coffee—goes cold.

Music and mocha seem like a blend that should be “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” but caught up in a murder investigation with her family and their life savings on the line, Juni wonders if she might be on the “Highway to Hell” instead.

Vinyl Resting Place by Olivia Blacke is the first book in the new cozy Record Shop Mystery series. As with most cozy mysteries this first book in the series does contain it’s own mystery that is fully solved so it can be read as a standalone if choosing to do so.

Juni, Tansy, and Maggie are sisters who all decided to take a risk together to change their lives by combining assets and opening Sip & Spin Records in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas. With vinyl records back in demand the girls thought now would be a great time to show their love for music but with a side of coffee shop in the store to hopefully maintain business.

Things do not get off to a good start for Juni, Tansy, and Maggie when after the opening night of Sip & Spin Records they find a dead body in the closet of their new store. When the ladies find out that their uncle Calvin is the prime suspect in the murder they of course decide to get down to business and find the real killer themselves.

Being a music and a cozy mystery fan I couldn’t resist checking out this opening book Vinyl Resting Place by Olivia Blacke. I found it interesting to really have all three sisters involved in the story quite a bit but it does seem that Juni stepped into the “main” character roll to still consider this a typical cozy. With just getting to know these characters and this new series I rated this first book at three and a half stars but found it a solid opener that will bring me back soon.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

OLIVIA BLACKE, author of the Record Shop Mysteries and Brooklyn Murder Mysteries, finally found a way to put her criminology degree to good use by writing quirky, unconventional, character-driven cozy mysteries. Olivia is a little nerdy, a lot awkward, and just the right amount of weird. She is a recovering ex-Texan who resides with her husband, Potassium, and Baileycakes, their roly-poly rescue puggle. When not writing, reading, or spending way too much time on social media, Olivia enjoys amigurumi crochet, scuba diving, collecting tattoos, watching hockey, and baking dog cookies. She wants to be a unicorn when she grows up.

Social media links, blog, and up-to-date news is found at: OliviaBlacke.com.

**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.**

An Accident Waiting to Dragon
Abigail Owen
(Brimstone Inc., #3)
Publication date: March 26th 2024
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

It’s not the heat…it’s the pixie dust.

The day her brother died, Gwendolyn Moonsoar fled from her veil of pixies. Grief drove her away, but a broken heart made her stay gone for good. Lucky for Gwen, Brimstone Inc. was there to break her fall. Now, as a special courier transporting the most valuable and dangerous items of the supernatural world, Gwen is good at her job. Damn good. After all, disappearing is her specialty.

Dragon shifter Asher Kato will always be haunted by his best friend Goran’s death. Although a promise he made gave him no choice, Asher will never forgive himself for the role he played…or the fallout it caused with Goran’s younger sister, Gwen. Burying himself in his role as second-in-command of the blue dragons is his only escape. Unfortunately, the peace they fought so hard for isn’t meant for a warrior like him. So, when a courier transporting a rare basilisk egg goes missing, Asher volunteers to track her down.

Except Asher’s mission ends up stranding him on a deserted island with the only woman he’s ever wanted….a pixie who would rather vanish forever than spend a single second with him.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Sweaty from their trek and the feelings that refused to fade, Gwen was damn tempted to dive right in, but before she could, Asher stripped off his shoes and socks, his hands going to the fly of his jeans.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He didn’t face her, but she could hear the rare teasing smile in his voice. “Bathing.”

He was going to bathe. Right now? In front of her?

Sure. No big deal. She was a fully grown adult. Most supernatural creatures didn’t have hang-ups about nudity the way humans did. She could handle this. He’d go first, then she’d take a turn. They could draw their drinking water upstream when they were done.

Asher dropped his pants, leaving him in nothing but black boxer-briefs, which showed off the muscles of his thighs as he waded into the water. Then he turned to face her, a playful glint in his eyes she hadn’t seen in a long time. Sure enough, next came the shirt.

Damn.

There went the small amount of control she’d wrangled for herself over the course of their trek. Gone in an instant.

With an eye roll, she walked to a flat rock at the edge of the water. A second later, a splash told her he was fully submerged now. By the time she’d taken off her sock and shoes, and rolled up her pants to dangle her legs, she figured it was safe for her to look.

A horrible idea, it turned out.

A flash of movement under the surface caught her eye a second before Asher came up out of the water, facing her, lifting his hands to slick back his dark hair, his muscles rippling with the movement.

Now that was just freaking unfair.

It was like nature was trying to highlight all the hotness she’d been missing all this time. Hotness that had just been inside of her.

Oh. My. Gods.

Heat flared in her cheeks yet again.

Which was when Asher opened his eyes and caught her staring. His gaze locked in on her, and for once she couldn’t make out what he was thinking.

But she couldn’t look away, her chest growing tighter by the second.

Was he—

Asher swam toward her. “Why aren’t you coming in?”

She nearly shook her head. No, it couldn’t be.

Her oh-so-serious dragon wasn’t trying to…tease her, play with her?

Was he?

He’s not your dragon, Gwendolyn Moonsoar. He’s not your anything, she tried to remind herself. But that thought was feeling more and more flimsy by the second…considering the way he was looking at her.

She shrugged, trying to play it cool while her face was probably still flaming red. Maybe he’d put that down to their trek? “I’ll wait until you’re done.”

A frown flitted across his features, far more familiar and comfortable than his teasing, but then he swam forward until he could stand in front of her. “You don’t have to wait. There’s plenty of room.”

Gwen opened her mouth to wave him off with something vague only to get a little lost in the deep navy of his eyes. “I…don’t think that would be a good idea,” she found herself saying.

His jaw tightened visibly. “I would never—”

Without thinking, she pressed a single finger against his lips and they both sort of froze at the contact. Gwen swallowed and pulled away slowly.

“I know,” she whispered. “You’re not the one I don’t trust.”

Asher’s brows drew together, stopped, then crept back up as her meaning sank in that she was the problem here. Her and all her discombobulated feelings.

That glint from a moment ago reignited in his eyes, only up close it was even more potent, more dangerous. “Do you need rescuing?” he asked, his voice dropping lower.

Oh my gods.

The memory of their first kiss, the first time he’d said those words to her, swirled and blended with this one, and excited butterflies hit her insides full force. But she couldn’t.

They couldn’t. Could they?

What she wanted to say was, “From you?” like she had back then. Instead, she just shook her head and went to stand up, to put distance between them.

Only Asher grabbed her hand, his hold gentle as she stilled.

“I’ve missed you, Gwen,” he said softly. “I want you to know that.”

A lump of emotion and longing formed inside her throat.

Was he trying to make this a thousand times harder for her? More confusing? More need-inducing?

When she didn’t say anything but she also didn’t leave, he slowly moved closer, right up against her rock, so that he was standing between her dangling legs. He paused there. “I really want to kiss you, and not just in a dream, but I won’t if you say no, or if you need rescuing for real.”

This close, right in her space where she could feel the natural warmth of a dragon shifter radiating from his skin, feel his breath against her cheek…gods, he was temptation.

Gwen forced her gaze away, dropping it to her lap. It didn’t help. She still wanted to kiss him. “I—”

She shifted her gaze to the left and paused, then peered closer at his side.

What the—?

Then she choked.

Asher jerked to follow her gaze, searching the water around him for some threat maybe. “What’s wrong?”

She stared at him with her mouth ajar for enough time that he stopped searching for danger to bracket her face with his hands, his expression growing harder with concern. “Gwen—”

 

Author Bio:

Award-winning author, Abigail Owen, writes NA/YA romantasy and paranormal romance. She loves plots that move hot and fast, feisty heroines with sass, heroes with heart, a dash of snark, and oodles of HEAs!

Abbie has a degree in English Rhetoric (Technical Writing) from Texas A&M University (gig’em Ags!), and an MBA from California State University-Sacramento. Prior to becoming a published author, she spent 15+ years using the other side of her brain in various tech- and business-related roles.

Other titles include: wife, mother, Star Wars geek, ex-competitive skydiver, AuDHD, spreadsheet lover, Jeopardy fanatic, organizational guru, true classic movie buff, linguaphile, wishful world traveler, and chocoholic.

Abigail currently resides in Austin, Texas, with her own swoon-worthy hero, their (mostly) angelic teenagers, and two adorable fur babies.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok

 

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