Carries Book Reviews

Spell Book & Scandal
Jen McConnel
Publication date: October 31st 2017
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

Shelby King is tired of living in her sister’s shadow. Just because Christina is the most powerful caster in school doesn’t mean Shelby’s any good at magic; she’s a scribe, like her mom, and everyone expects her to write spells for her sister, the way her mom always has for her dad. But Shelby’s spells fail spectacularly, and by the time she’s a sophomore, Christina won’t touch them with a ten-foot-pole; their parents aren’t much better. Shelby is fed up, and she decides to show the world she doesn’t care if she isn’t as good as her stuck-up sister, or as talented as their powerful parents. In fact, she decides it’s time to break all the rules, magical and otherwise, and she starts sneaking out to meet Jeremiah Smallwood, the second-best caster in school at illegal pop-up spell battles around town. She may not be able to scribe for him, but she doesn’t mind letting him think that she could; Shelby’s been half in love with Miah as long as she can remember, but he’s never paid attention to her until now, and she’s not going to risk her chances worrying about a pesky thing like the truth. But when Christina rats her out to their parents, Shelby can’t control her anger, and words come pouring out of her that she can’t take back even if she wanted to, threatening Christina’s future…and Shelby’s own chances with Jeremiah. It’ll take more magic than Shelby’s ever dreamed of to set things right, but no scribe has that much magic…right?

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Author Bio:

Award-winning author Jen McConnel writes NA, YA, and nonfiction. When she isn’t writing, she can be found on her yoga mat or wandering off on another adventure. Visit http://www.JenMcConnel.com to learn more!

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His To Keep
Vivian Wood
Publication date: August 19th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

From Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller Vivian Wood

Nothing this fake should feel so good.

CEO Connor Cavanaugh is a man in charge. He dominates in meeting rooms and at the gym, and his sinfully sexy body is proof. His upcoming wedding is supposed to seal the deal, putting his company in the spotlight and making it rain.

That all goes down in flames when he walks in on his bride-to-be with another man.

No one can know that a woman tried to make a fool of Connor Cavanaugh.

Cancelling the wedding is the only option… until he spots a gorgeous brunette at the wedding planner’s office. Samantha. The perfect fake fiancée.

She has a body that makes him want to walk her over the threshold, but she’s sweet. Harmless. She’ll suit the position perfectly.

The only problem? Samantha has a wicked smile that keeps him up at night. Every day, she’s more tempting than the last.

He swore he wouldn’t f*ck around with his fake fiancée. He signed a contract. He paid. But the more he sees, the more he wants… too bad Sam has plans of her own.

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EXCERPT:

He took her empty hand and began to forge a path through the crowd. Huddled at the end of the bar was his small, but usual crew. His three buds from high school, two of

them with their short-term girlfriends. Connor couldn’t be bothered to learn their names, they moved through them so quickly.

“Hey, guys,” he shouted over the music. “This is Sam. My girlfriend.”

One of his friends didn’t even bother to stop his mouth from dropping open. “Girlfriend? But didn’t you just—”

“Didn’t I just what?” he asked quickly.

“Nothing, man. Hey, Sam. I’m Chase, and this is Jay and Dan. We’ve known Connor forever, so feel free to ask us for any embarrassing stories about him. And this is my girlfriend, Anna, and Eve over there.”

“Hi,” Sam said smoothly to each of them. She worked her usual magic with ease. Connor was aware of the girls as they sized her up, on edge because of the clear competition. However, Sam had a way of putting snark to bed and lavished compliments on them.

“I have to say,” Chase said. “You’re, uh, not what I expected.”

“No? What did you expect?” she asked.

Chase downed the last of his drink. “To be honest, Connor’s type is usually blonde and dumb as a brick.”

“Chase!” his girlfriend said, and smacked him on the chest.

“What! It’s a compliment,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know you, Sam, but I can tell you’re a smart girl.”

“Since when is my type dumb and blonde?” Connor asked, honestly confused. Sandra hadn’t been blonde. Was that really what his friends thought of him? He knew Chase could be an ass at times, but he was also brutally honest when he was drunk. And he was plenty drunk now.

“Uh, since THOT was all up on your junk,” Chase said. He pointed to the girl who hanged off the male model. “Don’t worry,” he said to Sam. “Connor walked right away from that trainwreck.”

“He can dance with whomever he wants to,” Sam said with a smile. “It’s who he comes home to that I care about.”

Amidst whoops and hollers, Connor put an arm around her, and felt her stiffen. “You got yourself a good one for once,” Jay said.

“Yeah,” Eve slurred. “You should kiss her!”

Somehow, the little group rallied their thoughts enough to start a chant of, “Kiss her!” over and over. “C’mon, man, we’re doing you a favor,” Dan said.

Unable to think of a way out of it, Connor leaned down to meet Sam’s lips. Why not? She should be expecting this anyway. It’s not like I’m asking her to sleep with me.

He meant it to just be a peck, but as soon as their lips met he couldn’t pull away. Her lips, though he knew they’d be soft and supple, were also magnetic. She tasted like just the faintest trace of scotch and her own sweet, natural self. Sam responded, and parted her lips.

She turned to face him, and he slid his hand from her shoulder to the back of her head. He traced her jaw with his thumb and pressed himself against her. He felt one of her hands on his back, and her breasts squeezed against him. Connor couldn’t help it. He grew hard against her stomach.

Sam pulled back, startled and wide-eyed. His friends hollered some more, but simultaneously turned back to the bar as they realized their drinks needed refreshing.

“Sam!” The redhead, Ellie, was suddenly by their side. “We couldn’t find you. We looked and—who’s this?” she asked, and turned to Connor. Her big doe eyes searched his.

“Um, this is Connor,” she said. Sam dabbed at her lips. “My, uh, my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend?” Ellie asked. “Then who the hell was the guy you came—”

“Just a friend,” Sam said.

“He didn’t act like just a friend,” Ellie said suspiciously as Henry approached from behind.

“He’s gay,” Sam said.

“Oh. Well, nice to meet you, Connor,” she said. “This is my boyfriend, Henry.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Connor said to him. It was rare to meet a man in civilian life that matched his height and brawn.

“We haven’t heard a thing about you,” Ellie said. He saw Henry nudge her.

“Sam likes her privacy,” Connor said.

“Thanks for the tip. I’ve only known her for five years,” Ellie said.

“As fun as this is,” Sam interrupted, “I think I’m about to head out. I have a massive headache.”

“Justin Bieber will do that to you,” Henry said, clearly happy for the excuse to leave. “Ready?” he asked Ellie. Ellie looked out to the crowd with a pout.

“I guess. If my boyfriend and best friend are leaving, it would be pretty awkward for me to stay.”

Sam gave Connor a look, said her goodbyes to his friends, and left with Ellie and Henry in tow.

“Damn, Connor, how’d you pull that?” Chase asked as soon as she was out of earshot.

“What, you think she’s out of my league?” Connor asked. He took another sip of his scotch.

“Uh, yeah,” Chase said as Anna rolled her eyes.

“She seems nice, Connor,” Anna said. “Good for you.”

“So are you hitting that, like, on the regular?” Dan asked.

“Oh my God! Could you be any hornier?” Eve asked. “Do you want, like, a play by play or something?”

“More like a blow by blow, if he can be bothered. Everyone here is getting laid besides me. Cut me a little slack!”

Connor remained quiet as his friends continued to talk about how much they liked Sam. “So, hey,” Anna said as she slipped between him and Chase. “What was up with you on the dance floor with that girl, then? I mean, I’m guessing you and Sam are a new thing, but still—”

“Why don’t you worry about your own relationship?” he asked and nodded toward Chase.

“Asshole,” she said, and moved away from him.

Author Bio:

Alison Brodie is an internationally-published author. GOOD HOUSEKEEPING chose her debut for their Pick of the Paperbacks. The Scottish Daily Mail reviewed ‘Face to Face’: “Vain but wildly funny leading lady.”

Alison has a criminal record for busking/disturbance of the peace in Piccadilly Circus; speeding in Spain and hustling in Athens. She lives in Biarritz, where she can be found speaking unnintelligabuble French.aGet a FREE Vivian Wood secret office romance by copying and pasting this into your browser window: http://vivian-wood.com/get-news.

Vivian likes to write about troubled, deeply flawed alpha males and the fiery, kick-ass women who bring them to their knees.

Vivian’s lasting motto in romance is a quote from a favorite song: “Soulmates never die.”

Be sure to follow Vivian through her Vivian’s Vixens mailing list or Facebook group to keep up with all the awesome giveaways, author videos, ARC opportunities, and more!

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The Holiday Cruise by Victoria Cooke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It hasn’t been easy the last few months for Hannah Davis, her husband had cheated on her and left her for a younger woman and now that she’s trying to pull herself together she’s finding she just may lose her beauty salon business too. After closing for several weeks her customers seem to have moved on to a rival business leaving Hannah alone and broke and not sure what to do with her life.

Meeting a young woman with a nail crisis Hannah finds herself chatting away about life at sea. The lady she rescued was on the way to start a job aboard a cruise ship and eagerly tells Hannah all about it suggesting she should apply herself. A cruise was always a dream of Hannah’s hoping to travel with her husband but now with nothing left holding her back and a little encouragement from her sister Hannah applies to work in the spa and begin a new chapter of her life.

Alright anyone who knows me knows that I have a cruising obsession so seeing a book with “Cruise” in the title certainly caught my attention. Thankfully picking up a book with only one word drawing my interest I ended up finding this one a rather nice read and would definitely recommend it to anyone who’d like a virtual sea vacation.

Having been taken several cruises myself I’m a little bit familiar with the jobs around the cruising industry and just how hard those folks work. I questioned a few times how realistic Hannah’s free time in the book actually was but for the sake of the story I just told myself it’s fiction so just enjoy the story. For a fan of traveling though it was nice to hear of all the different ports and activities which is what I’d been hoping for when choosing this book.

As for Hannah and all of her co-workers along with the eventual budding romance I found it all quite lovely. Everything other than Hannah’s spare time seemed to be quite spot on and created a lovely story with great characters that I truly enjoyed reading about. I’d definitely recommend this one to the fans of contemporary romance whether a fan of cruising or not.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Doom with a View: A Merry Ghost Inn Mystery by Kate Kingsbury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Doom with a View is the second book in the Merry Ghost Inn cozy mystery series by Kate Kingsbury. In the first book Melanie and Liza had purchased the B&B that had it’s own little twist of being possibly haunted and they had nicknamed their ghost Orville. While in the process of remodeling a skeleton was found and of course with the body being older the police weren’t pushing the case to the forefront so the ladies were worried they wouldn’t be able to open without the crime solved began questioning and searching the case themselves.

Now it’s finally opening week at the Merry Ghost Inn owned by Melanie West and her grandmother, Liza and six senior reading group members have checked in to stay at the bed and breakfast located on the Oregon coast. All is going well for the ladies and their long awaited guests until the next morning they find the body of one of the guests outside having fallen from their balcony and fail to find a pulse.

As the police arrive they find that the death looks highly suspicious and think that the victim may have been pushed. With all of the guests under suspicion they are asked not to leave until the investigation is done. Melanie and Liza know that they have a whole new group booked at the Inn in the coming week so the ladies begin their own investigation to help the police wrap the case up quickly.

Having read both books in this series I can honestly call myself a fan really having enjoyed both installments now. This cozy mystery series has the elements that I enjoy from this genre with extremely likable characters and a unique setting with a bed and breakfast with it’s very own laughing ghost that plays a small part in each read.

While I would highly recommend starting the series from the beginning to gain the character and world building that takes place over the course of both reads this one can be read as a standalone if preferred. The mystery within the pages of each book is fully solved in the individuals books so it wouldn’t be totally necessary to have read the first. After having read both myself I definitely plan on continuing this series and look forward to see what will be in store for Melanie and Liza next.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Sexiest Dad Alive
M. Clarke
(Knight Fashion #3)
Publication date: February 27th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Life isn’t a fairytale. Sometimes you have to fight for happily ever after. And sometimes you just have to let go.

Josh Bennett

It was a simple offer.

I invited Isla to rent a room in my five thousand square foot home. Plenty of rooms and plenty of space. But the second she moved in, I knew I was in trouble. I could handle wanting her when there was distance between us, but once we started to play house, all my pent up desire started knocking down walls.

That was my first mistake of many.

The private investigator I hired to track down my ex found her not far from where I live. I should have locked my past behind me, but something urged me to find her. I’m glad I did. But our union left me with a situation to be reckoned with.

When a new fire is lit and old flames rekindle, one will have to burn out.

The decisions I’ll have to make won’t be easy.

No matter what I choose, my heart will break.

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On sale for 99¢ for a limited time!

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EXCERPT:

Shelly leaned back, her hair falling around her face while her arms still embraced the pillow. “I could agree to that. You can come over during the weekday after work if

you’d like to see Emma. That way she’ll get used to you. You can’t just take her for a weekend. She’ll cry bloody murder for me. And besides, I don’t think you know how to change diapers, or feed her, or give her a bath.”

I hadn’t thought about that. To Emma, I was a total stranger. “Okay. I’ll stop by every day around this time until she’s comfortable enough for me to take her on the weekend. I don’t have a project right now, so the timing is perfect.”

I leaned closer to Emma and caressed her chubby arm. Emma’s eyes fluttered open. When her bluish-green eyes set on me, I stopped breathing. Her eyes were just like mine, so uncanny, like almost looking at a reflection. Though Shelly had told me Emma’s eyes looked like mine, seeing the truth of it took my breath away. Relishing the feeling, I studied her.

I had thought she would burst out with a cry, but instead she smiled and twisted into a crawling position. Gripping the posts, she bounced, making cute baby sounds. When she spotted Shelly, Emma held out her arms and started to whine.

Shelly picked Emma up and kissed her forehead. The love Shelly had for Emma warmed my heart. I smiled, but I kept my heart hardened. Shelly told me her intentions, but I didn’t trust her.

“Here you go.” She deposited Emma in my arms, and since I hadn’t expected it, I almost dropped her. “Emma this is your father, Josh. Josh, your daughter, Emma.”

“Hi, Emma.” I bounced her a little the way I’d seen mothers do, afraid she would whine again. I had no idea what to do next. What the hell was I thinking when I had asked Shelly if I could have Emma for the weekend? I had no idea how to change a diaper, feed her, bathe her, or whatever else an eleven-month-old baby needed. I guessed I needed to hire a nanny as soon as possible.

Emma gave me a blank face. She glanced to her mother and then back to me, uncertain. When I made a goofy face, she smiled and let out a cute noise. One of her tiny, delicate hands touched my face, and the other set of fingers wrapped around my index finger. At that moment she stole my breath and tattooed herself onto my heart. You will always be a part of me. You own my heart and my soul. I will love you, care for you, and protect you with every breath I take. I’m your father, and I promise you I’ll make up for all the time lost. I swear to you on my life, Emma.

Author Bio:

International Bestselling, Award Winning, Author Mary Ting/M. Clarke resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M

Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children’s chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.

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