Carries Book Reviews

An Impossible World
S.P. Cervantes
Published by: Amber Leaf Publishing
Publication date: July 25th 2017
Genres: Adult, Dystopian, Romance

What would happen if terrorism spread and hate took over? What would the world become?

Isabella (Belle) Grey trained her entire adult life to protect those around her––training that would prove invaluable in her quest to make a new life. Forced to live in an impossible world, terror was not only outside the walls of her protected community but also raged behind the walls of her very own home.

No longer willing to put up with her husband’s drunken abuse, Belle made the desperate decision to run away from the safety of her community and escaped alone into the broken world beyond.

Chased by death as bombs exploded in the distance, her next decision could not only save her life but could potentially bring light back into her darkened soul.

When faced with the impossible, Belle found strength in an unsuspecting stranger who set her path in a new direction––one she never considered.

Fear. Love. Revenge. Strength … all come together in this epic tale of fate and survival.

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Author Bio:

S.P. Cervantes is the author of the acclaimed contemporary romance A BROKEN FAIRY TALE series. The series allows you to connect with a group of friends and their

triumphs over tragedy. “Dust to Dust” is a suspenseful stand-alone romance that introduces readers to this close knit group of loyal friends. “Wished Away” is an emotional romance that should be read before the Bad-Boy romance, “His Jar of Hearts”.

S.P. highly acclaimed romance called “The Wife” is now available.

S.P. is also the author of the highly rated Young Adult Romantic Fantasy trilogy Secrets of Shadow Hill. “Always and Forever”, “The Prophecy”, and “War of Wizards” that has been described as “Twilight Meets Harry Potter”. It’s not your typical romantic fantasy.

S.P Cervantes lives in Orange County, California with her husband and three children, where she is a teacher. She enjoys spending time with her family, writing, reading, and running, but is always thinking of an idea for her next novel.

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Patchwork by Karsten Knight
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Renata Lake is a typical high school girl in most ways, she plays sports, has a boyfriend and likes to get into a bit of mischief now and then when things are a bit boring. Renata and a couple of her friends have formed a secret club to pull pranks and have what they think will be a great one set up for prom night. However, things go a bit off course for Renata and her friends after their prank and the next thing Renata knows she’s in the water and the ship with her friends on it is exploding.

When Renata awakes from her near drowning after the ship attack she finds herself in a strange place. Renata comes to know of this in between area she’s would up in as Patchwork that she has traveled to between times finding herself then headed back to her life a month before prom night. Now Renata believes she has the chance to make things right and save her friends before the tragedy can happen but little does Renata know that the evil that attacked is going to follow her through Patchwork and through time trying to finish what it started that night.

Patchwork was described as a young adult thriller that is a cross between Before I Fall and Inception. Now I wasn’t a huge fan of Inception myself but my curiosity was up on what this book would contain so I decided to give it a try. I will say that perhaps the Inception side of the book is what kept me from giving a full five stars as when finished the one thing I thought was parts of the book could perhaps been a bit more clear, more specifically the Patchwork and how the time traveling worked.

Otherwise, though I found this story certainly contained some interesting ideas when it came to the plot. Renata going back through time trying to fix things and save those she loved kept me engaged in the story and wanting to know how it would all turn out in the end. I also enjoyed that as she goes farther back she’s questioning her life choices and events that she had lived. The story was also definitely action packed and a fast pace which had the pages turning all throughout.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Don’t Look Back
Vicki Tharp
Publication date: November 19th 2011
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

Ridley Meyer’s latest murder left him unsatisfied, but the spitfire with the U-haul may provide just the challenge he craves.

Veterinarian Audrey West is running out of time, yet she is determined to keep her inherited home out of foreclosure. With no more than a dream, a prayer, and a packed U-Haul, West moves back home to complete the expensive repairs. Just when Audrey thinks she might pull off the impossible, she finds her dream is not the only thing being followed.

Scott Romero has it all—money, ambition and a growing reputation as the city’s top veterinary surgeon. However, when his best friend Audrey is abducted by a killer, Scott realizes what he doesn’t have and he must risk losing his job, and his life, to save her.

Don’t Look Back was a 2007 Romantic Suspense finalist in the Romance Writer’s of America Golden Heart writing contest.

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—

EXCERPT:

He leaned in to scrutinize his work. “Let me see.”

She turned toward him.

He pushed her hand out of the way. He poked. He prodded. He pressed. “I did Doctor Frankenstein proud. Maybe my stepmother was right. I should’ve been a real doctor. At least I wouldn’t have risked my veterinary license stitching you up.”

“I don’t—”

“I know. I know. You don’t like hospitals.”

“It’ll take more than a little thump to get me in one again.”

“Little thumps don’t require stitches. Little thumps don’t give you a concussion. And little thumps don’t get you almost killed.”

“Not this again.”

“Yes. This again.”

He raised his hands and took a step back. “Do me a favor.”

“What’s that?”

“The next time one of your clients waves a gun around, stay out of the way.”

“What in the purple hell did you expect me to do? Let her kill herself?”

“You should’ve gone for help.”

“Ms. Sims wasn’t trying to hurt me. Her dog, her baby, dropped dead. She was distraught, disturbed. If I hadn’t nosedived into the bench grabbing for the gun, I doubt

I’d’ve had a scratch on me.” Audrey squeezed her head to keep it from exploding.

“You’re not Superwoman. Bullets won’t bounce off you.”

She didn’t have the energy for this. “Finished?”

“Not hardly.” Scott tilted his head and gave her that sexy half-smile. That devilish smile. That maddening smile the lucky few had followed to his bed.

It was too painful to think about, and not just because of her headache, so she pushed it from her mind. “Thanks for letting me crash at your place last night. And for stitching me up.”

She’d stuffed everything she owned into her truck and U-Haul trailer. That wasn’t saying much since the truck and trailer were small.

“Staying at a hotel by yourself with a concussion wasn’t and option. As for the other, I don’t know how you talked me into it. You’ll probably have a scar.”

“Not a problem as long as your malpractice is paid.”

A laugh rumbled his chest, but the smile quickly slid from his lips. “You should stay a day or two. Make sure you’re really okay.”

Audrey scooched back and propped herself up against the leather headboard. Her brain protested behind the fireworks and the nine-piece drumline. “I’ve only got thirty days to finish the repairs on my uncle’s house. I have to leave today. I’ll call you from the road, let you know I haven’t bled out into my head.”

“Not funny.” Scott frowned but kept her gaze. “I’m due at the animal hospital at seven. I’m going to miss having you around. Guess I can’t talk you into staying for good, huh?”

“What?” Her voice jumped two octaves. “Who’s the one who stood in my kitchen two weeks ago and told me I should go? ‘This is your last chance to make good on your promise to your uncle,’ you said. ‘Take a chance on your dream,’ you said. Don’t even—”

“Down, girl.” Scott eased her back into the pillows with a hand on her shoulder.

Thank God. Hells-bells clanged in her head.

“Forget I said anything. At least sleep for a few more hours and then head out. You don’t look so hot.”

No kidding.

He patted her leg and by the way he didn’t get up to leave, she knew he wanted to say more, but he wasn’t any better at goodbyes than she was. Then Scott braced his hands on either side of her head, and planted a quick kiss on her nose. Like an adult to a child.

It might have hurt less if he’d eviscerated her with a spork.

She was leaving Texas. This morning. For good.

She snagged his tie. “If that’s the best you can do, Romero, it’s no wonder your girlfriends leave you.”

Why had she baited him? He couldn’t refuse a challenge, any more than a dachshund could refuse table scraps.

Was her mind muddled from the concussion? Or was she finally thinking clearly? One kiss. That’s all she wanted.

Like a lover, not a friend. Stupid. He’d locked her in the friend-zone years ago.

Except for the night of her high school graduation.

And two weeks ago when he’d convinced her she should leave.

The look in his eyes was the same now as then. Want, need, hunger.

Hand over hand she pulled him down. His lips brushed hers. Her breath caught. She blamed the

concussion. Her hands trembled. She blamed the pain. Her heart hurt. She blamed herself.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, deepened the kiss, tasted the coffee on his tongue, smelled the subtle tang of surgical scrub that never quite left his skin. She tilted her head, and he nipped her lips, traced the line of her jaw and down to her pounding pulse at the base of her neck. She guided him on top of her, his weight braced on his arms, but she drew him down until his full weight pinned her.

She floated.

No fears, no worries, no will power.

No wondering if she should stop or if she could stop – because she didn’t want to stop.

Author Bio:

Born with a love for animals, author Vicki Tharp pursued a career as a veterinarian, graduating from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 1992. Always an avid reader of mystery and suspense, she combined her interests into her first book entitled “Don’t Look Back”.

She makes her home in south Texas with her husband, two children and pets too numerous to mention.

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In the Blood & Beneath the Skin
R.L. Martinez
(The Witchbreed Series #1 & 2)
Published by: Lakewater Press
Genres: Adult, Fantasy

The WITCHBREED series is a rich fantasy set in a time when magic is feared by most but harnessed by the ruthless. It follows the story of twin sisters, one witch one warrior, separated by war, but whom have a bond so powerful they will do whatever it takes to keep one another alive.

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Author Bio:

Being a stay-at-home mom is probably the hardest job Robin’s ever had (and that’s after working at places like Goodwill, MCL Cafeteria, and Captain D’s). Her house is never clean! No matter how many dishes she does or toys she picks up, her two little ones come right behind her and make a whole new mess. Anyway, this is the first time she hasn’t had some sort of job outside the home since she was fifteen. Kinda scary!

Now that her kids have both started all-day school, she can fling herself into the stories that constantly swirl inside her head. One of the main reasons she writes is to read books that she wishes other people were writing. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband, two small sons, two naughty canines, and a mouse-killing cat.

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Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lord of the Shadows is the second book in the Dark Artifices series by Cassandra Clare. While this is the second book of a new series really this series is somewhat of a continuation of Clare’s earlier Shadowhunter books from both of her earlier series, the Mortal Instruments and the Infernal Devices. If new to this Shadowhunter world as a reader I’d highly suggest going back to the beginning of the Mortal Instrument series and starting from there as even though the characters change in each series the world has been built from that beginning and there are always many many crossover characters and situations you would miss jumping in a later series.

Now with that warning out of the way onto the Lord of Shadows review. This book continues right after the end of Lady Midnight. All of the main characters in this series were first introduced in the last of the Mortal Instruments series as young children and now five years has passed in which they’ve grown and trained and become the new generation of Shadowhunters. The story takes place in the Los Angeles institute where the Blackthorn children along with Emma Carstairs have been since the war ended in the Mortal Instrument series.

The story started in the first book where Emma Carstairs had never believed her parents were victims of the Dark War but the Clave had refused to investigate further into their murders. When Emma came across a lead that involved faerie activity Emma, Julian Blackthorn and the other Blackthorn siblings begin to investigate on their own since the Clave prohibited Shadowhunters to have any involvement in the faerie world after the Dark War.

I know there are some out there that are not fans of Cassandra Clare continuing on and on with the Shadowhunter world but I am one that is thankful that she continues to do so. I fell in love with this world that Clare has created and look forward to each new addition as it comes along. Having read all of the books to this point it always amazes me how well things tie in with earlier works bringing up even small things one may have forgotten about. The details always add up together in the stories even with some of the books spanning back more than a century.

This particular installment did such a wonderful job bringing all of the characters involved to life and the story stretching the focus to more of the Blackthorn family and getting to know them while continuing to progress what was happening from the first book. I will say I was one that had my jaw drop to the floor at the end of reading Lord of Shadows and will now be impatiently awaiting the next book which I believe isn’t expected until 2019. After so many books surrounding the Shadowhunter world though it also amazes me that the ending of each read never fails to surprise me in some way. Obviously I definitely love this series and will continue to read each book that comes from it eagerly when they arrive.