Carries Book Reviews

Amnesia
Cambria Hebert
Publication date: June 12th 2017
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

I washed ashore in a little lake town.

A place where everyone knows everyone, yet…

No one knows me.

I don’t know me.

If a woman doesn’t know her own name, does she really exist?

I don’t know my natural hair color, my birthdate, or where I live.

I am invisible.

To everyone, to everything, even to myself.

Except to him.

I see the recognition deep in his stare, the way it lingers on my face as if I’m a puzzle he’s desperate to put together.

I just want answers, the truth… knowledge.

His lips are sealed. Still, his eyes beguile me.

I can’t trust anyone, not even myself. Someone wants me dead, the same someone who tried to bury me in a watery grave.

They’ll come for me again… I won’t know their face.

I don’t even know mine.

I am amnesia.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Slivers of light pricked my eyelids, which up until this moment seemed far too heavy to lift. As I lay against something soft at my back, thought and awareness barely registered.

The gritty feeling as I struggled to raise my eyelids scraped and burned over my eyeballs as if warning me it wasn’t a good idea. Swallowing past the sandpaper in my throat, I stopped working and lay still. Cognizance slowly came forward in the form of something weighing me down and the echo of footsteps nearby.

Adrenaline jackknifed through me, and my body arched upward with the force of my gasp. The weight of whatever held me caused severe panic to fill me, and I began to fight against it.

“No!” I screamed, flailing about, trying to escape the binds. “Let me go!”

High-pitched beeping filled my ears, and the footsteps I’d heard grew more insistent and much closer.

He was coming!

“No!” I screamed.

Strong hands grabbed my arms and pinned me down. I tried to fight back, but they were much stronger than me. Kicking my legs, I tried to free them, but even more weight came down, holding them still until I was gasping for breath and ready to beg.

“Please!” I pleaded as wetness coated my cheeks. It made me realize the grittiness under my lids was rinsed away, and my eyes sprang open.

A man was leaning over me. He had graying hair and wore some kind of white shirt. The scream that ripped right out of me scared us both.

More hands and voices came out of nowhere, and I thrashed around again.

“Miss!” the man yelled. “Miss, calm down.”

“Get away from me!” I screamed again.

“Miss!” another voice yelled, a woman this time. Turning in her direction, I saw a pair of kind brown eyes staring at me. “We aren’t trying to hurt you.”

I calmed some, but the thundering of my heart made me feel as if I might spiral out of control. “You aren’t?”

“No.” The woman, who was also dressed in white, spoke. “You’re at a hospital. You were in an accident.”

“W-what?” I stammered, collapsing back against the bed, no longer straining against the binds.

“You’re at a hospital.”

“You’re trying to hold me down!” I accused.

“We don’t want you to hurt yourself.” the woman explained. The hands, even the man’s, remained.

“I don’t like it,” I admitted, recoiling.

The man straightened, stepping back. The nurse was slower to withdraw, but she did so after a few seconds.

“My legs,” I rasped. Suddenly, my throat hurt.

“It’s just the blankets.”

A quick glance down proved I was covered with blankets. Between suspicious glances at the people crowding my room (there were four), I gazed around, concluding I was in fact in a hospital.

“I don’t understand,” I admitted, all my weight pressing into the bed.

“It’s okay,” the man replied. He was a doctor, with a name badge and a stethoscope. “It’s completely normal and expected to be confused after the ordeal you’ve been through.”

“What ordeal?” I asked instantly, anxiety pressing in on my ribcage.

“We were hoping you could tell us,” the doctor said.

“What?” My brows furrowed.

The nurse leaned close, over the side of the bed. I noticed the railings were pulled up on each side. It made me feel as if I were in jail. Instantly, I hated it and began shoving at the bars, trying to push them down.

“Okay, hang on,” the nurse said and put the rails down. Once it was done, she pinned me with an insistent stare. “You have to stay still. You can’t thrash around. You’ll rip out your IV and reinjure yourself.”

“What happened to me?” I asked for what felt like the fifteenth time. I looked around at the four people in the room, hoping one of them would just spit it out.

The doctor motioned to two of the nurses and then quietly left the room.

I glanced back at the nurse. “Can you tell us your name?” she asked.

“My name?” I nodded once, then opened my mouth… only nothing came out.

Anxiety spiked in me again; I started to become agitated. “I… don’t know.”

“Calm down.” The nurse reminded me.

How dare she tell me to calm down? I couldn’t even remember my name.

Oh my God, I didn’t know my own name!

“I don’t remember!” I gasped, jerking up into a sitting position. “Why can’t I remember?”

Before I could fling the covers off and jump out of bed, the doctor was there, pinning me back down. “If you don’t calm down, we’ll have to sedate you. I don’t want to do that. You’ve been out long enough.”

I stilled. “How long?”

“A while.” The nurse hedged.

I ignored her. She was terrible with questions. “How long?” I demanded.

“A little over two months,” the doctor replied.

I gasped. “What’s my name?” I yelled.

I’d been here for two months and they were asking for my name? Shouldn’t they know it?

The doctor wasn’t looking at me; he was looking at the nurse, giving her a curt nod. She rushed out of the room.

“No!” I shouted. “No drugs! Please! Tell me my name. I just want to know my name.”

“You need to calm down. You’ve had a great deal of trauma, miss.”

I dropped back against the pillow, boneless. He called me miss. “You don’t know my name, do you?” I asked, meek.

Sensing all my energy was drained away, he moved back. A frown pulled at his lips. “You were brought in with no identification.” He began.

Fear unlike anything I’d ever felt wrapped around my heart and squeezed. I searched every corner of my mind for something. Anything.

There was nothing.

“I don’t remember…” I whispered.

The doctor seemed to soften. “I know this must be very scary, to wake up and be so disoriented.”

I laughed, but it wasn’t a humorous sound. I wished I were disoriented right then.

“You’ve been through a lot. Give it a few days. Now that you’re awake, your mind will catch up and you will remember.”

“I will?” I asked.

“There’s a good chance.”

Disappointment speared me. “If I don’t?”

“Let’s take it one day at a time.” He placated me.

“Easy for you to say. You know your name.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. “Time.” He reminded me.

The nurse came through the door, holding a syringe, and I cringed away.

“I don’t think we’re going to need that,” the doctor told her.

I let out an audible sigh.

He glanced around again. “Now that you’re awake, I’ll get you down for testing.”

“What kind of testing?” I asked.

“Routine stuff for someone who’s been in a coma.”

Nothing about this was routine. I was in coma… for two months. And I didn’t even know my name.

When both the nurse and doctor were gone and I was alone, my eyes overflowed with tears and a formidable feeling of dread crowded inside me. The doctor said there was “a good chance” I would remember my name very soon.

The problem was it wasn’t just my name I needed to remember…

It was everything.

Author Bio:

Cambria Hebert is an award winning, bestselling novelist of more than twenty books. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair.

Besides writing, Cambria loves a caramel latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching movies. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chorkie (the real boss of the house).

Cambria has written within the young adult and new adult genres, penning many paranormal and contemporary titles. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic

suspense. A few of her most recognized titles are: The Hashtag Series, Text, Torch, and Tattoo.

Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.

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I Need You
Ashley Hampton
(Southern Rock Lyrics Series #3)
Publication date: June 7th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Hannah Walker and Igor Finley have everything they need – family, friends, and a strong future together. Instead of happy and easy “I do’s,” there is last minute wedding drama and an uninvited and unexpected guest threatening to ruin it all. Will Hannah become Mrs. Igor Finley? Or will this be the end of Hannah and Finley?

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—

EXCERPT:

I snuggled closer to Finley as my phone beeped again. Didn’t anyone sleep anymore? The text was from Stacy telling me they were leaving Raleigh and would arrive in about three hours. The caravan was much slower than they anticipated.

I wanted some alone time with Finley before they arrived. Because of his stupid no sex idea, I decided I would avoid temptation and get out of bed. Just a couple more days to wait. The best part – I could forever remind him what a dumb idea this was just in case he had any other brilliant ones like this in the future.

My feet hit the floor, and Finley groaned. “Don’t go,” he begged.

I giggled. “Your dumb idea, loverboy. Everyone is leaving Raleigh. We have a lot to do before this evening, and it’s time to get started. I’m going to shower.”

He pulled the comforter over his head.

“Oh, I turned the coffee pot on, by the way.”

Finley peeked his head out. “I fucking love you. You know the sexiest things to say.”

I knew he was still looking, so I took off my t-shirt and dropped it on the floor as I entered the bathroom. One catcall later, and I closed the shower door.

I was blow drying my hair when Finley brought me a cup of coffee. He half perched on the counter and waited for me to finish.

“Ah, my hero. Thanks, babe,” I leaned in for a kiss and grabbed my coffee cup instead. A sip of the hot liquid made every penny worth it for the new coffeemaker I could turn on with my phone. Finley allowed a second sip before he took my cup and placed it on the counter.

He sat on the edge of the tub and pulled me into his lap. “Can we talk before things get crazy today?”

I nodded even though I wanted to ignore all the serious, emotional topics for today and instead get lost in what promised to be a day full of fun and insanity.

“Everything on point for a good, fun day?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s what I want. I don’t want to get bogged down in the emotions. I just want to have a fun day with our family.” I swear sometimes I felt as if he knew me better than I knew myself.

Author Bio:

Ashley Hampton works as a Licensed Psychologist in private practice during the day. When she leaves work, she puts on her writer and photographer hats and enjoys living in the worlds created in her mind. She lives near her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama with her cat, Gemma. Ashley wanted to find a creative way to meld her love for music and psychology with writing, and the Southern Rock Lyrics series was born. With other series planned, Ashley wants to write in the romance, erotica, and psychological thriller genres.

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My Roommate’s Girl
Julianna Keyes
Publication date: June 12th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

The day a judge gave me the choice between going to prison or going to college was the day I vowed to stop stealing. Never again would I see something beautiful and beyond my means and take it, just because I wanted it. Just because I could.

When I moved in with Jerry, it was with good intentions. I needed a place to live while I got my degree, and he needed a roommate.

Then I saw Aster.

Blond and beautiful, good, pure, sweet, smart…and Jerry’s girlfriend. She was everything I never thought I could have. Except…maybe I can.

So I put a plan into action. Yeah, I’d probably go to hell, but it would be worth it. I wanted Aster. I wanted her yesterday and tomorrow and every possible way.

But you know what they say.

Be careful what you wish for…because you just might get it.

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On pre-order SALE for $2.99!

—

EXCERPT:

I check the time on the display. “Okay, driving lesson’s over. I need to buy sixty rolls of toilet paper, then we have to meet Jim in half an hour.”

Aster consults her watch, in case I’m lying about the time. “Dammit,” she mutters, reaching for the gear stick. “Okay, let’s go shopping.”

I reach over to pull out the keys. “You’re not driving near real people.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because even though you’re so great at this, it’s only been one lesson.”

She thrusts out her lower lip and bats her lashes at me, but I’m not buying it.

“Get out,” I order. “Time to trade places.”

She harrumphs but does so, and when she tries to pass me in front of the car, I loop an arm around her waist pull her close.

“Don’t forget to thank me for the lesson.”

She’s trying to look angry, but her mouth twitches. “I’ll thank Wes when I see him.”

“No! Don’t mention this to him. He doesn’t know I let my girlfriend drive his car.”

Aster freezes and an endlessly long silence grows…and grows.

“Also,” I say awkwardly, face flaming, “I…kind of…think of you as my girlfriend.”

I see her gnawing on the inside of her cheek.

“But do you think of me as a good driver?”

Something inside of me softens and warms as I look at her. As I fall just a little bit more. “Am I going to get laid later?”

“Oh, yeah. Absolutely.” Her eyes sparkle. “Since you’re my boyfriend now.”

I’ve never been anybody’s boyfriend; never wanted to. And never, in my plan to make Aster mine, did I ever imagine I would be.

As a kid I’d wished on every star in the sky that my dad would stop gambling and we’d get our house back and our dog back and our things back. By the time I was twelve I knew wishes didn’t come true. I thought good things only happened to other people, people in the movies, make believe stories with a preordained happy ending. I didn’t think happiness was real, and I definitely didn’t think it was tangible, something you could hold, touch, feel. But now, as I slide my fingers through Aster’s hair and press my lips to hers, I see that I was the best kind of wrong.

Author Bio:

Julianna Keyes is a Canadian writer who has lived on both coasts and several places in between. She’s been skydiving, bungee jumping and white water rafting, but nothing thrills—or terrifies—her as much as the blank page. She loves Chinese food, foreign languages, baseball and television, though not necessarily in that order, and writes sizzling stories with strong characters, plenty of conflict, and lots of making up.

Excerpts, giveaways, behind the scenes tomfoolery – sign up for her very sporadic newsletter: http://juliannakeyes.com/newsletter.html.

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State of Hope
Summer Lane
(Collapse #10)
Publication date: June 9th 2017
Genres: Dystopian, New Adult

THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THE SMASH-HIT PHENOMENON FROM #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR SUMMER LANE.

This is it.

Cassidy Hart and her comrades have returned to their home: California, the final battlefield in the fight against the global terror, Omega. Commander Chris Young is in critical condition, the United States Navy has acquired new weapons, and the militias have just made a discovery that could change everything.

Faced with tragedy, heartbreak, and destruction, Cassidy is tempted to give up.

But she is a fighter. Defeat is not in her blood.

When confronted with the possibility of resurrecting the leadership of the United States of America, she will do anything to make the dream of stability a reality. She and Lieutenant Uriah True, along with the legendary strike team, the Angels of Death, undertake a dangerous and outrageous mission, unlike anything they have ever attempted. They will find themselves in the very epicenter of Omega’s stronghold.

Yet doubt remains. No one can be trusted in this dark new world, and their hope may not be as black and white as it seems. Disappointment and rejection cloud Cassidy’s judgment.

Friends will be lost. Tears will be shed. Sacrifices beyond the imagination will be made. The grim reality and bitter destruction of war will inflict one final sucker punch. The militias desperately attempt to hold their ground, and the Freedom Fighters will do everything they can to destroy the greatest evil this world has ever known. The apocalypse has taken everything from Cassidy, but she will not stop until her heart ceases to beat, and until there is no breath left in her body.

She holds onto hope – hope of a future, hope of victory, and hope of love.

There is no going back. It all ends here.

Are you prepared?

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—

EXCERPT:

When I gather my gear before deploying with Beckham and the rest of the troops, the full realization of what is about to happen next rips through me. It tears my heart in two, thinking about the people we’ve lost leading up to this final fight. And it terrifies me to know that there is a very good chance we will not emerge from this battle victorious.

If anything, I promise myself that we will damage Omega enough to weaken them, so that future generations will have the courage to fight back, too. So that they can remember what it is to stand, to have courage, and to lay your life down for your friends, your family, and the things that you believe in.

At the very root of our humanity, something greater binds us all together. If not spirit, then it must be the will to survive. Because that is what is at the heart of everything we do: the desire to continue to survive for the sake of our children and for the sake of the history of this country we love and call home. For the sake of the good memories of this place, for the sake of the rolling hills and the towering mountaintops. For the sake of freedom and love and family and unity and security. For all of us.

I know, as I strap my rifle across my back and slide my knife into the sheath on my hip, that what happens in the next few weeks will bring our doom or our victory. Either way, our destiny is waiting. The last fight looms ever closer on the horizon, like a hellish red glow moving on the wind.

I set my backpack on the floor and take a knee, resting my arm on my leg.

“God,” I whisper. “If you’re listening, and you’re good like Father Kareem says you are…watch over us. I’m not a praying girl, and I’m not good at asking for help…but please. We need something, and it’s got to be more than a rabbit’s foot or a lucky charm. We need something bigger than that. I’m begging you…I’m begging anyone.”

I lift my head, looking at the ceiling, feeling the tears roll down my cheeks.

If this is how I die, I have made peace with it.

If this is how the Freedom Fighters perish, we will rest in peace, satisfied with our sacrifice and our devotion to the cause of freedom. As I leave the house behind, and I see my friends gathered around Beckham’s convoy, waiting to take us to the airfield where we will depart for Monterey, one thought strikes me. I cannot shake it, and it cycles in my head, over and over again, until I say it aloud.

“Don’t give up hope,” I say.

I hold onto this shred of goodness with every ounce of my being because I know it is the only thing that has any chance of keeping me alive until the end.

Author Bio:

Summer Lane is the #1 bestselling author of the national smash-hit books of the Collapse Series, Zero Trilogy, Bravo Saga, Collapse: The Illustrated Guide, and Unbreakable SEAL. She owns Writing Belle Publishing, and is also an extensively experienced journalist and creative writing teacher. Summer operates Writing Belle, an online magazine where she has worked with hundreds of authors from around the world and helps bring exposure to their work. Summer takes great pride in being an entrepreneur, creative spirit and business owner.

Summer lives in the Central Valley of California with her husband, Scott (who can fix anything!), and their German Shepherd, a sweet girl named Kona. Summer loves to travel, read and cook. She uses the experiences of her traveling adventures as inspiration for her books. Some of her favorite places in the world include the forest (any forest, anywhere!), Hawaii (the tropical setting is beautiful!) and Southern California (so many story possibilities!).

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Hearing Voices
Axel Cruise
(An Isaac Blaze Thriller)
Publication date: April 2nd 2017
Genres: Adult, Thriller

“You’re a dead man,” he yelled.

“That’s great. Now answer the question.”

–Isaac Blaze

Isaac Blaze.

A quick wit, zero allegiances, and every major government agency after him. He’s also got two voices in his head. Neither of which is particularly helpful. Or care to be.

But at least he’s never been caught.

Hell, he’s barely even come close.

So when finally a SWAT team does actually manage to take him in – and with such ease at that – they probably should’ve been asking themselves: why?

Too bad they didn’t.

A lot of people got killed.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

Q&A with author Axel Cruise

RG: How did you get into writing? Is it that classic story of long-time reader who decides to pick up a pen?

AC: To be honest, I’m a TV man. Always have been. Right from when I was a kid. I’d come home from school and just sit and watch.

RG: Your parents must have loved that.

AC: Ha! Yeah, it wasn’t exactly a great hobby in their eyes—or my homework-hungry teachers for that matter. I frequently got the (wags finger) “Watching TV won’t get you anywhere” speech.

RG: I think we’ve all been on the receiving end of that one. So did you have to sneak in your TV time?

AC: Well, luckily I was a quick kid. So whenever I got the speech, I’d just calmly wait for the list of supporting reasons to come to an end—square eyes, kills brain cells, doctors and lawyers don’t watch TV—and then I’d say, “But what if I want to make TV shows?”

RG: Oooh, good answer. That must’ve driven them crazy!

AC: Yeah, you bet. But then again, I never got more than a derisory headshake. So I was pretty confident I was on to something.

RG: (Nodding whilst holding a copy of Hearing Voices) Seems you were.

AC: (Smirks) Well, all right, it was a little more than that. I mean, you have to understand, I wouldn’t just be sitting there. It wasn’t a passive activity for me. It was a whole experience. I’d really see myself in the show. As one of the characters.

RG: Any TV shows in particular?

AC: Not really. I watched pretty much everything. Anime, sit-coms, superheroes—I loved them all. Even stuff I was a little too young to understand. Like for example Seinfeld or Married with Children, when I was only five or six.

RG: OK, so it was through copious watching that you subconsciously picked up the fundamentals of story production?

AC: Yeah. Without knowing it, I was absorbing the dialogue, learning about story arcs, understanding how to pace your plot—all of it.

RG: I think Ben Stiller had a similar theory for himself. He wasn’t just watching TV, he was studying it. Were movies a big thing for you?

AC: Not really. But only because we (the family) never went.

RG: OK, let’s turn back to the written word. You’re an avid reader, so when did your love of books take flame?

AC: When I was about 16.

RG: 16? That’s late.

AC: Like I said, I’m a TV man. But then I really got into reading. Biographies and how-to books, mostly. My mum was always into bios and she encouraged me to read all the time. Eventually I gave it a try, and—surprise, surprise—I found I quite liked it.

RG: Which biographies?

AC: I read a lot of entrepreneurs—Alan Sugar, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs. I remember reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s in university. That was a definitely a game changer for me. If you need a kick up the ass to get going, read that. It’s called Total Recall.

RG: What about fiction? When did that start?

AC: When I picked up my first Lee Child.

RG: Which one?

AC: Number one. Killing floor. I was in a bookstore, leafing through the selection, and I found this orange book (the UK version) and I read, I was arrested in Eno’s diner. At twelve o’clock. I was eating eggs and drinking coffee. A late breakfast, not lunch… I didn’t put the book down. (Note: Axel can quote the first chapter by heart. He’s read it that many times.)

RG: Who are your favorite authors?

AC: (Blows air out of cheeks) Where to start? I mean, obviously, you’ve got the big guns: Child, Chandler, King, Cole…(coughs) Cruise…Elmore Leonard, Michael

Connelly, James Patterson, Karin Slaughter; and then you’ve got the lesser known, but equally incredible: Alan Glynn, Chuck Palahniuk, and whoever wrote that creepypasta about the Russian sleep experiment—damn thing gave me nightmares for weeks!

RG: Are there any self-published authors you particularly look up to?

AC: All of them. Seriously. Because we’re all cut from the same cloth. We’ve been rejected, beat down, told “no”. Doors slammed shut, dreams taken away. But. We didn’t stay down. We got up. Grabbed on to what we want and we’re not going to let go. I’m extremely proud to be part of the self-published community.

Author Bio:

Axel Cruise is the author of the highly acclaimed psychological thriller Hearing Voices—the first in the Isaac Blaze series.

Check out what Readers’ Favourite is saying here: https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/hearing-voices

Axel is known for his ability to craft fast paced interweaving storylines, but primarily it’s his ‘cool’ and ’compelling characters’ and ‘dialogues that read so naturally’ that draws in audiences, with readers and reviewers likening Isaac Blaze to icons such as Deadpool and Jason Bourne.

British born, Axel grew up ‘pretty much in front of the TV’, and, in much the same way as Quentin Tarantino with films, Axel credits his incredible consumption of TV shows for his extensive knowledge of story craft. Some personal favourites include: Spiderman TAS (‘the best thing Marvel ever made’), Seinfeld (‘the best show ever made’), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dragonball Z.

Of course, Axel is a voracious reader, too. His prefences for reading and writing are expressed well in a recent interview and the question of plot vs character:

“Look. Plot’s important, yeah. But really, I just want to see cool characters doing cool shit.”

You can check out the full Author Interview with Axel, here: http://www.axelcruise.com/interviews

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