Carries Book Reviews

The Summer House: A gorgeous feel good romance that will have you hooked by Jenny Hale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Callie Weaver is ready for a new start in life, she and her best friend Olivia have just invested in a beach house that they are renovating to open as a bed and breakfast at North Carolina’s Outer Banks. As busy as Callie has been preparing for their opening the last thing on her mind was a relationship but when a chance encounter with local heartthrob Luke Sullivan happens Callie finds herself wanting to get to know him.

While Callie and Olivia are working on the house they stumble across an old diary and wonder what to do with it. The diary is full of old secrets of the prior owners but when a few fall a bit too close to home Callie wonders what it will mean for her new relationship with Luke.

The Summer House by Jenny Hale can easily be called a perfect summer beach read. The author did a wonderful job with this story, the setting was described so well I could almost picture myself in the quaint seaside community at times. The characters were also very likable and it was nice to have a bit of suspense added into the romantic read with the old secrets that were brought out into the light.

Starting off reading this one I thought it was going to be a bit of the rich spoiled boy and the girl that finally turns him but the story became so much more rather quickly. Luke is rich and set to inherit his father’s company but he never came across as the “rich jerk” type and it was easy to like him. With the deeper story it was easy to get engaged and root for a happy ending while reading this one.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Cass is driving home during a storm after a night out with friends when despite her husband asking her not to she ends up turning down a deserted road that is a short cut to their house. While driving along Cass comes across a car pulled to the side of the road and can only tell that there is a woman sitting inside of the car. With it pouring down rain Cass pulls over in front of the car but then becomes concerned when the woman doesn’t come for help. Thinking it may be a trap Cass decides to call someone when she gets home and decides to leave. After arriving home however Cass gets distracted and forgets the mystery woman along the side of the road.

When awakening the next morning Cass is immediately told by her husband that a unknown woman was found dead along the deserted road. Cass doesn’t know what to think of the incident, could she have helped the woman if she had only stayed or called for help? Not wanting to admit she’d taken the road Cass keeps it a secret she had been so close to a murderer but when she begins to have strange things happen to her she becomes paranoid of being stalked and someone knowing that she had been on that road that night.

After reading Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris last year I was very excited to get a review copy of The Breakdown hoping for yet another exciting read. I have to say when I picked up The Breakdown I was very excited to find myself almost immediately drawn into the story and engaged from the beginning. The story starts off with a rather spooky trek for Cass not knowing whether she herself is safe or if the mystery woman needs help. But the story grows from there with Cass ending up being a somewhat flawed character that is starting to have memory issues like her mother had before she passed after being diagnosed with early onset dementia.

The title of the book fit both sides to this story quite nicely once you get invested in reading it. Not only did Cass witness the woman at the side of the road possibly with a breakdown but Cass and her personality was suffering from her own breakdown throughout the book. At times I wondered which I was more invested in wanting to know more about, Cass or the murder. In the end I think the story may be a tad predictable to those that read a lot of thriller so I decided on rating this one at 4.5 stars. The book however was highly engaging and an intense ride with plenty of twists and turns to get to the end whether you begin to piece together the story or not.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Donovan
Jillian Quinn
(Face-Off Series, #3)
Publication date: May 24th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

As the starting goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers, Carter Donovan has the toughest position on the team. He’s hot as puck, a caveman in bed, and a beast on the ice. But after another season of missing the playoffs, Carter is taking the off-season harder than normal.

Just when Carter needs a change of luck, his teammate sets him up with Sydney Carroway, a famous romance author who likes to play games of her own. And after a blind date gone wrong, the dark-haired beauty has him wrapped around her finger. Sydney tortures Carter with her dirty words and pictures, thrives off the steamy conversations that give him a never-ending case of blue balls. Carter knows it. But he can’t get enough.

It might be Carter’s job to protect the net when he’s on the ice, but when it comes to Sydney, he needs more than a killer glove save to defend his heart.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Carter Donovan has no idea I am messing with him. I bet he thinks I’m an evil witch, toying with his dick along with his emotions. Maybe I am, or at least to some extent, but damn him for shaving his beard. I’m still pissed about that. When I walked into Tyler Kane’s house last weekend, he was dressed in gym clothes and had only a tiny bit of facial hair. I was disappointed, to say the least.

I was hoping to kick things off with his face shoved between my legs and that stubble rubbing against my skin. Over the past two days, Carter has called non-stop. He even sent flowers and gifts to my apartment. To be honest, I was shocked to receive such lavish presents from him. The Chanel sunglasses were a bit overboard, but at least I know he has good taste. And that’s an important quality in a man who I am considering dating.

Flipping through a magazine on my couch, I wait for Carter to knock on the door. He’s twenty minutes early again, same as last time. I didn’t even have a chance to hop in the shower before he said he was almost here.

Part of me wants to take him into my bedroom and have my way with him. The other part of me, the side that likes experimenting with the opposite sex for research purposes, tells me I should make him wait a little while longer. After all, our relationship could make for good writing material for my next book.

As the author of all things smutty and over-the-top, I draw a lot of my inspiration from experiences. Carter just doesn’t know that yet. Poor guy. Kennedy and I did the same thing with Tyler Kane when they had first met. He fell for that shit hook, line, and sinker. Now, the two of them are living together and practically married. There’s a method to my madness.

I fix my dark curls in the mirror on the wall next to the door and double check my makeup before opening it. Drool just about runs down my chin as I take in the sight of Carter. He’s one sexy hunk of man candy. With those big, strong arms that are more suited for boxing than hockey, I want him to grip me up in them and do bad things to me.

Carter smiles so wide it reaches up to his soulful brown eyes. “Hey, baby.”

“Don’t hey, baby, me,” I shoot back, feigning interest. But this is all part of the game.

He leans in to kiss my cheek, because I promised him one kiss, his fingers grazing my bare shoulder as he touches me, fiddling with the strap of my tank top. “You look beautiful, as always, Sydney.”

My willpower almost crumbles with his lips sending shockwaves down my spine. His big hand is dangerously close to my breast as he slides it the rest of the way down my arm. If he were a character in one of my books, I would say the hell with self-control and throw myself at him, allow myself to become consumed in his manly scent and intoxicating sex appeal.

“Thanks, big guy.” I tug on his forearm in an attempt to pull him into the apartment. He’s so big I can hardly move him an inch.

After Carter shuts the door, he surprises me by shoving me up against the wall. I do my best to get away from him, but he makes it difficult with his size. Carter is used to defending the net when he’s on the ice. He sure as hell proves that right now as he blocks my entire view of the living room with his body.

Bending down to my height, he breathes against my neck and ignites a fire beneath my skin. Heat rushes from my cheeks to my toes as he presses his lips to my neck. I move my head to the side to give him better access, my inhibitions lowering along with my guard. The walls I have built up to protect myself come crumbling down in an instant.

Author Bio:

Jillian loves Mafia men, sports, bad boys, dirty talkers, strong female characters, and books with plenty of heat, all of which you will find in her books. As a lover of all things bookish, she has a serious book hoarding problem and runs a book blog in her free time. When she’s not reading, writing, or blogging, she’s obsessively fangirling over hockey players and can be found wherever she can catch the next hockey game.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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The Vampire Wish by Michelle Madow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While out skiing with her family Annika gets her first glimpse into the supernatural world when her parents and brother are attacked and killed by vampires. The vampires then take Annika hostage to the hidden vampire kingdom of the Vale where she is kept as a human blood slave to provide food for the vampires.

Jacen was also taken by the vampires against his will but unlike Annika who still remains human Jacen was turned against his wishes and now fights his desire to kill for blood. Once he gets a bit of control Jacen sneaks into the human village pretending that he is not a vampire to try to find some normalcy when he runs into Annika and is immediately taken with her.

The Vampire Wish is the beginning of a new young adult paranormal/fantasy series by Michelle Madow. Along with learning of the vampire kingdom and their royalty there are also witches, magic and werewolves involved in the story. As with any Michelle Madow read the story is rather fast paced but very easy to follow along as the world and character building is taking place.

When finishing this one I’d say my only complaint is that this first book is rather short and it seemed as soon as I got really invested in the story and characters the story has ended leaving a wait to find out just what will happen next. Even with as many stories out there with this formula of vampires, werewolves, witches and the humans surviving in these worlds the story was unique enough and the characters likable enough that I’ll definitely be looking forward to the next installment of the series this fall.

I received a copy of this book from the author.

Liar by K.L. Slater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Judi has been doing what any devoted mother would after her son’s wife passed away two years prior, helping raise his two young sons and take care of them all. But when Ben meets a new woman, Amber, and brings her home to introduce her to his parents Judi can’t help but feel there is just something a bit off with Amber and wonder of her intentions.

Ben doesn’t understand why Judi dislikes Amber but feels that it is time for him to move on with his life. Shortly after the meeting though Judi finds herself being pushed out of her son and grandsons lives as Amber moves in and takes over the family. Judi decides she will not be pushed out with only their best interest in mind so she prods into Amber’s life to find out just what is going on.

Liar starts off with a rather interesting prologue that certainly gained my interest in this book rather quickly with someone apparently being killed in the opening pages leaving a reader to wonder who and why it had happened. The book then begins the tale of Amber entering Ben and Judi’s lives by switching the POV between mainly Judi and Amber with Judi telling most of the story but a few chapters with others also telling the story.

Judi is aging and has already lost one son along with a daughter in law that she loved dearly so her over-protectiveness was completely understandable. She’s also suffering from menopausal symptoms and trying to cope with those during these trying times for her so she became a character that was easy to get behind when her family was shutting her out. For those reasons along with learning Amber really did have ulterior motives from her chapters I was easily hooked into wanting to know just how that prologue would tie into the story and what would happen with this book.

With plenty of twists and turns to keep captivated this became a book that I just didn’t want to put down until it was over. And then the ending with this story was completely not what I was expecting to read at all and made the book that much better. Definitely would recommend this one to the fans of psychological thrillers.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.