Carries Book Reviews

The Sainted: Book 2 of The Departed Series by Kristy Cooper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Sainted is the second book of the Departed series by Kristy Cooper. In the first book thousands of people suddenly disappeared one night leaving the world to wonder just what had happened to them. Among the theories was the fact that the rapture had occurred since most of the missing were followers of the church.

Among the missing was Lana and her family who’s best friend Gwen really doesn’t want to believe that her friend is gone for good and in heaven now. But when Gwen received an email from Lana’s account she finds that the rapture had been faked and the missing people are in compounds around the world, most by choice but a select few like Lana were forced. The church had decided to fake the rapture to get more people to join up and believe in their faith.

The Sainted picked up exactly where the Departed left off leaving Gwen and Isaiah trapped in the underground compound that Lana had been taken to after they followed the clues Lana had given them by sneaking emails. With no adults really wanting to listen the pair had thought they could just find a location and get help but now their families think they’ve just run off and they are facing living in the compound indefinitely.

With this second edition of the story I found myself again just flying through this fast paced young adult adventure. The realistic nature of the story has me completely hooked seeing how I can honestly see a group going to this extreme to convert followers to their faith. There’s non-stop action as the characters continue to try to save themselves and come up with a plan for escape.

The story also switches the point of view to show Gwen’s friend and family on the outside trying to find out just what happened and how big of a coverup has been going on.Looking forward to reading the third book in this series when it is released to find out just how it will all turn out after another somewhat of a cliffhanger at the end of this book.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Claiming Mister Kemp by Emily Larkin

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF @ 39%

Official Synopsis:

A forbidden love…

Lucas Kemp’s twin sister died last year. He’s put aside his mourning clothes, but not his heartache. If Lucas ever needed a friend, it’s now—and who should walk in his door but Lieutenant Thomas Matlock…

Lucas and Tom are more than just best friends; they’ve been in love with each other for years. In love with each other—and pretending not to know it.

But this time, Tom’s not going to ignore the attraction between them. This time, he’s going to push the issue.

He’s going to teach Lucas how to laugh again—and he’s going to take Lucas as his lover…

Review:

DNF @ 39%

Claiming Mister Kemp is the fourth book in the Baleful Godmother series by Emily Larkin which also had a set of prequel novellas in the Fey Quartet series. I have read all of the previous books in both series and had really been enjoying the mix of fantasy, historical and romance up until book 3 of this series. In the third the main character crossed a line I wasn’t comfortable with and now this book seems to be doing that over and over again so I have given up on finishing this one.

The book is a sort of crossover of book three highlighting a couple of characters that were in that story and their relationship. It starts with Tom coming back to find his friend grieving the death of his sister on the anniversary of her passing by becoming extremely drunk. Tom insists on helping Lucas to bed which includes undressing him and then ends up taking oral advantage of the incapacitated Lucas. Now since when does “No” not mean no??

There is also absolutely no build up for this couple just being thrust into this act which then follows with much of the same over the following chapters. Lucas is always no and Tom pushes and gets his way. Personally I just had enough of this and can’t continue the read. There would have been better ways to show Lucas’ fear of being caught and the men loving one another but those weren’t present that I found. Perhaps the story goes on to become more since I know that the author can write a good story I’m just not a fan of the pushing someone into something they have said no to repeatedly.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

New York City’s hottest bachelors are stirring up trouble in this fun, flirty Oxford Novel, as a love triangle forces a feisty beauty to choose between winning back Mr. Right or giving in to Mr. Wrong.

Taylor Carr has it all—a sleek job in advertising, a stunning Manhattan apartment, and the perfect man to share

it with: Bradley Calloway. Even after Bradley dumps her for a co-worker on move-in day, Taylor isn’t worried. She’ll get her man eventually. In the meantime, she needs a new roommate. Enter Nick Ballantine, career bartender, freelance writer—and longtime pain in Taylor’s ass. Sexy in a permanent five-o’clock-shadow kind of way, Nick knows how to push Taylor’s buttons, as if he could see right through to the real her.

Nick’s always trying to fix people, and nobody could use a good fixing more than Taylor. Sure, she’s gorgeous, with mesmerizing silver eyes, but it’s her vulnerability that kills him. Now that they’re shacking up together, the chemistry is out of control. Soon they’re putting every part of their two-bedroom apartment to good use. Then Taylor’s ex comes crawling back to her, and Nick figures she’ll jump at the chance to go back to her old life—unless he fights for the best thing that ever happened to him.

Pitcher Plant: A Pacific Northwest Suspense
Melissa Eskue Ousley
Publication date: May 12th 2017
Genres: Adult, Suspense

When Tawny Ellis spots a run-down fixer-upper on the Oregon coast, she and her husband jump at the chance to own a cottage near the beach. But as the expensive repairs turn their dream home into a nightmare, their marriage unravels. And worse… something is lurking in the house’s dark past.

Tawny’s daughter has a new imaginary friend that bears a striking resemblance to a little girl who squatted in the house with her drug-addicted mother. These illegal tenants have been missing for years.

The house’s previous owner is enraged with Tawny, the same way he was with the squatters. As he stalks her family, Tawny suspects that she knows what happened to the last people who slept in the house. Her family might be next.

Add to Goodreads

Author Bio:

Melissa Eskue Ousley is the award-winning author of The Solas Beir Trilogy, a young adult fantasy series. Her first book, Sign of the Throne, won a 2014 Eric Hoffer Book Award and a 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award. Her third book, The Sower Comes, won a 2016 Eric Hoffer Book Award. Her fourth book, Sunset Empire was released as a single book and is also included in the bestselling Secrets and Shadows box set, a young adult collection. Melissa lives on the Oregon coast with her family, a neurotic dog, and a piranha. When she’s not writing, she can be found walking along the beach, poking dead things with a stick.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Empty Threat
Danny Bell
(The Black Pages, #1)
Publication date: May 2nd 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Book one of The Black Pages

Elana Black has the power to make herself fictional. But when she decides to start saving all the people in books and TV shows who die just for the sake of advancing the plot, she quickly learns that she’s not the only one with her powers.

All Elana wants to do is save people. But these others don’t want the stories to change, and they’ll do everything they can to stop her.

If you had the power to change fate… to create a happy ending where there wasn’t one before… would you do it if it meant risking your own?

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

My fears, by comparison, had always been irrational. The fear that someone will think my nose is weird. The fear that I’d hid in the bathroom too long or too many times and everyone at the party will notice. The fear that even my closest friends would one day leave or decide I wasn’t cool enough anymore. The fear that a group of strangers won’t like me, but then will only pretend to be nice to me, and I’ll never know it. They’d say something awful behind my back, and one of them would tell a lie about me, which would make someone else believe that lie, so they’d repeat it. Then two people would tell the same story, and the third and fourth people would also repeat it and then it would become something different, and soon entire groups of people I’d never met would be poisoned against me before we ever even had the chance to meet, before anyone knew I wasn’t some huge jerk, and—

My heart was pounding just thinking about that scenario. My breaths were hard and shallow, my fingers hurt from where I’d been clutching the steering wheel. At least I’d stopped crying.

My point is, that for as terrifying as my fears were to me, I’d always found a way to get past them and function. Even when I was so afraid that I almost couldn’t move, I could fake bravado. In a bit of irony, the fear of being seen as afraid made me move on

as if I wasn’t. To do otherwise would mean to just stop, and I’ve lived that life before. Sometimes days, sometimes weeks, sometimes months at a time… and you don’t get that time back. So ultimately, you were afraid for nothing. If I could impart a piece of advice onto the world, it is that more than the crowds, more than fake smiles and unheard whispers, even more than our own base, loathsome selves, what we should really fear is stasis. Life will always move forward, whether we move forward or not. Even stumbling and flailing about, unable to find your balance and rolling down a hill head over heels is still moving forward. It might not be graceful, but at least you’re not stuck with whatever you were trying to move past.

Author Bio:

My name is Danny Bell. I want to tell stories and avoid writing author profiles. I read—when I should be interacting with people, I named my cat after a cat I liked in a book, I’m pretty sure I saw a ghost one time—though I’ll never admit it publicly, I’m too tall for the earth, and I’ve never eaten a vegetable. I lied about the vegetable part. Wait… is someone going to read this?

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway