Carries Book Reviews

Queen of Emeralds
Kelsey McKnight
Published by: Limitless Publishing
Publication date: April 4th 2017
Genres: Adult, Historical

British heiress Charlotte Holloway never had any interest in marrying…

However, a woman in Victorian England spends her life in the control of men, making finding a husband necessary. Fearing his daughter losing everything when he dies, Charlotte’s father forces a match with an old friend, Richard Howard. But Richard is much more interested in an heir than a wife, and will do anything to continue his bloodline.

Beaten and battered, Charlotte sees no way out of the union…

Then the handsome Scottish laird Conner MacLeod crashes the social scene. He sets her body on fire with a mere touch, but he has a bad reputation of leaving a string of women in his wake. Nonetheless, when Conner offers his emerald queen sanctuary in his Highland castle, Charlotte flees with him into the night, escaping her marriage. But those who wish to trap her are never far behind.

The Highlands give her hope, but fill her life with new perils…

She and Conner begin growing closer, although the shadows of his former relationships haunt her. Still, the magnetic forces that pull them together are making it harder for her to stay away. And just as Charlotte is beginning to settle into her life, she learns someone wants her gone for good and will do so…by any means necessary.

When Charlotte escapes one marriage only to find herself on the cusp of another, will she ever be free?

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EXCERPT:

When Penelope was whirled away for a dance by some lord’s youngest son, Charlotte took the opportunity to slip away from the crush and make a hasty exit out to a balcony door. Her head had begun to spin and she feared she might be sick from the drink if she couldn’t get out of the stifling crowd. The balcony was large and its stone railing wrapped around most of the lavish building her father owned. The new electric streetlights illuminated the foggy London streets with a dim yellow glow. The large glass doors that led inside did surprisingly much to mute the loud music and Charlotte was grateful for the cold winter breeze and bit of privacy the balcony offered.

She pulled off the long white gloves she wore and leaned against the railing, inhaling large gulps of fresh air. “How I wish this was all over,” she whispered to the empty streets.

“How can ye wish your own party to be done?” A deep voice asked from the most shadowed of corners.

Charlotte turned around, her light purple skirts flying with the quick motion. “Who’s there?”

A tall man stepped from the darkened place where he had sat on a stone bench. His loose blond hair brushed his shoulders and his blue eyes seemed to flash brightly in the dark. He wore a black military jacket and a sharp yellow and black kilt that looped about his shoulder and was fastened with a silver and emerald pin. Traditional high socks covered his strong legs. A short sword was fastened to his hip by a rugged leather belt and his hand lay casually on its silver hilt. “Conner MacLeod. Chief o’ the MacLeod clan.”

“Charlotte Holloway, daughter of the Duke of Glenwood,” Charlotte answered, stunned by the strange dress and deep Scottish lilt. She wasn’t sure where he had come from, as he certainly would have stood out in the crowd of morning coats and ball gowns. She tried to advert her eyes from the bare swatch of leg that showed between his socks and kilt but could hardly bring herself to look away.

“I know who ye are, of course. This entire party is in your honor. But, I must ask…why do ye wish it over so soon?”

“I’m not much for balls.”

“A pretty lass like you? How can ye no’ be much for balls?” His lips curled in a mischievous smirk. “Do you not like the pomp and circumstance?”

Charlotte felt her cheeks grow warm and she wasn’t sure if it was from the drink or the way the Scotsman looked at her from under his dark lashes. All the same, she sensed in him a kindred spirits of sorts. “I’m not much for society at all. I’d rather be out riding or reading a good book than be stuffed in this dress meeting every eligible bachelor in the city.”

He laughed deeply. “I admire your honesty. Not many lasses are willin’ to admit when a party does no’ suit them.”

“I assume the party doesn’t suit you much either?”

“Not much. Us Scots have been tryin’ to be more respected in our own right. One o’ the ways to do that is to spend a bit o’ time with the English. Make them see we’re not all barbarians.”

“Ah, fraternizing with the enemy?” Charlotte could almost hear Penelope chastising her for speaking so familiarly to a man, and about politics at that!

“Ye could say that.” He brushed his hands through his hair and leaned against the railing beside her, looking over the side. “Ye aren’t cold out here in the night air?”

“No, I rather like being outside no matter what the weather is.” She took another deep breath. “Besides, I do think I drank a bit too much punch.”

“And danced with a few too many borin’ men, most like.”

She giggled, despite being told a hundred times by Abigail that it was very unladylike to do so without shielding your face with a fan. “I suppose that might have something to do with it. But, that’s the job of a duke’s daughter.”

Conner stepped toward her and extended his hand. “Well, since we are both trapped at this comin’ out party, we may as well have a bit o’ fun. Fancy a dance, Lady Glenwood?”

Charlotte took his rough, warm hand in her own. His palms were worn, much unlike those of English gentlemen with their silky smooth hands kept clean in powdered gloves. This man was obviously used to physical activity and hard work. She kept their hands together before remembering she had removed her gloves and left them on the railing. “Oh, I’m sorry!” She pulled away from his grasp before slipping her fingers inside her gloves once more.

“You ladies and your gloves. Scared o’ touchin’ anythin’ without a barrier o’ silk?” he teased.

“I hate them, personally. However, one must play the part at times.”

“And what part are ye playin’?”

“The part of a dutiful daughter.”

“Then it looks to me that you are doin’ a right fine job.” He offered his arm, which she gladly took. “Now, my lady, let’s go have us a dance.”

***

The room hushed slightly as Charlotte entered on Chief Conner MacLeod’s arm. Penelope watched, wide-eyed, as the couple began a lively waltz with the other colorful pairs of dancing guests. Conner was an animated dancer and whirled Charlotte around the floor with surprising ease for someone as rugged as he. She was enjoying herself so greatly that she hardly notice the strange looks some of the guests gave them, nor the look of disapproval on Abigail’s tightly pinched face.

His hands clutched her closely, perhaps closer than was really appropriate. He grinned with the self-confidence that only good-looking men rightly had and gazed at Charlotte with true merriment in his sapphire eyes. Conner didn’t attempt the usual small talk that most men would try during a dance, but just let their mutual joy at having a fine partner fill in the silence between them.

“What a crowd,” Conner whispered into her ear as the music winded down and the dancing couples slowed to a halt. “Ye would think they’d never seen a pair o’ dancers before.”

Charlotte felt a chill go up her spine that she tried to ignore. “I suppose your appearance has caused quite the titter. I must say, we do not see very many Scottish Lords and it always is the surprise.”

“I suppose the man approachin’ us would agree with ye.”

“I am here to collect my dance.” Richard Howard’s monotone voice greeted Charlotte’s back.

Conner dipped a short bow and lightly kissed Charlotte’s hand. Even through the silk of her glove, she felt the heat of his mouth on her skin. “A pleasure, my lady.”

Charlotte blushed again and felt bold enough to ask, “If you stay longer, perhaps we might dance again?”

“Perhaps,” he answered smoothly as he backed away into the crowd. “Perhaps.”

Author Bio:

Kelsey McKnight is a university-educated historian from southern New Jersey. She has married her great loves of romance, history, and literature to create her newly finished works. Her first books, “The Scottish Stone Series”, are coming in April of 2017 by Limitless Publishing. Book one is titled “Queen of Emeralds”, and is available now. “The Scottish Stone Series” take readers on a journey through the bustling streets of Victorian London and into the lush hills of the Scottish Highlands. Her second book, a contemporary romance titled “The Non-Disclosure Agreement”, will also be available in May of 2017 and feature a bad boy politician and the small town girl that could change his ways. When she’s not writing, Kelsey can be found reading, drinking too much coffee, spending time with her family, and working on two nonprofits.

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Fighting Attraction
Sarah Castille
(Redemption #4)
Published by: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: April 4th 2017
Genres: Adult, Romance

My sweet, sexy Penny has a dark side. Just like me.

I will have her. And then I will lose her, and suffer a lifetime of regret.

Rampage. Everyone loves him. He is Redemption’s top heavyweight fighter and the biggest gossip in the gym. But he isn’t the teddy bear everyone thinks he is. He’s hiding a dark secret-and he hates himself for it.

Twice a week, Rampage transforms into Master Jack, a notorious dom only the most hard-core submissives will play with. How can he-a Southern gentleman, bred to respect and protect women-want to dominate them?

But Penny Worthington wants him. Beneath her pearls, kitten heels, and prim British exterior beats a tortured heart…Master Jack is the only one who can set her free.

Redemption Series

Against the Ropes

In Your Corner

Full Contact

Fighting Attraction

Fighting Attraction is the fourth book in a full-length, standalone, award-winning series by New York Times bestselling author, Sarah Castille, featuring deliciously sexy MMA fighters and the women who can’t help but love them.

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EXCERPT:

“This is where you don’t want to be as a smaller grappler,” he says in his ‘I’m a professional MMA fighter’ voice. “How are you going to get out of this hold?”

The question isn’t so much how am I going to get out of it but do I want to get out of it? And with Rampage’s hard, muscular body on top of me, his legs between my thighs, his hardness pressed tight against the juncture of my thighs, I’m not sure I do.

Rampage stills, and his eyes widen.

Bugger. Did I say that out loud?

“I’m not sure I want you to either.” His breath is warm against my ear. “But if you don’t move, we’ll both get kicked out of class. So, what are you going to do?”

“Um…overhook an arm, bridge and roll, then get on top into the closed guard?”

Rampage drops his weight, stealing my breath. “Won’t work against a larger opponent. You need to blast through my hips and use a bit of strength to overturn me. Strength you don’t have. Your best bet is to escape back to half guard.”

“Okay.” I wiggle just the tiniest bit against him, seeking more of that delicious pressure against my clit. With my vibrator on high, I was able to take the edge off this morning, but with Rampage on top of me, I’m wound up all over again.

A low growl rumbles in his throat. “You’d better be wiggling ’cause you’re moving into half guard,” he warns. “Now straighten up and make your transition.”

“This is as straight as I get,” I mutter. “I’m a woman. Women have curves. I happen to have a curve in my back, and it wants to stay that way.”

“I can feel your curves, darlin’. Every one of them. And it’s making it fucking hard to concentrate. Make your move ’cause if you don’t do it soon, I’ll have to go out and get a cup.”

I suck in a sharp breath. “You aren’t wearing a cup?”

“No.”

Don’t move. Don’t move.

I can’t help it. I move. Or, more accurately, I grind.

Wham. Rampage transitions into half guard and flips me onto my front. While I try to get my knees under me, he straddles me and grabs my hips in his huge hands. Heat surges through my body, and I groan quietly in my throat. “What are we doing?”

“Hips up,” he barks. “Ass down.”

“They’re connected,” I point out. “Where the hips go, the ass follows.”

Shilla snorts a laugh and drops to the floor beside me. “Like this.” She stretches her body out into a perfectly smooth, flat, plank position, holding it with one hand. On her knuckles. Then she rolls to show me what Rampage wants me to do.

“If my body was one solid sheet of muscle, I could do that.” I tense my muscles, try to force myself into a position my body is not meant to go. “However, I have a weakness for chocolate biscuits, lazy Sundays on a blanket in the park, scones with clotted cream, and chicken tikka with thick, white naan bread slathered in butter. Unfortunately, it lowers my middle center of gravity.”

Rampage’s hands slide over my stomach, his touch firm, arousing my whole body with the promise of what those fingers could do if they drifted just a little lower. My mind goes hazy with desire and I can’t tell if I’m flying or if my hands and feet are still on the floor. I don’t care about jiu jitsu transitions. I don’t care that Shilla is watching us with

curious eyes or that we’re supposed to be doing a group drill. I don’t care if the whole class is watching us. All I care about is feeling connected to Rampage and wanting this moment to last forever.

He lifts me right off the floor, as if I weighed nothing, and pulls me against his broad chest, my ass against his hips, feet barely touching the mat, his hands firm around my body. My stomach clenches. My heart pounds. He leans down until his mouth is so close to my ear, I can feel the heat of his breath.

“I told you not to touch yourself last night,” he whispers.

A flush of adrenaline tingles through my body, followed by a thrill of fear. “What are you going to do about it?”

Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Sarah Castille, writes contemporary erotic romance and romantic suspense featuring blazingly hot alpha males and the women who tame them. She is the author of the Redemption series, the Sinner’s Tribe MC series, and the Legal Heat series. A recovering lawyer and caffeine addict, she worked and travelled abroad before trading in her briefcase and stilettos for a handful of magic beans and a home on Vancouver Island.

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The Mistakes
Elizabeth Brown
(Off-Limits #3)
Publication date: April 4th 2017
Genres: Adult, Romantic Comedy

It started as a promise.

A momentary lapse in sanity had me agreeing to two months of celibacy.

Then Mark Bishop showed up. My new boss was cocky, arrogant, and unfortunately, sexy as hell.

My first mistake?

Thinking I would last two months.

The Mistakes – A Sexy Office Romance

Book III in the Off-Limits Series – Winnie and Mark’s story.

Dual POV. Can be read as a standalone.

Warning: This story contains mature humor, a lot of cursing, and of course, sexual situations. It’s intended for adult readers who enjoy that kind of thing.

Goodreads / Amazon

—

SNEAK PEEKS:

“So you’re saying I have to give up all the dicks?”

“Yeah. All the dicks. That’s my price.”

I sighed. “For how long?”

She pressed her lips together. “Two months.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Two months!”

“Yep. Just to give yourself time to D-tox,” she quipped, over-annunciating the D.

I grinned and shook my head. “That’s cute. You think that all up on your own?”

She chuckled. “Clearly I’ve been hanging out with you way too much.”

—

“Problem?” he asked, looking down at me as he sheathed his perfect erection.

I turned back to the desk and shook my head. “Uh-huh.”

“You sure?”

I nodded. “No, it’s fine. I just… forgot how big you are. You sure you wouldn’t rather have a blow job?”

He leaned into me again, his lips against my ear. “Believe me, as much as I’ve fantasized about shoving my dick in your mouth to shut you up, I’m not entirely convinced you wouldn’t bite it off.”

Author Bio:

Hocker of smut, drinker of wine, and more often than not- #NSFW.

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The Vow by Laura Daleo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Claire Matthews has just arrived in her hometown for her break from college when she finds that none of her family has come to pick her up at the airport. Trying to call again and again and not getting an answer from her parents or brother Claire decides to take a cab home. When arriving at her house she finds the place surrounded by police and crime tape.

When finally getting a detective to tell her what is going on Claire learns that her parents were murdered and her bother missing. Claire’s parents are covered in bite marks looking like the attack was done by a vampire however there has been peace between vampires and humans for over a hundred years after a treaty between the two had been signed. Claire wants to know who has broken the vow of peace and just where her brother is so she’s determined to do whatever she can to find who is responsible.

The Vow by Laura Daleo is one of those books that I picked up being curious as to what would happen in the story and was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. The only thing really when done reading I would complain about with this one was I guessed the “who” rather early on in the story.

While I did guess who had been responsible this book certainly took the reader on quite a ride with the how. Claire gets herself into some tricky situations looking for the killer and hoping to find her brother but I found them rather fast paced, which I enjoy, and entertaining all the way through. There were vampire interactions, police investigating and overall an engaging story.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Date with Death: A Dales Detective Mystery by Julia Chapman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Delilah Metcalfe is a struggling business woman trying to keep her two businesses afloat with the bank breathing down her neck. When Samson O’Brien arrives back into town after leaving everything behind more than a decade before and not even returning for his best friend’s funeral he doesn’t find himself with a warm welcome. In fact Delilah doesn’t want to take him on as a tenant but breaks down and signs the lease because she could really use the money.

Samson has decided to return home to set up a detective agency while on leave from his job in law enforcement after he found himself attacked. Samson knows his hometown would be far from the problems of his job and hopefully they wouldn’t follow him home. His first case has him crossing paths with Delilah though when he needs to investigate the death of a man that had been a customer of Delilah’s dating service. When more deaths follow the two team up to solve just what is happening in their small town.

Date with Death is the first book in the new cozy mystery series, The Dales Detective. Now when we start with the two main characters being Samson and Delilah I wondered if this wouldn’t just be a silly story but it actually turned out to be a pretty good mystery.

There was a good amount of character building in the story and I felt I got to know the town well. I really liked both the main characters and the small town every knows everyone vibe going on. The mystery had me guessing as to the how’s and why’s for quite a while and was interesting to follow along. I’d definitely be interested in what is in store for Samson and Delilah in any future books.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.