Carries Book Reviews

Containment by Hank Parker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When a farmer becomes violently ill with his death soon to follow and then more victims begin to turn up at the hospitals it becomes clear there is a new epidemic loose in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It’s discovered that there is a new tick born virus haunting the area as more begin to die from the disease.
Curt Kennedy, a biothreat tracker, and Mariah Rossi, an epidemiologist, are put on the case and find themselves tracking a terrorist who has let the disease loose on the area and plans more devastation.

Containment was an alright thriller with decent writing but I was never really too engrossed and compelled the way I’d like to be with a thriller. I found myself questioning the official synopsis given with this one, to me they gave away most of the book so as I went along I was never really finding myself too surprised as I read.

I will warn the animal lovers this one may just make ones blood boil also with the way the virus is dealt with. That along with many other little details in here really didn’t seem to be too realistic to find myself with the thought that wow, this could happen which I also like to have with this type of a read. In the end I just found this one an OK read, it just never really wowed me as I went along.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Arranged Trilogy: Omnibus by Julia Crane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With Earth in ruins and the planet dying after a war that has lasted for more than a hundred years on the planet magical creatures of all kinds are trying to rebuild and replenish Earth. There is still a small resistance of humans that fight against magic being on their planet even though the human population is down to a small percentage of what it once had been and in danger of extinction.

Tulupea’s mother is the Queen of the Fae realm and had been on Earth trying to use her healing powers to rebuild the planet. She has come up with a plan along with an Earth scientist to create a superior race breeding a human and a fae through scientific methods. Tulupea of course wants to meet the human she is being volunteered to breed children with and soon finds herself falling for the strange human and fiercely wanting to protect him and the planet Earth.

Arranged Trilogy: Omnibus is the complete collection of novellas from the Arranged Trilogy by Julia Crane. The collection includes Arranged, Betrayed and Entwined. Tulupea’s story continues directly on from novella to novella continuing what happens with the experiments to revive the planet Earth and her developing relationship with the human Michael.

Tulupea was a bit of a spoiled brat type of character in the beginning which may be a bit of a turn off for some. She is what she is though, a princess that has not known anything other than her world of comfort and quite headstrong as she has been raised to someday rule. I thought the author portrayed her just how she really should be and became quite fond of her. Michael is also an interesting character as he is going against what he had been taught to believe and showing compassion for those he would have been fighting against.

As for the overall story between all three editions I will say I was much more invested in the first book when I read it than the second two. The first was a bit longer in length and was completely action packed and interesting. However, as the story continued on in the second and third installments the books seemed to get a bit shorter each time in which it seemed that to continue the action things just seemed to be added out of convenience instead of fully investigated and incorporated into the fantasy world in a much more fluid manor. If the books had been lengthier perhaps it wouldn’t have felt as choppy later on or perhaps if keeping to the shorter length a bit of scaling back to adding so much would have been better. Regardless the story was still entertaining overall, just perhaps needed a bit of tweaking to rate a bit higher in my opinion.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Over the course of one wild road trip, feuding childhood sweethearts get a second chance at love in this charming rom-com—a standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Blurred Lines and Good Girl.

When Lucy Hawkins receives a job offer in San Francisco, she can’t wait to spread her wings and leave her small Virginia hometown behind. Her close-knit family supports her as best they can, by handing over the keys to a station wagon that’s seen better days. The catch? The cross-country trip comes with a traveling companion: her older brother’s best friend, aka the guy who took Lucy’s virginity hours before breaking her heart.

After spending the past four years and every last dime caring for his sick father, Reece Sullivan will do just about anything to break free of the painful memories—even if it means a two-week road trip with the one girl who’s ever made it past his carefully guarded exterior. But after long days of bickering in the car turn into steamy nights in secluded motel rooms, Reece learns that, when it comes to Lucy, their story is far from over. And this time, they just might have a shot at a happy ending.

Although listed as a title in the Love Unexpectedly Series, all books in the series stand alone.

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Resisting Miss Merryweather by Emily Larkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sir Barnaby Ware made a mistake two and a half years ago letting himself be seduced by his best friend’s wife. Now Barnaby has come to try to make amends with his old friend even though he feels that he may not deserve the forgiveness he’s come to seek.

When Barnaby arrives he meets Miss Merryweather, the daughter of a dancing master and a noblewoman. The two are immediately drawn to one another but Barnaby doesn’t believe he will ever be good enough for a nice young woman like Merry but when an accident happens the pair find themselves growing close.

Resisting Miss Merryweather is the second book in the Baleful Godmother series by Emily Larkin. Along with the first book in this series there is also a set of prequel novellas, The Fey Quartet series that also tie into this story. The entire series is a mix of historical, fantasy and romance. The main female characters in the Baleful Godmother series have received a gift upon each of their twenty fifth birthdays from a faerie who’s story was told in the Fey Quartet novellas.

I’ve really enjoyed this series with it’s interesting mix of genres. The one thing I found with Resisting Miss Merryweather was I found that I would have liked a bit more to remind me of what had happened earlier in the story since it had been a bit of time since I’d read the first book. Once I found myself caught up though it still found myself enjoying learning about Merry and her gift that she chose and her relationship developing with Barnaby in this edition of the series.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Taste of Air by Gail Cleare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nell Williams receives a phone call informing her that her mother, Mary, has been admitted into the hospital in Vermont. Not only is her mother’s health a real concern for Nell but just why in the world was her mother even in Vermont is the big question, Mary was supposed to be in an assisted-living facility in Massachusetts.

When Nell arrives in Vermont she finds that her mother has had a secret life that no one in the family had known about. Mary owns a small cabin and it seems that she has had the place for years, even before Nell’s father had passed away. Now while waiting for news of her mother’s health Nell needs to piece together this secret life that her mother had been living.

The Taste of Air was a fantastic contemporary read that almost had a bit of a thriller edge to it when it came down to unwinding years and years worth of family secrets. The story alternates between the current day and the past leading the reader to find out what exactly Mary had been hiding from her closest family for years.

Not only did Mary have her secrets for Nell to uncover but the book touches upon Nell’s own self discovery along with other characters during the read. It was quite intriguing and had the pages turning all throughout watching the characters grow and find themselves right along with solving the mystery of the small lakeside cottage that Mary had kept and why she hadn’t even told her daughters.

Definitely a compelling read for those that enjoy more of a family drama and secrets spanning decades unfolding before your eyes, one that I’d highly recommend.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.