Carries Book Reviews

Hooked by Brenda Rothert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Miranda is an incredibly hard working busy woman that doesn’t find the time to date since she works two full time jobs and is putting herself through school. While working her job as a maid at a high end hotel Miranda finds herself extremely irritated when she meets hockey’s hottest bad boy, Jake Birch, in one of the suites while she’s cleaning. However after finding herself telling Jake off with his numerous requests instead of getting her fired he asks for her to become his personal housekeeper throughout his six week stay while his place is being remodeled.

Miranda immediately catches Jake’s eye since she is so completely different from the women he meets, she’s hardworking and quite feisty not putting up with him at all instead of being star struck. Unfortunately, while Jake is extremely taken with Miranda after meeting her he has a bit of a predicament since he is being forced to date his owner’s daughter after a drunken encounter with her previously.

Hooked is a fast paced, standalone, contemporary romance from Brenda Rothert. The story did get a tad predictable in nature with knowing about another relationship taking place with the male main character but it was still a fun read that didn’t dwell too much on the controversy this caused and instead mainly focused on the characters getting to know one another and taking a bit of time to do so.

I would warn that this one contains quite of bit of sex and language that may offend some readers that prefer a cleaner read. I would definitely recommend this one for those that don’t mind the language and sexual situations, especially to those who are fans of the sexy athletes.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

How Will I Know You? by Jessica Treadway
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

The body of high school senior is found in the woods at the edge of a pond after she had gone missing leading everyone to believe that Joy had drowned. After further investigation though it’s found that Joy had actually been strangled so the search begins for a killer in northern upstate New York.

Interviewing witnesses and conducting an investigation leads police to Martin, a black graduate student who is immediately placed under arrest but did Martin really have motive to kill Joy or is he being targeted due to the color of his skin?

How Will I Know You? is told from changing POVs throughout the book between Susanne, Joy’s mother and a professor at the local college, Martin the black graduate student who is the number one suspect, Harper who had been Joy’s best friend for years but the friendship had been on the rocks but who had been with Joy at the pond and is a potential eye witness and Tom, a rescue diver and son in law of the town’s police chief. The story also is told from alternating timelines giving the before the murder and the after during the investigation.

For me this story just focused a bit too much on race all throughout the investigation. Perhaps I’m a dreamer but I really wish race wasn’t an issue in the world although I know it still can be but I felt like we will never get there if even fiction revolves around the color of someone’s skin so I never felt comfortable with the story the way I normally would. This also made it fairly obvious that the killer wouldn’t be the one being pointed at in the start and the twists and turns just didn’t drag me in and get me involved the way some other thrillers seem to do.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t a favorite of mine. In the end I decided on 2.5 stars for How Will I Know You? Just not my cup of tea but some do seem to really enjoy this one so it would be one I’d urge to decide for yourself as the writing was good enough I just wasn’t a fan of the story.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Pawn
Skye Warren
(Revenge and Seduction #1)
Publication date: December 6th 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The price of survival…

Gabriel Miller swept into my life like a storm. He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl’s college to take care of the only family I have left.

There’s one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value.

My virginity.

A forbidden auction…

Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he’s the only kindness in a brutal underworld.

Except he’s playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing.

THE PAWN is a full-length contemporary novel from New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren about revenge and seduction in the game of love.

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EXCERPT:

A sense of familiarity fills the space between us even though I know we haven’t met. This man is a stranger, but he looks at me as if he wants to know me. He looks at me as if he already does. There’s an intensity to his eyes when they sweep over my face, as firm and as telling as a touch.

“I need…” A thud against my ribs as I think about all the things I need—a rewind button. One person in the city who doesn’t hate me by name alone. “I need a loan.”

He gives me a slow perusal, from the nervous slide of my tongue along my lips to the high neckline of my dress. I tried to dress professionally—a black cowl-necked sweater and pencil skirt. His strange amber gaze unbuttons my coat, pulls away the expensive cotton, tears off the cotton fabric of my bra and panties. He sees right through me, and I shiver as a ripple of awareness runs over my skin.

I’ve met a million men in my life. Shaken hands. Smiled. I’ve never felt as seen through as I do right now. Never felt like someone has turned me inside out, every dark secret exposed to the harsh light. He sees my weaknesses, and from the cruel set of his mouth, he likes them.

His lids lower. “And what do you have for collateral?”

Nothing except my word. That wouldn’t be worth anything if he knew my name. I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I don’t know.”

Nothing.

He takes a step forward, and suddenly I’m crowded against the brick wall beside the door, his large body blocking out the warm light from inside. He feels like a furnace in front me, the heat of him in sharp contrast to the cold brick at my back. “What’s your name, girl?”

The word girl is a slap in the face. I force myself not to flinch, but it’s hard. Everything about him overwhelms me—his size, his low voice. “I’ll tell Mr. Scott my name.”

In the shadowed space between us, his smile spreads, white and taunting. The pleasure that lights his strange yellow eyes is almost sensual, as if I caressed him. “You’ll have to get past me.”

My heart thuds. He likes that I’m challenging him, and God, that’s even worse. What if I’ve already failed? I’m free-falling, tumbling, turning over without a single hope to anchor me. Where will I go if he turns me away? What will happen to my father?

“Let me go,” I whisper, but my hope fades fast.

His eyes flash with warning. “Little Avery James, all grown up.”

A small gasp resounds in the space between us. He already knows my name. That means he knows who my father is. He knows what he’s done. Denials rush to my throat, pleas for understanding. The hard set of his eyes, the broad strength of his shoulders tells me I won’t find any mercy here.

Author Bio:

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance such as the Chicago Underground series. Her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, two sweet dogs, and one evil cat.

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Wild Poppy
Vivian Winslow
(Wildflowers, #4)
Publication date: December 6th 2016
Genres: New Adult, Romance

The daughter of a renown media mogul, Poppy Koslowski has her life turned upside down overnight when her father is indicted for a massive fraud that leads to the loss of her family’s fortune. In the wake of the scandal, Poppy moves to Paris at the behest of her aunt, the Countess Domel, who, unbeknownst to Poppy, intends to find a wealthy husband for her niece in order to ensure her future. Poppy, however, has her own dreams of finishing school and realizing her goal of becoming an award-winning journalist. When she meets Henri Olin, the passionate and seductive illegitimate son of one of France’s most powerful politicians, his political and social ideology introduces Poppy to a world very different from her own. Yet, Poppy ultimately learns that everything comes at a price, even love. After suffering a devastating loss, Poppy finds herself alone and virtually penniless, and is forced to make her way back to America to piece together the remnants of her life in New York City. There, she rediscovers her passion once again, only to be confronted with yet another life choice, one that will forever shape her destiny.

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Previous books in the series:

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EXCERPT:

“What?” He asks, unable to keep from laughing. He knew she’d have a beautiful laugh. He just knew by the way she smiled when she delivered his drink. If only he’d been bold enough to touch her hand when she did. But she doesn’t seem like the kind of person who wants to be touched, at least not without her permission.

“Nothing,” Poppy replies, shifting her weight from one leg to the other. She begins to scrape at the loose gravel in the wall, not caring when she chips a nail.

He lowers his head so he can be eye level with her. Poppy figures he’s at least five inches taller than she is, in heels. “Come on, I can’t be that ridiculous can I?”

Poppy shrugs. “How would I know, we only just met. But I think it’s cute the way your brow goes like this.” She imitates his bemusement, wrinkling her face to make lines between her brows and points to it.

“I don’t look like that.”

Before Poppy can reply, a noise makes her turn toward West 10th again. Just inside the black iron gate that frames the alley, she spots a young woman who looks to be about her age. The woman tosses back her long dark hair as she talks to a guy whose arm is wound tightly around her waist. Poppy recognizes the intimacy, the way every inch of their bodies touch as they speak. She studies their unspoken language, wondering if that’s how she looked with Henri that first night.

A peal of laughter escapes the woman as the guy lifts her hips around his and presses her against the wall, squeezing the flesh beneath her skirt and kissing her neck.

The brown-eyed stranger follows her gaze. “I didn’t think I’d be getting two shows tonight,” he whispers.

The low sound of his voice ignites something in Poppy’s chest that travels down to her cunt. Desire, like everything post Henri and Paul, had seemed like a far-off notion, until tonight that is. Something about this stranger is awakening the kinds of feelings she believed she’d buried. Denial, Poppy realizes, isn’t the same as burying a truth. The former makes you want to pretend something never happened while the latter at least makes you acknowledge it before you shove it so deep underground it can’t touch you. The reality is that Poppy hasn’t been able to do either well. Some days Paris and Paul seem like a faint memory, so distant that it’s as if it all happened in a previous lifetime, while others it’s as if the truth is beating on her so hard that it hurts to breathe. Clearly she has to find a better coping mechanism.

The stranger’s warm breath on the side of her face draws Poppy out of her thoughts again. How easily distracted she is tonight, one thought jumping to the next. She attempts to make them melt together until she can’t distinguish them. It helps to lose herself in the moment, in the now which doesn’t allow any space for the past to reside. She gazes at the enamored couple, although enamored seems like a bit of a stretch. She didn’t love Henri that first night. Not that it took very long to make her feel something akin to love. Sometimes, though, she wonders if she wasn’t just picking up on his emotions and making them her own. He’s the one who pursued her, right? He’s the one who insisted they keep the baby, to get married in order to be a family. Where

were her decisions in any of it? She had made them, of course. Her feelings had told her to agree, to make it alright. For whom though? For him? To make Henri happy? To give him some sense of peace and closure regarding his own painful childhood? How much control of her own life had she sublimated in order to make him whole? How much had she really loved him versus how much had she thought she loved him? Can she even remember anymore?

Once again, Poppy swallows back each question like a bitter pill. The answers are a luxury she can’t afford at the moment. There’s no one to give them to her anyway. Poppy tilts her head against the wall and focuses on the couple. She figures there’s no need to give the couple any privacy. If they wanted that, they could’ve chosen a different place. But they didn’t. Instead they opted for an alley, and not a particularly dark one either. They want to be seen, to be on display. It fascinates her to be the voyeur this time. When she was the woman up against the wall, she had never considered what it would be like to watch. God how she loved feeling so uninhibited. God how she misses the freedom that comes with not caring that her actions could ever have consequences. She loved the power she derived from that freedom, how it impressed upon her a feeling of invincibility. She can see on the young woman’s face that she’s experiencing the same thing. It’s the distant gaze that gives her away as the man pushes his cock inside of her. She’s there, but she’s also deep inside herself, taking the energy from the moment and storing it inside of her for a later time. It’s life force she’s seeking, and it’s life force she’s giving. If only she’d known what she would have to give in exchange for what she took, Poppy thinks to herself.

Author Bio:

Vivian Winslow was born and raised in Southern California. Before becoming a writer, she made a career out of moving around the world every couple of years thanks to her husband’s job and her incurable wanderlust. She currently lives in New York City with her husband and two elementary school age children, and is grateful to finally have a place to call home for more than two years.

New York is the perfect city to indulge her love of fashion, the arts and especially food. If she’s not at home writing or running around the city with her kids, you’ll most likely find her eating at the newest restaurant in her beloved Lower East Side or having a cocktail at her favorite bar in Alphabet City. That said, she’s still a California girl at heart and would gladly trade in her heels for a pair of flip-flops to catch a sunset on the beach.

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Winter Thrillz
T.L. Katt
Publication date: December 2nd 2016
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Two short paranormal romances: Tigress and Talons. Explore debut author T.L. Katt’s world of paranormal romance.

Tigress

Jestin, in need of a vacation, takes a break to the mountains where strange events send him exploring the woods. What he finds changes his life forever.

Talons

It’s an ordinary day when Meg gets scooped up by a creature. She awakes in her own bed believing it was only a dream, until she finds puncture marks under her arms. In fear that she’s been injected with a virus, she flees to solve the mystery — finding much more.

This book is meant for mature audiences 18 and above.

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TALONS EXCERPT:

“Oh, Miss Meg, you don’t look good. Your cheeks are flushed red like a tomato.” Elsa placed the coffee on the nightstand beside the bed and brought her hand to Meg’s forehead. Worry wrinkles creased her chocolate hairline and brow. “You’re burning up, and what are all those splotches on your legs and arms? We need to cool you down!” Elsa ran out of the room, leaving Meg to stare at her body covered in splashes of red inflamed skin. A fever and illness would explain the hallucinations she dreamt the night before.

Within minutes, Elsa returned with a cold cloth that she placed on Meg’s forehead. “This will cool you off while I draw your bath.” Like a small black whirlwind, Elsa had the bath water running and was slipping off Meg’s gown and lowering her into the tub of chilly oatmeal water. Meg knew better than to resist Elsa’s efforts and complied.

Shivering beneath the cold water brought her back to her dream and the frozen air. She could almost feel the large talons beneath her armpits and the acute pain the

creature’s claw had caused. She brought her left hand instinctively to beneath her under arm and felt a hole the size of her pinky. She removed her hand and drew her arm up over her head. “Elsa, do you see anything?”

Elsa’s eyes grew twice their average size. “What happened?” she asked, bringing her fat fingers to the hole and rubbing gently across it. “Does it hurt?”

“No, it’s just a big hole. It feels like someone stuck me with a centimeter-sized needle.”

Elsa reached over and grabbed a vanity mirror off the counter and positioned it where Meg could see the hole. She stared at it, her mouth gaping with fear as she realized last night had not been a dream. She had been abducted by something that stuck her and most likely drugged her. She couldn’t go to the hospital with this, not after the disappearance of her husband and the mystery that surrounded the strange death of the man thought to have been guilty of murdering several people. No, she was a doctor and would take and analyze her own tox screen.

“Elsa, help me out of the tub, I have work to do!” Sensing the urgency of her tone, Elsa did as asked, against her own judgement. Meg was her friend but also her employer. Meg threw her bathrobe on and rushed through the house with lightning speed, not stopping as she yelled, “Tell Amy I had to leave town for a few days.” Her voice trailed off, leaving Elsa seated on the lip of the tub in a quandary.

As Meg sped through the house, she could feel the sun’s heat nipping at her skin even though a thin layer of snow covered the ground. She had no time to close the drapes to the many floor to ceiling windows that enclosed her home. She had fallen in love with the large amounts of sunlight that streamed in, giving the house a warm, cozy feel — but not now. Today, she hated the light and the tendrils of heat that ebbed across her exposed skin. With a speed far beyond her ability, she was but a mere flash streaking through the home.

In the basement, she tore through boxes of lab equipment; setting aside test tubes, needles, flasks, a hot plate, and microscope. She had used the equipment to analyze the sample her colleague and college dorm mate — now FBI lab rat — had collected from the sociopath’s blood. The sample had been small but enough to tell her the toxin he was injected with was unknown and deadly to him. When it interacted with his blood, within seconds the agent destroyed every blood cell in his body. It acted as a virus exploding each red blood cell from the inside out like over inflated balloons. Yet when she mixed the toxin with her own blood it mingled, restructuring the hemoglobin protein in a way that allowed it to carry more oxygen throughout the body.

Meg found the large bulging vein in her arm. Without hesitation, she withdrew a vial of blood.

Author Bio:

T.L. Katt lives in the south eastern U.S. with her two fur-children Crescent and Gibbous. She dabbles in graphic design, creating all her own covers, and writes stories that are more truth than fiction. Her favorite genres and writing preferences are paranormal and fantasy.

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