Carries Book Reviews

Addicted to You by Renita Pizzitola
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Isla Diaz has been friends with Colby Callahan forever but she’s also had a bit of a crush on Colby that has never been pursued. One night the pair find themselves alone as a tropical storm heads into Port Lucia and as they play a few games to pass the time the next thing they know they find themselves in bed together.

After their night together Isla isn’t sure what Colby may think of what happened between them and if this may ruin the friendship they always have shared. Things get a bit weird as neither seems to know how to act around one another. For Isla she’s afraid of losing Colby, for Colby he knows that his brother has liked Isla too and is torn between his own feelings and those for his brother.

Addicted to You was a well written new adult contemporary romance but what held me back from really falling in love with this one was the back and forth or hot and cold that Colby kept showing due to his brother. I think that after you’ve slept with a girl is a little too late to push her towards your brother and I’m sure had he known right away he probably wouldn’t of been happy with it either.

I did enjoy the writing in this one along with the characters being long time friends. And I even wouldn’t mind the story being around the somewhat awkwardness of two friends not knowing how to handle being more or holding onto their friendship. I would definitely grab another read from this author that just maybe wouldn’t have the sibling connection going on.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

The Hitman’s Possession
Tia Lewis
(A Bad Boy Mafia Romance, #1)
Publication date: October 19th 2016
Genres: Dark Hitman Romance

I’m a hard, ruthless, and brutal killer… but I’m not letting her go.

I’m the most feared man in South Boston. I’ve earned that title and the nickname “The Animal.” Women may think it’s because I’m wild in bed, and one night with me and they’d f*cking know it.

But there’s a darker reason for my reputation… I think nothing about ending a life. Feelings are a luxury I can’t afford.

Until her.

I hear Tess cry for help and I give into the urge to help her. One look at her and I knew I had to risk it all to rescue her. I’m no knight in shining armor; I’m saving her so I can keep the sexy spitfire for myself.

But the mob wants her back. She wasn’t meant to live through that night.

No f*cking way I’m going to let that happen. Tess ignites a fire within me like nothing I’ve ever known. Her legs are meant to be wrapped around me, and only me. I’ll take on the whole Russian mob ―hell, the whole world―to keep the one woman who’s meant to belong to me.

I’ll kill every bastard that tries to take her away. She can try to run, but she’s not getting away from this hitman. She’s my possession now.

Warning:

The Hitman’s Possession is a full-length dark romance novel that’s intended for mature audiences only. This novel address issues of a serious nature, including violence surrounding the nature of consent. This novel contains very disturbing situations, graphic language and violence and explicit sexual content. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

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Author Bio:

Tia Lewis is a romance author from the Midwest who writes about smart, sexy, sassy women and hot, possessive alpha males. Her favorite bad boys to write about include sports players, mafia, bikers, billionaires and the bad-ass next door. You can find her cooking, reading, or traveling when she’s not busy working on her next release.

Want to be kept up to date on new releases? Text LEWIS to 31996!

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Soul Keeper Series Box Set
L.A. Starkey
Publication date: March 10th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Amazon readers had a hard time putting this series down… you will to. Now you don’t have to wait – the full story is yours for a discounted price.

This boxed set includes all three full-length novels from Starkey’s beloved Soul Keeper Series. That’s over 800 pages of intense twists and emotional turns, heart-breaking romance and soul-shattering deception – all in one series.

In a battle of wills,

of the gods of old.

For each his revenge,

will he forfeit his soul.

On the chessboard of blood,

will their narrative play.

Aged, innocent lives,

revenge claims her way.

Out of hate will come love,

and love will come hate.

For immortal and man,

have entwined their damned fate.

The battle between the Titans and the gods of old did not end with them. The demand for revenge has dripped down into the next generation.

Twins, Marcus and Nicolas, heirs to the throne of the gods and sons of the last remaining Titan, learn that the purpose of their existence is to fulfill a prophecy born of hate and despair. They must battle for Pandora’s daughter’s heart, a girl lost to the human world and unaware of her hidden heritage. For four hundred years Marcus and Nicolas have only been allowed to touch the edge of their soul mate’s dreams, but the time of the prophecy has come.

For Samantha, life has been nothing more than a series of misfortunes and heartbreaks. For years, she has kept her heart locked away, but change is rolling in like a tidal wave. She is now forced to discern the thin line between love and lie, myth and reality, and it would seem that time is running out …

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EXCERPT:

There was no moving in this moment. Her body afforded her no such luxury, as swirling white mist covered the soft green grass, giving the world an ethereal appearance. Crimson danced against the golden sky as the evening moved in quickly, hoping to make way for its dark lover.

Sam gazed around her, trying to make sense of the familiarity she felt with her setting, but she failed to hold onto the fleeting memory. The soft crunch of grass moving changed everything as realization dawned—she was no longer alone.

Her dark sapphire eyes narrowed, brow creasing as a figure cut through the dense, chalky air. He towered over her by a head or two, and judging by the large expanse of his shoulders, he often left the gym stained in his scent. As his shape continued to gain clarity, from color and size to the defined lines of a life well lived, the swell of anticipation grew within her at the story his facial features might tell.

As he drew close enough for focus, her jaw slackened and her eyes widened with wonder. He was for all intents and purposes a teenager, and yet by his exotic appearance, she guessed him to be a foreigner. Wherever he was from, he was simply beautiful.

He stopped just before her, his gaze locked on hers, and try though she may words escaped her cry for assistance. His piercing jade eyes bore into her, dark orange rays stretching lazily from the iris, his skin seeming to glitter as if kissed by the sun.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

“For me?” Sam blinked in surprise, taking a hesitant step back.

“Ah, Samantha,” he breathed out, his brow creasing ever so slightly. “Same questions every time, my love. Shall I give you the same answers?”

“W-what a-answers?” She shook her head, attempting to draw in a breath that wasn’t filled with the smell of pure male.

There would be no relaxing in front of him for something was so very familiar and yet alarming to all of her protective senses. Brick by brick, her heart constructed a thick wall that would promise protection. He took a step forward and reached for her hand, but was a bit too late to infiltrate her senses as the wall was up and impenetrable.

She exhaled softly as their skin connected and instinctively let her fingers wrap around his as a sign of friendship. The warmth of his touch sent tingles racing along the corridors of her body and yet still the cold loneliness remained because she demanded it so. No one would ever penetrate her defenses again. Self-preservation had become her lifelong companion simply because life required such company.

Author Bio:

L.A. Starkey is the author of the Soul Keeper Series, a supernatural young adult series, and The Liarus Detective Series, a supernatural middle grade series.

She is a fulltime writer, and loves spending time with her family and reading a good book. With more ideas than one person should be allowed, she is blessed to have a muse that doesn’t seem to take a vacation and more energy that one might consider healthy.

She writes under the following pen name:
Kate Thomas – NA/Adult Paranormal (http://amzn.to/1SKV9ey)

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Skye
Kimberly Loth
(The Dragon Kings, #4)
Publication date: October 19th 2016
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult

Rowan Winters is completely in love. With a shifter dragon.

But the drop-dead gorgeous Skye only thinks of Rowan as her best friend. But when she turns up in his room in the middle of the night in tears, he yearns to do whatever he can to help her. Even if that means running away and letting his family think he’s dead.

Skye’s entire world turns upside down the day her scales turns black. She knows she’ll have to flee to find answers. But she wasn’t planning on Rowan coming too. She just wanted to say goodbye. He is so eager to help that she can’t leave him behind even though she knows she’ll never be able to love him in return.

Together, they fight off murderous dragons and uncover sinister plans. But can they find the answers Skye so desperately seeks? And can Rowan sacrifice everything he knows to win her heart?

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EXCERPT:

Skye was a coward. She knew that, but she couldn’t bring herself to stay and watch Sid and Aspen commit suicide. There was no way the council would allow Aspen to become queen.

Not to mention that then Skye would have to know the exact moment when she died, because anyone who pledged loyalty to Sid would die the second he did. No, running away was better. She should have enough time to get to her parents before death came. She’d able to say goodbye.

This was her fault. Pearl had told her to keep Aspen safe. Instead she’d gone and made everything worse. Maybe if she’d kept Aspen at home, Sid would’ve been fine.

If she’d never given Sid that damn loyalty seal, she wouldn’t be this close to death. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking at that time. Part of her thought he’d make it.

Another part didn’t care whether she lived or died. It wasn’t like she’d have much of a life anymore.

When Sid became King she found Everett and begged him to remove the seal that marked how much she loved him. He did and now she longer had a swirl of gold on her ankle. But Everett warned her there would be a price to pay. She gladly paid it at the time, but but she hadn’t expected to feel so empty.

For a half second she thought about heading to Everett’s instead of her parents. Maybe he could remove the loyalty seal before she died. She shook her head. How cowardly of her. The price would not be worth it. That was for sure.

She was only fooling herself though. She would make the same decision if given the choice. Aspen was the only way they could possibly survive. When Skye dropped Aspen off , there were three possible outcomes. One, she and Sid would die and all those with loyalty seals would as well. Two, Helios, the final dragon that Sid needed to secure all the loyalty seals got to him before the council had a chance to killed him. Or three. Aspen could be become queen. She’d have to convince the council that she should be queen and pass the queen’s tests She hoped Aspen could do it.

She felt her wings tiring. This could be the beginning of her death. She hadn’t known anyone who had died because of the loyalty seal and didn’t know how it worked. She spotted a lake below her and decided to stop and get a drink. She had to make it home.

Skye landed a little rougher than normal. This had to be the end. She staggered over to the water and took a deep drink. The water sparkled under the full moon. Skye stretched her wings out and swiveled her neck around to scratch her nose. She froze. Her wing was no longer silver.

This must be part of her death. Or at least that was what she tried to convince herself of. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and she no longer felt tired. Dragons didn’t change color before they died. In fact dragons never changed color. Except when they became king. Then they turned black.

Skye spun neck around the other direction. It was more than her wings that had changed. Her whole body was now a deep coal black.

This was impossible. There was no way she could become king. Sid was king. Unless he died. Then someone else would take his place, but that someone had to be a full royal dragon and male. Of which she was neither. There had to be some huge mistake. This had to be a dream. She stuck her head in the cold water and came out again. Still black. This wasn’t possible.

Unless.

That stupid prophecy.

The one that said three kings would rise. The one that said they could come from other races. But she was still female. Something was definitely wrong. She was also still very much alive. She couldn’t go see her parents now, not like this. No, she had to go see the one dragon who could explain how this happened.

She wracked her brain trying to think of everything she’d learned about the prophecy. She loved history and so she studied a lot, but this baffled her. Nothing in the prophecy said anything about a girl. She’d spent hours listening to Everett’s boring details about the prophecy, yet he hadn’t mentioned that females could become kings. He was so in for it.

Author Bio:

Kimberly Loth can’t decide where she wants to settle down. She’s lived in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Utah, California, Oregon, and South Carolina.

She finally decided to make the leap and leave the U.S. behind for a few years. After living in Cairo, Egypt for 2 years, she’s decided to go to the Far East and currently calls Shenzhen, China home. She loves romantic movies, chocolate, roses, and crazy adventures.

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Kon
Lisa Cardiff
(Trassato Crime Family #2)
Published by: Limitless Publishing
Publication date: November 1st 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Once upon a time, I was the woman you envied. I had it all. A wonderful family. The perfect fiancé who also happened to be my best friend. Money and resources. The power and influence that came with sharing the Trassato name.

One night my fairytale became a nightmare, and I’ve been living in Hell ever since. A rival family killed my fiancé. My father succumbed to cancer. In the middle of it all, I bargained away my future to Konstantin Trincher, a member of the Russian mafia. It seemed like the perfect solution at the time—my brother’s girlfriend in exchange for me.

Only things weren’t that simple. I promised myself to Konstantin and my family promised me to Nico DeAngelo, the underboss of the Trassato Crime Family.

Konstantin and I form an alliance to unravel our bargain. The only problem? We didn’t expect to fall for each other in the process. Now I’m forced to choose between love and loyalty. One choice will break my heart and the other will break my family.

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Author Bio:

After spending years practicing law and a million other things, Lisa decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and she must confess that inventing characters is so much more fun than writing contracts and legal briefs. A native of Colorado, she lives with her husband and three children in Denver.

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