Carries Book Reviews

Beauty Sleeping by Farha Hasan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Beauty Sleeping is the first book in the Make a Wish series and an adult Sleeping Beauty retelling. Laila lays in the hospital in a coma but has a supernatural connection to those that visit her and even some that don’t. She needs to somehow bring her Prince Charming to her to wake her from her sleep.

Meanwhile, Safia and Aiden are both overworked and in their separate lives but seem to be on a inevitable course. Destiny and fate are in their paths as the young sleeping girl watches over them both from her hospital room.

Beauty Sleeping started off a tad confusing for me bringing in all the different characters and their different POVs. I wasn’t quite sure as the story was introducing everyone who they were and what they would mean to the story for a while since it didn’t seem immediately obvious how everyone would connect.

As the story moves on though the touches of supernatural were a nice addition but again with the pacing and writing style it took me a while to link it all together. Perhaps this was all just me but it just seemed to not mesh well together until the second half of the book when you learn more of the details.

Overall, not too bad a story after the slow start to me though. Interesting to make this one into a retelling involving adults and their busy lives and problems.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Blazing Moon
Julie Wetzel
(Kindling Flames #6)
Published by: Crimson Tree Publishing
Publication date: October 10th 2016
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Trouble has once again found its way to Brenton…

When a pack of rogue werewolves makes a grab for the local pack’s land, Rupert, the local alpha, does his best to keep the peace. Unfortunately, his people have been having some issues of their own that complicate matters.

When Phelan, Rupert’s second, becomes the latest wolf to lose control over a simple dispute, Rupert is left with no choice than to seek outside help.

Krissy, a human empath who stumbled on the scene, was able to help Phelan, but dealing with an entire pack of enrage werewolves is too much for one person to handle. With Master Darien on his honeymoon, Rupert turns to his next best choice—Elliot.

Now Phelan, Elliot, and Krissy have to discover what’s driving the weres into an emotionally savage rage before all hell breaks loose and destroys the wolves of Brenton.

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EXCERPT:

“But you didn’t even try,” Phelan screamed. His fist clenched at his side in rage as he threw out his accusations. “You would rather coddle your damn vampire than stand behind the needs of your own people.”

Confusion and concern creased Rupert’s brow. This was unlike his friend. Phelan liked Darien. He had also understood Rupert’s position in the past. It was bizarre he would take such a stance now. “Phelan?” Rupert asked as he reached out to touch his friend’s shoulder.

As the hand made contact, Phelan shrieked in rage and slung his fist into Rupert’s face, staggering the man back. Red colored Phelan’s vision as he tore out of his coat and leaped at his alpha. His mind spun with hate and rage, driving all thought out of his head. The smell of blood on Rupert’s split lip made Phelan’s blood boil. His wolf ripped through his skin, shredding his shirt.

Staggering away from his attacking friend, Rupert threw his arm up just in time to stop the sharp teeth from reaching the delicate skin of his throat. Shocked by the sudden attack, he yelled out as he fell backwards under the weight of the wolf. He lay on the ground, stunned by the sudden violence, as Phelan mauled the sleeve of his jacket. The outburst was unlike anything Rupert had ever seen from his second. The unprovoked attack reminded him of the problems they were having with the pack, and sorrow filled his heart as he gathered his thoughts enough to start fighting back. It wasn’t fear of death or injury that pained Rupert, it was the dread of having to hurt or kill one of his closest friends.

Author Bio:

Originally from Ohio, Julie always dreamed of a job in science. Either shooting for the stars or delving into the mysteries of volcanoes. But, life never leads where you expect. In 2007, she moved to Mississippi to be with her significant other.

Now a mother of a hyperactive red headed boy, what time she’s not chasing down dirty socks and unsticking toys from the ceiling is spent crafting worlds readers can get lost it. Julie is a self-proclaimed bibliophile and lover of big words. She likes hiking, frogs, interesting earrings, and a plethora of other fun things.

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Big Package by Opal Carew
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Holly is trying to head home for Christmas but unfortunately the present her ex-boyfriend gave her causes her to miss her bus. When Kalen who Holly had known from high school finds her stranded and offers her a ride Holly can’t believe her luck.

Holly had spent many a day fantasizing about Kalen in high school with him being the football star but didn’t think he knew that her wallflower self existed. Now when snow makes traveling further the pair find themselves alone in a cabin for the night.

There really wasn’t anything I found that worked well in my opinion in Big Package. From the opening moments of meeting both characters I really didn’t care for either one and found that I just kept questioning why these two would make a good pair at all. Holly is so timid it’s somewhat of a nuisance and Kalen seemed a bit of a egomaniac player type.

But really what brought my opinion of this one down quite a bit was when getting to the sexual situations in it and there were quite a few in this story. Each moment though was in my opinion a bit over the top and some even a bit cringe worthy. Not exactly the steamy sexy moments I would hope to come across in a read like this one.

Overall, just not for me I’m afraid wasn’t a fan of the couple or their activities.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

If Santa Were a Cowboy by Melissa Cutler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Paul Savage loves his job playing Santa at the Briscoe Ranch Resort where he’s normally a back country guide. What Paul never expected though while he was entertaining the children and handing out candy canes was for Kelly Walker to walk back into his life at that moment and what an entrance it was when her suitcase full of naughty toys is spilled right there in front of everyone.

Kelly’s life has become a complete mess so when she came across the job as holiday photographer with the perk of being near Paul she can’t resist. Kelly had always wondered what if things had been different back then but she finds herself a bit flustered from this sexy cowboy who had certainly changed from that scrawny boy she remembers.

If Santa Were a Cowboy would have been a completely fun and wonderful read if for one small little detail that I just couldn’t overlook. Kelly spent the entire story hiding the truth about herself from Paul out of embarrassment so really what kind of start to a relationship is that?

If overlooking the lies in the story this is a rather cute read about going back to a lost chance at love. There are funny moments all throughout and some cute flashing back to the past and trying to change what had happened. I’m not sure why the MC felt the need to lie but if that had been written out I’d definitely would have been completely recommending this book.

Overall, wasn’t happy with the entire story but still an OK holiday romance.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Under Ground by Alice Rachel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thia Clay lives in a society where women have no rights and her parents have already arranged her marriage a few years ago when she was only thirteen. Now at seventeen Thia has a meeting with her soon to be husband William and learns what a cruel and selfish man he is.

Chi Richards is even lower in society that Thia as the second born to a family his whole existence is illegal. When This meets Chi she is drawn to him and finds herself lying and sneaking off for this strange boy for the first time in her life. Thia finds out that Chi is a member of the Underground—a rebellious group seeking to overthrow the government and soon finds herself caught up in his world trying to change society.

For me Under Ground got off to a rather promising start so I had high hopes as I was reading this story. A dystopian world where women are basically property and a whole group of those in hiding and fighting for their rights certainly had my interest up. Unfortunately this one kind of stalled out for me midway though.

One thing I found is that I would have loved for Thia to have been a stronger lead than she was. It looked like that would be the direction it would go but I was disappointed when it didn’t. A bit too naive for my taste she just didn’t stand out in my opinion in this world. Also, I found once the story got going it became a bit predictable in nature and just didn’t stand out from the many other dystopian reads out there.

Overall, just an OK story for me in the dysopian genre, it just didn’t stand out in a very crowded genre to absolutely love this one.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.