Carries Book Reviews

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Eleven years ago six kindergartners went missing from their school with the search turning up absolutely nothing to what had happened to them. The families tried their best to go on with their lives slowly losing hope over the years that they would ever be returned.

Now, at sixteen, five of the missing children have returned. The teenagers are foggy and think that they have been drugged but have absolutely no memory of what had happened to them for the last eleven years. With only glimpses of memories to give any sort of clue everyone of course wants answers to where they have been and what had happened to them.

The Leaving is a young adult mystery/thriller told from multiple POVs of those involved in the story. It’s written in a somewhat poetic prose style. Definitely a unique writing style for this type of story so I was kind of hoping for something good to come out of the story with the uniqueness but in the end I was rather disappointed.

The story started off completely engaging me and I couldn’t wait to keep reading and find out what had happened to these kids. Unfortunately it didn’t take too long for the pace to completely slow down and perhaps even stall out a bit for me and found myself losing interest.

Once finished with this book I found myself with yet another disappointment unfortunately. The book is in the thriller family that seems to give you the situation, point to a solution then wrap up with something out of nowhere. This formula doesn’t work for me since I like to have clues and suspects and try to figure things out myself while I read.

Overall, unusual writing style, an amazingly gripping story line but unfortunately fell short for me with the execution.

#Bae
Cambria Hebert
(Hashtag #8: Conclusion)
Publication date: September 16th 2016
Genres: New Adult College Romance

BEFORE ANYONE ELSE

The Hashtag Series #8

Happily-ever-after.

That’s what happens when you get married.

Right?

Turns out sparkly rings, cake and a fantastic wedding do not automatically grant you that, not even when it’s all you truly want.

I’m even starting to doubt the bottomless, unconditional love I share with the man I married will be enough.

I can’t have happily ever after, know why?

Because I can’t give Romeo what he truly wants. I’ve tried. So hard. I won’t be happy unless he is and something is missing. Someone.

Paparazzi are in my face. The flashing cameras and prying eyes are everywhere. My secret is getting harder to hide, and I know the second the scoop is dished the grip I have on the fraying rope of that happily ever after will snap right in my face.

In our face.

I can’t let that happen. No matter what.

Because with or without a happy ending, Romeo comes Before Anyone Else.

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Author Bio:

Cambria Hebert is an award winning, bestselling novelist of more than twenty books. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair.

Besides writing, Cambria loves a caramel latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching movies. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chorkie (the real boss of the house).

Cambria has written within the young adult and new adult genres, penning many paranormal and contemporary titles. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic suspense. A few of her most recognized titles are: The Hashtag Series, Text, Torch, and Tattoo.

Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.

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Naming the Stars by Susan Koefod
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mary-Louise one morning finds her entire family seems to be ignoring her. Taking a look around the house there’s no evidence of her ever being even in the family but it’s really disturbing to talk directly to her parents and them act like she doesn’t even exist.

Not knowing what to do Mary-Louise finds herself at the police station but even gets ignored by the policeman on duty. Soon though Mary-Louise runs into a boy name Fish who seems to be the only one who can actually see her. The thing is though Fish doesn’t see what Mary-Louise should look like but says Mary-Louise looks exactly like a hundred year old photograph of a lady named Pearl.

Naming the Stars is an interesting young adult story of someone seeming to disappear from their own life but watching everyone else they know continue on as if they were never there. I had some high hopes for this one but found it fell a bit short.

The thing is with this book the story starts off rather well taking the reader to places you just might not expect. I wasn’t quite sure where it was going and was quite surprised and enjoying it for a while but somewhere it just kind of fizzled out for me. I found that it seemed for me it became somewhat muddled and confusing in the middle then rushed off to an ending.

Overall, some nice creativity and interesting ideas but it lost it’s pace for me towards the middle, not bad but I would have preferred it kept the same creative flow from the start of the story.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Last Chance: A Second Chances Novel
L.P. Dover
Publication date: August 30th 2016
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Suspense

One last chance.

That’s all Luke Collins, local bad boy and motocross champion, has to not only find his redemption, but win back the girl he lost. He’ll stop at nothing to make her his, even if it means playing dirty.

Lara Jacobs doesn’t want her heart broken again and refuses to give Luke a second chance. After he left her after their one night stand, she ran right into the arms of her close friend, Grayson Moore. He’s always loved her, and he’s determined to make her see he’s what she needs.

However, in life nothing goes as planned and tragedy strikes. After a fatal accident nearly claims Lara’s life, she’s left inside a world she can’t remember. Her memories are gone, including those of the men vying for her heart. Grayson sees her loss as a possibility to forget her love for Luke, but Luke sees it as an opportunity to start over. All he wants is one last chance to show her that she’s the one he’s been in love with all along.

*** An updated version of One Taste (prequel to Last Chance) has been included at the beginning of the book with all new scenes. ***

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EXCERPT:

“Why can’t I go in there and tell her I’m sorry? She needs to hear it from me.”

“No, she doesn’t because she won’t believe it. You need to do a lot more than tell her you’re sorry. Actions speak louder than words. And until you can show everyone you’ve changed, it’s best you stay away from her. It’ll only make things worse.”

“What if I go in there anyway?” I questioned, crossing my arms over my chest. I didn’t want to fight Evan, but I was getting desperate. I needed her forgiveness, for her to know I never meant to hurt her.

Evan huffed and closed his eyes. “You’ll have to go through me first. Lara doesn’t want to see you. She’s with someone else now.”

It was as if someone had sucker punched me in the gut, the air being ripped out of my lungs as I took the hit. Summer groaned and I glared at her. “Is that true?”

“Yes, but I don’t see how that is any of your business. She’s happy, so leave her be.”

“Fuck that,” I shouted. “I’m going inside.” I tried to push past Evan, but he blocked me. We faced off with each other, the tension rising.

Summer stepped between us with a hand on each of our chests. “Guys, this is stupid. You’re friends.”

I scoffed and backed away. “That’s where I beg to differ,” I said, glaring at Evan. “If our situations were reversed and it was Summer inside, I’d let you go to her. I would give you the benefit of the doubt and accept that you’ve changed. But you’re not going to do that, are you?”

Evan’s face softened and he sighed. “I would, brother, but this night is special for Summer and Lara. The last thing they need is you and Grayson battling it out. I have no doubt he’ll come after you if you go in there.”

I faltered, the anger welling in my chest. “Fucking Grayson? That’s who she’s with?”

“Can you blame her? He was there for her, after everything you put her through,” Summer said.

Peering down at her, I hoped she could see the determination in my face. “You tell her it’s not over. I’m not going to give up.” With those final words, I jumped in my truck and sped out of the parking lot. The thought of Grayson touching her made me so goddamn furious. I didn’t care if she was with him . . . I wasn’t going to give up.

Author Bio:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author L. P. Dover is a southern belle living in North Carolina with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she began her literary journey she worked in periodontics, enjoying the wonderment of dental surgeries.

She loves to write, but she also loves to play tennis, go on mountain hikes and white water rafting, and has a passion for singing. Her two youngest fans expect a concert each and every night before bedtime, usually Christmas carols.

Dover has written countless novels, including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, the Gloves Off series, the Armed & Dangerous series, the Royal

Shifters series, and her standalone novel Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read and write is romantic suspense, but if she got to choose a setting in which to live, it would be with her faeries in the Land of the Fae.

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Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Alice Bell has always thought her father was a bit crazy, never wanting the family out at night her father swore there were monsters out there that would get them. One horrible night though the family is out and gets in an accident where Ali loses her whole family and sees that her father was never crazy at all.

Now, Ali has met Cole Holland and is immediately drawn to him. Cole has his own secrets though that may prove to be dangerous. But Ali is determined that she will learn to fight and battle the monsters that took her family away from her.

Alice in Zombieland is a huge reminder to not judge a book by it’s cover. I think anyone will think much the same that I did that this would be Wonderland with zombies….no, not even close. I suppose I should have paid more attention to other reviewers so I might not have been as disappointed in the end.

I will say I will give the author credit that while this book has you thinking of the brain eating dead people she took the story and gave it her own style in regards to the zombies. I was just never quite sure if her version worked for me or not but points for giving something different for that part of the story.

However, the rest of this seemed to follow the old YA formula of insta-love and teen drama instead of Alice in Wonderland but the story is far away from the original so I think that may also disappoint the retelling fans.

Overall, I settled on three stars for this one. I’m in no rush to continue but some of the ideas in here were creative enough that I still enjoyed the originality.