Carries Book Reviews

The Mermaid and the Murders by Rachel Graves
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Danika DelMar is a mermaid but much to her mother’s dismay all she wants to do is be on land and attend high school like a human would. When Danika meets the new boy at school she’s immediately interested but even more so when she finds that he’s also not human but a Salt Golem.

Things seem to be going well for Danika until one day when returning to the sea she finds a dead body. Afraid that the authorities will be too close to her home she moves it closer to shore to be found but when another turns up Danika needs to find out who is behind the killings or risk her secret.

The Mermaid and the Murders started off a bit rocky for me but by the end I loved the creativity with this one. The beginning though started towards fitting in with the popular, “mean” girl crowd which didn’t seem too appealing but thankfully the story got going in another direction fairly quickly.

The story is very imaginative with all the different elements brought into play. Obviously from the title I knew this would involve mermaids but I didn’t expect all of the different things along with them. Along with that we get the added element of suspense as the murders begin taking place which opened up a much bigger plot.

Overall, very creative and engaging fantasy read that I ended up really enjoying.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Quantum Cop by Lesley L. Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Physics professor Madison Martin finds herself watching as she is smashed by a car and realizing that there are two of her there. Somehow her quantum expertise and survival instinct enables her to rewrite reality and save her life.

Madison starts studying what had happened trying to recreate the ability to change an outcome. When a robbery takes place on campus though Madison questions whether her new found ability may be being used by someone else, perhaps one of her students.

The Quantum Cop certainly had an interesting plot involving quantum physics which is exactly what I was hoping for when I picked this one up. But I will say when finished with this one I’m not sure I ever completely understood what was happening as the technical quantum explanations could get a little dull trying to figure out so I pretty much gave up trying to figure it out. Ignoring the quantum physics and technical aspects of this and just enjoying the rest of the story it had some fun things going on and I ended up enjoying the rest of the book if just treating it as any other fantasy read.

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

Midnight Angel by Tracey A. Wood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After surviving a vicious attack Kat Shaw learns that monsters really do exist in the world. She begins having dreams of brutal murders and finds that she is seeing what the demon who had attacked her is actually doing. Kat is thrown into the battle of good versus evil as her attacker stalks her and continues to murder innocent victims.

First, a couple of things about Midnight Angel. This one is definitely an adult fantasy read as there was quite a bit of sexual content going on. It took me a bit of getting used to as I’m used to the whole demon fighting type of read being mostly young adult. Plus with this one there’s a bit of a love triangle situation with the main character meeting two men.

Otherwise, I like the idea behind the plot in this one. The idea of surviving an attack only to end up linked to the attacker was certainly interesting. To be injured and have your injuries heal rather quickly would be odd enough but to learn what you are seeing is actually taking place and there is a whole world out there you didn’t know existed was a fun topic.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Promise You Forever by Celeste Grande
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brayden Callahan and Casey Grant have been in love since they were children. The pair have always thought they were meant to be and seemed that they always would, that is until Casey leaves for college. Brayden finds himself hating to be separated from Casey and decides that when Casey comes home for break he wants to finally make their relationship forever but can he do that without making a mess of things and will she say yes?

Promise You Forever was a bit deceptive with the synopsis, cover and title. I was honestly expecting a sweet love story from this short little read but the book is a bit more erotic than everything pointed to it being. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but readers should be given a bit of a hint at that in case they don’t like that type of read.

The writing and story were all alright in this one. I would say it does just seem to fly by since it’s such a short read and thought maybe the author should’ve just concentrated on romance or erotic instead of both to make it feel it had a bit more depth one way or the other.

Overall, 3.5 stars. Very quick read that does deal with more explicit sexual situations even though it didn’t seem it would.

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

Change of Heart by Jennifer Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After the passing of his wife Nathaniel Cavanaugh has decided he needs to take a vacation from his job as a lawyer to spend time with his children. Arriving in Lobster Cove though an accident brings Val right into the path of this vacationing family costing her an opportunity at a job that she had really wanted.

After Val explains the loss of her job opportunity Nathaniel sees though how Val interacts with his children and decides to offer her the job of his nanny for the summer since he doesn’t know really how to connect with the kids after the loss of their mother. After spending time together these two find themselves drawing closer and closer.

Change of Heart is a nice little romance read not without the ups and downs of a relationship forming but with one thing I love to see, the children being included and loved by the romantic interest. There’s nothing like rooting for a romance when first and foremost the kids already love the person involved.

Val and Nathaniel both come from completely different worlds so there is the growing to know one another and where they’ve come from along with the struggles of getting over their differences. Definitely a case of circumstances bringing together these opposites that end up attracted to one another.

Overall, lovely setting and characters to make up a nice little romance read.

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