Carries Book Reviews

Unmatchable
Sky Corgan
Publication date: June 17th 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

From USA Today bestselling author Sky Corgan comes a sexy new billionaire romance.

I’ve spent my entire adult life avoiding dating, which is funny because I work for a matchmaking service. My boss calls me “The Beast” because of my no B.S. attitude. My job is to scare away problem clients—the unmatchables.

In waltzes Mister Alfred Barnes. He’s stuck up, brazen, and mouthwateringly gorgeous. Guys like him think they own the world, but in here I’m in charge. Kicking him out of my office is one of my greatest pleasures…until I find out that he totally lied about his identity.

Someone is going to get fired over this, and it might be me.

Now Mister Barnes is after me. After me in the most unexpected of ways. I’ve never dealt with anyone like him before, and years of therapy tell me that he’s exactly not what I need.

What does my therapist know, though? She has her own secrets, and I’m beginning to think that everyone is out to destroy me. I’m beginning to think that I’m the one who is unmatchable.

This is a standalone novel. No cliffhangers.

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EXCERPT:

“Are you telling me that I’m not allowed to see anyone else?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.” He closes in on me, making my heart skip a beat as he holds my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “You’re mine now. Only mine.”

“That’s a very brazen thing to say.”

“I’m a brazen man. And I don’t like sharing, Ember. You should know that off the bat.”

“I don’t like sharing either,” my voice is a lusty whisper as I stare up into his eyes.

He has me trapped, feeling weak and vulnerable and wanton. Oh so wanton. Everything in me that is trying to resist him is failing. Miserably.

I part my lips instinctively as he bends to kiss me. Fireworks go off inside of my head as our mouths mold together. His tongue peeks inside eagerly, and mine rushes to meet his, tasting him. His hand slips around my waist, and he presses me back against the door. My clit pulses as I feel the front of his slacks bulge against me, and the thought comes to my mind that I could have him if I wanted him. Right now, I could take him to my apartment and be lying beneath him. I could run my hands down the hard planes of his chest and the rippling of his abdominal muscles. I could experience what it’s like to be filled by him.

Author Bio:

Sky Corgan is a USA Today Best-Selling author. When she’s not typing away at the next steamy romance series, she’s busy planning for future vacations.

You can get a FREE Sky Corgan book and stay up to date on her latest releases by signing up for her newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/v0PwX

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Altered by Marnee Blake

Release Date: December 28, 2015

When “normal” ends, survival begins…

Blue Michaels doesn’t know who to trust. She wakes in her sleepy little town to discover

everyone is dead—well, almost everyone. U.S. Army Specialist Seth Campbell is alive, and

a handful of her friends survived. But they’re different—each of them has powers they

didn’t have when they went to bed. Oh, and someone wants them dead.

It’s going to take all of their gifts if they are going to survive until they can figure out what

to do. Blue wants to believe Seth has their best interests at heart. That he really does want

to take care of them and get them to safety. God knows she can’t stop thinking about him.

But, can she trust him with their lives…and her heart?

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Excert:

None of them would ever return to their old lives. She held the injustice of it in her chest

and lifted her hands. Then the sound of metal grinding and creaking filled the air. The first

propeller spun off with a squeal, twisting through the air like a feather on the breeze. It

crashed nearby, skidding. The others followed, scattering around the field.

The first panel split from the side of the helicopter, crumbling into a ball and falling to the

ground. The remainder of the aircraft pulled apart, leaving nothing but a few seats and the

floor intact. It all came down, rubble all over the dirty ground.

She grabbed each of the men that had been on the helicopter out of the air, freezing all six

of them. Bit by bit, she pulled their gear from their body. Everything. Clothes, weapons,

right down to their underwear. All of it flew through the air and landed in the retention

pond to the right of them.

Then, she dropped the men on the ground, hard enough that some of them looked

unconscious and others rolled to their knees, coughing.

When she was done, she realized with a bit of detachment, that she couldn’t hear

anything, only a faint ringing in her head. She only noticed that because Seth appeared to

be yelling something, and yet, she had no idea what he was saying.

Dizziness washed over her, making her lose her balance. Or perhaps the ground was

actually moving toward her, and she wasn’t falling. But she doubted it.

My review:

Blue Michaels came home from work one night and became violently ill. Thinking she had the flu Blue went to bed trying not to awaken her grandmother and give her the germs. The next morning Blue finds that her grandmother must have been sick too and has passed away. Going for help she finds that everywhere she looks in her small town it seems they’ve all been hit with the illness and died.

Blue finally finds another person that seems to have survived the night, U.S. Army Specialist Seth Campbell who had stopped in town for the night while traveling. The pair see a military chopper heading over the town and immediately run to hide thinking the worst. Soon they find a other survivors but all of them quickly learn that they seem to have developed special powers.

Altered was an action packed ride from start to finish. This story is a new adult mix of suspense, fantasy and a bit of romance all rolled into one. When government experiments go awry the characters that survive develop super powers and go on the run before they become human guinea pigs and get taken off to a lab to be experimented on.

I enjoyed the relationship that formed between Seth and Blue over the course of the read. An intense situation that brought them together needing to protect each other and their group. It was also fun watching and learning right along with the group just what powers each would have and learning how to use them.

Overall, a great start to this series will look forward to seeing where the characters end up in the next installment.

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

My rating: 4/5 stars

Coming soon:

Avenged by Marnee Blake

Release Date: June 27, 2016

Three terrifying months.

That’s how long Kitty Laughton has been at the mercy of the scientist who experimented

on her town, killing over a dozen people and giving the rest of them unique powers. But

Kitty doesn’t feel powerful, especially when she learns the crazy man plans to test his

research on more unsuspecting people. She refuses to let anyone else die, but trapped with

no one to help her she’s out of options…that is until sexy and exasperating Nick Degrassi

arrives. Special­ops soldier Nick blames himself for Kitty’s capture, and he’ll do whatever

he can to free the quiet beauty, but close quarters and a shared secret bring an attraction

that neither of them expected. With the organization that started it all making

mercenaries for hire, Nick and Kitty must save themselves and stop a madman…before it’s

too late.

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About the author:

Award­winning author and RITA® finalist Marnee Blake used to teach high school students

but these days she only has to wrangle her own children. Originally from a small town in

Western Pennsylvania, she now battles traffic in southern New Jersey where she lives with

her hero husband and their happily­ever­after: two very energetic boys. When she isn’t

writing, she can be found refereeing disputes between her children, cooking up something

sweet, or hiding from encroaching dust bunnies with a book.

 

 

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The Shattered Seam
Kathleen Groger
(Seam Stalkers, #1)
Publication date: September 13th 2016
Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Young Adult

Spending spring break on an isolated island rumored to be haunted is not sixteen-year-old Sam’s idea of fun. Spending spring break with her uncle and his ghost-hunting film crew on an isolated island is even worse.

Way worse.

Her family’s secrets—and a genetic ability she can no longer deny—surface, along with the ghost of a rich serial killer who left behind a trail of trapped souls.

And he’s not through yet.

With only one chance for escape, Sam must embrace her family’s curse and close the Seam between the living and the dead. Or be lost, forever.

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Silencing The Seam
Kathleen Groger
(Seam Stalkers, #2)
Publication date: 2016
Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Young Adult

Sixteen-year-old Sam Drake thought she’d left the horrors of spring break and Defiance Castle behind her. But back home, the spirits swirling around her are more demanding, more aggressive.

Fear of being institutionalized by her skeptical mother drives Sam to follow her dad to New Orleans. There she hopes to take back control of her life. But the French Quarter and the cities of the dead have other plans. Hour by hour they drain her, making it next-to-impossible to fight off a ghost who is determined to use her for its own revenge.

Ensnared in an ancient power struggle where Voodoo rituals, betrayal and murder rule, Sam must determine who to trust. One step in the wrong direction will lock her inside the Seam to walk among the dead for eternity.

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Author Bio:

Kathleen wrote her first story in elementary school about a pegasus named Sir Lancelot. It had no plot or conflict, but it sparked a dream. After serving a fifteen-year sentence in retail management, the bulk in big box bookstores, she turned her love of reading into a full-time career writing dark and haunting characters and stories. She writes paranormal, fantasy, suspense, horror YA books. She is a contributing member of READerlicious, writers who love readers. Check out her blogs here.

She lives by the mantra that a day is not complete without tea. Lots of tea. Kathleen lives in Ohio with her husband, two boys, and two attention-demanding dogs. When not writing or editing or revising, you can find her reading, cooking, spending time with her family, or photographing abandoned buildings.

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Chasing Swells
A.L. Goulden
Publication date: June 21st 2016
Genres: Adult, Romance

Dean “DeBaz” Bazner is a Professional Surfer, private about his past and quiet about his future. Like any famous professional athlete he’s got the talent and sponsors, but he hasn’t clinched a World Title since his rookie year. Now in his thirties, with a career clock ticking, he’s pushing his limits to get to number one again. When a travel writer named Azure Thomas is assigned to observe his journey between events, what seems like a dangerous diversion, both in and out of the water, forces him to accept that there’s more missing from his life than another trophy.

She doesn’t know anything about surfing. She doesn’t drool over his celebrity. And she sure as hell doesn’t ask others to haul her crap around. Azure Thomas has been taking care of herself for most of her thirty years, and this is just another assignment in the changing world of freelance journalism. What she doesn’t expect is an athlete who relates to her profound loss and has sacrificed everything except his soul to get to the top of his sport. Dean is more than the hot surfer splashed across magazines and surfing is more than a hobby. Is it possible that what she can’t live without is chasing the next big swell?

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EXCERPT:

Azure

***

It’s clear right away which of the four men on the porch in front of her is Dean. His confidence and physique are superb. Although the Latino man could easily pass as a competitor, Dean’s bleached hair in its slightly wavy shag fits the stereotype. She wasn’t expecting him to smolder though. His jaw is too chiseled, and his chest muscles are too thick. Sure, surfers are in great shape, but she thought they were lean, vegan types. This was a meat eater. A strong, tall, carved, carnivorous man. She can feel her pulse pounding when he stands to greet her. If she lacked all self-control, his cobalt eyes would’ve sold her the moon.

Dean

***

Dean’s playing spades on his porch with the guys when he sees Lennox and Moses walking with a beautiful, tall brunette. Her long yellow sundress flows in the breeze like a flag waving for his attention. Even through all that fabric Dean can see her hips swaying naturally as the cotton clings to her body. Before he can survey her bare breasts underneath, she raises her eyes towards him. Even at a distance, they glow like the ocean, adding a spark to her perfect smile. It’s worse than he dreaded. He can handle pretty or attractive, but this woman is beautiful.

Moses stops to show her something, stealing those eyes away and Dean flinches. Not holding her attention stings a bit. He drops the cards in his hand, giving up. There’s no way he can deal with real distractions right now, in life or a card game.

The other guys turn and stare. The way she genuinely listens and reacts to everything is intoxicating to watch. She doesn’t carry herself like a beach bunny, but her skin is just as golden. Her long brown hair isn’t being twirled or tossed by a nervous hand, it just flows naturally, never shaking her poise. Most of the women in Dean’s past walked with a false confidence. Especially Abigail. She was always ready for a photo through a veil that sheltered her from the world’s honest eyes. This woman in yellow is different. She doesn’t need to be patronized or complimented, and her laugh is so unguarded and full.

Fuck. She’s gotta knows she’s beautiful. She wouldn’t have traveled in that if she didn’t. He stands as casually as he can manage wondering if she’s going to be a bitch. Part of him hopes she is so it’ll be easy to blow her off, but her laid back shoulders and relaxed smile hint that she’s pretty cool. He blurts out, “Welcome to Fiji,” wincing at the sound of his own voice. I sound like a fuckin’ idiot. He cracks his knuckles gently at his side until her cheeks flush a little.

 

Author Bio:

A. L. Goulden has a BFA in Film Production from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Her love of a good story came way before college, but when numerous instructors and peers praised her dialogue she realized her creative writing hobby was a

skill worth honing. Her 18 year career in interior design, production design and art direction for film and television have spun a unique perspective on visually emotional tales of relationships and the thread that ties all things together.

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Bound by Birthright by Janeal Falor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Arabella is the Elven princess and in a time when her people are trying to gain the trust of the humans her parents have agreed to a wedding between Arabella and the human Prince Phillip. This agreement however brings death threats upon Arabella from those that oppose an alliance with the humans.

Fearing for their daughters life Arabella’s parents send her off to go into hiding with a group of servants. When pirates show up looking for Arabella she used magic to change her appearance to get away from them. Fearing for their safety Arabella and her group seek the help of a group of humans when the soldiers that were promised to meet them never show up.

Bound by Birthright was a rather fast paced fantasy featuring an Elven princess who needs to go on the run. All set to do her duty for her parents and her people she was planning on marrying a human in an arranged marriage but has hesitations of finding her own love in her life.

Plenty of action in the story as Arabella flees to what she only thinks is safety and then find the pirates after her and needs to flee again. Then a bit of romance in the mix when Arabella finds herself drawn to a human that is part of the group helping to get her to safety.

A lot packed into this shorter read, a bit of a cliffhanger ending with a twist at the end so would definitely be interested in seeing where things go in the next book.

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