Carries Book Reviews

Terrapin
A.C. Troyer
(Nordic Airre, #1)
Publication date: May 30th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Eighteen-year-old Charlotte (Jinx), fights her past to chase her dream of becoming an Elite Nordic Airre pilot, yet her rebellious attitude hinders her hard-earned lead status. Overcoming a string of life-altering events and the unwanted advances of Ghost Allen, a smooth talking pilot, is one thing, evading death at the hands of two comrades is another.

When Jinx comes face-to-face with an unlikely ally, she is forced to trust him in order to escape the clutches of those who want to silence her. Can a once broken girl transform her past into an iron will, or will she ultimately crumble under the destruction?

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EXCERPT:

“Hold still,” he said.

I froze. My thoughts instantly drew a large coiling snake at my feet, but then a gentle wipe of his thumb swept across my cheek. I jerked away in response. “What are you doing?” I covered his path with my hand, as if the man-germs burned me.

“Hold still. You made it worse. And don’t look at me like I’m your favorite dessert, it’s not helping the situation any.”

There was a tease in his tone. “What situation?” I asked. “And I’m not. Trust me.” I displayed the most repulsed expression I could. The hem of his shirt pulled up over his crossed arms and cleared his head. “Whoa.” My palms few up. “You’re reading the signs all wrong. Put your shirt back on,” I pleaded to him. My eyes widened, soaking up the definition of his stomach. Holy abs.

“You like what you see?” He laughed, waggling his eyebrows.

I gained my composure and mocked a laugh. “I was just thinking you’re almost as toned as I am. Close, but not quite there yet, big guy,” I said, patting his stomach.

His closed lipped dimpled smile awakened something inside of me. The same smile I saw the morning on Senders Rock, the one that sent tingles through my body. I wanted to pull my eyes away. But he was beautiful.

Author Bio:

A.C. grew up climbing trees and spying on her siblings. When not writing, A.C. can be found cheering on her favorite girls at a softball field or sitting in her car reading at practices and eating her hidden stash of chocolate. She enjoys family time, traveling, random road trips, watching movies, decorating, and trying new cocktails. She lives in the mitten state with her husband, two daughters, and their furbabies. Terrapin is her first novel.

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Ever Bound by Odessa Gillespie Black
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In 1879, Colby Kinsley and his parents found work on the Rollins estate as farmhands. Colby found himself with a shadow at the estate, young Grace, the landowners daughter. Grace was determined to win Colby’s affections no matter the method or the cost. Try as he might Colby couldn’t get Grace to give up on her quest.

After Colby meets Annabeth, Grace’s sister, Colby finds himself falling for her. However, with Grace’s persistent chase of Colby Annabeth finds she wants nothing to do with him. One day however Colby saves Annabeth in a courageous act and she finally admits her feelings for him.

Ever Bound is a prequel novella in the Cursed series by Odessa Gillespie Black. Being a short read I thought this would be a good look into what the series would be like. Unfortunately this novella just didn’t work for me on so many different levels.

First, the story includes rape, and not just once but on several occasions with several characters to the point that it really got repetitive that this was being used over and over in the story for multiple situations. I could understand the use for one character to be doing being a product of the abuse themselves but being tossed in with a secondary character in a completely different situation just seemed way over the top.

Then on top of all of the violent sexual content we have multiple instances of animals being killed and mutilated. And if that weren’t enough there’s corpse mutilation, murder, and suicide. Then with all of the horrible acts all throughout we have two characters “falling in love” and making out with all this going on. Which leads me to the fact that this was also supposed to be a historical read but none of the characters or dialogue felt real to that era.

Overall, not for me I’m afraid, can’t really say I’d recommend this one at all.

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

A Reason to Stay
Julieann Dove
Publication date: June 1st 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Elise Newton has it all—a dream job, a house that’s all hers, and a boyfriend who’s a cardiologist. Darren has been carrying an engagement ring in his pocket for two months, waiting for the perfect time to ask her to be his wife. He has no idea Elise has been waiting for the perfect time as well—to break up.

You see, Elise has a fatal flaw. She cannot commit to love.

An early-morning call from her sister gives Elise hope. She’s needed back home in Kentucky, to care for their mother who’s recovering from surgery. It’s the break Elise has been searching for, a reprieve from the strain of ducking Darren’s declarations of love.

But along with Kentucky comes seeing Ben—her first love, the one who came closest to being her happily ever after. Now a single dad, Ben has moved on with his life. But has his love for her moved on as well?

When Elise discovers a long-hidden truth about her family—and the reason why she can’t commit—she must decide which man will give her a reason to stay.

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EXCERPT:

Like A Wrecking Ball

Elise Newton sat across the table from Darren Masterson in Pierre’s, one of the swankiest places in town to eat, watching him like she would an ailing person in the hospital. Right after the doctor informed her he only had hours left to live.

She studied him, trying to remember everything about him that she could. Things that normally couldn’t be recalled if just the image of him popped up in her mind. Like a quick snapshot of a tall guy with a nice smile, dark hair, and an amazing set of blue eyes.

No, Elise wanted to remember the details. Like the lines in his forehead, and how there was one very pronounced one dead center over the bridge of his nose, etched deeper than all the others. And that solitary vein that pulsed on his right temple when he was either chewing or talking very seriously about something.

She took a sip of her expensive wine and swished it around in her mouth before swallowing.

It tasted dry; she much more preferred sweet. But this would do the trick. She needed just a few more glasses of it, though, to deaden the pain she knew would come after she told him what she had to say.

But first his lips. She needed to remember his soft lips. If they had a flavor, it’d be buttercream, like the kind found in the middle of her favorite doughnut from Margie’s Bakery, down off Ontario Boulevard.

She looked at him then, letting her eyes wander down to his perfectly shaped mouth as it took another bite. Lord, she’d miss that mouth … that tongue … that…

“Babe, are you all right?” he asked, chewing at the same time.

“Of course,” she said, blinking rapidly to get the image of him licking her lips out of her mind.

“It just seems like there’s something on your mind. Something you want to tell me.” He wiped the corner of his mouth with the linen napkin.

She shook her head and stared at his blue eyes as he drove his fork around the plate. Now, his eyes were a whole other story than his lips. Ones that she would miss the most. To describe them merely as being blue as the Arctic ocean would be like describing the Northern Lights as blurry thing-a-ma-bobs.

No, they were like two of the most devastatingly blue eyes that she’d ever seen in California, since moving there fourteen years ago. When she looked into them long enough, she discovered they were actually secret portals into the heart of his soul.

And Bam! There she had it. These thoughts about the man sitting across the table from her were the precise reasons why she had to end it. Nip it in the bud. Stop the presses. Lane four is closing, take all your feelings and emotions to the express checkout and get the H-E-double-L out of there.

Elise’s brain sent the cut-it-and-run messages through the loud speaker in her head, but her mouth was having a hard time with the command. She shook her head, trying to snap out of the trance she’d fallen into again. Like the one that caught her last week when she told herself that would be her last date with Mr. Perfect. So far, this was the fifth ‘last’ date she’d had with him.

What was her problem? Instead of studying him like an Adonis sitting front and center in a Petri dish, she had to saddle up for what she came to dinner to do. To break up with him. There was no way around it. It had to be done. Only she had to think of a way.

He wasn’t like the other guys she was used to dating. There was nothing that truly stood out to be a problem with him. Other than Elise was beginning to fall for him. She had been for the past couple of eight months.

She could hear her mother’s Southern-coated drawl play over and over inside her head. “Don’t ever think a man is the answer to your problems, little girl. There is no man out there that’s gonna do anything but destroy you. Destroy all your dreams, and destroy your future. End it with them before they end it with you.”

Author Bio:

Julieann lives in Virginia, yet longs to live everywhere else. It doesn’t come as a surprise that along with her gypsy soul, comes an active imagination. That’s why she loves to write and invent worlds and people, so that she can formulate their happily ever after. Hobbies include cooking new recipes, sewing, and spending time with her cute boyfriend/husband and five fabulous children. Vacations happen in Nantucket or the Carolina beaches—anywhere there is inspiration for her next book. One day she hopes to travel to Italy, drive one of those little cars around the countryside, and speak the language fluently!

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Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Twenty year old Finley Montgomery has grown up being visited by people who others can’t see and haunted by prophetic dreams. She has no control over what’s going on with her and is lost with no one to understand it. Her mother had taken her away from the Hollows and her grandmother Eloise Montgomery but now Finley knows it’s time to return and learn how to control her psychic abilities.

Merri Gleason’s husband, Wolf, surprised the family with a trip to the Hollows. While Wolf was out hiking with the kids they were attacked and Wolf and his son were shot while their daughter Abbey was taken. Now several months later and down to her last bit of hope Merri has decided to hire detective Jones Cooper who sometimes works with psychic Eloise Montgomery. Eloise and her granddaughter find themselves caught up in trying to solve Abbey’s disappearance.

Ink and Bone is part of a series of books by Lisa Unger that feature the Hollows and former detective now turned investigator Jones Cooper and psychic Eloise Montgomery. This is the first of these books I’ve read and I do believe it read fine as a standalone novel.

This would be another definite page turner of a book as you follow along with a wide range of characters looking to solve the disappearances at the place called the Hollows. Finley is a rather colorful character as she’s grown up dealing with these powers all on her own and now finding herself with her grandmother. The family of the missing girl all had their own struggles as they have tried to cope and not fall apart each day that their daughter has been missing.

I loved the added touch of the paranormal brought into this thriller. Different from your normal follow the clues that police or investigators find in a read we are following along with Finley and her visions which even she sometimes doesn’t know what is real or not.

Overall, an engaging thriller with paranormal psychic elements. Interesting case with interesting characters involved. One that I’d recommend checking out.

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