Carries Book Reviews

The Future of Sex by Lexi Maxxwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

The Future of Sex takes place in the year 2063 where corporations deal in the advancement of technology for sex and is very mainstream. Chloe Shaw has applied for an elite position in the O corp, she seems to have a gift for knowing what a client would want. The story switches back and forth from Chloe in her interviews and tryouts for the positions to the O corp execs discussing Chloe.

While this book is incredibly short it did an amazing job with the world building. While sex is featured more and more in the media in today’s world this possible future is very believable in the story and has enough advance technology to make it seem years away. While there is a good deal of sex described in the book the story is actually very intriguing and would pick up the next in the series for sure.

What Lies Within by James Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

What Lies Within is a thriller featuring Shelley Marano, a normal 17 year old who is finishing up high school and looking forward to college but suddenly has her world turned upside down when she receives a text saying she is going to die. The text was sent by another 17 year old claiming to be her long lost brother that tells her she was adopted and in danger. Having her world turned upside down Shelley keeps asking the question “Who am I?” and gets herself caught up in a dangerous adventure to find out who she is and where she came from.

Starting off this book I started to think I really wasn’t going to like it. The prologue was exciting but to be honest once the story started I found Shelley was getting on my nerves with some of her choices and manic behavior but once the story got going I completely got hooked. There’s a lot of action and suspense throughout the book. Sure, Shelley probably shouldn’t be returning a text that says she’s going to die but it got the story going. Couldn’t help but end up rooting for her to find out what was going on.

By the end of the book I was completely hooked and ended up disappointed it ended. Would love to see the author expand on what happens next and even touch upon some things that were left up in the air in this one.

12 by Sean Platt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

12 is quite the unusual approach to a thriller as you get a brief view at the start of the book of the major event that is going to happen at the end. We know right off that there is going to be a shooting at Goldman’s diner at around 6pm. The story then jumps back to 6am and begins from there. Each section moves forward by hour and the chapters within change viewpoints of all the characters involved in the upcoming shooting at the end of the book.

While this whole concept may seem a bit confusing or even a bit boring to know the ending it completely turned out the opposite. The book was just as suspenseful and engrossing even knowing what was coming because there was just so much happening throughout the day. With so many characters it would seem hard to follow but each stood out in their own ways and you really begin to care about them and what is going on.

I was completely impressed with how easy it was to get so into the story and caught up in the events of the day and the characters lives. An awesome job by the authors to make this whole concept work and would highly recommend checking this one out for something a bit different.

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

Deadly Grace: Avenging Angel 3 by Eden Crowne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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

Deadly Grace is the 3rd book in the Avenging Angel series featuring Evie so I won’t talk about the plot as to not spoil any of the rest of the books. The book starts up giving off details of what has happened in the past, which is great to catch up or join in the story. But that being said I kind of felt it was a bit too much tossed in too quickly too. Kind of felt like a rundown of what had gone on more of a textbook facts that could have been worked in better as the new story started. Having so much tossed in right off becomes a bit confusing for following what is currently happening.

Also, upon opening this book the font was so tiny I had to do a ton of adjusting on my Kindle to get to a more comfortable reading point which was a huge turnoff right away. Such a huge difference from any other Kindle books I’ve had that I’m not sure why they felt it needed to be set that way.

Overall with the book I didn’t feel as attached to the story and characters as I’d like. Perhaps this was due to not having read the first two books though as it wasn’t a bad story, just not as interesting as I would have liked. I’d fully recommend starting at the beginning if this series interests you. Felt for me it rated 2.5 stars that I’ve rounded up to 3 and perhaps would have scored more had I started from the first book.

My Stepbrother the Groom: A Romantic Comedy by Lexi Maxxwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

When Ella Roberts’ attends a wedding with her overly controlling mother Valerie she gets a text from her boyfriend telling her it’s over between them. After somewhat causing a scene by calling him back and yelling at him just before the wedding Ella heads to the bar to demand a drink. A handsome stranger, Nathan Hayes, gets the bartender to oblige Ella and has a brief conversation with her. Ella then declares to her sister she’s met the man she’s going to marry.

After the service Valerie introduces Ella to her fiance, which happens to be Nathan’s father. Not only is Ella’s mother planning to marry her new dream man’s father which would make them step-siblings but Nathan is also engaged to be married to Natasha and the two couples are planning a double ceremony in two months.

I honestly had a tough time in deciding how to rate this book. As a romance I think it failed horribly and some readers may be completely disappointed if they are expecting the typical two people meeting and falling in love romance. But on the other had it was funny, entertaining and kept me turning the pages throughout.

Ella was quite honestly a complete basket case throughout the story. She got it in her head that she felt something with Nathan she’d never felt before and that he just had to feel the same. Sometimes bordering on stalkerish tendencies with her complete obsession of her instant connection. That being said I kind of think of this like coming across an accident on the side of the road, you know you shouldn’t look but just end up having to do it anyway.

For myself though, I do like a wide variety of genres and I ended up completely entertained reading this story. I would warn though if looking for just romance this probably wouldn’t be for you. But if you would like a good laugh then this somewhat dysfunctional family, that could all use a bit of therapy, would probably give it to you.