Carries Book Reviews

Betting On The Wrong Brother by Cathryn Fox
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When attending a convention romance writer Andi Palmer is having one of those days that it seems everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Running late for a meeting the elevator decides to quit working so after fifteen minutes of waiting Andi decides to go ahead and change for her meeting to save time. Wouldn’t you know the elevator then decides to move and when the door opens in walks who Andi thinks is her teenage crush that broke her heart.

Jack Wheeler is now a horror author and goes by his middle name Ryan. When he bumps into an undressed Andi he is immediately taken by her but doesn’t realize she thinks he is his younger brother. Andi vows to get revenge but all of her plans don’t go the way she hoped and she soon finds herself caught up by Ryan.

This is one of those incredibly fun romance reads. Light, sexy and a few good laughs made me fly right through this book. Great characters, Ryan just oozes sexiness from his first hip shake and moving like Jagger and Andi was also incredibly likable and someone you wanted to get her happy ending that she normally just writes about. Would definitely recommend checking out this lovely read.

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

The Vampire Games by Stephanie Archer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bianka is normal teenager just finishing up high school and planning on heading to college with her friends, that is until she finds out her whole life and the world that she knows is an illusion. Sitting at the school on her last day chatting with her friends a group of men in black suits show up. After heading home those same men are in her house talking with her parents who then allow them to handcuff Bianka and shove her in the back of a car.

Bianka is taken to an underground cave system where she finds humans are being harvested for blood and her reality was all a lie. The world is actually owned by the vampires and when humans come of age they are either harvested or tossed into what is known as the Vampire Games to compete to the death to possibly be turned into a vampire themselves.

Before reading this I saw a few comparisons to Twilight and The Hunger Games, I’d have to say after reading I’m not really sure why Twilight is mentioned at all other than there’s some attraction to a vampire. As far as the Hunger Games, Bianka does get tossed in the games in this book but it’s a coliseum type fight to the death, not really the same at all. I would say not to expect to be reading a rewrite of either of those as this has a story all it’s own.

I would also warn readers that this story is a bit light on the world building and character development. There was just enough for me to learn what was going on and end up enjoying the story but it may have been a five star read if the author had gone a lot deeper into the details. There’s an insta- attraction element but the relationship side is not really developed at all yet in this first book. Still a nice start to a new series that I would love to continue on with the next installment.

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

Scent of Magic by Lori L. Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sixteen year old Starley Duchesne and her two sisters are witches. The three are each ten years apart in age and Starley having just turned sixteen has yet to find her magical ability. The two older Duchesne sisters each found their abilities back when they turned sixteen and have combined their abilities to open up a perfume shop.

The perfume however is more than it actually seems, each scent is magically enhanced to help the customers in whatever they need. Too shy? A scent to give confidence. Poor eyesight? The ladies will have something for you. Looking for love, they can help.

Scent of Magic was a rather fun, light hearted read that I really enjoyed. There wasn’t a huge focus on magical use, only the scents they would hand out. The events and results of some of their attempts made for a lovely little story though. The sister’s do everything to help others but have a problem fitting in when someone ends up questioning their actions.

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

Knight’s Nemesis by Misty Kayn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Clementine is a dove shifter that wields magic but tries to hide it. She only wants to focus on her business of selling glowing flowers in the marketplace that are used for lighting. Her mother informs her that Knight, the alpha wolf shifter wants to meet with her. Knight is searching her out to find out about her magic and get her help in saving the land.

Being an adult fantasy/romance Knight’s Nemesis in theory should be something that I walked away from completely in love with. In reality though I spent the vast majority of the time reading this just trying to figure out what I was reading about.

The writing seemed to start off well and I thought I would enjoy it. However, looks can be deceiving as they sometimes say. The problem seemed to be while it was descriptive it wasn’t descriptive in the areas that would draw me into the story. It took an incredibly long time for such a short book for me to realize things that were going on and by the time I got a sense at all of the characters, world and story line I found myself not really caring anymore.

Overall, I’m sure some others will love this series but it was too confusing and lacked the details that I crave to be pulled into it. Not for me at all I’m afraid.

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

Forged in Stone by Alyssa Rose Ivy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After a horrible break up Ainsley has cut herself off from her former friends and family. She lives alone in a huge house that she is house sitting in and works two jobs. A friend tries to set her up on a blind date but she wants nothing to do with dating or relationships until one night a stranger shows up in the house she is staying in.

James is a friend of the family that owns the home that Ainsley has been staying. After drinking too much he tries to crash at their house but finds Ainsley now occupying the residence. James is taken to Ainsley but needs her to know the real him before things can progress between them. James is actually what is known as a guardian that comes from a world known as Energo.

Forged in Stone is the first book in a new series by Alyssa Rose Ivy but what I didn’t realize was that it is actually a spin off of another series. This being the first book that I have read I’m a little iffy to say that it reads fine as a standalone or not. While I believe James and Ainsley’s relationship is the focus here and fine to read alone, I do think readers may gain a better grasp of the world if having read the earlier books.

One of the things I didn’t actually like with reading this though that brought my rating down a bit was the fact that this is one of those books that tends to rush conversation. A dialogue gets going back and forth and I tend to lose my concentration of who is saying what when it’s not broken up a bit better with a he said or she said thrown in more often to make it less jumbled.

A few things to warn about with this series too would be it is an insta-love or insta-attraction situation with the characters. I didn’t mind it so much as once you learn of the world James is from it seems to be a part of that world. Also, this first book ends with a cliffhanger. There aren’t really answers to anything going on, more of an introduction to the series.

With all of that being said though I actually did enjoy learning of Energo and would love to know more about that world and what happens with these characters.

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