Carries Book Reviews

Vindicate by Beth Yarnall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cora has spent the last five and a half years looking for justice for her brother who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend. Shortly after her brother’s conviction her parents divorced and Cora had herself emancipated at sixteen because they didn’t believe in her brother and wanted to forget about him.

When Cora hears of a private investigation agency that will take cases for free she packs up all her files on her brothers case and tries to get them to help her. Leo, the son of the owner of the firm offers to help Cora out mostly because of his instant attraction to her but when the two team up they find they make a good pair.

I rather enjoyed this story. Cora was a strong, independent and determined character that grew up too fast when she put her life on hold trying to get justice for her brother. Leo on the other hand would probably be my one complaint with the story as he seemed very immature to start the book off. I do think he grew a bit on me as the story went along though, he seemed to slightly mature as his confidence with investigating grew.

While the story did seem to focus on the relationship a bit more than the investigation I still found that it had an acceptable mix of both. As Cora and Lea are spending time together they do continue to investigate the case with new developments along the way to keep a reader interested where other stories often fail keeping a good mix.

Overall, fast paced, interesting romantic suspense novel.

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

Going Down by Elise Sax
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Marion MacAlister has been renting an apartment from Mack Ryan in the building in which Mack runs his diner for the past two years. The two have had a crush on each other for the entire time but usually bicker back and forth. When the building’s old elevator gives out the sparks fly for Mack and Marion.

I had to give this novella four stars just based on how much I was giggling and laughing all the way through with lines like “You’re like Tom and Jerry, but horny” It’s a cute tale of a couple that fight their attraction by quarreling over every little thing when together. Marion’s maturity level was a bit low with some of her antics but that really just made the story even funnier.

Overall, fun, quick read.

3:00 AM by Nick Pirog
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Henry Bins has lived his whole life with a sleeping disorder that is so rare that they named it after him. He is only awake for one hour of every day from 3am to 4am. He lives on his own with the help of a housekeeper that does every thing in Henry’s life that he can’t do for himself with not enough hours in the day to accomplish things.

One night right before Henry is scheduled to fall asleep again he hears a woman scream. When looking out his window to try to find the source of the scream he sees a man exit the house across the street. Henry recognizes this man as the President of the United States.

This is a short novella that I could best describe as just plain silly really. Not that silly is necessarily a bad thing as I did find myself enjoying reading the story but beyond the concept of Henry only having an hour a day to investigate there are a lot of things in the story that are kind of far fetched. Found myself wishing my cat were a Lassie, the detectives only question Henry for ten minutes at a time before he passes out and many more things from there. If you go in knowing this though it could be a fun read.

Overall, quick, fun read if you keep in mind it’s a work of fiction and details can be stretched to make the story more interesting.

The Raven Room by Ana Medeiros
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Julian is a prominent and well respected child psychologist, he’s also the member of a secret sex club called the Raven Room. The Raven Room is a place where anything and everything goes as long as the parties are willing and Julian has a dark side to him that came from his childhood that he has certain sexual needs and desires.

Meredith is an up and coming journalist that gets involved in a relationship with Julian to gain access to the Raven Room hoping to write a story on it. Her stepmother is a detective investigating a suspicious death that may be linked to the Raven Room.

I’m one that enjoys many different genres and types of stories so when reading about The Raven Room I was immediately intrigued that it was supposed to be an erotic thriller. Unfortunately it seemed that the actual thriller part of the part seemed to be incredibly lacking. There’s a story there but it seems like it gets lost in the focus of the sex throughout the book and mostly ignored.

Also, Julian was a very dark and tormented character, I didn’t find myself actual liking his story. Meredith started off as having potential with the idea of investigating and doing a story but the as I mentioned there just wasn’t enough of that plot to focus on.

Overall, if you enjoy a darker side of erotica you may enjoy this. If looking for a good thriller I’d have to say pass on it.

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

Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mercedes Ayres is a very complicated seventeen year old. Her first time having sex wasn’t what any young girl would want so she has taken it upon herself to teach the male virgins at her school just how to treat a woman and how to have sex telling herself she is doing this so that their girlfriends will have the perfect first time. Her original plan was to only help five males with their relationship but five turned into ten then ten to eleven and so on.

In order to make this work Mercedes has set all kinds of rules and guidelines for herself. Unfortunately things don’t always go as planned and those rules and the lines that Mercedes said she wouldn’t cross soon start becoming blurred and she begins losing the control she so desperately clings to.

Wow, what a journey this book takes the reader on. Firsts obviously has very touchy subject matter that is not going to be for everyone. But I found this book very thought provoking and an incredible emotional journey.

Mercedes is such a complex character, you can tell right from the start the pain in her and there would be so much more to her. She’s a character that just brings out the emotion in a reader. I was completely drawn in from the first few chapters and needed to know this girl’s story.

The other characters in this book were also great on their own. Really felt for Zach the entire story. Faye could almost steal the story with her whirlwind entrance and flashy style. Angela is someone you can’t help but hope things turn out well for.

Overall, an emotional journey with great characters, would highly recommend if the subject matter would not offend.

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