Carries Book Reviews

The Reluctant Duchess by Sharon Cullen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After receiving several suspicious letters Lady Sara Emerson travels to London to see if Gabriel Ferguson, Duke of Rossmoyne would help her. Ross was once betrothed to Sara’s cousin who was viciously murdered two years prior and had promised the family if they ever needed anything to contact him. He immediately contacts his friend who had investigated the murder when it seems that the letters Sara is receiving may be coming from the killer. Worrying about Sara’s safety Ross insists that she move into his estate for protection. As the two are investigating the letters they begin to grow closer together.

The Reluctant Duchess is really a beautiful historical romance with a some thrilling suspense involved in the story. I really would have easily given this 5 stars if it weren’t for a few places that seemed to repeat itself when reading. I hope though those get caught on editing and fixed as I was reading an advance copy of the book.

Loved Sara, such a strong woman not only standing up to Ross the Duke but insisting to be involved in the investigation. It was a toss up as to what part of the story was more intriguing, the growing relationship between Ross and Sara or finding out who may be the killer.

Overall, a lovely mix of historical romance and suspense.

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

IA: Initiate by John Darryl Winston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

IA: Initiate focuses on the life of a teenage boy named Naz. He lost his parents a few years back and doesn’t have any memories at all before three years ago. Naz and his sister Meri live with a foster mother who basically let’s the kids stay there to collect the checks for them. Naz looks after Meri and has gotten a job and trying to make things better for the two of them. Naz has been seeing a therapist due to having problems with sleepwalking and hearing a voice in his head when he is excited or upset.

Somehow when finishing this book I couldn’t help but think to myself where is the rest of it? It is the first book in a series but on it’s own it felt it was quite lacking in the plot development. The book has three sections to it and at the beginning of each there is a brief flashback to the past but it was a good 2/3 of the way into the book before those flashbacks seemed to be incorporated into the present story line.

The characters were fully fleshed out and you really get to know them, there was also a bit of excitement to Naz’s current life. However, even at the end of the book I am still waiting to find out the true tie in to the past and left wanting to know more. When finishing I’d say the story was intriguing enough to continue but not enough plot development in this particular book in the series to rate higher.

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

Poison by Lan Chan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Poison takes place in a post-apocalyptic Australia where a controlling body known as the Seeders have genetically manipulated everything and have poisoned the land and outlawed the saving of seeds. The Wanderers have fought against the Seeders but have been all but wiped out. The outlying areas rely on the Seeders to survive.

Rory Gray lost her mother at an early age as she was a Wanderer so the Seeders had killed her. Rory vowed revenge then and when the Seeders start to wipe out the Landing where Rory has grown up she attempts to head into the woods to make her way to the Citadel to stop the Seeders.

Poison is a fast paced YA dystopian novel full of action and suspense. There are some similarities to the Hunger Games but not enough to make them anywhere near the same. You could compare the Citadel and Seeders to the Capital and President Snow in the Hunger Games and Rory has to fight to survive her time in the woods much like Katniss in the arena. They are really small comparisons overall but fans of that series would probably enjoy Poison.

The author did a wonderful job creating the setting in the book. So many new and exciting things to conquer. The characters and story were fully fleshed out but the plot kept moving at a wonderfully fast pace all the while catching the reader up on what lead to the current situation. It seemed to be heading into a love triangle but that didn’t happen which was actually kind of nice to concentrate on the plot with these characters.

Definitely a great start to this series and will look forward to continuing the story in the next book.

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

Haven of Evil by Melvin Rivers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Kevin and Sandra lose their home to a flood they are forced to stay in a motel. Sandra’s mother gives them the name of a friend in real estate to try to find a new place to rent. Having lost his job also due to the flood, Kevin tells Mrs. Crabtree that they will take whatever she has available. The couple soon find themselves in Havenville in a home that seems to have more issues than a little handy work can take care of.

Having read a lot of horror novels and watched a lot of horror movies I found the story good but not surprising or new. It really didn’t remind me of anything specific but I also found myself kind of thinking I knew what was coming long before it happened.

I thought this was still a good read but I’d also like to have the characters a bit more fleshed out and a bit more depth to the story line. The book is fairly short and I think with adding a bit more description to it I might have become a bit more attached to the story going on. The conversations didn’t have quite the natural feel some times as I would be wondering what the emotions were at the time. More depth would bring more life to each interaction for me.

Overall, a somewhat average but still good horror story. Will be checking out more by Melvin Rivers soon.

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

Seize the Night: New Tales of Vampiric Terror by Christopher Golden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seize the Night is a collection of new short stories all featuring vampires. These are not the glittery sexy type of vampires but a return to the chill down your spine scary vampires. A challenge was given to the authors to put the horror back into vampire fiction which I think they lived up to wonderfully.

Out of the 20 stories in the collection of course there are some I liked more than others but I’d say I’d probably rate them all between 3-5 stars so I went with 4 stars overall. I’d love to do a description on each story but I don’t want to give too much away with them being short so I’ll just say that any fan of horror should find a few of these they’d love.

The collection includes titles from Scott Smith, Seanan McGuire, Michael Koryta, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gary A. Braunbeck, Charlaine Harris, Laird Barron, Dana Cameron, Kelley Armstrong, Tim Lebbon, Dan Charon and Lynda Barry, Leigh Perry, John Langan, Joe McKinney, Robert Shearman, Lucy A. Snyder, Brian Keene, Rio Youers, John Ajvide Lindqvist, and David Wellington.

Overall, a great read for horror fans and those that love vampire tales. If not familiar with some of the authors this is a great way to check out their writing style.

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