Carries Book Reviews

The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story by Lily Koppel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I rather enjoyed this look back at a big moment in time for the U.S. It’s a rather interesting perspective of the beginning of space exploration told from the perspective of the wives of the astronauts. Not only does the book explore the lift offs and a feel for what it was like to have your loved one blasted off into space with every chance they may not make it back but also a peek at just how woman were treated back then…expected to be the perfect wife and mother with basically no rights of their own. Lots of mentions of other historical events during the time frame too.

Snow Angel Cove by RaeAnne Thayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eliza Hayward is having the worse day ever. She’s packed up her life to move to a new town to begin work at a local hotel only to arrive to find the hotel has burned to the ground. She and her young daughter decide to go to dinner to figure out where to go from there when a truck slides on an ice patch and proceeds to hit Eliza.

The driver of the truck is Aidan Caine a rich tech genius who is just moving to town himself. Aidan invites Eliza and her daughter to stay with her to recover and soon the two have sparks flying between them.

Nice story in a small town during Christmas. Interesting characters and great romance.

A Far Far Better Thing by S.B.K. Burns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I won this book through Goodreads First Reads.

This Novella is a prequal to the Legends of the Goldens series. I myself haven’t read the entire series but am reviewing only from reading the novella. The story is about Max, an android that has been made to be a close to human as can be and Kira who is of a species called the Goldens. The Goldens seem to have a lot of psychic abilities and the ability to teleport and jump from different universes. Some of these powers were also given to Max.

The story mostly follows Max and Kira and their relationship but also get glimpses into the Goldens, the Androids, Humans and a race of vampires known as Dacons. I rather enjoyed it overall but had to give 4 stars as it can be a lot to keep up with in a short story but it has made me want to read more into this world that I got a glimpse of and continue on with the Legends of the Goldens series.

It’s Always Been You by Jessica Scott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I won this book from Goodreads First Reads.

It’s Always Been You is military romance featuring Captain Ben Teague and Major Olivia Hale. Ben has just been promoted and adjusting to being in charge of some of the men he’d served with as his commander wants to get the platoon “cleaned up” and discharge all the troublemakers. Olivia is the lawyer in charge of all the cases for the soldiers. The two end up drawn to each other while dealing with all the cases and their own feelings toward events.

I really felt for Ben and loved his character and all he was going through but Olivia a few times really came across as somewhat scary in her obsessiveness with punishing all that might be doing wrong. Even though she’s been through and seen a lot in her job you’d think she would have bit more compassion with getting people help. Overall a decent love story though.

Suddenly One Summer by Julie James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Suddenly One Summer introduces us to Victoria Slade who is a divorce lawyer who after a lifetime of seeing marriages fall apart is quite jaded when it comes to romance. She also is suffering from panic attacks after having her home broken into and chooses to sell her home and move into an apartment. Victoria’s new neighbor Ford Dixon also has his own hang ups about relationships but when the two meet the sparks fly.

The characters in this story had a more realistic feel to me. They are not perfect and are dealing with very real issues but still as normal in a Julie James novel find their perfect ending together. It’s also nice to get the little bits of catch up on the characters from her previous novels even though they could all be read as stand alone books if you’ve read them all you will recognize a few names mentioned.