Carries Book Reviews

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Jingle Bells, Wedding Vows
Paula Dombrowiak
(Hollow Reign, #3)
Publication date: October 6th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance

He’s the uptight rockstar directing the music for my burlesque Christmas show, and driving the grumpy maestro to throw his sheet music is my favorite hobby.

Then we wake up married, and he can’t remember a single thing about our night together.

Theo Mercer is an arrogant control freak in rolled-up sleeves and glasses who thinks he can tame my headlining act. But on my stage, I call the shots. Beneath the falling stage snow, the friction between us is hot enough to burn the theater down.

When our accidental Vegas wedding explodes across the tabloids, Theo swallows his pride and drops to one knee to propose a holiday charade: play blissfully wedded—which means moving my insufferable new husband into my cramped studio apartment.

Forced proximity beneath the mistletoe turns our backstage feud into breathless passion, and behind closed doors, our fake marriage starts to feel dangerously real.

Except our vows have an expiration date. When the tinsel comes down on New Year’s, Theo has to leave.

He swears he’s coming back.

But I stopped believing in Christmas miracles a long time ago, after a string of men who never kept their word. If I let down my walls only to get burned by my fake husband… I won’t survive the fall.

Jingle Bells, Wedding Vows is Book 3 in the Hollow Reign Christmas Novellas, a series of interconnected, steamy holiday romances. Each book can be read as a standalone and features a guaranteed happily ever after.

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EXCERPT:

In sleep, she looks almost angelic.

Which would be a lot more convincing if I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing she’s a complete and utter menace in sequins and red lipstick who has spent the last couple of weeks

driving me insane. The star of the Christmas show who argues with me about every note I wrote for her number. The woman who loves to push my buttons like no one I’ve ever met before.

Mara Delaney.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Do not tell me I did what I think I did.

My stomach drops as I lift the edge of the sheet and look down. Finding myself still in my boxers should be reassuring, but the relief is fleeting, swallowed almost immediately by a deeper sense of dread.

I turn my head toward Mara. The sheet has slipped just enough to expose the curve of her bare shoulder. I pinch the edge of the sheet to lift it.

Please don’t let her be naked. Please don’t let her be naked.

Fuck, she’s naked.

I don’t remember how I got here. Last night is a haze of disconnected pieces, and everything that matters is missing.

I ease out of bed with the stealth of a military operative trying not to set off a bomb. My shirt is draped over a velvet armchair, and I pull it on before anything else because I need at least one layer of dignity between me and whatever the hell happened last night. One of my Vans sits near the bathroom door. I shove my foot into it and search for the other, getting a good look at Mara’s apartment in the process.

I run a hand through my hair and pull it back to stare at it before my brain catches up to what I’m seeing.

There’s a gold band on my ring finger. Not the kind that comes out of a gumball machine.

What the actual fuck?

My gaze snaps to Mara.

I lean over the bed to see Mara’s hand curled loosely around the sheet, dark red polish chipped at the edges.

The ring on her finger matches mine.

This has to be a joke. Some elaborate, deeply unfunny prank, and when I find Casey, I’m going to kill him slowly, because somehow he’s responsible.

There’s a marriage certificate on the nightstand next to my phone.

Author Bio:

Paula Dombrowiak grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois but currently lives in Arizona. She is the author of Blood and Bone, her first adult romance novel which combines her love of music and imperfect relationships. Paula is a lifelong music junkie, whose wardrobe consists of band T-shirts and leggings which are perpetually covered in pet hair. She is a sucker for a redeemable villain, bad boys, and the tragically flawed. Music inspires her storytelling.

For more ways to learn about Paula and her books, check out her website: @www.pauladombrowiak.com

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Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead
H.J. Ramsay
Publication date: October 6th 2026
Genres: New Adult, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance

CeCe Campbell wakes on the asphalt of a mall parking lot with two missing years and a body that no longer feels like her own. Infected with the Kill Virus on her 18th birthday, she’s among the first to be cured.

Rehabilitation teaches CeCe how to walk, how to speak, how to exist in a world rebuilding itself, but it cannot return what she lost. Her mother is dead. Her brother is missing. And the last memory before the dark is a bite she cannot escape.

When CeCe unexpectedly meets Derrick—the boy who infected her—she’s torn between anger and a strange, undeniable connection. Derrick doesn’t remember what he did. CeCe does, and the truth of that moment is something he’ll never get. Not when he already took everything from her.

But if there’s to be life after the cure, CeCe will have to unwind the past, face what happened the night that bound them together, and decide if love and forgiveness can heal wounds deeper than the ones left by the undead.

Love and Other Cures for the Recently Undead is a haunting post-apocalyptic love story about guilt, survival, and choosing connection in a world where nothing can be undone.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

CeCe opens her mouth to ask for a ride, but by the time she gets the words out, Savannah is already jumping into the van. Her aunt pulls away from the curb.

Derrick looks toward the van and then at CeCe. He smiles. It’s probably meant to be charming, but she finds nothing about him appealing.

He steps toward her.

Why did she insist on walking home? If her dad was here, she’d already be in his car. Now she has to find a way around Derrick. Or maybe she doesn’t. She could wait him out. He’ll have to leave eventually.

CeCe turns back to the school. Just as she’s about to reach for the door, it swings open and Olivia slithers out. They’re so close that CeCe can see every strand of Olivia’s bangs—and something underneath. A scar? Does that mean Olivia isn’t a Survivor? She’ll have to think about that later. Not now.

Olivia inches to the side. The moment she’s out of the way, CeCe lunges for the handle, but it shuts before she can grab it. She yanks. It doesn’t budge. The damn thing’s on auto-lock.

CeCe presses her forehead against the locked door. Did Olivia do that on purpose? Knowing it would leave her trapped out here? She senses Olivia’s stare crawling over her—and Derrick’s.

She can’t deal with this. Can’t deal with them. Her hand clamps around the latch, unable to move. She just wants to go home.

“Hi again,” she hears Derrick say from behind her.

She groans. “Are you going to be here every day?”

“Ah, she speaks. I wasn’t sure if, you know, there was something wrong with your voice.”

“I speak,” she snaps as she turns, half expecting to see Olivia standing beside him, but she’s already down the stairs, heading toward the same rumbling truck. At least that’s one problem solved.

Author Bio:

HJ Ramsay holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is an award-winning author. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Gold Man Review, a West Coast literary journal, and has a background in Psychology and Criminal Justice with dual bachelor’s degrees. Passionate about storytelling that explores the human experience, she crafts narratives that blend emotion, imagination, and depth. When she’s not writing or editing, she enjoys diving into the worlds of speculative fiction and literary fiction alike.

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The Reports of Silas Killian, Beleaguered Space Station Beat Cop
AJ Sherwood
(Selarion Station, #1)
Publication date: December 18th 2026
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Unfortunately, this is my circus, and these are my monkeys.

When Silas graduated from the police academy, he expected a certain level of crazy. People were people no matter the age, race, or location–they were going to get into shit. Somehow, Selarion Space Station took it all up a notch, and it can’t all be blamed on the Qax’asins who don’t believe in wearing clothes.

Factor in Ruan, who’s part owner of that very space station, and from a race that can tell on sight when they’ve met their mate, and Silas’s life goes from crazy to absurd. Ruan is adamant that Silas is his.

Silas very much begs to differ.

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Author Bio:

AJ Sherwood believes in happily ever afters, magic, dragons, good men, and dark chocolate. She often dreams at night of delectable men doing sexy things with each other. In between writing multiple books (often at the same time) she pets her cats, plays with her dogs, and attempts insane things like aerial yoga.

She currently resides in Michigan with aforementioned dogs and cats. Being in snow country gives her the excuse to stay inside and watch bl dramas, which suit her perfectly.

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Atlas

Did I mean to rant on TV about the inconvenience of sharing the ice with San Jose’s brand-new women’s hockey team? 

No, of course not. I’m not an idiot, whatever my second-grade teacher might have written in my quarterly progress reports. 

But I probably should have noticed my teammates’ frantic arm movements. And I definitely shouldn’t have blurted out that I’m actually supportive of women’s hockey because I’m dating Diana Marsh, the captain of the San Jose Pumas.

Because the fact is… we’re not dating. Even if maybe, we sort of did, uh, sleep together. Before I ghosted her. 

But now our teams’ billionaire owner is eager for our ‘romance’ to be public, and since my face is all over his health app, I can’t say no to him. 

Besides, the Pumas will get publicity, and my reputation as captain of the San Jose Jackals will be salvaged. 

Hopefully. 

Once I explain the fake dating plan to Diana.

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Finding Zaide
Kim Deister
Publication date: October 19th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

Life had gotten comfortable for Amara Addison, maybe too comfortable. Fabulous job, great friends, even an amazing ex-boyfriend who was her ride or die for life. Then Zaide Rossi sauntered into her life and suddenly everything changed. But no matter how crazy life became, finding Zaide made every last moment of chaos worth it.

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This book, from concept to edit to design, was created without the use of generative AI.

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Author Bio:

My name is Kim and my last name, Deister, is pronounced “Die-ster.” I always tell my husband I should have kept my married name, Ingram. So much easier to to pronounce!

I am a writer thoroughly in love with words. Reading them, writing them… I love that words can take you outside of your world and let the unimaginable become imaginable. I love them so much that I decided I needed to create some worlds and stories of my own!

Besides being a writer, I am an Army veteran (and Army wife) and a mom to four sons. I grew up in northern New York in a tiny college town called Potsdam. Over the years, our Army life has taken us all over the place and I have been lucky enough to work and live in some pretty amazing places. Right now we live in Hawaii on the island of O’ahu, minutes from the North Shore.

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