Carries Book Reviews

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A Wyoming Family Holiday: A Clean and Uplifting Romance
Virginia McCullough
(Back to Adelaide Creek, #5)
Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming
Publication date: October 28th 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Can saving a town landmark…

Restore her faith in love?

When attorney Sloan Lancaster returns to Adelaide Creek to care for his father, he’s shocked at Winding Creek Rehab and Care Center’s run-down state. He considers moving his dad but is drawn to his high school crush Bethany, in charge of the facility’s restoration. Moved by Bethany’s community spirit and her adorable young daughter, Heidi, Sloan makes an anonymous donation to the center as the holidays bring them all closer. But when Sloan’s identity is revealed, Bethany pulls away, anxious about conflict of interest. Can she overcome her fears to embrace Sloan’s support—and build the loving family she’s always wanted?

From Harlequin Heartwarming: Wholesome stories of love, compassion and belonging.

Back to Adelaide Creek

Book 1: The Rancher’s Wyoming Twins

Book 2: The Doc’s Holiday Homecoming

Book 3: His Wyoming Surprise

Book 4: Finding His Wyoming Sweetheart

Book 5: A Wyoming Family Holiday

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EXCERPT:

Sloan Lancaster raised the hood of his jacket and raced through the downpour, skirting the water overflowing dips and deep potholes in the asphalt parking lot. This, plus the rundown brick and wood exterior, was all he needed to conclude that the Winding Creek Rehab and Care Center was past its prime. Especially dreary was the aging paint job, once white, but now a dull, dirty gray. Sloan summed up his first impression of this facility in one word: neglected.

As he ducked into the hands-free revolving door a commotion in the lobby caught his attention. Women and men in scrubs or lab coats were pushing and pulling furniture across the carpeted floor, while a couple of burly guys in maintenance uniforms dragged an oversized tarp into the far corner of the room where rainwater ran down the wall.

Two women a few feet in front of him struggled to pull a couch across the middle of the lobby. He approached from behind and called out, “Wait, let me help with that. Tell me where you want it.”

A woman spun around. “Thanks. We can use the help.” Her eyes opened wide in surprise. “Sloan?”

“Bethany?” He struggled to find his next words as he grasped the wooden armrest on one end. “I’d know you anywhere.” It was true. He hadn’t seen her since high school and she’d barely changed at all.

Not the time to ask a lot of questions. He made his early morning workouts pay off as he dragged the couch to the only empty spot on the other side of the lobby big enough to accommodate it. The space was already filled with a hodgepodge of tables and armchairs that had escaped the leaking roof and ceilings.

Bethany pushed the couch from the other end. Her expression turned serious as she straightened up and put her hands on her hips. “You’re here to see your dad, I assume. Medical transport brought him here a couple of hours ago.”

Her burgundy pantsuit and crisp tailored white shirt gave her a professional look in the style of the women lawyers at his firm. That led Sloan to guess that his old friend Bethany Hoover was an administrator in this place, where, for better or worse, his dad was now a patient. The worn out exterior and general disarray in the lobby weren’t filling him with positive feelings about that.

The opposite, in fact.

Author Bio:

A writer all her adult life, Virginia McCullough has had the opportunity to write the stories of her heart in her novels, including Girl in the Spotlight, the first book in her Two Moon Bay series for Harlequin Heartwarming. (Book 2 is scheduled for release in January 2018). Her award-winning romance and women’s fiction titles include The Jacks of Her Heart, Amber Light, Greta’s Grace, The Chapels on the Hill, and Island Healing.

Born and raised in Chicago, Virginia has been lucky enough to develop her writing career in many locations, including the coast of Maine, the mountains of North Carolina, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and currently, Northeast Wisconsin. She started her career in nonfiction, first writing articles and then books as a ghostwriter and coauthor. She’s written more than 100 books for physicians, business owners, professional speakers and many others with information to share or a story to tell.

Virginia’s books feature characters who could be your neighbors and friends. They come in all ages and struggle with everyday life issues in small-town environments that almost always include water—oceans, lakes, or rivers. The mother of two grown children, you’ll find Virginia with her nose a book, walking on trails or her neighborhood street, or she may be packing her bag to take off for her next adventure. And she’s always working on another story about hope, healing, and second chances.

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A Wyoming Family Holiday Blitz

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Jingled
Evan J. Corbin
Publication date: November 7th 2025
Genres: LGBTQ+, Satire, Speculative Fiction

Matt Daughtry has always felt like he and his parents live in separate worlds—his shaped by the urbane, Northeastern liberal elite, theirs by Southern conservatism, homespun “common sense,” and talk show-fueled conspiracies. His homosexuality remains an open secret, something they sidestep rather than confront, much less accept. When he and his sister return for Christmas, the wrong sibling brings home a boyfriend for the first time.

What starts as a tense but routine holiday gathering takes a surreal turn the next morning. Flights are canceled, pilots and flight attendants mysteriously take time off, and by the following day, an estimated seventy-eight million Americans fail to return to work. Their explanation? They just want to spend more time with their families. Christmas can be every day when you’re with family.

His parents—and millions of Americans—are suffering from a bizarre condition, trapped in an endless holiday loop, determined to celebrate Christmas every day. They make choices that go against their self-interests. Blissfully unbothered by their accumulating debts, economic collapse, or even basic responsibilities, they live in a festive delusion seemingly fueled by an addictive algorithm used by an evangelical shopping app called MerryNet.

At first, Matt sees no reason to get involved. He’s never been able to reach his parents before—why would this be any different? But as the syndrome spreads, paralyzing the country, he stumbles upon evidence linking the outbreak to corporate actors intent on silencing their perceived right-wing enemies. Faced with a choice between complicity and action, Matt realizes that exposing the truth may come at the cost of his career, safety, and sanity. But the country may slide further into a dystopian nightmare if he doesn’t act.

With the help of his boyfriend and sister, Matt must not only uncover the syndrome’s cause and cure but also confront the deeper divisions tearing his family—and the nation—apart.

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Author Bio:

Evan resides in Philadelphia, PA. When he’s not working or spending time with his friends, he writes a little.

Website

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The Mist and the Flame
Coral-Li St. Helen
(The New Bardiverse, #1)
Publication date: September 15th 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult

What’s really behind the story of star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet?

Let’s start with the truth about Rosaline—Romeo’s actual first love. Rosaline scorns romance and instead craves magic. To free herself from Romeo’s amorous attention as well as her dull life in Verona, she uses her limited sorcery skills to bring him and Juliet together. Renaming herself Foschia Luminosa, she then gleefully runs off to join a school of magic.

Just when Lumi’s dreams are about to come true, disaster Syra, the intimidating witch who runs the school, denies her entry and demands she return to Verona. She must repair the damage done by her spell or the young couple is doomed and Lumi will be outcast forever.

As tragedy looms ever nearer, Lumi reluctantly teams up with a mysterious, sullen girl calling herself Fiamma Fredda, an orphan of unknown parentage. Freddi is an astonishingly skilled fighter, but who is she, and does she really want to help—or is she using Lumi for her own purposes?

Join Lumi and Freddi in their thrilling quest to save Romeo and Juliet, learn of Freddi’s origins, and grapple with Syra’s own dark past. They—and you—are in for a great many surprises along the way…

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EXCERPT:

On the particular day that started it all, our tutor, Grigio, gave me something to translate which turned out to be an old recipe for a potion to be used for suppressing painful memories. It called for various common herbs which I knew Friar Lawrence grew in his garden, so I ran to him the first chance I got to ask for the ingredients. That, I found out later, was how the school at La Fortezza became interested in me. Friar Lawrence and, incredibly, my tutor both looked out for potential candidates to recruit for this secret school. Most of the tutor’s pupils, my cousin Juliet included, merely did the translation (perfectly, in her case). The very few with the curiosity to see if it would work, those were the ones that interested them.

But I knew none of that at the time; I was only interested in making the potion work. Initially, it didn’t, and I figured out there had been an ingredient omitted—possibly deliberately, so Grigio’s students wouldn’t have the complete formula. That was laughable—and insulting. I immediately began experimenting on my own, trying to figure out the missing item. (This extra step, apparently, made La Fortezza very interested in me.) My creations, placed discretely in various rooms, made me sneeze (not magical), made the cook giggle (possibly magical, since she generally had a dour disposition), and made my parents look at each other in a way I hadn’t seen in years (which was uncomfortable to witness but also possibly magical). I noted these combinations of ingredients down and, not satisfied, kept trying.

When I couldn’t quite come up with the perfect formula on my own, I sought the friar again. If Grigio was a young man who seemed like an old one, Friar Lawrence was, if not old, then middle-aged at least, but cheerful, jovial, and youthful in every aspect of his demeanor. To put it another way, he was possibly the only priest that people my age actually liked, someone who talked to you like a person and not just a sinner. In his little garden behind the church he welcomed me with delight, a dirt-crusted trowel in one hand and some mysterious wrinkled root in the other, immediately asking how my potion had gone.

“Not well, thank you. It didn’t work, but I think I know how I can fix it—with your help, if you would.”

“I would be most delighted to help,” he said, eager curiosity shining in his eyes. He put down the trowel and root, dusted his cassock off (though his hands were dirty too and he really only ended up shifting the soiling of the garment to different sections), and gestured me toward a bench where we both sat. “Now, how did you know it didn’t work?”

“I tried. A lot. The closest I got was when I tried it on Bruno, but even then it still wasn’t right.”

“Bruno?”

“The old dog I found wandering around outside our gate. I named him Bruno. Poor thing. He had been treated very badly, we think by a man or several of them—he is afraid of men. I wanted to see if I could help him forget his suffering. He seemed to be calmer when I sprinkled one particular herbal powder mix around him, but he still growls and shrinks away when a man goes by, so he hasn’t completely forgotten.”

The friar smiled. “That was kind of you to try, though a human subject might have been more able to communicate what they were experiencing.”

I shrugged. I wanted to try it on the dog because I wanted to alleviate his suffering. His big brown eyes were deep with sorrow. How could I do otherwise? I went on impatiently, “I know why it didn’t work—there’s an ingredient missing, isn’t there?”

Friar Lawrence tilted his head. “Yes and no. Well, yes and yes, I suppose. The recipe as you received it is in fact missing an ingredient, but that ingredient alone—stridolo petals, I believe—will not make this work. The real missing ingredient is you. Bruno calmed down because you were calm. Bruno cannot forget whatever suffering he went through, no matter what herbs you use, because you can’t forget it—because you never remembered it in the first place.”

“Of course not. I wasn’t there.” Now I frowned. Did I, too, have to be beaten and starved by cruel men for both of us to forget? Wasn’t there an easier way to help my poor sad-eyed friend? There was a limit to what even I wished to experience. “How can I make these things work without, well, going through terrible things?”

“It is a long and difficult journey to take, Rosaline. But I can try to show you the first steps.” He shifted a little on the bench so that he was facing me. “Think of a happy memory from your childhood, but don’t tell me about it.”

His simple request startled me. Was he going to read my mind?

Author Bio:

Coral-Li St. Helen is the pen name of a writer who lived all over the United States before settling down roughly in the middle. She loves reading and writing, hiking and napping, coffee, noodles, her spouse and her dog.

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The Bridge
Shanna Hatfield
Publication date: October 7th 2025
Genres: Adult, Holiday, Women’s Fiction

One Bridge. Five Strangers. A Christmas Eve That Changes Everything.

On a bridge suspended above the Willamette River, five lives collide for a journey through hope and hardship in a suspenseful, heartwarming tale of courage, connection, and the magic of second chances.

Sergeant Archer Raines has worked every holiday all year for one reason: to finally spend Christmas with his wife. But when a desperate man threatens to jump from Portland’s St. Johns Bridge, Archer’s expert negotiation skills are required to defuse the situation.

Rosalee, a high-powered accountant and mom-to-be, only meant to swing by home for a forgotten phone and client file. Then her car is caught in the chaos on the bridge, she unexpectedly goes into labor, and her carefully planned world begins to unravel amidst the unfolding drama.

Exhausted nurse Nova just wants to make it home for Christmas after too many night shifts. When the pileup halts traffic and Rosalee’s baby is on the way, Nova puts her own plans on hold to help a stranger in need.

Carter, the owner of a busy tow truck business, regrets taking the call to clear the multi-car collision off the bridge. He’d intended to spend the day tackling last-minute holiday errands. Instead, he’s praying the lunatic pointing a gun at him doesn’t pull the trigger.

Fresh out of college and anxious to kick-start his career, Ian’s running late when his car won’t start the morning of his big interview. His rideshare driver turns out to be a captivating girl with a penchant for aggressive driving that narrowly saves them from being part of the wreck on the bridge, sending Ian on an unexpected path of his own.

The Bridge is the perfect uplifting holiday read and a story of how one frozen moment can thaw even the loneliest of hearts.

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EXCERPT:

He’d just stepped outside when he saw a vehicle roaring up the street. The rideshare logo was clearly visible in the passenger-side corner of the windshield. He hoped the maniac driving

the small SUV wouldn’t kill him in a fiery crash before they even made it out of the neighborhood.

He lifted a hand as he stepped out to the curb, and the SUV came to a precise stop beside him. All he had to do was open the door and slide into the back seat.

“You’re the dude heading to Magra? Ian Alexander?” the driver asked, giving him a glimpse over her shoulder.

Ian nodded, then cleared his throat. “Yes. I’m Ian. Do you have the address?”

“Got it right here,” she said, then blew a big pink bubble and popped her gum.

He was in the process of buckling his seat belt when she hit the gas and zipped into the street, barely slowed at the corner, and picked up speed as she headed toward the highway.

Ian prayed he’d survive the trip and wouldn’t be so rattled by the experience he’d mess up his interview. He drew in a long breath and inhaled a fragrance reminiscent of spiced cider and warm fires. He didn’t see an air freshener hanging up and wondered if it was just the driver. If so, she smelled amazing.

Head in the game.

Now was not the time to check out a girl. Besides, this one certainly wasn’t his type even if she appeared to be close to his age. From the quick glance she’d given him, he’d concluded she was into goth with her thick, black eyeliner and dark eye shadow, a nose ring, blood-red lipstick, and a dragon earring that encircled her entire ear. She had on fingerless gloves with leather cuffs and a black leather jacket sporting silver studs around the collar. He had no idea what color her hair might have been because it was all stuffed up under a slouchy black velvet hat.

He wondered what she’d look like if she washed her face and dressed in something less biker chic and more … feminine.

Ian almost face-palmed himself. Good grief! He was starting to sound like his parents. He didn’t care if the woman was dressed as one of Santa’s elves as long as she got him to his interview on time, preferably in one piece.

To distract himself from the fact that goth girl seemed to think she was training for the Indy 500 or perhaps to become a New York City cab driver, he rehearsed what he planned to say at the interview. When it felt as though the SUV went around a corner on two wheels, Ian latched onto the handle above the door and held on for dear life. What kind of crazy person was about to get him killed?

“Ever think about becoming a race car driver?” he asked as she barely slowed at a stop sign and took a right onto the highway.

She glanced back at him and smirked. “Only every other day. Unfortunately for you, today is an even day, and I’m practicing.”

Author Bio:

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield writes sweet romances rich with relatable characters, small town settings that feel like home, humor, and hope.

Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

When this farm girl isn’t writing or indulging in rich, decadent chocolate, Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller. She also experiments with recipes,

snaps photos of her adorable nephew, and caters to the whims of a cranky cat named Drooley.

To learn more about Shanna or the books she writes, visit her website http://shannahatfield.com or find out more about her here: linktr.ee/ShannaHatfield

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Behind the Mirror
Bridget Budd
Publication date: July 1st 2025
Genres: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction

Behind the Mirror is a powerful, character-driven novel about emotional healing, generational trauma, and the courage it takes to stop performing and start living your truth.

Sometimes, the hardest person to face is the one behind the mirror…

Julie Sloan was shaped by abandonment early in life—left behind by the people who were supposed to love her first. In the absence of emotional safety, she became what the world rewarded: high-achieving, self-sacrificing, and always performing. Through four marriages, she searched for stability while suppressing her deepest fears—that she was unworthy of lasting love, and too broken to be fully seen.

But when her fourth marriage nearly collapsed, something shifted. It wasn’t betrayal that broke her—it was the quiet realization that she had never truly lived for herself.

What followed was a reckoning: with her past, with the roles she had played to survive, and with the parts of herself she had long silenced.

Now, years later, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist named Laura wants to profile Julie’s nonprofit work—an organization devoted to helping women heal from emotional wounds. But what begins as a success story takes a deeper turn as Julie reveals the story behind the story—the one she’s never shared publicly. The one about how she abandoned herself first.

For readers drawn to novels about inner child work, identity, and spiritual awakening, this deeply personal journey will leave you both broken open and quietly restored.

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EXCERPT:

Julie Sloan had everything she thought she wanted—success, love, stability—but beneath the perfection was an exhaustion she couldn’t name. In this scene from Behind the Mirror, she begins to see the quiet cost of performing her way through life.

I had and have everything I had dreamed of. This gorgeous house, an indoor pool, a home gym, a massage room, and a state-of-the-art kitchen. Plus, I drive a super-fun and sporty Porsche 718 Boxster in Carmine Red … Nothing beats the top down on the glorious sunny days we have here.

But I was perpetually unhappy and had no idea why.

Did you notice that all those things I listed as being everything I dreamed of were external? None of them reflected satisfaction from the inside out. I was living from the outside in. Even as recently as ten years ago, I was stuck in that familiar pattern of thinking that I wasn’t worthy whenever someone did something kind for me.

… I was perpetually chasing the next goal, the next fix, the next thing that might finally make me feel whole. What I couldn’t see then was that the exhaustion I felt wasn’t from doing too much—it was from being someone I wasn’t.

I had mastered the art of performing for love, of polishing every rough edge until there was no “me” left underneath. The burnout wasn’t from my schedule; it was from the story I kept trying to live up to.

It’s strange, really, how easy it is to confuse performing with being alive. But when the performance ends—when the lights go down and the applause fades—what’s left is silence. And in that silence, I finally started to hear something truer than all the noise: myself.

Author Bio:

Bridget Budd is the author of Behind the Mirror, a debut novel that blends literary storytelling with therapeutic insight.

After more than twenty-five years in corporate sales, she stepped away to explore the emotional patterns beneath her success—and the cost of always holding it together.

Her work lives at the intersection of fiction and healing, drawing from her background in trauma-informed coaching, somatics, and holistic health. Bridget writes and speaks about identity, self-worth, and the shift from performing to presence.

Often described as “fiction with emotional teeth,” her stories are crafted for deep feelers, recovering perfectionists, and anyone quietly exhausted from chasing “enough.”

She divides her time between Marco Island, Florida, and Marvin, North Carolina, with her husband and two opinionated dogs.

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