Carries Book Reviews

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Title: On the Surface

Author:  Rachel McGuire

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books 

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Page Count:  298

My rating: 3 1/2 stars

About the book:

A YouTubing cruiser couple sails the world living their best lives—until one of them goes missing and their whole world capsizes, in this captivating psychological thriller perfect for fans of Something in the Water and Saint X.

Sawyer Stone III and Dani Fox, a young couple who spend their time circumnavigating the globe aboard their 42-foot sailboat and documenting it for their fledgling YouTube channel Sailing with the Foxes, have anchored in Exuma, in the Bahamas. As they wait for the price of crypto to rebound so they can provision and continue their journey, they’re partying and exploring with their fellow cruisers offshore. On the surface, everything looks perfect. But one night, Dani vanishes after a boat party, and Sawyer has no memory of her disappearance.

The search for Dani is initially fueled by concerns that she drowned during one of her daily ocean swims, but Dani’s prescheduled video posts, recorded before she went missing, soon reveal a darker side to her relationship with Sawyer. Meanwhile, Royal Bahamas Police Force Inspector Veronique Knowles has her hands full trying to keep the investigation on course as the story of the American woman missing in the Bahamas goes viral and the internet sleuths unearth secrets from Sawyer’s past. Sawyer Stone is far from perfect, but is he a murderer? 

This twisty, edge-of-your-seat thriller will keep readers gripped all the way through the final satisfying turn.

On the Surface by Rachel McGuire is a suspenseful thriller novel. The story in On the Surface is one that does change the point of view between multiple characters in the story giving all sides and told in the current timeline.

Sawyer Stone and Dani Fox have been trying to live their best lives together while sailing around in their sailboat. The idea was once to sail the world but with some bad investments by Sawyer it’s now on Dani’s YouTube channel, Sailing with the Foxes, to fund their adventures as they spend time in Exuma, in the Bahamas.

Living the life out on the water Sawyer and Dani often find themselves surrounded by fellow cruisers while anchored at the islands. One night everyone decides to throw a party with their boats anchored together but when Sawyer wakes up alone the next morning having drank a bit too much he has no idea where Dani is and ends up with all eyes on him when she doesn’t return.

I’ve said before that I love cruising but I also just like being out on the water in any old boat I can be too so seeing On the Surface by Rachel McGuire and knowing it was set in the Bahamas I couldn’t pass it by. The story was a little slow moving overall but honestly I was still hooked into finding out what would happen all the while it was unfolding. What really got me to rate this one at three and a half stars though was I wasn’t overly fond of how it all ended but I’d give the author/s a try again sometime.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Rachel McGuire is the pen name for the collaboration between Rachel Graham and Lee-Ann McGuire Whitlock.

Rachel Graham has worked as a firefighter, paramedic, clinical researcher, and health consultant. She lives in San Diego, California with her family.

Lee-Ann McGuire Whitlock is a former lawyer, serial entrepreneur, and national pub trivia champion several times over. She and her husband, two children, two Cavalier King Charles spaniels split their time between Arkansas and Vancouver, Canada.

On the Surface is their first thriller.

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Title: The Family Experiment

Author:  John Marrs

Publisher: Hanover Square Press 

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Page Count:  465

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

From the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and brilliant speculative thriller about families: real and virtual.

Some families are virtually perfect…

The world’s population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, the breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them.

But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality TV show called The Substitute. It will follow ten couples as they raise a virtual child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby…

Set in the same universe as John Marrs’s bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate Tamagotchi—a virtual baby.

The Family Experiment by John Marrs is a standalone science fiction thriller which takes virtual reality to a new level with A.I. and shows it all on a reality tv show. While this book is technically a stand alone it is set in the same world as the author’s previous titles and does have some elements carry over into the story but can be enjoyed on it’s own. The story in The Family Experiment is one that changes the point of view between multiple characters in the present timeline with a slight bit of looking back into their pasts over the course of the book.

The Family Experiment is a reality television show that is going to give it’s lucky participants the chance to win either their own A.I. child or the opportunity to have their own child in the real world. The group of couples, and one single father, are going to be raising their virtual child with all the trials and tribulations regular parents endure but only in a virtual world with the eyes of the world upon them while doing so. The experiment has been shortened to nine months with the virtual children progressing from infants to eighteen in that time frame and for those involved this is their last grasp at having their own families.

I was slightly hesitant to pick up The Family Experiment by John Marrs to begin with hearing that there is ties to his other books which I have not read but hearing so many good things about the book it really got my curiosity piqued. I really didn’t need to worry though as the story was perfectly understandable not knowing what I was missing with my rating only lowered a bit as it’s a slow starter getting to know so many characters in the book. Definitely a page turner though as it goes on and one I’d recommend checking out if the future of A.I. is of interest to you.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. His books include No1 bestseller and Netflix series The One, The Passengers, award winning What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan. Follow him at http://www.johnmarrsauthor.co.uk, on Twitter @johnmarrs1, on Instagram @johnmarrs.author and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/johnmarrsauthor.

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The Rarkyn’s Fall
Nikky Lee
(The Rarkyn Trilogy, #2)
Publication date: October 16th 2024
Genres: Adult, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy

Magic might be this city’s first currency, but blood is its second.”

They survived mancers. They survived monsters. They survived the Storm.

With the mountains behind them and Illredus on the horizon, they thought the hardest part of the journey over.

They were wrong.

Outlawed and on the run, Lyss struggles to control her new and volatile magic. A magic that will destroy her.

Her only hope: Find the last remaining witch to tame it.

Her only clue: Buried in Illredus. City of mancers. Capital of the Empire.

Together, she and Skaar descend into Illredus ’underbelly and discover a warren of illegal magics and the monstrous legacy Lyss ’father left behind.

As truth, loyalties, and magic clash, Lyss must decide how far she’ll go to exact justice in her father’s name…

And how far she’ll fall to rule the power inside her once and for all.

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order

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Author Bio:

Nikky Lee is an award-winning author who grew up as a barefoot 90s kid in Perth, Western Australia on Whadjuk Noongar Country. She now lives in Aotearoa New Zealand with a husband, a dog, and a couch potato cat. In her free time, she writes speculative fiction, often burning the candle at both ends to explore fantastic worlds, mine asteroids and meet wizards. She’s had over two dozen stories published in magazines, anthologies and on the radio.

Her short fiction has won three Aurealis Awards, with her novelette Dingo & Sister winning Best Young Adult Short Story and Best Fantasy Novella in 2020, and her novella Once We Flew winning Best Science Fiction Novella in 2023. In 2021, she received a Ditmar Award for Best New Talent. Her debut novel The Rarkyn’s Familiar won the 2023 Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Youth Novel, three Indie Ink Awards, and Bronze in Young Adult Fiction at the Foreward INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / TikTok

 

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Title: Until Next Summer

Author:  Ali Brady

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Page Count:  447 

My rating: 5 stars

About the book:

Two former best friends each find love at an adults-only summer camp in this romantic and nostalgic novel that proves “once a camp person, always a camp person.”

Growing up, Jessie and Hillary lived for summer, when they’d be reunited at Camp Chickawah. The best friends vowed to become counselors together someday, but they drifted apart after Hillary broke her promise and only Jessie stuck to their plan, working her way up to become the camp director. 

When Jessie learns that the camp will be sold, she decides to plan one last hurrah, inviting past campers—including Hillary—to a nostalgic “adult summer camp” before closing for good. Jessie and Hillary rebuild their friendship as they relive the best time of their lives—only now there are adult beverages, skinny dipping, and romantic entanglements. Straitlaced Hillary agrees to a “no strings attached” summer fling with the camp chef, while outgoing Jessie is drawn to a moody, reclusive writer who’s rented a cabin to work on his novel.

The friends soon realize this doesn’t have to be the last summer. They’ll team up and work together, just like the old days. But if they can’t save their beloved camp, will they be able to take the happiness of this summer away with them?

Until Next Summer by Ali Brady is a new standalone contemporary romance novel. The story in Until Next Summer is one that does change the point of view between the characters in the book to give all sides of the story.

Growing up Jessie found the one place she wanted to spend the rest of her life in Camp Chickawah where she spent her summers. Jessie thought her best friend Hillary also had the dream of them one day becoming counselors at the camp with each counting down the days until summer began and they could return to their friendship and the camp. However as they got older Hillary found other interests and took an opportunity away from the camp and their friendship ended.

Now Jessie is hanging onto her Camp Chickawah dreams by the thinnest of threads being head counselor for the last several years now but has just learned the owners want to sell. If this is going to be her last summer at her beloved camp Jessie wants to make it memorable and invites all past campers for an adult camp and one last hurrah which Hillary decides to attend to rekindle the friendship they’d lost.

I just have to say first off that with Ali Brady being the pen name of authors Alison Hammer and Bradeigh Godfrey that this pair has certainly found magic in writing together. Until Next Summer is the third book the duo has penned and I have loved each and every encounter. I’m a sucker for a summer camp setting even still picking up young adult in that vein so Until Next Summer immediately drew my interest and pulled me right into the story. This one is a double romance for readers too with both women finding someone as they repaired their own relationship and I was rooting for everyone every step of the way. Great book that I’d definitely recommend!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the authors:

Ali Brady is the pen name of writing BFFs Alison Hammer and Bradeigh Godfrey. THE BEACH TRAP is their first book together. Alison lives in Chicago where she works as a creative director for an advertising agency. She has published two solo books, YOU AND ME AND US and LITTLE PIECES OF ME. Bradeigh lives in Utah with her husband and four children. She works as a doctor, and her solo debut, IMPOSTER is forthcoming.

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Title: Murder on Devil’s Pond

Author:  Ayla Rose

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books 

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Page Count:  300

My rating: 3 1/2 stars

About the book:

A quaint Vermont inn offers idyllic peace–until a body is found  on the property–in this charming series debut, perfect for fans of Ellen Byron and Ellery Adams.

When thirty-three-year-old Hannah Solace returns to her hometown to renovate and reopen the inn she co-owns with her sister Reggie, her mission is to give the old Victorian hotel an entirely new life. She’s even planting pollinator gardens around the inn–native flowers and fruit trees to lure honeybees and houseguests alike. 

Hannah’s fresh start is stymied by Reggie’s continual interference, unreliable contractors, a check-the-couch-for-coins budget, and townspeople Hannah left behind fifteen years ago. Her main source of camaraderie is Ezra Grayson, an eighty-year-old recluse who lives nearby. After an unsettling conversation with a disgruntled Ezra, Hannah is horrified to discover him dead on her property later that day. 

Ezra had always had plenty of people to complain about, especially locals trying to force him out of his property for its prime real estate. As buzz around town grows after his death, Hannah finds herself on the short list of suspects. Hannah starts digging and quickly discovers that secrets lurk beneath the charming surface of the town she once again calls home.

Murder on Devil’s Pond by Ayla Rose is the first book in the new cozy Hummingbird Hollow B&B Mystery series. As with most cozy mystery series each book of the Hummingbird Hollow B&B Mystery will contain it’s own mystery that will be fully solved within the book so they could be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so. There will be some character development that will carry over from book to book for those who wish to read the series in order from the beginning.

Hannah Solace returned to her hometown of Jasper, Vermont with the goal of to renovating and reopening the inn in an old Victorian that she owns with her sister, Reggie. During the time spent getting the inn up and running Hannah made friends with her neighbor, eighty year old Ezra Grayson despite their being a fifty year age gape between them.

When Hannah discovers Ezra’s body after he’s murdered she is devastated to lose her friend but matters turn worse when she becomes a suspect in his death too. Hannah then vows that she will find who actually killed her friend clearing her own name while getting him justice.

The Hummingbird Hollow B&B Mystery series did have many of the things that I ask for when it comes to cozy mysteries such as a charming small town location, some quirky and interesting characters, possibly some cute critters to steal the show and a fun mystery to follow and try to solve. With all of that in the mix I did enjoy this first book of the series but with just getting to know the cast of characters and setting I rated this one at three and half stars and hope to get to know them all even more in the second book.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Ayla Rose is an author and lawyer who lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont. When not writing, she enjoys kayaking, hiking, gardening, and spending time with her husband, sons, and the family’s three dogs.